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Ivan the Terrible: The First Tsar

In 1547, things were bad enough in Russia that a group of nobles decided to rally around the 16-year-old Grand Prince of Moscow and declare him Tsar of all Russians. At first, no one doubted this was a good idea. Ivan IV's reign was peaceful... until his wife died from poison. Before his chief lieutenant defected. Before he started to descend into paranoia. Join us for a parade of bizarre incidents as Ivan drags Russia out of the Middle Ages, from poisoned queens (three of Ivan's six—or is it eight?), to fake royal resignations, to creating Russia's autocratic state and murdering his own son and heir, Ivan both creates the Russia we know while ushering in The Time of Troubles...and the False Dmitrys.

Vlad the Impaler: Beyond Dracula

Vlad's family were not exactly the touchy-feely types. Consider, for instance, that his dad left the teenaged Vlad as an Ottoman hostage to secure his own release from captivity, then immediately broke his agreement with the sultan, assuming his boy would be killed. It was a fitting beginning for a life filled with brutality, double-crosses, massacres and broken agreements—with Vlad having to invade Wallachia twice, once with Ottoman support, once with Hungarian, even to lead Wallachia. This series goes beyond the salacious violence (though there's a lot of that) to look at the cutthroat politics of a region sitting at a crossroads of rival nations, religions, and on the verge of political transformation. We'll also look at the rise of Vlad as an infamous media figure even in his own time.

The False Dmitrys: The Madcap Time of Troubles

Take a journey with me. First off, here's the problem: Ivan the Terrible killed his son and heir, leaving the crown to an ineffectual and possibly intellectually disabled younger son. Too bad his only other heir, Dmitry Ivonovich, was assassinated at the age of eight... except, WHAT IF HE WASN'T? That was the story False Dmitry I told when he showed up in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth asking that they invade and put him on the throne of Russia—which they did. A homecoming welcomed by his "mother" until, well... until the annoyed boyars had him killed. But wait... what if he DIDN'T DIE? That was the premise of False Dmitry II, who popped up claiming to be a miraculously still alive False Dmitry I (and who was accepted by False Dmitry I's politically pragmatic wife). Rallying an army behind him, his conquests were unfortunately cut short by getting shot and decapitated. But what if neither of those were the REAL DMITRY? That was the proposal of False Dmitry III, who arose out of obscurity with an army of Cossacks when everyone was already well and truly tired of this nonsense. Join us for what is easily one of the weirdest episodes in world history, as multiple con men try to seize the Russian crown.

The Rise of Stalin: State Funerals and Power Grabs

It's 1922, and Josef Stalin has just been given the unglamorous office of General Secretary of the Bolshevik party's Central Committee. But what first appears to be a thankless job son reveals itself to be an almost unlimited opportunity to expand power—particularly after the death of Vladamir Lenin. But to become the head of this new Soviet Union, Stalin will have to ruthlessly outplay other claimants, including the much more intelligent and powerful head of the Red Army, Leon Trotsky. In a time when millions are dying from famine and civil war, but the Bolshevik leadership remains relatively untouched, Stalin will play left against right and bring the bloodletting within the walls of the Kremlin—and to his own bedroom—and emerge the sole autocrat of his new state

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