It Could Happen Here - Assassination Week #5: Alexander Dugin’s Daughter Meets a Car Bomb

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

We discuss the assassination of Darya Dugina, who she was, and possible motivations for targeting her or her father.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadowbride. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern-day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into tech's elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech

brought to you by an industry veteran with nothing to lose. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts from. On Thanksgiving Day 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I found out I was related to the guy that I was dating.

I don't feel emotions correctly. I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails. Those were some callers from my call-in podcast, Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take phone calls from anonymous strangers as a fake gecko therapist and try to learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept, but I promise it's very interesting. Check it out for yourself by searching for Therapy Gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On pictures of Alexander Dugan moments after his daughter exploded in a car bomb. Again, I don't have any problems beating puppies.

Oh, no, this isn't recorded. Welcome to It Could Happen Here, the podcast where garrison davis is fine with violence against dogs yeah right as you said that anderson barked by the way wow wow cancelable uh-huh cancelable death deathly allergic to dogs but they love you so much so if people were if people were going to pick an assassination method for me, just get a whole bunch of dog dander and rub it on my pillow, and I'll be dead the next morning. I've seen you get rubbed on by a bunch of dogs, and you've never died yet.

No. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. You get uncomfortable, and you have to use your inhaler, but I just ignore that. You get uncomfortable, and you have to use your inhaler robert's like that's great i'm super thrilled with that outcome you know what other outcome i'm thrilled with oh good hey

great great intro sick transition that was great So we are talking about the assassination of Alexander Dukin's daughter. Hell yes. It's kind of a wild story. There's a lot of weird things going on. We still don't know much about what actually happened. There's a lot of conflicting theories. A lot of experts who are saying different things. Quote unquote experts who are saying different things. It's wild. But I have a little write-up here that we're going to go through based on what

I assume everyone's questions will be about this assassination. First thing, probably before we get into Alexander Dugan's daughter, I guess it's probably worth clarifying who Alexander Dugan is, because to understand the nature of this assassination and possible motives, it's important to know who he is as a person. So I know we've talked about Dugan on the show before kind of briefly, but, uh, Alexander Dugan is a Russian traditionalist,

neo-fascist political theorist. Um, some people call him a philosopher. I think that's being a little generous. That's so many fun things in a row in that description. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he was born in 1962 into a high-ranking military family, and Dugan spent his early years as an anti-communist dissident in the collapsing Soviet Union. He joined various dissident, ultra-nationalist,

occult, anti-Semitic, and fascist groups or collectives that sprung up during the last two decades of the Soviet Union. In the 90s, he was one of the founders of the Russian National Bolshevik Party, which he left in the late 90s because the party was not fascist enough. So he left the political party. He helped start because it had too many of the Bolshevik parts of the National Bolshevik Party. He kind of carries on some of the traditionalist political philosophy from 20th century esoteric fascist writers like Julius Evola, whose book on pagan imperialism, Dugan, translated into Russian. Just as a brief bit of context for people, now, you know, fascism and communism are portrayed as

in strict opposition to each other. But if we're going back to the 20s and 30s, a lot of these guys had a lot of these guys had a lot of things in common. There were times where the Communist Party of Germany and the Nazis would fight the cops together. There were people in the Nazi Party who were more or less national Bolsheviks in terms of their political outlook. Yeah. And they were all murdered on the night of long knives, like the Nazi Party had a left wing that it purged. Anyway, this is just like, this is not coming out of nowhere. This isn't a new development.

Well, and the thing with Dugan is that he really is, does carry on that type of red, brown alliance idea with a lot of his politics of, of, of bringing together some of the more harder fascists with some people who are the more like authoritarian communists. And we,

we see that with the National Bolshevik Party. At this point, Dugin is probably most known for his influence on contemporary Russian politics, the neo-Eurasianism ideology, his writing on the multipolar world theory, and his fourth political theory about the ascension of Russia as the world's traditionalist political power, and usurping the kind of political dominance of the United States. Dugin's Neo-Eurasianism is described by Anton Shakhoslav, an Eastern European far-right scholar, as, quote, a form of fascist ideology centered on the idea of revolutionizing the Russian society and building a totalitarian, Russian-dominated Eurasian empire that would

challenge and eventually defeat its eternal adversary represented by the United States and its Atlanticist allies, thus bringing about a new golden age of global political and cultural illiberalism unquote. So it's, it's very centered in just being against the ideas of liberalism and being against like globalist liberalism, like actual like globalization. And still carrying over a lot of influences from esoteric writers like Julia Savola in terms of like it's anti-modern

anti-liberal uh politics based in like traditional anti-multicultural right like this yeah yeah a lot of if you've ever seen someone screaming about like globo homo or something like that's probably one of these guys yeah and that that dugan's daughter actually in her last ever interview talks about that a little bit and we're global homo yes no this is yeah like the like like there's there's there's a lot of people in the u.s who like see this shit and like mistake it for anti-imperialism and it's like basically because like they've lost the ability to like conceive of an empire that isn't the u. Britain, or France. And even that's sort of tenuous.

