In short
Part 1 of “Papa Doc: Haitian Dictator,” set in Haiti’s history leading to François “Papa Doc” Duvalier. The episode covers the Haitian slave revolution (1791–1804), Haiti’s aftermath and isolation, Duvalier’s rise, U.S. Marines’ 1915–1934 occupation, his “Papadoc” reputation from curing yaws with penicillin, and the creation of the Tonton Macoute death squad after a failed 1957 coup.
Guests
Horatio Gould (co-host/guest). Bill Simmons is the main host.
Key claims
Haiti’s revolution was the only successful slave revolt; Haiti later became extremely poor and politically violent, blamed largely on Duvalier and France’s reparations. Duvalier’s power philosophy becomes “you don’t have to be loved, you have to be feared.” After a diabetic coma/near-death, he rules as a myth/voodoo-backed figure.
Notable examples
1791 voodoo ceremony (Aug 14) near a port; leaders Dutty Boukman and Cécile Fatiman; 1804 independence as first free black republic; 1957 coup by Pasquet (eight men); Tonton Macoute terror (night raids, public executions); Duvalier’s yaws cures earning “Papadoc.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroduction to Haiti's History
1:27 to 2:12
Explore the historical context leading to Haiti’s status today.
“And I'm delighted to say that today and this week we're in the Caribbean.”
The Aftermath of the 1804 Revolution
2:17 to 3:31
Discuss the impact of the 1804 revolution and Haiti's struggles.
“The United States fucked around a lot with them, to be fair.”
Living Conditions and Diet in Haiti
3:38 to 4:20
Understand the dire living conditions and diet in Haiti.
“It's a country where the main thing they eat is dirt cookies.”
Cultural Context of Haiti
4:33 to 6:17
Learn about the cultural and historical context of Haiti's struggles.
“Now, Haiti occupies the western half of the island of Hispaniola.”
The Haitian Revolution's Leaders
6:28 to 8:31
Meet the key figures in the Haitian revolution.
“Don't even talk to me until you pick the coffee.”
Catalyst of the Haitian Revolution
8:34 to 12:53
Investigate the significance of the voodoo ceremony in the revolution.
“That's the equivalent of being called gay for reading in Haitian society.”
Reparations and Economic Impact
13:05 to 14:00
Examine the implications of reparations on Haiti's economy.
“France, the country who had been their masters, they asked for reparations because they have had their slaves taken away.”
Understanding the Term 'Mulatto'
14:00 to 14:42
Learn about the origins and implications of the term 'mulatto' in relation to race.
“So it's called mulatto, which is not a politically correct term.”
The Brutality of Haitian Politics
14:42 to 15:15
Explore the violent history of Haitian leadership and its impact on society.
François Duvalier's Early Life
15:15 to 16:48
Discover the early life of François Duvalier and the harsh realities of Haiti.
“It's probably the most violent place in the world.”
Show all 24 chapters
US Occupation of Haiti
16:48 to 18:54
Understand the context and consequences of the US occupation of Haiti.
“Now, in 1915, the US Marines occupy Haiti because there was a geopolitical anxiety about the Germans in the Caribbean.”
Duvalier's Medical Career and Voodoo Influence
18:54 to 21:04
Examine Duvalier's medical career and his connection with voodoo in Haitian culture.
“So it's about, yeah, trying to give power back to that.”
Duvalier's Rise in Government
21:04 to 22:47
Learn about Duvalier's entry into government and his evolving racial rhetoric.
“Duvali gets this name Papadoc because he gets penicillin from the US and travels on foot through all the remote villages and curing thousands of people.”
Coup and the Rise of Duvalier's Power
22:47 to 24:25
Explore the political turmoil in Haiti leading to Duvalier's rise to power.
“But your wang is so below average that it takes you half an hour to go, oh yeah, my dick's out.”
Machiavelli's Influence on Duvalier
24:25 to 26:09
Discover how Machiavelli's writings shaped Duvalier's political philosophy.
“And then he fucking tried to lobotomise himself or something to make him straight.”
The Concept of Voodoo in Society
26:09 to 27:25
Delve into the societal perceptions and realities of voodoo in Haitian culture.
“So by 1954, he sort of become the central opposition figure.”
Controversial Discussions on Morality
27:25 to 28:00
Engage in a provocative conversation about morality and consent in a humorous context.
“I think that was implied when you said it'd be good if priests had voodoo sex dolls.”
Voodoo and Philosophy of Molestation
28:00 to 30:20
Explore a humorous and philosophical debate on the concept of molestation using voodoo dolls.
“There's a guy just going like that on a doll and he's like, oh.”
Duvalier's Rise to Power
30:20 to 33:30
Learn about François Duvalier's ascent to the presidency of Haiti in 1957 and the early challenges he faced.
“Anyway, we're talking about the president of Heishi in the 50s.”
The Creation of the Tonton Makoute
33:30 to 38:15
Understand how Duvalier established the Tonton Makoute as a means of control and terror in Haiti.
“Which is an ogre in voodoo folk tales, right?”
Women in Duvalier's Regime
40:04 to 42:00
Explore the role of women in Duvalier's government and the notorious Madame Max Adolph.
“But she does also receive monthly rent from US Special Forces for the use of her compound.”
Castro's Impact on Duvalier's Regime
42:00 to 46:08
Explore how Castro's rise influenced Duvalier's leadership in Haiti.
“Elected last week as councillor for the Omniputunda constituency.”
Duvalier's Medical Crisis and Transformation
46:08 to 48:46
Learn about Duvalier's heart attack and its psychological effects on his rule.
“He's no longer his sane, rational, reasonable self.”
Duvalier's Medical Crisis and Transformation
49:22 to 49:53
Learn about Duvalier's heart attack and its psychological effects on his rule.
