Podcast Episodes

Karen Silkwood and the Price of Speaking Up

Season 5 Episode 19

In 1974, 28-year-old Karen Silkwood left her home with a binder full of evidence and a plan to blow the whistle on dangerous conditions at the plutonium plant where she worked. She never arrived. Wha…

Published on 2 months ago

Reckoning at Penn State: The Jerry Sandusky Scandal

Season 5 Episode 18

Jerry Sandusky was a legend at Penn State University. As the right hand of head football coach Joe Paterno, he was known not only as an exceptional coach but also as a big-hearted philanthropist and …

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Faith Vs. Flag: How the Gobitis Case Tested the Limits of Religious Freedom

Season 5 Episode 17

In 1935, 12-year-old Lillian Gobitas and her little brother William were kicked out of their Pennsylvania public school — not for misbehaving, but for quietly refusing to salute the flag, which they …

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

The Murder of Phil Hartman

Crimes Of The Centuries is dark again this week, so here is an episode that you might not have heard previously... or might just want to listen to again.

When news spread that a high-profile comedia…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Guest Episode: The Wild Tale of Black Jack Ketchum

While Crimes of the Centuries takes a brief summer break, enjoy a guest episode from Josh at The Wild West Extravaganza. This one’s a doozy: It’s the story of "Black Jack" Ketchum — a train robber wh…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

The Siege of Sidney Street

Season 5 Episode 16

In late 1910 and early 1911, a band of impulsive Latvian radicals fleeing persecution in Russia unleashed a wave of violence in London that left three policemen dead and part of a quiet city block in…

Published on 3 months ago

The Repairman's Ruse: The Kidnapping of Alice Speed Stoll

Season 5 Episode 15

When Berry Stoll returned from work on Oct. 10, 1934, the scene greeting him was pure chaos: His maid was tied up, his wife was missing and a terrifying pool of blood covered one of the beds. Alice S…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

Breach of Trust: Inside the Legendary Loomis Fargo Heist

Season 5 Episode 14

One Sunday morning in 1997, a security guard noticed the front fence at Loomis Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina, was ajar. So was the warehouse door. And the vault inside was fitted with a suspicio…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Silenced in the South: Ruby McCollum and the Murder of Dr. Adams

Season 5 Episode 13

In 1952, Ruby McCollum left two of her children in her car as she casually walked into a doctor's office in Live Oak, Florida, and shot Dr. C. Leroy Adams — a respected white physician and newly elec…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago

The Stolen Cells and Silent Legacy of Henrietta Lacks

Season 5 Episode 12

When Henrietta Lacks discovered a tumor inside of her in 1951, she turned to Johns Hopkins Medical Center for help. They examined her cells and discovered two things: First, she had cervical cancer. …

Published on 4 months ago