And it's like, guys, come on. From a lot of these questionable accounts, you get the attitude that, well, only the United States is capable of being imperialism. Then just say you're anti-US. Just say you're anti-the United States. Because you're not anti-imperialism. Because let me tell you something. There have been a lot of empires in history so controversial statement from robert evans yeah quite quite a few different empires over time they are not all america probably worth like pointing out that russia

as it exists is an empire right it's just a contiguous one it It's one that is joined by land, not separated by seas, doesn't stop it being an empire. Yes. As we can see with them trying to expand into Ukraine, which is heavily influenced itself by some of the theory that Dugin was writing from the 90s up until now. And then kind of in reference to Dugin's influence on contemporary Russian politics,

especially since Russia's so far failed invasion of Ukraine, Dugin is often referred to as, quote unquote, Putin's brain or, quote unquote, Putin's Rasputin. and while he is certainly well connected and has quite a bit of influence in russia and the global far-right movement in general the degree to which he holds significant power in the decisions that putin makes is definitely heavily contested among uh actual political experts yes we think some of the whole putin's brain and putin's's Rasputin thing is a little bit overemphasized sometimes. Dugan's never held office. We don't even have a picture of Dugan and Putin together. We don't even know if they've actually been in the same room. We don't know if they're the same person.

Dugan and Putin are the same person. Yes, that's correct chris the thing that is important to know about putin as regards dugan because again as garrison said not trying to make a statement here about the degree to like saying that he is or is not any kind of influence but vladimir putin has been doing this has been working working towards where he is now for decades, and is a guy who has had a view of the world for decades that he's worked towards making real. And it's not a view of the world that you need to be, Dugan's an esotericist. You do not need to think esoterically to understand what Vladimir Putin is doing.

He wants to reunite the Russian imperial project that fell apart when the Soviet Union did using violence and whatever other means he can do, which is why he's gone, done what he's done in Georgia. It's why he's done doing what he's doing in Ukraine. This is not like complicated. Understanding Putin's motivations is not hard. You know, I think a lot of people have kind of leaned into that Putin's brain thing, especially since the invasion of Ukraine, because in Dugin's seminal 1997 book, The Foundations of Geopolitics, Dugin lays out his vision to divide the world up and calling for Russia to rebuild its influence through annexations and alliances, while all in heavy opposition to Ukraine as a sovereign state. And a lot of

Dugin's writing has been about trying to reconquer Ukraine and absorb it into Russia. Yeah, and he's a useful guy. But yeah, again, sorry. And like, in an article from The Guardian that I was using for one of the sources for this episode, from the guardian that i was that was uh using for one of the sources for this episode they they claim that the foundations of geopolitics was a very popular book uh in the russian general staff academy um and kind of was was one of the things that shifted dugan from like a weird esoteric dissident to actually becoming a more influential and prominent pillar of the conservative establishment inside Russia. As Dugan's writing evolved, started to emphasize less the more esoteric elements, his writing did get more popular in Russia. But at this point, he is stronger as a symbol,

less so than having actual personal influence over decision making. You know what does have influence over your decision-making? They have influence over your decision-making. The subliminal messages that we've been placing inside our ads for the past three years, that has been an esoteric project of my design to influence you to buy these products and services. That's right, James.

I'm trying to. I think we have a couple of different esoteric projects. I'm not sure what y'all says. I'm trying to get people to bring the Subaru Baja back. That was the Subaru car that had like a little truck bed in the back. It was the Subaru car. Oh, my God. What a fucking.

Yeah. I was going to combine car and truck into one word, but I realized where that was taking me and i stopped immediately no it is it is a cuck yeah it is a cuck it's my second favorite cuck um yeah why don't they call it the subaru cuck and i would buy one immediately yeah the subaru cuck yeah yeah please buy please buy a subaru cuck. Enjoy these adverts. presented by iHeart and Sonora. An anthology of modern-day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters

to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors Supernatural creatures. I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows. As part of my Cultura podcast network. Available on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jack Peace Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series,

Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me and a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Black Lit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audiobooks while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace, wisdom, and refuge between the chapters. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while uncovering the stories of the brilliant writers behind them.

Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Blacklit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into how tech's elite has turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires.

From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel-winning economists to leading journalists in the field,

and I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong, though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening

in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators, sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love.

Each week, we'll explore everything, from music and pop culture, to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. And we're back all right so let's i think it's now actually time to talk about the uh the actual casualty this assassination uh which is not alexander dugan it is instead daria dugina And Daria Dugina. Daria Deadgina, more like it. Yes. Because she's dead garrison. She was born on December 15th, 1992. Wow. Daria herself was a Russian journalist and far-right activist who was very vocal in support of the nation.

Let's put journalist in quotes there. Well, I mean, yeah, she did work for a number of journalism outlets, not only in Russia, including in France. She was a journalist. She did work. It wasn't very good. She's a bad person. Okay.

But she worked for a few French outlets. Sure. She was very vocal in support of the invasion of Ukraine in accordance with her father's political theories. She studied at the Moscow State University, specializing in the political philosophy of late Neoplatonism. So you already know she's going to be really annoying. If anyone even tries to describe that degree program to me, I might hit them. Like, absolutely no.

