Real Dictators Creators & Guests

Paul McGann is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial The Monocled Mutineer (1986), then starred in the dark comedy Withnail and I (1987), and later became more widely known for portraying the eighth incarnation of the Doctor in the 1996 Doctor Who television film (a role he has since reprised in more than 70 audio dramas and the 2013 mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor"). He is also known for playing Lieutenant William Bush in the series Hornblower.

Addison Nugent is a podcast producer. Currently, she is Head of Development for Noiser Podcasts.Previously, Nugent was a freelance journalist based out of Paris. Her work has appeared in OZY.COM, Vice Motherboard, and Messy Nessy Chic.

Pascal Hughes is a co-founder of Adelicious and founder of the Noiser network.Previously, Hughes was a Director for BBC TV.

Witold Szabłowski is a Polish journalist and author.

Alexander Hinton is a Professor of Anthropology and the Director of the ExternalCenter for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights.

Dr. Thomas Weber is a historian of European, international, and global political history from the 19th century to the present. Currently, he is Professor of History and International Affairs at University of Aberdeen. He is also the founding Director of the Centre of Global Security and Governance at the University of Aberdeen, an Associate Fellow of the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies at the University of Bonn, and Senior Associate of the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Munk School for Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.Previously, Weber has taught at Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and the University of Glasgow.Weber's first book, "Lodz Ghetto Album," was published in 2005 and won a Golden Light Award and an Infinity Award. His second book, "Our Friend 'The Enemy'," was published in 2008 and won a Duc d’Arenberg History Prize. His third book, "Hitler's First War," was published in 2010 and won an Arthur Goodzeit Book Award. His fourth book, "Becoming Hitler: The Making of a Nazi," was published in 2017.Weber receied his Ph.D. in Modern History from the University of Oxford.

Elizabeth Becker is a writer, journalist, and author of the book You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War.

Dr. Helen Roche is a German historian. Currently, she is Associate Professor in Modern European Cultural History at the University of Durham. Her research focuses on the history of everyday life under fascism in interwar Europe.Previously, Roche has held Research Fellowships at UCL Institute of Advanced Studies and the University of Cambridge.Roche's work has been appeared in The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and on the BBC and Sky News. Her first book, "Sparta's German Children: The Ideal of Ancient Sparta in the Royal Prussian Cadet-Corps, 1818-1920, and in National-socialist Elite Schools (the Napolas), 1933-1945," was published in 2013. Her second book, "The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: A History of the Napolas," was published in 2021.

Dr. Catherine Anne Merridale is a writer and historian with a special interest in Russian history. Currently, she is a freelance writer and senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.Merridale was Professor of Contemporary History at Queen Mary University of London until her retirement from full-time academia in 2014.Merridale's work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Statesman, The Independent, The Guardian, and the Literary Review. She has also contributed to BBC Radio. Her first book, "Moscow Politics and the Rise of Stalin: The Communist Party in the Capital, 1925-32," was published in 1990.

Daniel Smith is a nonfiction author and scriptwriter. Currently, he is a scriptwriter for the podcast production company Noiser.Previously, Smith was a contributing editor to The Statesman’s Yearbook, a geo-political guide to every country in the world published annually for over 150 years. Smith has published over 30 books, on subjects ranging from Sherlock Holmes and Steve Jobs to political scandals and the Second World War "Dig for Victory" campaign.

Duncan Barrett is a writer and editor who specialises in biography and memoir. He also works as an actor and theatre director.Barrett published several books in collaboration with other authors. His his first solo book, "Men of Letters," was published in 2014.