The fourteenth of a sixteen-part series about twentieth-century Romania, this episode explores the life of Vlad Dracula, "the Impaler", a clever and relentless man of gruesome legend; his triple-crossing of two heavyweights of consequence - the Hungarian Catholic John Hunyadi, AKA the "White Knight of Wallachia", and the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinople; and the long-awaited trial and execution of deposed despots Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu.
The fourteenth of a sixteen-part series about twentieth-century Romania, this episode explores the life of Vlad Dracula, "the Impaler", a clever and relentless man of gruesome legend; his triple-crossing of two heavyweights of consequence - the Hungarian Catholic John Hunyadi, AKA the "White Knight of Wallachia", and the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinople; and the long-awaited trial and execution of deposed despots Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu.
Series: Ceaușescu's Downfall (14/16)
Music: "Symphony No.7, 2nd movement" by Beethoven
"Symphony No.9, 4th movement" by Beethoven
"Utan Utan" by Selda Bağcan
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" by They Might Be Giants
"There He Is Again" by The Hues Corporation, from the surprisingly-enjoyable 1972 blaxploitation horror film "Blacula"
"Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by Bach
"If That's the Way You Want It" by Tavares
"Symphony No.4, Winter movement" by Vivaldi
"Preludes Op.28 No.15 (D-Flat Major)" by Vladimir Horowitz
Outro: "It's All Over but the Crying" by The Ink Spots
Referenced: The glory of the Hagia Sophia (Masterclass); Lee Miller's bosom (New Yorker); first interview with Dorin-Marian Cirlan (Guardian); second interview with Cirlan (blogspot); and the full transcript of the closed trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu (Wikisource).
Corrections: That Dr. Dre song was not "Light Speed", but rather "Let's Get High". Oh, what an eager fool I was. Sorry, Dre.
Queen Elizabeth II cannot "die soon" as she chose, coincidentally, to die during the short period I was editing this episode. What a spiteful bitch.
Gold is not a bacteria-resistant metal. In addition to the aforementioned copper, zinc, and nickel, there is also tin, lead, and titanium, among others.
It's Samuel L. Jackson, not Morgan Freeman, who stars in the movie Unthinkable. I literally can't believe I said that; I was staring at the movie poster, too. Wow. (How could I have possibly confused them, anyway? I know their filmographies backward and forward. Now I feel as stupid as that "entertainment reporter" who mistook Samuel L. Jackson for Laurence Fishburne, while talking to Samuel L. Jackson.)
Hosni Mubarak was Egypt's leader; Libya's overthrown autocrat was Muammar Gaddafi. He was lynched in the street by his people, in 2011, and it was both gruesome and hilarious.
"Genius of the Carpathians" was a biography of Nicolae Ceaușescu; the Hannibal Barca podcast by Dan Carlin, that I mistook it for, was "Punic Nightmares". I am so very, very sorry for being a dungo-brain.
Kris's most recent book: Circle Game, a short story collection (intermittent tales of transgressive fiction and historical nonfiction; available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book forms)
~ Dan Schneider's White Slime ~