“Elevate your post-performance ritual with saunas, steam rooms, cold plunges, and more.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Push your limits, train with precision, see the results. At Equinox, that's high performance loving. Everything you need to lock in and unlock your potential at Equinox. Start today at equinox.com. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans.
0:45Hey, I'm running out to drop off a stack of letters and packages. Need anything shipped while I'm gone? Save the gas. Stamps.com lets you print postage and schedule pickups right from your desk. Sync your contacts into the address book, get detailed accounting insights, and get notified the moment your certified mail is delivered. All from my desk? All from your desk. Join the 4 million businesses using Stamps.com right now with code podcast and get your free welcome gift. Stamps.com code podcast. Taxes and fees apply.
1:27Welcome back to Finn vs. History. I'm joined by Horatio Gould. Woohoo! And I'm delighted to say that today and this week we're in the Caribbean. Easy. This is easy. Easy, Brenner. We are in Haiti. Yep. For the... This is Aylan Gaddafi. Here we go. When we started this podcast, you wouldn't have come strong with that. No. But my word, what a year it's been. Yep. It's been a long year. It's been a long year and we've worn him down. And now he's just firing West Indian accents off the court. we're in haiti for papadoc yes uh the voodoo dictator there we go it's lovely stuff this yeah if you can't have fun with this then why are you in the game palm tree mussolini palm tree mussolini plant in hitler whatever take your pick take your pick we're in haiti which is now uh it's a long history before papadoc um it's a very interesting history but it it has led to i don't think this is offensive to say but the worst country on earth they would admit it I was reading this morning about the 1804 revolution in Haiti it's the first ever country amazing to overthrow slavery it's a black republic it used to be the most profitable Connolly and it's undertaught in schools because now it's the shittest country in the world yes and the optics of that are quite bad if you're anti-slavery well yeah it's complicated I'm not I'm not saying what are you saying I'm not saying what are you saying with a big smug look at your face no I'm just saying why is it not taught in schools is because you know the narrative isn't great from an anti-slavery perspective overthrow slavery it's by any metric the shitiest place in the world now those are just two facts yeah you know coincidence does not equal causality i'm not saying they do but it's uh it's a bad place sure real bad place and a lot of that is to do with um duvalier yeah the man we will be discussing this series It wasn't immediately terrible from the slave revolution.
3:20There was like, there's ups and downs. In the early 1900s, they had a chance. The United States fucked around a lot with them, to be fair. They did, but also - But it has resulted in the worst country in the world. Yes. To live in. It's the poorest in the Western hemisphere. It seems like a fucking nightmare, to be honest. It really does. Yeah, yeah. It's a country where the main thing they eat is dirt cookies. i guess you get maybe a tiny bit of what you'd have bread and then you you mix them with mud right and like kind of i guess like cement or something and then you can just make loads of them and it doesn't even what it does it just gives you the idea of being full but okay has no nutritional value so it's a bit like a cookie what's it it's like a gastric bypass yeah i guess it makes you fit the dirt is mixed so it's dirt strained to remove rocks and clumps the dirt is mixed with salt and vegetable shortening or other fat so it's a salty um ceramic cookie it's a coaster yeah yeah it's a ceramic coaster pretty gnarly to be honest that's a haytian biscuit so soggy biscuit in asia is a very very difficult game yeah that's where the worlds are held yeah yeah yeah that's the world series peak um the champions league of soggy biscuit it takes place in the haze.
4:40This is not China. Now, Haiti occupies the western half of the island of Hispaniola. The other half is Dominican Republic, I think. How's Dominican Republic getting on? Do you know? Well, is that technically a US territory? I don't know. You don't hear much about that. It's doing well. Economically booming. Due to a tourism sector. So that is quite interesting that there's literally the same island kind of half. Its main problem is that it borders Haiti, which is a significant security concern. it's like having a heroin addict in the family yes turning up on christmas day my main issue is my fucking piece of shit cousin haiti was formerly the french colony of san dominique yeah and it was the most profitable colony in the world in the 18th century sugar coffee uh indigo i don't know what that is i'll keep the sugar in the coffee you have the indigo what is that is that color i don't care it's blue dye right so this is for french people to dye their hair yeah what blue is the warmest color yeah just sort of lesbian yeah they're getting sugar they're getting coffee they're dying their hair fringe and they're going on about fucking poetry okay so it's for non-binary french people yes yeah the huge industry that was booming we must not forget that non-binary french people are built on the backs of slaves it was a bad place in the 18th century if you were working there working again it's probably not the right word i don't know if you live to work what you work to live uh in in haiti the 18th century you're sort of working to die i guess and you and you but you weren't dying to work no you weren't you weren't coming in the morning going oh another day here we go um around dying at work though you were dying at work and from work yeah yeah uh work was everything yeah but first coffee i need to get coffee beans or else I'll be killed.
6:27It was coffee all day, actually. Don't even talk to me until you pick the coffee. First thing is you get all that coffee and last thing is you still get all that coffee. Don't even talk to me, the white guy, until you pick my coffee. Now, around 773 ,000 people are enslaved there during the 80th century alone. The death rate from yellow fever meant at least 50 % of the slaves died within a year of arriving. Now, yellow fever is not what your uncle calls being horny for Chinese people. That's a tropical disease. Yeah. the death rate was so high that polyandry develops as a common form of marriage.
7:03Right. So as a response to a high death rate, polycules form. Yes, sort of. But it's more polyandry is women with lots of men. Bonnie Blue. Is it? Yeah. Oh, so what's the, what's men with lots of women? Bigamy. Is it? Yeah. Oh, okay. No, polyamory is the general. Everyone. Interesting. um so it feels like when there's a low death rate you polycules come in right because you're running out of things to complain about yes and there's a really high death rate it's like a horseshoe right of of polycules well in the way that bonnie blue is the death of society the death of the west because we didn't we didn't have anything we didn't have any natural predators yes exactly we just just said let's fucking do this i've got nothing else to do and now in 1791 the enslaved Haitians rose in revolt because France, who'd been running the colony, they just had their French Revolution.
