Despot’s Bookshelf: Recent Episodes
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Part 2! The Ruhnama (also known as the Pink Book) was the seminal work of Saparmurat Niyazov, the President of Turkmenistan from 1990 to 2006. Spoiler alert: During his rule Niyazov banned the word Turkmen word for bread and, in its place, decreed that the foodstuff formerly known as bread would forever more be known as his mother's name. So you can imagine what this book is like.
The Ruhnama (also known as the Pink Book) was the seminal work of Saparmurat Niyazov, the President of Turkmenistan from 1990 to 2006. Spoiler alert: During his rule Niyazov banned the word Turkmen word for bread and, in its place, decreed that the foodstuff formerly known as bread would forever more be known as his mother's name. So you can imagine what this book is like.
It is surprisingly easy to misspell 'Despot's' as 'Depot's'. Having fallen foul of that on a number of occasions, Despot's Bookshelf presents to you a very special Depot's Bookshelf episode. About parcel distribution logistics. Because...why not?
Donald Trump. Bon vivant. Lover of fake tan. Leader of the Free World. And also a good author? Here we discuss Trump's seminal Art of the Deal. We read it so you don't have to.
Nestor Makhno founded the closest thing to an anarchist state the world has ever seen. Standing between the Red and White Armies at the height of the Russian Civil War, Makhno's Black Army rejected Lenin's view that achieving Communism required the imposition of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and sought to build a libertarian communist state in the Ukraine. He also might have done bad things to a troupe of performing dwarves. But that is potentially a Bolshevik slur. Ahem.
Lenin. The founder of the Soviet Union. And a bad guy. But what sort of writer was he? The State and Revolution was Lenin's attempt to outline a practical application of Marxism. Here we discuss whether it is worth reading.
Originally a relatively run of the mill dictator, Colonel Gaddafi's relationship with sanity seemed to come to an abrupt end in 1977, when he declared himself Libya's 'Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution'. In this two-part episode, we discuss Gaddafi's seminal (and more interesting than you might think) work on political philosophy, the Green Book.
Originally a relatively run of the mill dictator, Colonel Gaddafi's relationship with sanity seemed to come to an abrupt end in 1977, when he declared himself Libya's 'Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution'. In this two-part episode, we discuss Gaddafi's seminal (and more interesting than you might think) work on political philosophy, the Green Book.
What do accordion playing, ethnic cleansing and reviving a defunct monarchical title have in common? Idi Amin, the former President of Uganda, of course! But what did Amin believe? Here we review his 1975 speech to the UN General Assembly.
North Korea. Where do you even begin? Juche is the totalitarian state's official ideology. Eternal Leader Generalissimo Kim Jong-il claimed it was an ideology of self-sufficiency, creativity and independence (!!). Here we explore what it really is. And how you pronounce it.
Saddam Hussein was widely considered one of the fiercest tyrants of the 20th century. Best known for his penchant for gold plated guns, he is less well known for his contributions to political philosophy. Not many people know that Hussein gave a series of speeches discussing his views on the perfect democracy. In this episode we discuss those speeches.