We have, in that one sentence alone laid out justification for assassination okay well okay come on yeah i i i think i think that's a bit too far i no i'm gonna i'm gonna say right now i bought property with land so that when people say the word neoplatonism around me, I can get rid of the body. So here's some fun facts about Daria. She played the flute. She was in a band, I think in college, called Dason May Refuse,

which was an electronic music band. Now, Dason... I bet her shit did actually rock. It probably did slap. I mean, like, and this was when she was less of a fascist, actually. Now, just in terms of something that kind of... An interesting note here. So, Dazen translates

to here being, which is one of Alexander Dugan's favorite terms. It's related to the philosophical concepts exposed by Martin Heidegger. Expoused. Yes. So it's just a little nerdy reference

to both her father. I guess she was probably exposed to the phrase via her father, but it's a Heidegger reference. So she named her electronic music band off of off of heidegger if you're in it you have to kill her ghost now which is pretty funny yeah yeah if you're in a band with a heidegger reference leave that band now but but yeah when she when she was in university her friends say she actually wasn't really into her dad or her dad's politics.

Her friends talk about that when she was in university, she really liked Guy Debord. She was interested in some of the more French... Situationist. Yeah. Guy Debord, just quickly, is like a lot of popular stuff on the left now,

shit like Crimethink, but also stuff like Adbusters is influenced by Guy Debord, just quickly, is like a lot of popular stuff on the left now, shit like Crime Think, but also stuff like Adbusters is influenced by Guy Debord. Yeah, I mean, also like the French Revolution in 18... 1968. Why was I going to say 1848? Yeah, but... Guy Debord was arrived for 120 years and never aged. He was also, I will say, this is a thing

a lot of people don't know about Debord, was influential in the development of war games and is part of the intellectual tradition that gave us Warhammer 40,000. That actually makes a lot of sense. It makes complete sense. Yeah.

But yeah, so she was into stuff like that inside university. Like situationism. Was she a situationist? Yeah. Yeah. But, but yeah, so she, she was into stuff like that inside university. Yeah. Was she a situationist? Yeah. No, I, I, I don't,

I don't, I don't, I don't think she would have described herself as that. Um, but that was the types of stuff that she liked talking about. And that was the types of groups that she was involved with. She, she never talked about her father and her father was already a very popular,

um, person at this time, specifically inside Russian universities. But she did not jive with that type of stuff. And then by the end of her kind of time in university, she started shifting more towards what her friends

describe as orthodoxy. I would say she shifted more towards her father's traditionalist stuff. I'm not sure what exactly caused this shift to happen. But here's a quote from one of her friends. Quote, it was strange because before that she had not shown

any interest in him and her father had no influence on her. And... That is strange. So yeah, something... By the end of her time in university and she got and by the time she was out of university um she actually just became an activist with the international eurasianism movement of dugan and began to arrange lectures

for her father and uh became a very active supporter of his. And then after that she started writing for state-run news outlets like RT and running parts of her father's website where she was then listed as his press secretary and started to appear at the events of the Eurasian movement as a speaker as well. So she shifted in like the last like probably 10-15 years past like 10 years she was shifting more towards her father even though when she was in her 20s

she was more into some of the French leftist stuff. That doesn't surprise number one it's pretty normal for young people to rebel against their parents in that era and like be interested in stuff outside of it and like I think there's a couple of different ways this could have gone but a thing that makes total sense against their parents in that era and be interested in stuff outside of it. And like, I think there's a couple of different ways this could have gone,

but a thing that makes total sense to me is that she's rebellious. She explores some things. The primary thing she learns is that life out there is hard and like making a living on your own and completely infant like is difficult. And her dad has a lot of influence and she can make a lot of money working for him. And so back, back she goes. I don't know the woman. She lost a lot of her friends over this

because when she started doing stuff with her dad her friends who were like, situations people are like no, fuck that, we're not going to hang out with you. Seems like a reasonable response. Yeah, it's kind of actually a bummer. I only got to this part of

her life um a few days ago when i was doing the research and this is actually something i stumbled upon later in into my research for this episode because i was mostly i was mainly focused on like the actual assassination part um and i when i found this i was like oh that's actually kind of sad yeah that is sad yeah i will say i i don't know if this is at work here, but there is a thing in, like there is a current in the French ultra left, like after 68, going into the 70s and 80s, that gets like really fucking weird and kind of goes fascist based around,

it's a long story, but there's a whole thing about a guy who was like sort of involved in the ultra left circles who was like – I think he'd been in a concentration camp, but he'd been in one of the ones that wasn't an extermination camp, and he started doing Holocaust denial. And there's this whole fucking thing where a bunch of these people kind of went really fucking weird. The rest of the ultra-leftist owned them and they were kind of involved in a bunch of the founding of French neo-fascism. It's not a

path that has never happened before. Yeah, that's not coming out of nowhere. Especially when your father is who he is. That's not surprising. When she started, in the past few years, she started acting as her father's press secretary, scheduling events for him. She was doing more writing on her own in various outlets, including state-run outlets, but also outlets in other countries.

But definitely shifting more towards the kind of traditionalist Eurasianism side of politics. Eurasianism side of politics. Earlier this year, she was sanctioned by both US and UK authorities under accusations that she was significantly contributing to online disinformation around Russia's invasion. And in an interview just a few months before her death, Daria expressed pride that both she and her father had been targeted by Western sanctions. Maria expressed pride that both she and her father had been targeted by Western sanctions. She kind of wore it as like a badge of honor. It's anti-imperialism. That's what it is.