7:52Yes. And they'd said that we're all equal. Everyone is equal. Yeah. Apart from you guys. Apart from you guys over there, you're not technically people. Yeah. So under leaders such as Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, they, over the course of the next 10 years, they defeat the armies of France, Britain and Spain. Group of death. Yeah. Yeah. That's a tough to get through that. To be fair, they've done very well. Yeah. The odds were long on Haiti qualifying. There's Iceland in the 2016 Euros. There's also leaders in the Haitian revolt with names such as Dutty Buchman, who's an enslaved leader and a voodoo priest.
8:34Is that just someone who reads? Dutty Buchman. That's the equivalent of being called gay for reading in Haitian society. Here, you're Dutty Buchman. And then we've got Cécile Fatiman, who is a woman. Cécile Fatiman. these are good names but but everyone in this story sounds like a sort of early 2000s sean paul rapper that's the problem with papa doc shanda paul and dutty borkman they these people and people like this had kind of um there was this thing called voodoo which had developed over the course of the slave uh trade because it was uh a different african religion well there was lots of different folk tribal religions in west africa yeah and then little bits of it survived the journey over yeah sort of like a bastardization of that but it blended it married with french catholicism yes and i think you think's voodoo anyway yeah so it's all nonsense really uh yeah it doesn't really make sense to me is voodoo yes they're waving incense around they're drinking wine they're having a biscuit it's not a real biscuit like it's not no you should sit in a classroom and be quiet yes that's what churches should be yeah anyway a famous voodoo ceremony in 1791 is often described as the catalyst for the slave uprising that eventually leads to haitian independence um so they get fired up basically it fires them up yeah but white slave owners generally see them as kind of nonsense so they kind of they go they let them have it right uh but on the night of the 14th of august 1791 a group of enslaved africans gather in a forest near we don't know where um near a port
10:08you've placed it they know where it is near a port yeah uh well you ever been to haiti listeners of course you haven't it's the shittest place in the world um not my words he wants to pull back but no it's statistically the shittest place statistically yeah by any metric but then if you're haitian and we're wrong uh do ring in let us know yeah maybe maybe all those studies are wrong push your limits train with precision, see the results. At Equinox, that's high performance loving. Everything you need to lock in and unlock your potential at Equinox. Start today at equinox.com. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT.
10:47Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans. Hey, I'm running out to drop off a stack of letters and packages. Need anything shipped while I'm gone? Save the gas. Stamps.com lets you print postage and schedule pickups right from your desk.
11:25Sync your contacts into the address book, get detailed accounting insights, and get notified the moment your certified mail is delivered. All from my desk? All from your desk. Join the 4 million businesses using Stamps.com right now with code podcast and get your free welcome gift. Stamps.com, code podcast. Taxes and fees apply. So the voodoo religious ceremony on the night of August 14th, they used that to plan a revolt against the French plantation owners. This is where Dutty Bookman and Cecil Fatty Man involved. They headline, they drop some sick songs. You used to be a Cecil Fatty Man, didn't you?
11:59I knew I got high. I knew I got high. I knew I got high. Yeah. That's Fat Man Scoop. Right. Who will come into this story. Anyway. No, that wasn't. That was... That was... I got my thing. That's Eddie Graham. No, it's Afro Man. Afro Man. Fuck. Fat Man Scoop. Oh, the chicken head's Be quiet! That one, that's Fat Man's Scoot. Right. They supposedly sacrificed a black pig to the spirits, and they then drank its blood. And in the days that follow, all the plantations erupt in revolt. They set the slaves free. And this starts the Haitian Revolution, which, as we've said - Which is the only successful slave revolt.
12:40Yes, ever. Ever. And in 1804, Haitia becomes the first free black republic. It's also the first free nation in the Western Hemisphere after the USA. Crazy. Crazy stuff. It's the largest slave uprising since Spartacus. I'm bookman. I'm Dutty Bookman. No, I'm Dutty Bookman. Me, Spartacus. Anyway. No back lift on that one. No. Ronaldinho against Chelsea. But independence came at a cost. Now, this is very, very funny. France, the country who had been their masters, they asked for reparations because they have had their slaves taken away. They have. Yeah, they've had their vandalism. When we talk about slave reparations, we never hear about the case for the other reparations on the other side, which is that you've ruined our economy.
13:28Well, you think Haiti should still pay some reparations to France? I think if we're in the discussion about slave reparations, there are two sides to that coin. It's a day, it's a worm. It's a can of worms opening that, isn't it? Now, Haiti is diplomatically isolated. It's economically fucked because France, I think pretty quickly... I mean, they've never had a chance, to be fair, to Haiti. And for some reason, they pay all these reparations. But what they've left in Haiti is this sort of structure where 90 % of people are like originally black Africans. And then you have this sort of 10 % elite class of light skinned.
14:02So it's called mulatto, which is not a politically correct term. Do you know why? Why? Because it comes from the Spanish for mule. Okay. So it's horses and donkeys, i.e. white and black people mixing. So it's pretty un-PC stuff. Yeah. You put it in your pocket, that'll come out later. Yeah. Bank. so the light-skinned elite dominate uh commerce education and with the light-skinned elite were they also enslaved i don't think so i think they were kind of the civil service right now seeking export revenue the leaders forced the peasants back into plantation work so it's basically slavery in another name so basically it's like we freed ourselves we still need to make money that coffee's on who's picking no that's basically but it's similar to supporting black business though yeah it's the black pound yeah yeah but you remember in the russian revolution series where they abolished serfdom and then they basically say to the serfs you now you bought your freedom with money you didn't have you have to pay that loan back so get back back to work back to it it's it's that it's slavery versus indentured servitude is that what that is anyway now politically heishi uh has is and to this day is still a bin fire right yeah uh presidents are assassinated, overthrown, mutilated.
