Episode Details

Cannibalism is one of the darkest parts of human history, but it hasn’t always meant the same thing. For some, it was survival, like the Andes crash survivors and Ethiopia’s famine. For others, it was about power and fear, from Liberian warlords such as General Butt Naked to the rebels in Sierra Leone and Congo. In some cases, it was ritual, including Clifford Orji in Lagos, the Ugep killers, South Africa’s Estcourt cannibal, and the albino killings in East Africa.

And it wasn’t only Africa. From Jeffrey Dahmer’s fridge in Milwaukee, to Albert Fish in New York, to the Rotenburg Cannibal in Germany, cannibalism has appeared everywhere.

So what does it really mean? Survival, ritual, power… or madness?

Watch as we explore the shocking history of cannibalism across the world.

Music: pixabay