How to Become a Tyrant
Season 1
2021 • 6 Episodes
The documentary series explores different political figures throughout history.
Episodes
1. Seize Power
July 9, 2021
Interested in becoming a tyrant? There are rules, and the playbook for a rise to dictatorship starts with one of history's most brutal: Adolf Hitler.
2. Crush Your Rivals
July 9, 2021
You've secured your place at the top, but maintaining power means watching your back. Nobody did that better or more ruthlessly than Saddam Hussein.
3. Reign Through Terror
July 9, 2021
When keeping your population under control, is it better to be loved or feared? Idi Amin certainly thought he knew the right answer to that question.
4. Control the Truth
July 9, 2021
Through public relations spin, revisionist history and censorship. Soviet autocrat Joseph Stalin found a certain flexibility with the truth useful.
5. Create a New Society
July 9, 2021
Free speech? Right to assembly? Rebel-turned-dictator Muammar Gaddafi realized that civil liberties had to go when reshaping society. But he got soft.
6. Rule Forever
July 9, 2021
Seizing power is hard, but keeping it is harder. In North Korea, the Kim dynasty unlocked the secret to ruling forever: They declared themselves gods.