15:18It's probably the most violent place in the world. Yeah, that maybe or Belize or something. And this is the world into which our protagonist, François Duvalier, the hero of this story, is born. So he's born on April the 14th, 1907. By the way, the leader of the Slavery Revolt, who was that? Who was the big guy? Jean-Jacques Dessalines is the leader. He got ripped apart in town square, I believe. Yes, and fed to pigs. fed to pigs in three years time so he frees the country from slavery and then that country then feed him to the pigs it's a tough start it's a tough start now François Duvalier is born on April 14th 1907 in Port-au-Prince which is the capital of Hauchy his father is a teacher and a journalist and a justice of the peace and his mother is a baker but he's largely raised by his aunt Madame Forstel now from childhood Duvalier absorbs this brutal lesson that you only really get power in Haiti if you're fucking mad.
16:17Yeah. So by age six, he had already seen multiple heads of state die violently. The founding fathers, you said, have been fed to the pigs. Other leaders are blown apart, impaled, poisoned. One of them was blown up. I think a president is impaled and just left on the spikes outside the government buildings. If you were going to do that to Starmer, what would be your choice? Of killing him? Yeah. I don't know. No, he's just so bland. You just smother him with a pillow. Blow him up? Blow him up. Pump him until he explodes. Oh, I see. Right, yeah, yeah. Bike pump. Inflate him. Yeah. Right. Now, in 1915, the US Marines occupy Haiti because there was a geopolitical anxiety about the Germans in the Caribbean.
17:02Was there an anxiety? Can you imagine? So there's a mental health thing. Germans in the Caribbean. Bloodclad. sorry i was very excited for that yeah i can see how do you prep that this morning i thought of that this morning i thought of that i got very excited when else could you say that no it's true anyway blood clad um yeah imagine oh my god yeah i mean yeah caribbean hitler what could have been a man
17:37it's hard to do it's caribbean downfall's hard you're nearly there
17:46hey my brother hey my camp
17:54anyway yeah they think the germans are gonna get involved in the caribbean but really they use it as an excuse to just fuck katie over they even only hire marines from the confederate ex-confederate states So they choose specifically incredibly racist. Who are the worst people we know? Who's the most racist are the racists? And so the reality is a racist military occupation that lasts for 19 years. There's massacres. Black Haitians are subjected to - And what does it mean, just anxiety? Are they just scared that, I don't know, someone's going to take - Because World War I is a global naval war.
18:26They just think that, I don't know what the Germans have been doing to foster that anxiety. I don't know, just being anxious. Foster that anxiety. But there are beatings, there are forced labour, heavy taxation, roads are built with unpaid labor under armed guard the sovereignty is essentially destroyed this is a duvalier hates the u.s at a young age um uh now when the americans withdraw in 1934 duvalier he's from a middle-class family yeah uh as with all the greatest cunts in his history they're always like they've always been middle class yes yeah in like a fucked country they'll have like the biggest shed yeah um duvalier graduates as a doctor uh he worked in hospitals and he becomes closely associated with black nationalist intellectuals who promote noirism, which is the belief that Haitians' problems stemmed from a domination by a light-skinned elite.
19:14So it's kind of black populism. Yeah. No extent of the population are black. Yeah. So it's about, yeah, trying to give power back to that. So he also immerses himself in voodoo, which is Haitian. That's ground zero for voodoo. Yeah. Now, obviously, as white Westerners, we see voodoo as like scary, spooky, black magic. But it's everything. That's one part of voodoo. Yeah. It is a part of it. I mean, you see like clips of black people reacting to magic. Yeah. There's an element of that. Yeah, definitely, of course. Voodoo. What's amazing about voodoo is it's sort of a religion where they purposely try to spook themselves.
19:49It's like, most religions that it's got built this whole kind of moral framework, for them it's just like, what's gonna freak you out the most? Booga booga! Oh! Yeah. Great. You're going to church to get scared. um so uh like mysticism and authority are sort of deeply linked this is this is an idea in haiti that to be president you must have done a deal with the devil right um which i feel like a bad starting point yeah for kind of off you know legitimacy of power yeah exactly so he studies public health at the university of michigan there is um there's this thing called yours charlie can you google yours it's a disease that affects children mainly yeah it's pretty fucked actually.
20:30It's pretty messed up. Let's have a look. Yeah. It's like, it's a tropical infection of the skin, bones and joints caused by a bacteria. Disease begins with a round, hard swelling of the skin. It's like an ulcer. It's sort of, is it like Ebola-esque? Yeah. The bones become misshapen. The bone is more blood, isn't it? Yeah, it's pretty gnarly. Pretty nasty stuff. And this is rattling through Haiti, right? Ripping through the middle order. Tearing through them. Yours is steaming in and the Haitians have got no answers for it. But Papadoc gets this name. Duvali gets this name Papadoc because he gets penicillin from the US and travels on foot through all the remote villages and curing thousands of people.
21:15That's pretty good. And so to the Haitians unfamiliar with modern medicine, they seem kind of miraculous. This is when he gets the name Papadoc. And he also, this is where he starts to see the kind of reality of Haitian society. Outside of the city, it's not different rural Haitians. And also, he realizes how important voodoo is to, yeah, to, yeah, normal Haitians. So, he then enters government under President Dumas, estimé, serving as Director of Public Health. But his rhetoric starts to grow increasingly racially charged. But his race is racially charged against mixed race people. Interesting.