In its filing, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions called Dugina a frequent, high-profile contributor of disinformation in relation to Ukraine and the Russia invasion of Ukraine on various online platforms. Cool. And to get a sense of how she actually politically described herself in the months before her death, in an interview from May of 2022, she described herself as, quote, a political observer of the international Eurasianist movement

and an expert in international relations. My field of activity is in the analysis of European politics and geopolitics. In this capacity, I appear on Russian, Pakistani, Turkish, Chinese, and Indian television channels presenting a multipolar worldview of political processes. For me, a particularly important issue is the development of the multipolar world theory. It is clear that the globalist movement is over and the end of liberalism has come. The end of liberal history, unquote. Oh, wow. Backwards Fukuyama. And guess what she thinks is going to replace liberal history?

Yeah, I have some theories. It's orthodox, traditionalist, Russian fascism. Yeah. In that same interview, she described the war in Ukraine as, quote, a clash between globalist and Eurasian civilization, unquote. Oh, I'll let my friends in Kiev know what they are. That's great. They'll be excited by that.

Yeah, yeah. It is one of the things that's been sort of interesting to me about this whole thing is like okay so do you can sort of comes out of like like russian national bullshit isn't to some extent right but then like if you look at the propaganda about ukraine it's like okay these people are all these people are all nazis but like also they're communists and also they're gay and it's like yes well that that's the thing it's like you know do people like dugan and dugina while being absolutely fascists can can pretend to be against nazis for various reasons um dugina definitely uh is and and dugan as well are are pretty homophobic um and they they view gayness as a sign of like degenerate liberalism so like but like they definitely walk that line between the like but you know and that's the thing

a lot of the like red brown alliance or national bolshevik type things do is walk that line and how they how they try to present their you know cultural beliefs which are heavily based in traditionalism versus their uh versus their beliefs on fascism and communism. But anyway, let's see. In her last ever interview, which took place on the day of her death,

Dugina said that quote, Western... Just like Biggie, by the way. I don't know who that is. Oh my god. Oh no! God damn God. Oh, no. God damn it. Garrison.

God damn it. We need to stop. Everyone needs to stop. All right, we're doing a Biggie episode next. Garrison, you have your homework for this week. Please come back next week and do better. So in her last ever interview, she said that, quote,

Western totalitarianism has come to an end, and a special military operation is, it seems to me, the last nail in the coffin of this world hegemon. And then later on in the interview, she talked about how environmentalism, support for transgender people, quote, the conversion of a person into a homosexual, unquote, as well as veganism and freeganism are tools with which the West is trying to fragment society

and reduce its population. Freeganism. My friends who dumpster dived so they could buy more drugs 15 years ago were part of a conspiracy to fragment society it's not that cocaine was expensive and the fucking trader joe's didn't lock its dumpster it's that okay awesome yeah so yeah so those those those were the views that she espoused hours before dying so well talking about the conversion of a person into a homosexual, transgender people, freeganism as being the things that are destroying the West.

To be clear, all of these things are based and should in fact destroy the West. Yeah, if the thing that finally kills capitalism is dumpster diving teens, I will be thrilled. But I just don't see it happening. So before we get to the actual deed, let's set the stage for where this event took place and where everything went down. So it's August 20th, a Saturday. Alexander Dugin and Daria Dugina are attending this festival just outside of Moscow, where Dugin's making a planned appearance at.

And he gave a lecture that Saturday evening at this festival. Now, the festival is called the Tradition, quote unquote. Tradition is what everything calls it. So I wonder what the festival is about, huh? I'm sure it's just appreciation of the headline song from the play Fiddler on the Roof. It's best sung by Zero Mostel. Look it up. Seriously, look it up. It's an incredible performance.

That must have been it, right? So, the Tradition Festival is billed as, quote, a patriotic cultural festival and family event for art literature and music lovers no dance no traditional dance it's just the lamest thing i've ever heard so it's basically it's it's this traditionalist kind of quasi fascist like art festival for people who like

neoplatonism um is what it actually is. It takes place in Tsarkov manner. It's this big estate about 12 miles away from Moscow. The tradition festival is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the Moscow region, among a few other kind of sponsors. And both Daria and her father were special guests at this year's festival. In an interview, a colleague of Dugina's said that the conversation topics at the festival between Dugin, his daughter, and other tradition festival attendees, they said this in an interview, quote,

we talked about the Russian idea, the empire, and the cultural war, unquote. So that's just like the regular conversations you're having at this festival to give you a sense of like what this thing actually is. And the blast that did kill Dugin's daughter happened shortly after Dugina left the tradition festival, um,

at the estate where her father had given a lecture just hours previous. Um, do you know who, do you know who won't blow up? And I don't, I don't want to say that. Yeah. That's yeah.

Look, I'm going to say right now, if you are planning to assassinate a member of the Dugan family and want to sponsor our podcast, we're on board. I think we're fine with that, actually. There's a discounted tier for those people. Yeah, actually, we'll do it for free. Just give us a name.

Because we are Freagans and we're a turned down society. This is part of our radical Freagan identity. This is what I'm going to do in between stealing old pumpkin spice coffee from the Trader Joe's dumpster. Unbelievable. I will do a traditionalism

because pumpkin spice coffee is destroying the West. We have to kill it. Yeah. Robert and Daniel fucking love the pumpkin spice it's amazing it's destroying disgusting yeah this is degenerate liberalism in the form of pumpkin spice coffee has to not enjoy it in any way shape or in life i don't want to yuck your yum i i'm happy thank you thank you thank you i would like to yuck your yum robert

oh my god here's an ad break you know what yes Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being a friend. I would like to yuck your yum, Robert. Oh, my God. Here's an ad break. You know what? Yes. Welcome. I'm Danny Thrill. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter? Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows, presented by I Heart and Sonora.

