Assassinations Podcast

In the latest season of Assassinations Podcast, "By Blood and Fire," the show traces the history of targeted killings from Zionist militant groups in the British Mandate of Palestine—beginning with the 1924 assassination of Jacob Israël de Haan in Jerusalem—to the central role of this deadly tactic in Israel's foundation in 1948 and the new state’s security policy ever since. The season argues tha...

Empress Myeongseong (Queen Min), born Min Ja-yeong in 1851, was the child bride of the young King Gojong of Korea. This was during the Joseon isolationist era, overseen by her father-in-law, the conservative regent Heungseon Daewongun. As foreign powers pressured the "Hermit Kingdom," a 1870s coup to sideline the regent lead to an era of modernization. Japan’s 1895 victory in the First Sino-Japane...

On September 10, 2025, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, appeared to have been fatally shot in the neck during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, allegedly by 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson. The shot, we are told, was fired from a rooftop 142 yards away. The public narrative — spread by the FBI, TPUSA, and the mainstream media — is riddled with dubi...

A pioneering Palestinian-American journalist whose reporting for Al Jazeera over 25 years gave global audiences a human perspective on life under Israeli occupation, Shireen Abu Akleh was known as “the voice of Palestine.” On May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin, she was fatally shot despite wearing clearly marked press gear. Multiple investigations — by the UN, CNN, The...

In 2004, Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko claimed he was poisoned by pro-Russian rivals, an allegation that drew global attention due to his disfigured face and a diagnosis of dioxin poisoning. The incident fueled the pro-Western “Orange Revolution,” which overturned an initial election result and led to Yushchenko’s eventual victory. However, his presidency was marred by economi...

Jonathan Moyle, likely an MI6/CIA asset, died suspiciously in Santiago, Chile, in March 1990, after questioning Cardoen Industries’ alleged military helicopter sales to Iraq. His death, ruled a suicide, showed signs of murder. Wensley Clarkson’s book, which we used as a key source for our episode on this case last year, suggested Cardoen’s role, but new evidence shows Cardoen’s Bell 206 helicopter...

Independent journalists Kit Klarenberg and Tim Norman have conducted significant investigations into the alleged 2018 assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer turned British spy, and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England. The episode also covers the related death of Dawn Sturgess in nearby Amesbury, which was recently the subject of a UK inquiry.  Skri...

Jonathan Moyle, once an RAF pilot and editor of the specialist trade journal Defense Helicopter World , died under suspicious circumstances in Santiago, Chile, in 1990. Was his death linked to his investigation of an arms deal involving Carlos Cardoen and Saddam Hussein's Iraq, focusing on converting civilian Bell helicopters for military use? Moyle’s aggressive questioning at an arms fair seems t...

With the US election upon us, host Niall takes a look at this year’s political drama, including two apparent attempts on the life of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Things often aren’t quite what they seem—especially in the world of high-level politics—and this might be no exception. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations P...

When the United States decided to extend its “manifest destiny” across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines at the end of the 19th century, Antonio Luna helped to defend his country. His assassination at the hands of his fellow Filipinos dealt a mortal blow to the independence movement. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast websit...

In the conclusion of our look at the assassination of John Lennon, we discover that it is a virtual impossibility that the man who has spent the last 44 years behind bars for the crime, Mark Chapman, could have done it. While Chapman confessed to the crime — and may truly believe he committed murder — the evidence simply does not support this, as Niall discusses with David Whelan, the author of Mi...

In the first of a two-part look at the murder of John Lennon, we look at the life and work of the former Beatle, and the strange story of the man who was convicted of killing him, Mark Chapman. Host Niall speaks with author David Whelan about his fascinating new book Mind Games: The Assassination of John Lennon , which contains important and surprising fresh insight on the case. To find out more a...

A Fairfax, Virginia based computing journalist who had turned his hand to deep-dive investigative journalism, in the early-1990s Casolaro was looking into an alleged theft of cutting-edge software by the US Government, which led him down a rabbit hole of seemingly bizarre conspiracy theories — thanks to disinformation fed to him by a shady self-professed tech expert — a project that Casolaro calle...

Alexander Odeh was a Palestinian who had moved to the United States in the 1970s. While engaged in political activism in support of Arab people, both in the Middle East and in the USA, he was killed in a bombing attack widely attributed to a Jewish American terrorist cell. The alleged perpetrators subsequently fled to Israel in order to evade murder charges. One of the potential murderers, Andy Gr...

A legend and a mystery in his own lifetime, the decades following his death have only added to the mystique — and confusion — about who Jan Erik Hanussen really was and what his role in the rise of the Nazis might have been. We find out about the various dubious accounts that have shaped public perception about this once-famous mesmerist and clairvoyant, and how an entire subcategory of popular hi...

Blown up while sailing on his fishing boat along the coast of County Sligo in Ireland in 1979, the assassination of Lord Mountbatten resulted in international condemnation of the IRA, which claimed responsibility for the blast. Three other people — two teenaged boys and a woman in her eighties — were also killed. Many wondered why the IRA had chosen to kill Mountbatten, an old man who had long ago...

On the 5th of November, 1605, a dastardly plot to assassinate King James and the English parliament was foiled. Many of the conspirators, most famously Guy Fawkes, were captured, tortured, and brutally executed. But might they have been mere pawns in some else’s game, part of a devious design to flush out enemies of the state and test the strength of England’s alliance with a foreign power? To fin...

Did Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal single-handedly nearly wipe out his dynasty, including his own parents and siblings? Or maybe he was a patsy, a pawn in someone else’s game … someone who stood to benefit most from one of the bloodiest moments in the country’s history. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www. Assassina...

One of the most vocal opponents and the State of Israel, Faisal lavished money on Palestinian causes. Following the 1973 Ramadan / Yom Kippur War, the Saudi king instituted an oil embargo against the United States and other countries that backed Israel. Other Muslim oil-producing countries joined the embargo, leading to the Energy Crisis, which had a damaging impact on the global economy. When Fai...

Long before the House of Saud became synonymous with fabulous wealth flowing from their oil rich kingdom, they were tribal warriors who aspired to unite the Arabian Peninsula — and control the holy cities of Mecca and Medina — under their flag and guided by their obscure interpretation of the Islamic faith. Before we look at the details of the assassination of King Faisal, this episode considers t...

We look at the life and death of another Alexander — this time it’s Tsar Alexander II of Russia. A reformer who granted freedom to some 23 million serfs, he was on the brink of signing into law a program of changes to the Russian system of government that could have set the empire on a democratic and constitutional route. But a team of assassins from a shadowy political group killed the tsar befor...

The slaying of the Yugoslavian king on the streets of Marseille, France, in 1934 sent shockwaves throughout Europe. His assassination by a squad of Croatian and Macedonian nationalist militants was part of an international conspiracy by more powerful forces that sought to reshape the map of Europe. After a narrative historical recounting of events, host Niall discusses the case with Dr. Chris Mill...

From a narrative historical account of the slaying of the Macedonian king, we move on to look at the fortunes of his son, Alexander the Great. And we ask the question: What might the world look like if Philip had lived? To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www. AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check o...

Before we start on Season 8 of the show, which will focus on the theme of royal assassinations, we take the opportunity to look at the life and death of the controversial Ukrainian nationalist figure. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www. AssassinationsPodcast.com. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, w...

Following on from last week’s conversation on the use of assassination by the US during the Cold War, culminating in the “Season of Inquiry” during the Ford administration, historian Luca Trenta discusses the evolving policy on assassination under successive presidents to the present day. Part 2 of 2. Check out producer Lindsey’s exciting new project, Vorpalab, which offers alternate reality games...