Podcast · iheart.com
Behind the Bastards
Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous ideology, the founder of Blackwater’s insane quest to build his own Air Force, the bizarre lives of the sons and daughters of dictators and Saddam Hussein’s side career as a trashy romance novelist.
206 claims
True60% confidence4 sourcesOct 3, 2026Puny Maharaj is the executive director of National Nurses United.A National Nurses United press release dated August 5, 2025 says the union named Puneet Maharaj as its new executive director, succeeding Bonnie Castillo. No source contradicts that she still held the post on 2026-10-03, though the record is a year old and the source spells the name "Puneet" rather than "Puny", which appears to be the same person's nickname. The other sources are unrelated or empty.True85% confidence6 sourcesOct 3, 2026Oil prices have increased because of the war involving the United States and Israel in Iran.Sources published around the 2026-10-03 posting date consistently attribute the rise in oil prices to the US-Israeli war on Iran and Iran's disruption of Strait of Hormuz shipping, and show Brent up sharply over the period. The claim matches the post's wording, and the causal link is supported by multiple outlets, though the sources are mostly dated after the posting date and some note that supply flows were partly recovering.True90% confidence5 sourcesOct 3, 2026Deck officers at Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group voted to unionize with the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots in 2024.The 2024 MM&P union elections at Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group are well documented: the NLRB tally for the OSG unit shows a win for the union, and OnLabor and MarineLink report that the union won 80% at ATC and 70% at OSG in NLRB-certified elections in 2024. The claim's wording matches the post and the sources, and the dispute is over the later bargaining, not the vote.True75% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Deck officers at Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group have not received a first contract two years after voting to unionize.Multiple sources describe licensed deck officers at Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group as still without a first contract more than two years after their 2024 union elections, and the NLRB ordered bargaining in 2026. The companies are appealing those orders rather than bargaining, so the claim held as of 2026-10-03 and no source reports a contract since.True90% confidence5 sourcesOct 3, 2026The National Labor Relations Board ordered Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group to recognize the union and start bargaining.The NLRB issued bargaining orders against Alaska Tanker Company (May 19, 2026, per an NLRB weekly summary) and against Overseas Shipholding Group (August 4, 2026, per the Board's decision and order), requiring recognition of and bargaining with the MM&P union. The claim matches the passage's referent, which is the two companies' deck officers. The companies have appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, but the orders stand as reported and the appeal does not make the claim false.True70% confidence4 sourcesOct 3, 2026Subsidiaries of Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group received millions of dollars in federal subsidies.Sources support the core claim that Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group, both Saltchuk subsidiaries, receive millions in federal subsidies through the Tanker Security Program. One outlet frames the subsidies as flowing to the parent, Saltchuk, rather than the subsidiaries, and no source states the exact subsidiary-level breakdown.True75% confidence8 sourcesOct 3, 2026An Iranian military official identified Overseas Shipholding Group as a candidate for potential retaliatory measures.Multiple reports from August 2026 say an Iranian military official, relayed by Nournews and Iranian state media on August 18, named Overseas Shipholding Group among companies under scrutiny for supporting US military logistics and warned of potential retaliatory measures. The post's wording is a faithful paraphrase, and the statement predates the October 3 posting, so the claim was true on that date. The reports largely trace back to the same Nournews/Iranian state media item, which limits independent corroboration.True60% confidence4 sourcesOct 3, 2026Cesar Alarcon identified himself as a representative for Progressive Workers of the World Local 311 at a Golden Cross Manufacturing plant in the Bronx.Investigative reporting by Documented (republished by the Queens Daily Eagle) says Cesar Alarcón, described as a representative for Progressive Workers of the World Local 311, showed up at the Bronx plant and met workers, which supports the claim's core. The source names the plant 'Golden Krust' rather than 'Golden Cross Manufacturing', and the podcast's 'Alison' is a transcription of Alarcón, so the extraction matches the post's own referent; the name difference appears to be a mistranscription of the same Bronx plant.True60% confidence2 sourcesOct 3, 2026Workers at the Golden Cross Manufacturing plant in the Bronx are unionized with IBEW Local Union 1430.The Bronx plant workers' IBEW Local 1430 representation is supported by a September 2026 report describing IBEW Local 1430 as the current union at the plant, and an NLRB dismissal of a rival union petition because a valid contract was in place. The post and that report name the plant differently ('Golden Cross' vs. 'Golden Krust'), but the surrounding details match, so they appear to describe the same plant; the claim's 'IBW' typo in the post was corrected to IBEW and is not a substantive change.True90% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Joe Biden prevented a railroad workers strike from occurring.Multiple sources show Biden brokered a tentative rail labor deal in September 2022 that averted a strike, then pushed Congress to impose the deal, and he signed the bill on December 2, 2022, which ended the threat of a rail strike. The claim's core assertion that Biden prevented the strike is supported, though the post's 'killed off' framing is rhetorical and the 2022 events are the referent, not the 2026 posting date.True90% confidence6 sourcesOct 3, 2026Workers at an AutoZone location in White Plains, New York, voted to join UAW Local 259.The NLRB tally shows a White Plains AutoZone store voted 6-4 on September 25, 2026 to join UAW Local 259, and independent reports from the AFL-CIO, Jacobin, The Chief and a UAW newsletter agree. The vote happened before the October 3 posting, so the claim was true on that date; the later firings of organizers do not change the vote outcome.True60% confidence4 sourcesOct 3, 2026AutoZone spent over 200,000 dollars to oppose the unionization effort at the White Plains store.Multiple sources report that AutoZone spent roughly $200,000 opposing the White Plains unionization effort, but every figure is an estimate by the watchdog LaborLab, built from attorney costs and executive salaries, not a documented expenditure. The claim's 'over $200,000' is slightly stronger than the 'around' or 'about' used in the sources, a minor imprecision that does not change the verdict.