An anthology of modern day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows

as part of My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jack Peace Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series, Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me and a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Black Lit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audiobooks while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace, wisdom, and refuge between the chapters. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while uncovering the stories

of the brilliant writers behind them. Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Blacklit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German,

where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. generative AI to the destruction of Google search, better offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel winning economists to leading journalists in the field. And I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong, though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear

to God things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. We are back. I'm going to open up with a quote from... Oh, I love quotes. From the bomb. Boom. I don't know what that is.

Oh, the bomb? The bomb that blew her, yeah. Kablooey, yeah. Now, Mr. Bomb, when you exploded, what's going through your head then? We're thinking about it. Parts of Daria Degina.

We actually... Great. But no, to actually... No, no, perfect. Yeah, we're finishing Assassination Week. To actually justify some of our kind of glee at this happening, great but no actually no no perfect yeah we're finishing assassination week to actually to actually justify some of our kind of glee at this happening because dugan's a horrible person i'm gonna read his daughter they're both trash yeah yes i'm i am going to read a quote from uh peter

uh sour in the guardian quote on saturday night the violence that the ultra nationalist russian thinker alexander dugan has propagandized for decades suddenly entered his own life when his daughter was killed in a car bomb on the outskirts of Moscow. I think that's a really important thing. He's made his entire career off of doing violence

on other people and promoting genocides on people that he doesn't like. There are people I know who are dead because of the people that he doesn't like there there are people i know who are dead because of the war that he and his daughter urged to happen so yeah yeah like it's it's why it's it's it's the same thing as like when every single fucking neocon ghoul dies like no one should no one should no one should feel bad about them at all because they spent they dedicated their entire lives to having another country be invaded and having all these

people killed their lives destroyed. So, fuck them. The violence that he's fetishized and propagandized for decades has actually entered his life for the first time now. And that's funny. So, after

giving a talk at the festival, Dugan and his daughter were due to leave the venue together in the same car. If only. But at the last minute, Dugan decided to travel separately and take different vehicles. He was tipped off by the CIA. According to a friend of the family. Now, because at the last minute he did decide to take another vehicle, this actually has spawned a lot of conspiracy theories,

which we'll kind of get into it a bit later. But this is what happened, is that they were going to leave together, and at the last minute, they decided to take separate vehicles. Five minutes later, while Doogie Knope was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser on the highway...

Oh, see, now that makes... That's a little bit of a tragedy. That is a tragedy. That's a fine car It didn't deserve to end that way Why couldn't it have been a Ford? Robert, sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the cause

I'm gonna put that Land Cruiser on a flag Let's all pour one out for comrade Toyota Land Cruiser You served us well you made the ultimate sacrifice so that mankind might be free to go off-roading

so as she was driving this Toyota Land Cruiser on the highway a bomb exploded in her car killing her immediately and sadly ripping the vehicle apart. Witnesses say debris was thrown all over the

road as the Toyota Land Cruiser immediately lost control and crashed into a fence and engulfed in flames. Was anyone else hurt? No. Incredible stuff. I mean, a really solid assassination, honestly is it's one

of the better executed ones especially for a car especially for a car bomb it's like it's one of the most impressive car bomb attacks that has ever happened yeah i think recently a car bomb that's uh yeah that now that card bomb that car bomb killed nobody but yeah that was quite that car bomb killed nobody, but yeah, that was quite a car bomb. It was a big boom. We thought that fucker was an airstrike at first. Yes, that was a large car bomb. So eyewitnesses called the fire brigade, but by the time they arrived, the entire car was up in flames, and firefighters only found one badly burnt corpse in the remains of the vehicle. So investigators say an explosive device planted under the car went off

and the vehicle caught fire. This happened about 12 miles west of Moscow near the village of, oh boy. You don't need to try that. Nobody needs to know. Bolshar Valzemy. Valzemy? Valzemy. Okayemi Valzemi Okay

Near the village of Bolshar Valzemi At around 9.30pm Local time Investigators do believe the bombing was quote Premeditated and Oh really Wasn't one of those casual spur of the moment

Guys just walking down the street with a bomb see Stugina driving hmm yeah why not she didn't buy the explosive edition

Land Cruiser it wasn't a vehicle error this was there was a bomb planted under Land Cruiser won't let you down like this no no

absolutely not if it had been a Ford or a Chevy a Pinto sure yeah if a fucking F-150 goes up like that i'm blaming ford but no this must have been a bombing so the the bomb was placed under the car on the driver's side now a friend of the family named uh andre krasnov uh who's also the head of the uh

russia horizon social movement um was that one of the first ones to confirm the reports of Daria's death, but also said that the bomb could have actually been intended for her father. And he gave this quote to media, quote, this was the father's vehicle. Daria was driving another car, but she took his car today while Alexander went in a different way. He returned. He was at the site of the tragedy. As far as I understand, Alexander, or probably them together, were the target, unquote.

