The Ridiculously Disturbing History of North Korea

Ridiculous History

iHeartPodcasts

History, Society & Culture

4.3 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As one of the most isolated countries on the planet, it's no surprise the Democratic People's Republic of Korea remains mysterious in the modern day. So, how did it become a thing? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the bizarre origin story of the "Hermit Kingdom," a totalitarian regime that is somehow both Communist and an absolute theocracy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ridiculous History is a production of IHeart Radio. Welcome back to the show.
0:28.0	Fellow ridiculous historians.
0:29.5	Thank you, as always, so much for tuning in.
0:32.8	Let's hear it for our dear leader himself, Mr. Max Williams.
0:38.4	Is there any good North Korean chance?
0:42.6	Yeah, yeah, yeah, actually.
0:44.3	We'll play one in a second.
0:47.2	I'm Bed Bull, and that is.
0:49.6	Noel Brown returned from some journeys.
0:56.3	Noel, to the degree that you're comfortable,
0:59.3	can you share with our fellow listeners,
1:02.1	your sojourns abroad?
1:05.1	Yes, I returned to my homeland, the fatherland,
1:09.0	Deutschland, where I wandered the black forests,
1:13.3	hunting for elk with my later hosen and my tiny bow and arrow.
1:14.8	No, I don't know about that.
1:15.7	You know, it's crazy, man.
1:17.5	I was around Lake Constance, which is I refer to in Germany as Baudensai, lovely little
1:24.8	seaside kind of town, lakeside town.
1:27.6	And to get there, I went through Munich.
1:30.9	And I actually stayed in Munich the night before I flew out.
1:34.5	In that very day, there was a bombing at Octoberfest.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.