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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.
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True95% confidence5 sourcesOct 3, 2026Zorah Mandani was elected mayor.Said by 6CZohran Mamdani (spelled 'Zorah Mandani' in the claim and post) was elected New York City mayor in the November 4, 2025 election, as NBC, CNN, AP, and Snopes report. The spelling differs but refers to the same person, and the claim faithfully reflects the passage's 'now Mayor Zorah Mandani.'True95% confidence6 sourcesOct 3, 2026Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename artificial intelligence to super intelligence.Trump signed Executive Order 14434, 'Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence,' on September 29, 2026, directing agencies to use 'Super Intelligence' and 'SI' in place of 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'AI'. The claim omits the post's mention of polling, which no source addresses, and the AP report's reference to UN General Assembly remarks does not contradict the signing.True95% confidence6 sourcesOct 3, 2026Donald Trump met with the heads of six tech companies to sign the White House Accord on a Super intelligence.Multiple tier1 and primary sources confirm that Trump and the heads of six AI/tech companies (Google, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI/Musk, Nvidia) signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence at the White House on Sept. 29, 2026. The claim's wording matches the post, and the Sept. 29 date fits the post's 'Tuesday' reference.True93% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Greg Brockman, and Dario Amodei signed a document titled the White House Accords.Multiple tier-1 sources (AP, Reuters, BBC, Snopes) report that Trump and exactly these six executives (Pichai, Zuckerberg, Musk, Huang, Brockman, Amodei) signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence on September 29, 2026. The claim's title 'White House Accords' is a casual plural of the document's actual title, and the sources note that Musk and Brockman appear under xAI/SpaceX and OpenAI, which does not change the core claim.True70% confidence9 sourcesOct 3, 2026A White House memo identified Dario Amodei as a leading figure in the Effective Altruism movement.Multiple outlets report that a memo circulating within the White House, obtained by Axios, places Dario Amodei at the foundation of the effective altruism movement, which the memo describes as a fringe, cultish collective. The claim matches the passage's wording, and the main caveat is that nearly all coverage traces back to the Axios report.True85% confidence5 sourcesOct 3, 2026The U.S. War Department has been publicly attacking Anthropic and Effective Altruism.The sources show the Department of War and Secretary Hegseth publicly attacking Anthropic from February 2026 onward, and attacking effective altruism in September and early October 2026 ("Americanism, not effective altruism"). The claim was accurate as of 2026-10-03; the extraction's "as of last week" timing is a dropped qualifier, not a contradiction.True85% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has been fundraising using GOP email lists.The Intercept reported that Fetterman sent fundraising emails from GOP-linked addresses (info@gopsquad.com), and TIME independently obtained those emails. The Atlantic also reported on the GOP-aligned firm and payment processor involved, so the claim is supported as extracted from the passage.True85% confidence5 sourcesOct 3, 2026Campaign fundraising emails for John Fetterman were sent from the address info@gopsquad.com.The Intercept reports that an email sent by Fetterman's campaign came from info@gopsquad.com, and TIME independently reports fundraising appeals from that address. The claim matches the passage's wording and no source contradicts it, though neither outlet confirms the arrangement with the list owners, and Fetterman's campaign did not respond to comment requests.True85% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Senator Mike Lee sent a fundraising email stating that John Fetterman is basically a Republican and asking for help to draft him.The Atlantic obtained a solicitation from Sen. Mike Lee's fundraising list that reads "I just got an email from John. He's basically a Republican now. I need your help to draft him," and Time independently reports a Lee-sent fundraising email with the same text. The claim matches the passage and the sources, and no source contradicts it.True85% confidence7 sourcesOct 3, 2026Senator John Fetterman referred to himself as a Republican while speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival.Multiple outlets, including CNN, report that Fetterman called himself a "lifelong Republican" while answering an audience question at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, then was corrected to "Democrat" by moderator Major Garrett. The claim's core assertion is supported; the sources date the remark to Saturday, Sept. 26, not Sunday as the post says, but the claim does not state a date.True80% confidence5 sourcesOct 3, 2026Palantir was named a top supporter of the Congressional Black Caucus at their annual charitable gala.Multiple outlets report that Palantir was listed as a 'top supporter' at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's (the CBC's charitable arm) annual event in Washington in September 2026, with its name and logo on signage and a banner. The sources date the event to September rather than the post's 'this month' (October), and HuffPost calls it both a gala and a legislative conference, but these are peripheral details that do not change the core claim.True85% confidence4 sourcesOct 3, 2026The Congressional Hispanic Caucus returned donations from Palantir.Multiple sources report that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the caucus's affiliated charitable arm, publicly returned a Palantir donation in September 2026 after an outcry. The claim omits the Institute and refers to a single donation, but the core assertion that the Caucus returned Palantir money holds.