Now, this is just speculation, actually. From what I can tell, there is actually more evidence suggesting the car was indeed registered to Daria Dugina. I don't believe it is her father's car. Some of the vehicle registration was leaked by a Russian opposition news site in Russia, who is not state-funded. It leaked the car registration. It was registered to daria not her not not alexander dugan um so but it is very likely that dugan may have been a target as well like very extremely likely uh it's it's hard it's it's hard to say uh now in one of the funniest parts of the assassination,

footage posted on Telegram appears to show Mr. Dugan walking up to the site of the crash in shock with his mouth just gaping open and hands on his head like he's in this surprise meme place. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. He's walking up to the side of the crash like, Oh! It's very...

That's the sound of the face he's making. It's, Oh! We love to see a wizard in distress. Sad wizard. So the attack happened on saturday and then come monday the federal security service or the uh the fsb uh said that the murder has been solved come come month come the next monday and this is this is not true this is what we call a lie uh from the fsb yes that's that's really disappointing an untruth yeah that's wow from the russian fbi no no no intelligence services ever told a lie uh yeah they're not that's disappointing so so yes according yes. According to the FSB,

the attack was mastermind by the Ukrainian secret services. Oh, wow. And carried out by an Azov Ukrainian national named Natalia Volk. Oh, Volk. Wow. Last name Volk Who fled to Last name Volk Yeah we're

Pinning the crime on Johnny Racist Keith Hit the fan did it again Who fled to Estonia Estonia That's Estonia Estonia following the killing So Russia's FBS did a Very brief investigation FSP Estonia. That's Estonia. Estonia following the killing.

So Russia's FBS did a very brief investigation. Yes, sorry. Russia's FSP did a very brief investigation, claimed that it was this female Ukrainian citizen and that she fled the next day, which was Sunday. Ukraine says, nah, uh-uh, not really. Nah, bruh. Yeah, that is basically the statement that Ukraine has made. Yeah, Ukraine's really good at that noise, actually.

It's one of those things. I would not be surprised, obviously, if Ukraine did it and they have the people responsible or some of their network are still in country, of course you make a denial. But if Ukraine did it and they were the people responsible or some of their network are still in country, of course you make a denial. But if Ukraine did it and they were out of the country, I can't imagine why they wouldn't be like, yeah man, we fucking did it.

We're in war. I'll read the actual statement. So, a Ukrainian official dismissed the accusations of Ukraine's involvement in the incident. Quote, Ukraine, of course, has nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state, which is the Russian Federation, and even less a terrorist state,

said Mikhailo Podyalak, who is an advisor to President Zelensky. So, yeah, I mean, maybe. Ukraine obviously denies involvement in this. There's a bunch of people it could be. It could be Ukraine. It could be the CIA. It could be Ukraine and the CIA.

It could be the FSB or the GRU. A lot of people have theorized all of those things. Yeah, there's really no way to know. A lot of people could have done this. Are we going to get into the person who detonated the bomb Or the car they used driving behind We don't know what actually happened I'm going to get to some of this a bit later

But some of the actual mechanisms that caused it to happen are still unclear Because the FSB has not given us any definitive evidence On how this thing actually worked But the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, they issued their own statement on Telegram saying, vile villains,

the terrorists of the U.S. Scoundrels. They're just doing a Cobra Commander. That's awesome. Vile villains, the terrorists of the Ukrainian regime trying to eliminate They're just doing a Cobra Commander. That's awesome. You know what? Vile villains. The terrorists of the Ukrainian regime trying to eliminate Alexander Dugan blew up his daughter in a car.

We cherish the memory of Daria. She is a real Russian girl. That's their statement. What? I love that they add in a car as if that makes it worse. If they'd blown blown her up some other way it would not have been as vile but in a car i just love that they end it with she was a real russian girl yeah yeah it's like pinocchio but it's very funny so some some politicians and experts quote-unquote experts

i've said that poon himself may have orchestrated the bombing with little to no evidence in support It's very funny. So some politicians and experts, quote-unquote experts, have said that Putin himself may have orchestrated the bombing with little to no evidence in support of that theory. There was a British member of parliament said that Putin may have targeted Dugin over recent criticisms made against his government, which I find to be very fishy. Yeah, Putin's gotten rid of a shitload of guys who used to be close to him lately,

and he didn't use car bombs for anything. Yeah, he pushed them out windows. They commit suicide. They get sick, you know? A lot of, many historians or, like, you know, extremism kind of researchers are definitely kind of eyeing up the FSB. Sure. But it's really unclear. People

proposed that this attack was orchestrated to create a wave of needed anger in Russia six months into their failed invasion. How'd that work for them? Ruslan Atrad, a security researcher in the US think tank Atlantic Council,

proposed that the FSB or other Russian state kind of apparatuses could have been involved, saying that's evident that the murder of Dugina created a wave of needed anger in Russia. And that, quote, Dugin is now mostly a symbol, not an instrument for the state. not an instrument for the state. His role in the creation of current Kremlin mythology for Eurasia and the so-called Russian world has already ended, and he can be sacrificed. Currently, the Russian army needs victories and a patriotic flame. So they're kind of, he's proposing that,

it was like this symbolic sacrifice, like if we sacrifice this figure that means this thing, people will be willing to keep on fighting. The Ukrainians have literally bombed and struck inside Russia at this point and killed 50,000 plus of their children. You would think that would be enough to make the Russians

angry. Blowing up this weirdo's daughter isn't going to be the thing that galvanizes the nation. To be clear though, this is the kind of dumb shit the Atlantic Council would be advocating for. It is absolutely stupid Atlantic Council shit. Yes.

