Last Podcast On The Left Episode 653: The Du Pont Foxcatcher Murder Part II - The House of the Butterflies
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Feb 20, 2026 A sprawling corporate origin story tracing a family empire from WWI munitions to consumer goods and wartime production. They trace toxic innovations like leaded gasoline, napalm, and C8 Teflon chemicals and the environmental and health aftermath. Political meddling and corporate power plays, including plots against FDR and Cold War interventions, thread through the rise and cover ups.
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The Business Plot Against FDR
- DuPont joined other businessmen in the 1933 Business Plot aiming to overthrow FDR and install Smedley Butler as dictator.
- Butler exposed the scheme to Congress, and none of the plotters were punished despite clear involvement.
DuPont Built Modern Consumer Materials
- DuPont invented nylon and many synthetics that reshaped consumer culture and industry.
- Their R&D approach created mass-market products that accelerated wasteful modern consumerism.
DuPont's Role In Nuclear Production
- DuPont was contracted to process radioactive fuel for the Manhattan Project and built Oak Ridge and Hanford.
- Poor waste handling at those sites contaminated groundwater and caused dramatic health problems for workers and locals.