21:53Yeah. Which is, it's funny that we, there's never any racism just about mixed race people, is it? yeah i mean from the white perspective anyway no i mean you can see this there's the light-skinned dark-skinned is it called colorism yeah there's there's a lot of dialogue going on there that basically there's a lot of dialogue going on like light skinned have it easy yeah colorism is a yeah i think that's within the black community and i've noticed on tiktok is basically implying that light-skinned are sort of like corny and gay right they're sort of like drake okay do you know what i mean yeah so there's a bit of that going on but then i think there's colorism within the white community.
22:28Yeah. In the eye, you know, Italians. Yeah. Or even gingers. So, now in 1950, Estime is overthrown. Duvalier opposes the queue. Looks like you, Charlie. Sorry. I was, yeah. Charlie just looked at him white Muslim ginger and it looks like you. Exactly like you. Yeah. If you've not seen, if you've never seen Charlie, look at the screen. That's what he looks like. He's a white Muslim ginger. That's who we've got. They all look like you. They're all different people. That's who we've got behind the screen. Who's Muslim Al-Yak? Al - Muhammad Al-Yak. Al-Anu Akbar. Yeah, that's you. That's crazy. So did you just do your flys out?
23:04Yeah, yeah. Christ. This happens in nearly every episode. Really? Yeah, I never read. You started with your wang out. Yeah. But your wang is so below average that it takes you half an hour to go, oh yeah, my dick's out. Well, if your flys are undone, is your dick just flopping out? Yeah. But there is a thing, apparently white Muslims, they're mostly ginger. Most guys who go, most white guys who go Muslim yeah because they're already ostracized from kind of white culture really? yeah yeah it's a thing yeah it makes sense white Muslim ginger stats I think most of us are a ginger because they empathize with being racially abused well I can't I can't tell you but it's a thing redheads are attracted to ginger jihadis redheads are attracted to radical Islam but that's not Islam is it?
23:49no is that written by Miley Unopolis? that is written by Miley Unopolis You know, that guy I showed you, that's the guy who wrote that. So this is the problem, is that Charlie's just citing Milo Yiannopoulos' theories. Have you been keeping up to date with Milo Yiannopoulos? He's back. I mean, he was a huge thing when I was at uni. He was like, he was the original kind of like... He was the original, and I imagine he's pissed off because everyone's stolen his act. Yes, totally. Milo Yiannopoulos did all this shit first, but then his big flaw is that he wrote a book, and he could say anything, and the writer would still like him.
24:21He wrote a book saying that he was glad he got molested, and it was very productive. And that's the one thing I don't fuck with. I get a bit funny about that. Pedos. Yeah. You can't get them on the pedo side. But also... And then he fucking tried to lobotomise himself or something to make him straight. I saw him doing an interview with Tucker Carlson recently where he was saying that he's gay but being gay isn't a thing. It's a lifestyle. No, no, he was gay. Right. And it's a trauma response to being molested. Right, yeah. And then he's like, now I'm straight and I'm doing... And he's literally gone cross-eyed and looks like the most fucked.
24:50He's like, now it's brilliant, now i'm straight he's terrifying and also he's still so camp he went to he went to uni with um phil wang and all that lot really he was at cambridge with them and they were all like that guy's fucking insane yeah that guy's fucking gay
25:06um oh that's crazy yeah but yeah but he's back now but he's missed it he's missed the golden age of his own um personality uh estimates overthrown in 1950 and listen there'll be a lot of haitians that are overthrown. It's something like in 50 years, there's about 69 revolutions. There's a conveyor belt. You find your way on the throne, you get thrown out the window. It's a sushi train. It's the circle of life. The Haitian presidents, yeah. The best way to ensure a long life in Haitia is to not serve in office and to leave. In the previous 70 years, only one Haitian leader had completed a full term.
25:39There you go. Estimate is overthrown in 1950. So Duvalier opposes this coup, leaves the government. He then, he starts reading. As we said, in a country where no one reads, if you're someone who reads, you can take over the whole place. Because the stuff he reads is... One book you can take over the whole place. But he reads Machiavelli and he goes, this is fucking brilliant. And he gets obsessed with the idea that in power, you don't have to be loved, you have to be feared. So this is when, you know, he reads a 400 year old Italian book and he's like, oh, I get it now. Yeah, easy. So by 1954, he sort of become the central opposition figure.
26:14He goes underground, around the you know real haitians love him because they he killed he gave him penicillin uh they think maybe he's a he's a magician um can we do it do like can we make our own voodoo can you like to come up with your own voodoo do you mean like a curse yeah i assume someone who practices voodoo i think you could probably freak him out quite easily you roll your eyes in the back of your head and say i i curse you but like speaking in tongues is kind of christian voodoo isn't it but is that from a christian basis or is that coming from other places it was from a christian basis but we use the word voodoo to describe something that to us sounds like spooky ghost story like wackadoo they're not using it in that way to them it's their religious framework yeah but to us because we watched the film live and let die with baron samedy yeah there's a character in this story funnily enough we think it's kind of um tarot cards snakes getting needles and poking needles it's wackadoo medicine yeah what would make more sense is if if the catholic priests had voodoo sex dolls or something that probably would be like good idea it probably would be a good idea because then you're molesting you're molesting kids without actually but you need to make sure the voodoo doll's not attached to the kid yes the sex voodoo doll means that there's someone on the other end right yeah but then you're molesting them but you're molesting them remotely yeah you can't remote work we're less no but you're molesting them without actually molesting them aren't you no they're still getting molested.
27:39But are they? Yeah, they can feel it. Or are they just coming? No, the kids aren't coming. Who said kids? You did. Okay, fine. Oh, no, maybe you didn't. Yeah, molest. I don't think I did. I don't know if we had it. You can molest an adult. I think that was implied when you said it'd be good if priests had voodoo sex dolls. You can molest an adult. Wait, so you're saying, fine, let's say they're not kids. It's a voodoo sex doll for Catholic priests who are horny and not allowed to have sex. Yeah. And so there'll just be a woman walking down the street and then her tits are getting honked yeah in her head she'll feel like they're being honked but i feel like that's a bit invasive if you're just having your tits honked the whole time but she's not she's in a job interview and she's just having her titties being honked but that but it's not but are you saying she'd probably fucking love it what you're saying is more brilliant i guess what i'm saying is it's not molesting if they don't know they're being molested by a voodoo sex doll then are they actually being molested this is really embarrassing they go bright red it feels like someone's honking my tits.