And now, one of the funnier explanations or theories being posited is by former Russian State Deputy Ilya Ponomaryov, who is now... So, in an appearance on his Russian language opposition TV channel in Kiev, alleged that Dugin was killed by Russian partisans from a previously unknown anti-Putin terrorist group dubbed the National Republican Army, and that both Dugin and his daughter were targets. And according to this guy, the group authorized him to issue their manifesto

via his Telegram channel. And this group is entirely made up. This is not real. This is like this former Russian official turned this like ukrainian lib guy who claims that it's this secret anti-putin liberal terrorist group no that contacted him and and secret this is this was their first ever attack that's good that they're going public as this new terrorist group and i'm gonna i'm gonna say this is the only one of these theories that is that I don't believe.

Like the this assassination is a lot like what happened to Epstein, where everyone who brings up a theory has some other reason for having that theory. And so I don't trust anything anyone says about it. But every theory about why he might how he might have died is plausible. Right. Like every all of these are plausible yeah might like i don't listen i don't care what the atlantic council has to say but yeah it could have been the fsb i don't care about like what the russian government has to say but yeah it could have been the ukrainians but definitely was not liberal terrorist groups first bombing no yeah like this is this is the thing like that one of one of one of the like the like the single

thing where like you can instantly tell that someone is lying what what if they like the like the single thing where like you can instantly tell that someone is lying about what happened in a bombing is when they say a previously unknown group like every single time this happens constantly it's so hard to bomb things yeah yeah like so um sergey samleny is a German political expert with particular focus on Russia and Eastern Europe. He definitely has made a lot of statements talking about how Kremlin's version of events is definitely, he says, totally fake and absolutely out of the scale of possibility in terms of blaming it on this one Ukrainian Azov fighter who infiltrated Russia. ukrainian uh azov fighter who infiltrated russia um and well well so the the fsb has produced quote-unquote evidence to in support of this theory uh saying that this ukrainian citizen who arrived in russia in july with her daughter rented an apartment in the same building as dugina's and spied on her easy time to enter enter Russia as a Ukrainian, by the way.

July of this year. Yes. With your child. With your child, rented an apartment in the same building as Dukin's daughter, so specifically as Dukin's daughter, and spied on her in the month before the killing.

The FSB released a purported passport photo of the Ukrainian citizen, as well as footage that allegedly showed her in Russia with many people, including Ukrainian officials and kind of data analysts and like disinformation researchers pointing out the various ways that the, that the document seems forged or digitally fabricated. And some Lainey also says that this national Republican army group is completely made up because there's,

there's no way that there could be a terrorist group like this. It was like an actual group active. That's not infiltrated by the, by the FSB right now. Just like, he's like, you're not like, not like people can do individual acts of terrorism,

but to have like a group, like a big group like this comprised of like former Russian officials, he's like, that's just impossible. It's just not, that's just not going to happen. Yeah. No, I, I, I agree with all of that. Honestly, one reason why someone involved in the Russian security state is plausible

is because this was such a good bombing. It was very good. It's's it's i i'm leaning whoever it is because the cia is also like i'm leaning towards it's it's a state actor or because like fucking bombs are hard to make especially like almost close to zero percent of the time when an independent terrorist group makes a bomb does it work the way it's meant to yeah and like this this wasn't even ignition based this blew up as she was driving on the highway so like people have theorized it was yeah like it could it could have been like heat activated it's it could have had like a timer based on ignition stuff but like

whatever mechanism that got to blow that got it to blow up is more complicated than your average car bomb and it was way more successful than your average car bomb and it was way more successful than your average car bomb. It's bizarre how good they were at doing this. I think it's worth mentioning there was a time where if you needed to make

a car bomb, you could hire a guy who would teach you how to make a car bomb. We don't live in that era anymore. In the 70s, you could plausibly do that right although if that's the kind of training you want to offer for people to help try to take out alexander again a sponsor our podcast yeah we're yeah our podcast sponsored by becca valley to becca harder i i do believe that uh i i have this one source here that that it's they the fsb claimed that the the bomb was either made of or equivalent to 500 grams of tnt which is what no that seems like a bit much which is complete bullshit but it's just like what you'd use in oregon to get rid of a whale

but that's just one of the statements that that's like that's'd use in Oregon to get rid of a whale but that's just one of the statements that's one of the statements that the FSB has made on this that it's 500 grams of TNT which is just not true that's just not how bombs work so now we're going to get to some

we're going to close off here by talking about the aftermath and the televised funeral of because it's because it's kind of funny so family friends dozens of colleagues and acquaintances of daria dugina got together uh live on tv on the the tuesday after after after her death to bid their final farewell to the quote-unquote journalist killed in the car bomb attack outside of Moscow. That's quoting from TASS, one of the Russian state-funded media outlets. I'm gonna read a quote from Alexander Dukin, who, this is something he said on the

televised funeral, quote, she had no fear really. And the last time we talked was at the festival tradition. She said, Daddy, I feel like a warrior. I feel like a hero. I want to be with my country. I want to be on the light side of the force. She's with a lot of Russian people now. She's with about 50,000 or so other Russians right now. I just love that like

