The Unbelievable Story of the 1954 CIA-Sponsored Guatemalan Coup.
An original podcast docuseries featuring New York Times bestselling author Stephen Kinzer.
Forget oil. In 1954, it was all about bananas.
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, US corporate interests and the fear of communism in Latin America set the stage for one of the most disastrous regime change operations in CIA history, plunging a promising democracy into the bloodiest civil war in the history of the continent.
Fruit d’Etat is a production of Fourth Act Studios.
Written and produced by Stefano Dozza.
Narrated by Todd Bjurstrom.
Sound design and original music by Reno (Marco Solferini).
Script editor: Nicholas Charlsen.
The original painting featured in the artwork is by Luca Polini.
Featuring excerpts of interviews with Stephen Kinzer, Tommie Sue Montgomery, Rachel Nolan, Richard Nuccio, and Joseph Wippl.
You can support Fourth Act Studios by rating and reviewing Fruit d’Etat. It’ll help more people find it, and it’ll help us make a new season about a different story we believe deserves to be told.
*Fruit d'Etat has been thoroughly researched to ensure accuracy, drawing from books as well as declassified CIA documents and US government files. The story of the 1954 CIA-sponsored coup in Guatemala is not a conspiracy theory.
Episode 5. The political instability caused by the 1954 CIA-sponsored coup leads to a 36-year-long civil war that ends in genocide.
Forget oil. In 1954, it was all about bananas.
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, US corporate interests and the fear of communism in Latin America set the stage for one of the most disastrous regime change operations in CIA history, plunging a promising democracy into the bloodiest civil war in the history of the continent.
Fruit d’Etat is an original podcast docuseries by Fourth Act Studios, featuring New York Times bestselling author Stephen Kinzer.
Written and produced by Stefano Dozza.
Narrated by Todd Bjurstrom.
Sound design and original music by Reno (Marco Solferini).
Script editor: Nicholas Charlsen.
The original painting featured in the artwork is by Luca Polini.
Featuring excerpts of interviews with Stephen Kinzer, Tommie Sue Montgomery, Rachel Nolan, Richard Nuccio, and Joseph Wippl.
6 Apr 2026
4. Operation Success
Episode 4. With the blessing of President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon, CIA director Allen Dulles officially launches Operation Success, a plan to overthrow the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala and replace him with astroturf leader Carlos Castillo Armas.
Forget oil. In 1954, it was all about bananas.
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, US corporate interests and the fear of communism in Latin America set the stage for one of the most disastrous regime change operations in CIA history, plunging a promising democracy into the bloodiest civil war in the history of the continent.
Fruit d’Etat is an original podcast docuseries by Fourth Act Studios, featuring New York Times bestselling author Stephen Kinzer.
Written and produced by Stefano Dozza.
Narrated by Todd Bjurstrom.
Sound design and original music by Reno (Marco Solferini).
Script editor: Nicholas Charlsen.
The original painting featured in the artwork is by Luca Polini.
Featuring excerpts of interviews with Stephen Kinzer, Tommie Sue Montgomery, Rachel Nolan, Richard Nuccio, and Joseph Wippl.
6 Apr 2026
3. Actors and Publicists: The Making of the Guatemalan Coup
Episode 3. A propaganda campaign designed by Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, paints Guatemala as a communist stronghold in desperate need to be liberated, a narrative the American people are all too receptive to in the 1950s.
Forget oil. In 1954, it was all about bananas.
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, US corporate interests and the fear of communism in Latin America set the stage for one of the most disastrous regime change operations in CIA history, plunging a promising democracy into the bloodiest civil war in the history of the continent.
Fruit d’Etat is an original podcast docuseries by Fourth Act Studios, featuring New York Times bestselling author Stephen Kinzer.
Written and produced by Stefano Dozza.
Narrated by Todd Bjurstrom.
Sound design and original music by Reno (Marco Solferini).
Script editor: Nicholas Charlsen.
The original painting featured in the artwork is by Luca Polini.
Featuring excerpts of interviews with Stephen Kinzer, Tommie Sue Montgomery, Rachel Nolan, Richard Nuccio, and Joseph Wippl.
6 Apr 2026
2. Sam the Banana Man and the United Fruit Company
Episode 2. Newly elected Jacobo Árbenz threatens the margins of United Fruit Company’s CEO: Sam, the Banana Man, the uncrowned king of Central America.
Forget oil. In 1954, it was all about bananas.
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, US corporate interests and the fear of communism in Latin America set the stage for one of the most disastrous regime change operations in CIA history, plunging a promising democracy into the bloodiest civil war in the history of the continent.
Fruit d’Etat is an original podcast docuseries by Fourth Act Studios, featuring New York Times bestselling author Stephen Kinzer.
Written and produced by Stefano Dozza.
Narrated by Todd Bjurstrom.
Sound design and original music by Reno (Marco Solferini).
Script editor: Nicholas Charlsen.
The original painting featured in the artwork is by Luca Polini.
Featuring excerpts of interviews with Stephen Kinzer, Tommie Sue Montgomery, Rachel Nolan, Richard Nuccio, and Joseph Wippl.
6 Apr 2026
1. Growing Pains: Prelude to the Guatemalan Coup
Episode 1. The Guatemalan spring of 1944 ushers in hope, with the election of Juan José Arévalo, the country’s first democratically elected President.
Forget oil. In 1954, it was all about bananas.
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, US corporate interests and the fear of communism in Latin America set the stage for one of the most disastrous regime change operations in CIA history, plunging a promising democracy into the bloodiest civil war in the history of the continent.
Fruit d’Etat is an original podcast docuseries by Fourth Act Studios, featuring New York Times bestselling author Stephen Kinzer.
Written and produced by Stefano Dozza.
Narrated by Todd Bjurstrom.
Sound design and original music by Reno (Marco Solferini).
Script editor: Nicholas Charlsen.
The original painting featured in the artwork is by Luca Polini.
Featuring excerpts of interviews with Stephen Kinzer, Tommie Sue Montgomery, Rachel Nolan, Richard Nuccio, and Joseph Wippl.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
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15 ratings
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