28:36Do you know what it is? You know that film, I don't remember, we watched this right at the start of the podcast, that guy who has hundreds of orgasms a day, who was like going to his father's funeral and like, it would not surprise me if there's a voodoo sex doll of him. There's a guy just going like that on a doll and he's like, oh. Yeah, but he's not having a good time. No, I know, but is he being molested? I guess that's the philosophical question. If there was a voodoo doll of him, then yes, he is being molested. No, but if he doesn't know he's been molested, is it the perfect crime? It is the perfect crime, but he is being molested.
29:12I don't know. Is that like if a tree falls in the woods? It's still a crime. It's molesting in the eye of the victim or the eye of the... Do you know what I mean? But you just wouldn't be able to get on with your day if you just... I'm not saying it would be a good thing to do. I'm just saying, is it technically... No, what you're saying is, could I get away with it? It's better than getting bummed. It's better than getting bummed. Yes. Virtual bumming. yeah but then it's like no it's bumming if a boy gets bummed in the woods but no one's there to bum him does he really get bummed what's wrong it feels like exactly what it is bummed this is really weird it feels like someone's bummed what are you bumming me right now because it really feels like I'm getting there's a guy in the neck from next door
29:52this is really strange but it really feels like there's a there's a cock in my ass and doctors are like you're fucking crazy but you probably just think there was something wrong with your like yeah you definitely would what's the sensation of having a cock in your bum You're asking the wrong person, Charlie. First guess isn't like there's a man bumming me from like in Mallorca. That's what I mean. That's what I mean about. He's just living the high life. He's living in Mallorca, Brit abroad. Anyway, we're talking about the president of Heishi in the 50s. In 1957, Duvalier becomes president. We need to.
Read the full transcript
30:30We've barely started this timeline. He wins the president on the 22nd of September. and he's inaugurated on October 22nd. Right. His lucky number is the 22nd. That comes into play a bit in the story. This is probably the most suspicious or superstitious place in the world almost. Yeah, definitely. Everything is superstitious. Yeah. So that number is important. Anyway, barely a year into his tenure, there is a small yacht crossing the waters of Port-au-Prince Bay with eight men on board, five Haitian exiles and three Americans. the Haitians are former soldiers that were loyal to the previous regime they are convinced that Duvalet's hold on power is shallow and that the army would switch sides bear in mind there are eight of them three Americans as well, interesting so disguised as tourists, the men land just north of the capital so what's that, like fanny pack, a wine shirt big sippy cup they begin unloading their weapons and they believe that they were secrecy on their side, but local peasants saw them landing, alert the authorities and then Haitian soldiers start just gunning them down on the beach.
31:36Now, the rebels manage to escape inland. They seize a military jeep. They go to these big barracks that are next to the big Haitian presidential palace or whatever. They overpower some guards inside the barracks. They kill several soldiers. Now, rumours are racing through Port-au-Prince that there's a major invasion. But it's fucking eight people. Which is kind of amazing. I've never heard of a coup with eight people. Eight people. I mean, there's four of us in this room right now. Yeah. That's hot. I mean, our whole team here today, we're almost eight people. It's basically us saying, should we just fucking...
32:08Should we just... Should we just give it a fucking go? Should we just go and take over Sadiq? Should we go punch one of the Queen's Guard in the face? See what happens. See what happens. Yeah. So the rebels are led by a man called Pasquet, and he attempts to rally senior officers by telephone, but no one's answering. What happens is a rebel in the barracks, they sent a captured soldier out to buy cigarettes. He never comes home. Yep, he's the 50s. So he doesn't come over. That man turns out to be Duvalier's personal driver. So he runs straight to the palace and tells the president there's only eight of them.
32:41So they just sent him out trusting that he would... I mean, yeah, it's absolutely crazy. So now Duvalier acts with complete ferocity. He evacuates his family. He puts a military uniform on. He gets the camos on. He gets a handgun. He goes goblin mode. Yeah. He then orders everyone loyal to him to surround the barracks. At dawn on the 29th of July, government troops storm the compound. They slaughter the rebels. And that man, Alex Pasquet, his son's ex-wife, goes on to marry Papadoc's son. Interesting. It's called Baby Doc, which we'll get into. Now, what they do as a result of this, what Duvalier does is he realises that as long as there's an army with guns, he's always going to be at risk because that's what's happened in Haiti for the last how many hundreds of years.
33:29So he makes his own paramilitary force called the Tonton Makoute. Which is an ogre in voodoo folk tales, right? Yeah, Uncle Gunny Sack. Right. Who's going to come and steal your kids and eat them for breakfast. Yeah, it's terrifying. It's a mythical bogeyman who roams at night abducting misbehaving children. Jesus Christ. He stuffs them into a sack and carries them away and eats them for breakfast. So that's what, Makut is a gunny sack. That's terrifying. She's like a demon. Puts kids in a sack. Now the Tauntaun Makut, they look fucking cool. They all wear sunglasses and they wear suits and they look like gangsters that have died and then come back to life as like zombie gangsters.
34:10Right, right. The way they hold their guns, they're just walking around with like, they're just guns like, they're not like shouldered arms or anything. They're just walking around with these huge rifles. They've got aviators on, I thought, and then like fedoras. Yeah, yeah. It's our fans. Yeah, and the Tom Tom Macout. The Tom Tom Macout. The truth is. That's what we should call the patrons. The Tom Tom Macout. They're just walking around in suits with fedoras and sunglasses. Right. Now, I, this morning, I discovered, I've watched a bit of this guy's stuff before. In the 60s, there was a British journalist called Alan Wicker who made a show called Wicker's World.
