Assassinations Podcast

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 dubious details: Robinson’s unexplained hours on campus, multiple clothing changes, undetected rooftop assembly and firing, a 15-foot jump escape, ditching a reassembled rifle with his DNA, incriminating texts and notes (one destroyed), and surrender after a 33-hour manhunt facilitated by his parents and a Republican activist, yet no confession. Skeptics online have highlighted improbabilities like Robinson’s lack of marksmanship expertise, a massive security stand down at the UVU event, missing CCTV footage, possible evidence tampering by Kirk's team, and odd security guard movements moments before the shot — all suggesting the possibility that things aren’t quite as they are being portrayed by authorities. Joined by longtime friend of the podcast, Kit Klarenberg, we look at all that plus the evidence of Kirk’s evolving politics in the months leading up to his demise, including recent criticisms of Israeli influence and Zionist donors, and we consider the extraordinary media-fueled political division that followed the as-yet unexplained events at UVU.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 check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag. You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!You can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPodTo support the show and gain access to exclusive content, go to patreon.com/assassinationspodcastAssassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 economic decline, corruption, and political infighting. By 2010, he had lost public support and finished with just 5% of the vote. Later investigations cast doubt on the poisoning, with some suggesting it may have been a politically motivated fabrication.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 check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag. You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!If you’d like to support the show through our Patreon page, and get access to exclusive content, go to patreon.com/assassinationspodcastYou can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPodAssassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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. Skripal, who betrayed Russia for MI6 in the 1990s, was settled in Salisbury after a spy swap in 2010. On March 4, 2018, he and Yulia were found unconscious on a bench, allegedly poisoned by the nerve agent "novichok," which the British government attributed to Russian operatives. The official narrative claims this poison was smeared on Skripal’s door, though inconsistencies—such as the delayed onset of symptoms, the survival of the Skripals, and lack of definitive evidence linking the agent to Russia—raise doubts about the UK government’s story.Months later, Englishwoman Dawn Sturgess died after reportedly spraying herself with "novichok" from a sealed perfume bottle found by her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, prompting further accusations against Russia. However, the apparently sealed bottle and the inability of scientists to confirm the nerve agent’s origin undermined the government’s claims. The British narrative was shaky and possibly propped up by intelligence-linked entities like Bellingcat and the Institute for Statecraft’s Integrity Initiative, which may have pushed disinformation. The recently concluded Sturgess Inquiry, designed to control the narrative, inadvertently exposed its weaknesses.To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com You can find Tim’s work on the Propaganda in Focus website (https://propagandainfocus.com/author/h7_2q94aatnh5/) and UK Column (https://www.ukcolumn.org/writer/tim-norman), as well as on X.com @timtron2020Kit writes for The Grayzone website (https://thegrayzone.com/author/kit-klarenberg/), including on the Skripal/Sturgess case: https://thegrayzone.com/2025/01/13/british-inquiry-skripal-poisoning/. He’s also on X.com @KitKlarenbergYou can also contact the show through our website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!And you can find us on X @AssassinsPodAssassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com While there, you can check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag. You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!You can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPodAssassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 Mind Games: the Assassination of John Lennon.To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com There, you can find a map of the entrance area of the Dakota Building, taken from David Whelan’s book.You can order David’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Games-Assassination-John-Lennon/dp/B0CPMYSK9ZYou can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!And you can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPodAssassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 called “The Octopus”. His dead body was found in the bathtub of a hotel room in a small town in West Virginia on August 10th, 1991. He had gone there to meet at least one contact who was helping with his investigation. While police assumed it had been a suicide, not everything added up to that conclusion — not least the strange circumstances leading up to Casolaro’s death.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 check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, or shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag. You can also contact us through the website — we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and suggestions!You can find us on Twitter @AssassinsPodIf you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, videos, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 history was born — Occultism and the Nazis.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, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 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, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 Faisal was assassinated in 1975, many in the Muslim world thought that he had been targeted by the Americans or the Israelis in retaliation. Part 2 of 2.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, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 before he could sign the reforms into law, thus ushering in a period of political reaction that ultimately led to revolution. 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, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. The sponsor of today’s show is Athletic Greens. Head on over to athleticgreens.com/EMERGINGIf you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. If you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.

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 on blockchain: www.vorpalab.comTo find out more about Luca Trenta’s work, visit the Assassinations Podcast website, www.AssassinationsPodcast.com While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a logo tee or tote bag. You can contact us through the website - we love to hear your comments, questions, corrections, and general thoughts about the show.You can also find us on Twitter @AssassinsPodIf you’d like to support the show, we have a Patreon page. We offer a variety of different support levels with lots of fun perks, including bonus episodes, stickers, merch store credit, and more! Find us at patreon.com/AssassinationsPodcast Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band, Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.