Grigori Rasputin was one of the vilest, yet powerful villains in history. He was a giant both metaphorically and literally. He controlled magical powers of the dark arts, likely supplied by the devil. He was so powerful that after being poisoned, shot, stabbed, shot again, beaten, and thrown into a river – he was not yet dead.

Or….

Grigori Rasputin was a short, drunk womanizer that constantly stunk. Yet somehow, he wormed his way into the royal court of Nicholas the 2nd, the last Czar of Russia. Any “magic” or paranormal ability he showed was a mixture of good old-fashioned quackery and psycho somatic results – amplified by legend and time.

Which is true? Could both be legitimate accounts of one of the most notorious names in Russian history. We grab our ruler and head to 19th Century Russia to find out this week. Plus, Brent mistakes early 20th century Russian literature for Star Trek (who hasn’t?), Conspiracy Bot compares childhood mortality rates in 19th Century Russia to a Meatloaf song (who hasn’t), and the fellas get sick on Aldebaran whiskey for national “Ditch Your New Year’s Resolutions Day” (again, who hasn’t?). All of that and more on the podcast that doesn’t always talk late 19th century Russian historical figures, but when we do you better believe they have their own theme song - Hysteria 51.Special thanks to this week’s research sources:Research Assistant - Raymond Walden IVBooksRasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs | Douglas SmithRasputin: A Short Life | Frances WelchThe Big Black Book of Government Conspiracies | Andrè RavenSkül VenåsVideosSimple History - https://youtu.be/JXdbseRz0lcCloud Biography - https://youtu.be/ev5dNfRncFoRasputin - https://imdb.to/2SAJ5qLRa Ra Rasputin - https://youtu.be/aiSdTQ9DW9gWebsitesGrigori Rasputin - https://bit.ly/2SDuB9wPierre Gilliard - https://bit.ly/30t3akPLA Times - https://lat.ms/2MTHOaPInternational Encyclopedia of WWI - https://bit.ly/2Q4kIQuTsar - https://bit.ly/2F9kfWRHistory - https://bit.ly/2ZDJ46PKhodynka Tragedy - https://bit.ly/2MF29AnAlpha History - https://bit.ly/39mq3dvTsar Nicholas II - https://bit.ly/2EZPdAZRa Ra Rasputin lyrics - https://bit.ly/2toua97TIME - https://bit.ly/367MykzThe Awl - https://bit.ly/37o7u7bWebsters Dictionary - https://bit.ly/2ZzgALpAlexander Palace – https://bit.ly/363FSmP

Intro MusicSerpentine Trek – Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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