34:41Right. And it is like a racist Anthony Bourdain. Right. And it's, I mean, it's amazing. Like, you know, it's travel shows when they used to actually write travel, like essays. and then do voiceovers about them. But I just want to play a couple of minutes about it. This is what he says about Hey She. With dusty, crumbling elegance, with curlicues and excrescences and peeling paintwork, it's a tatty, charming backdrop to the primitive capital of the poorest country in the world. Sounds like us. The sick, sweet stench of a lush and rotting land. Sick, sweet stench. He's turned on by it. I know. Yeah, it's hard for a living here.
35:18I'm so glad I don't live here. He gets horny now. The women are perhaps the most appealing of the Caribbean. That's just loads of topless bits of women. Most appealing of the Caribbean? Yeah. The cadence. The women are the most appealing of the Caribbean. Shoes are an unthinkable luxury. The women are the most appealing of the Caribbean. Yeah, it's crazy to be there going, like, this is the shits place on earth. Women are quite fit. Women are fit, though. Fuck me. Yeah, they're just blokes in suits with hats. They're like teddy boys. Yeah, the way they're carrying their guns, though, it's crazy.
35:49just so casual fucking massive machine guns the Ton Ton Makoot are they're basically just granddads holding a gun just walking through town but there's a guy who he employs who I can't remember what his name is but he goes and gets all the criminals rapists just like the worst people in society gives them a gun and says as long as you're loyal to Duvalier you can do whatever you want and laws don't apply to you and just don't get in our way, basically. And then the Tonton Makut becomes more powerful than the army and his own personal guard is basically. He takes guns away from the army. Yeah. So the army are in uniform, sweating, because there are just all these geezers with massive guns.
36:33Look at them. They look pretty swag to them. Yeah, it's pretty cool. No, so the army have just got knives. That's all they've got. So the Tonton Makut specialise in exemplary violence. It's absolutely exemplary. Night raids, they just take people from their beds. public executions they hang them from trees dump them in streets severe beatings and mutilation they burn people alive they stone them hack them to death with machetes that's a black guy with a hitler tash lovely stuff that's good stuff starting or growing your own business can be intimidating and lonely at times your to-do list may feel endless with new tasks and lists can easily begin to overrun your life so finding the right tool that not only helps you out but simplifies everything as a built-in business partner can be a game changer.
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38:54This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger, multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans. Now, in 1961, the first female MPs were elected to Haiti's parliament. One of them is Madame Max Adolph. I'm listening. What are you saying, Madame?
39:38Madame Adolph. Adolph becomes the right-hand woman to Papadoc. She had been working as a low-ranking officer in the Tonton Macout, but she gets promoted to the position of warden at Fort Dimanche. Fort Sunday. Sounds lovely. It's not. She is, quote, creative with genital mutilation. it's important to explore your own creativity creative doing like a little bow or something like a balloon animal but with his dick maybe
40:13yeah I mean I guess I was more thinking like you know when you're you're going down the woman and you say to spell out the alphabet but she's doing that yeah she's making like a little kind of rabbit out of his knob she's Jackson Pollocking his cock and balls his bollocks yeah Jackson Pollock Pollocking his bollocks there you go it was right there She reportedly burns a woman alive who's accused of being her husband's mistress. But she does also receive monthly rent from US Special Forces for the use of her compound. She's not supporting other women. Is that her? No. I don't think that is her, no.
40:45She's later promoted to... She's a random woman. Is that her? Is that her? She looks a bit like Aung San Suu Kyi or whatever. What's that lady's name? I don't think she looks anything like Aung San Suu Kyi. No. No. Okay. Neither of them look British. I mean, that's the only thing. Yeah. It's not Carol Vorderman. No. I mean, if it's... Vorderman. No, Madame Adolf. Right. Not Carol Vorderman. We haven't covered the Namibian politician Adolf Hitler. We haven't. I mean, my inbox is absolutely stuffed. Yeah, I mean, everyone... Just to stop people sending it to us. Yeah. We do need to get a take on that.
41:26Do you want to get Adolf Hitler up? Yeah, we haven't placed this either. We haven't placed this. Christ. We're in... Well, he comes to power in 1957. 57? Yeah. Right. So it's after Adolf Hitler, the German, and it's before Adolf Unona Hitler, the Namibian politician, who, yes, he is a Namibian politician who's called Adolf Hitler because his father heard that Hitler was a big thing, but that seems to be all he heard. And he's named after... So what's his name? Adolf Hitler Unorna. Wow. Elected last week as councillor for the Omniputunda constituency. Yeah, and he's said something about this as well.
42:07In an interview with Germany, he insisted he had nothing to do with Nazi ideology. As a child, I saw it as a totally normal name. Change your name, though. I'll tell you what it is. He's won a lot. He's also quite a successful politician. I'll tell you what it is. It's Guy Gomer, Hitler. He turns up, like, you're called Adolf Hitler? No, no. But also maybe it was a German colony. I did that at uni. Yes. Pretty gnarly stuff. It's early Nazis, really. Yeah, yeah. Nazis before Nazis. Southwest Africa, it was called, the German colony. Anyway. Naughty. They were pretty naughty down there. They made up for lost time.
42:40Similar to the Belgians. Yes, they did. Anyway, in February 1959, Castro seizes power in Cuba, turning the island into a communist state. And this completely transforms Duvalier's position because suddenly he could be a bulwark against communism. So the United States, who are terrified of losing another Caribbean nation towards communism, they start tolerating him and then actively funding him. They give him loads and loads of money and he just basically just takes it all himself, obviously. And he funds his personal guard. He needed money to fund the Tonton. Yeah, they need their fedoras. Of course.