His daughter walked up to her and said Daddy I want to be on the light side Of the force She's like in her mid 30s I mean a significant chunk of her body mass Was converted into light I just I just said that

I don't know I just think It's a really funny thing that Dugan was saying at this televised funeral. It's just a bizarre quote. He also said that he wanted to bring up his daughter the way that he saw the ideal person to be, saying, quote, the first words that we taught her as a child were Russia, our state, our people people and our empire unquote which

again none of this is true like he's just bullshitting but it's just like a weird thing to say it's your daughter's funeral no you gotta look look he got a daughter it's like any other kind of investment right like and since she's been exploded, you've got to get as much as you can. Really, it's like wringing out a towel, you know? You've got to just make that last little bit count. And then Vladimir Putin, a few days after the assassination, signed a decree to award her with the Order of courage posthumously. She did explode courageously.

So yeah, that's the assassination of Dugan's daughter. It's wild because we don't really actually know who actually did it. We don't know much about the actual event. We're unsure of the actual the actual like a ignition of the bomb how the bomb actually operated who actually did it i mean obviously like this whether whether dugan himself was a target or was specifically um daria dugina um now obviously this was like heavily planned based off of her and dugan's schedule, right? Because they were both openly going to be at this fascist cultural festival.

Yeah, but that anyone could have access to. Yeah, but it did require, people were tracking their movements, being like, oh, Dugan's going to be at this festival on this day. So there is a lot of background work that went into this. And it's fascinating that we actually know very little about who may have done this and how the bomb actually operated. The primary clue we have is just how good the bomb was, which means one way or the other, a nation state actor probably,

but that does not really narrow it much. So yeah, that was, again, one of the assassinations that happened shortly after we planned assassination week. Yeah. After like, oh my gosh. This was two days after. It's like, man. Easily our most successful PR campaign.

One of our best bits today. It's just so wild to think of how how close dugan was to dying because remember like he he was planning to leave in that same car and then at the last minute decided uh to take separate vehicles so was he behind her when it went off or like yeah yeah that's why we got that great photo of him walking up to the site oh yeah we should point this out to you like if it had actually been like 500 grams of tnt like that bomb would have still been exploding when he walked up to it like we would have a picture of him going oh my god and then just his face would explode but no i mean like a lot of conspiracy

theories have popped up being like well dugan was supposed to be in that car and then he left last minute maybe he was in on it maybe like maybe you know the russian state told him this was going to happen and he and he just let it happen and it was doing it for like this pr thing and like who knows like like do maybe maybe dugan did know that this was going to happen like like there's there's no way to like you're just you're just you're just speculating at that point you're just creating theories in your own head but it is it is kind of funny that that dugan almost was in that car and then he wasn't and that is uh that is that is at the very least an interesting aspect of this assassination um but it's no evidence for one specific thing right yeah it could just be like oh i i'm gonna

make a stop somewhere on my way back home right like so i'm gonna take this i'm gonna take this other vehicle like there's so many other possible reasons for why he may have switched cars um but it is it it's it's another it is another like thing to that that the people are are turning into various theories yeah the thing i'll say about that is like you have to have a lot of faith in your bomb maker to drive behind a car bomb like intentionally like you've got to be like and I don't know either that or you really hate your daughter in a way that's very reckless yeah but you

could just like turn off the highway or something or like oh no my car broke down no you need to make sure that goes down behind you got a dropper you got to press the big plunger into the bugs yeah

well at least we're ending on a high note yeah I do like that we started assassination week with a car bomb and we're ending it with a car bomb 500 grams of TNT she declared the nearest church no doubt it's like poetry

it rhymes and I want to be on the light side of the force according to Dugan one of the last things Daria Dugan said I want to be on the light side of the force quote fine one of the according to Dugan one of the last things Daria Dugan said I want to be on the light side of the force somebody if there were real journalists left in the world somebody would reach out to George Lucas and just try

to get a quote and you're not don't email him it's like just go to a mall near Skywalker Ranch and wait until he goes to the Sparrow you'll find him alright we're done that does it for us today check under your driver's

side door if you're Alexander Dugan imagine if he wasn't if he wasn't involved or wasn't aware of this he is gonna be looking over his shoulder like non stop now yeah it's a man who's never getting into a car he hasn't like shimmied under or wasn't aware of this, he is going to be looking over his shoulder like nonstop now. Yeah.

This is a man who's never getting into a car he hasn't like shimmied under. He's going to have to look under every car he gets into. It's so funny. We love to see it. Anyway, ta-ta. All right, we're done. It Could Happen Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonemedia.com,

or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com. Thanks for listening. You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadow of Raya. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of Raya. An anthology podcast of modern day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into tech's elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI

to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech brought to you by an industry veteran with nothing to lose. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts from. On Thanksgiving Day 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami?

Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I found out I was related to the guy that I was dating. I don't feel emotions correctly. I collect my roommate's toenails and fingernails. Those were some callers from my call-in podcast, Therapy Gecko. It's a show where I take phone calls from anonymous strangers as a fake gecko therapist and try to learn a little bit about their lives. I know that's a weird concept,

but I promise it's very interesting. Check it out for yourself by searching for Therapy Gecko on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.