43:18And Americans come in and train the Tonton Makut. So it's basically the mob running Haiti at this point. um now in may 1959 papadoc suffers a massive heart attack now he is a diabetic uh who doesn't control his diabetes very well yeah uh and he suddenly collapses uh it may have been an insulin overdose so massive is often put in front of heart attack yes is it so is there a small do you have like can you have like small heart attacks yeah like just like a little oof yeah so a massive one and it just, it's gone. You can have mini strokes. Right, I agree. Or you can have, quote, stroke-like events.
43:57Sure. Like, my nan currently is having about 12 stroke-like events a day. What, like the person who comes all the time? Yeah, but she's Presbyterian, so she's just wearing them off. Whatever. Fuck off. Whatever, yeah. She's now permanently smug. Beethoven's brother, yeah. His life is saved by a guard who injects him with glucose, so it could have been an instant overdose. Anyway, he, oh, that's Clement Barbeau, who is also the guy that runs the Tonton Macoup, I think. No, he's his mate. Right. I don't know. I don't fucking know. The Bows, right? Hey? They're mates. What is it, Charlie? Is Tonton a vagina?
44:38It's the Tonton Macoup. It's not the Tonton Macoup. Tonton is a fanny. Yes, it is. Yeah. Uncle Percy on the Rated 18 podcast calls fanny. Tonton. Tonton. Yeah, it's not Tonton. No. but Tuntun is one of the best names for Fanny I think no one says it anymore I like Tuntun yeah I think they do I like mucky Tuntun they're not in our social circle wash your Tuntun out yeah no Tuntun's the best I think any guy trying to appear straight no no Tuntun's my favourite Pum Pum Pum's good as well any word if you just double up any word it's just like it means Fanny Bin Bin
45:17in a man nah she know wash our bin bin it works yeah I mean they all work don't they anyway sorry uh Clemon Barbo is his chief aide and he's also he's the first leader of the Ton Ton he's the Ton Ton General he's the he's General Ton Ton in a fedora this is what our fans are I'm actually the general of all Ton Ton I can summon the spirits of the Ton Ton if we took over in our coup we had to arm the patron to do what they want in fedora and sunglasses just walking around they don't just spend all their money on fucking wall hammer models there'd be a shortage of cold cobalt blue paint though um anyway uh duvalier uh goes into a diabetic coma for eight or nine hours um nine hours um but he survives and much like Caligula, he emerges further from.
46:14Hey, man. Yeah, he emerges Chinese. Hey, brother. He's no longer his sane, rational, reasonable self. No. Say goodbye. Oh, what the ton-ton-maku? Hey. He emerges with his foreign accent button pushed down. So someone who arguably already had brain damage. Yeah. Now it's triple helpings. He's doubling down on the brain damage. Well, I think they actually do think he got proper brain damage. Yeah, he got brain damage. Yeah. So the next 10 years of his reign, he's... No more Mr. Normal guy. No more Mr. Night guy. So Duvalier seems to interpret the event in kind of metaphysical terms. He feels like he has stared death in the face and returned.
47:02And in a country that's steeped in all the voodoo nonsense, or I mean whatever can't just call it that in a country steeped in voodoo nonsense this matters profoundly so he feels like he's crossed a threshold and because it for a guy that had cured the country with penicillin he seems to completely forget about the concept of medicine and says it was proof of his destiny so he starts to begin as someone who believed that he was protected by forces beyond the material world he stops ruling as a politician and starts ruling as a myth. A voodoo god. This is kind of as far from Keir Starmer as he can be.
47:41I think so. He's the least voodoo politician. There's no myth. There's no story. It's so material world. I mean, I guess his father was a toolmaker. My father was a toolmaker. It's not really. No, it's really not voodoo. It's not elevating you to sort of godlike status. Are you saying Kemi Badenhock's voodoo? Is that what you're saying? No, I'm not saying that. I am saying she's more voodoo than Keir Starmer. I agree. And I'll stand by that. I would agree. I would agree. But so is Blair. Blair's more voodoo. He's Catholic. Yeah, of course. Voodoo is half Catholic. He's got a manifest destiny. Yeah, totally.
48:17I'd say that the Lib Dems are not very voodoo. No, but I think Starmer is the least voodoo. Yes, yes, you're right. Of all British Prime Ministers, probably. So Papadoc's going to get a new hat. Yeah. And when he's wearing that, all hell's going to break loose. He's like Jamiroquai. Yes. He's the closest to Jamiroquai of any world leader, Papadoc. Now, in our next episode, we will deal with Papadoc. The man, the myth, the legend. And how did Papadoc actually kill JFK? That's in our next episode. That's already on the Patreon. We're for£3 a month. You too can be a member of our Tuntun Makoot. Tuntun Makoot.
48:52Join the Tuntun Makoot. Get your fedora and your shades on and wreak havoc. But if not, we will see you on Thursday for the finale of our Papadoc series. Goodbye. Goodbye.
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49:53This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans. Still waiting in line? Again? That's time you'll never get back. Save time and money with Stamps.com. Over 4 million businesses have skipped the line with Stamps.com.
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From the publisher
Coffee, Voudou & Lesbians - Haiti or Hackney? How one man went from doctor to dictator armed with nothing but folklore and a lesbian sidekick.
The show for people who like history but don't care what actually happened.
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00:00 – Island Gaddafi
04:00 – But first coffee
06:30 – Haiti is in the group of death
09:15 – Voodou revolt
11:20 – Supporting black business
13:25 – The worst people occupy the worst country
16:15 – Papa becomes a Doc
20:05 – Alan Akbar
22:45 – Reads one book and becomes a dictator
23:55 – Voodou sex doll (the
28:24 – 8 man coup
30:48 – Zombie gangsters
34:30 – Madam Adolphe
38:30 – No more Mr Normal guy
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