Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
An Astronomer Hunts a KGB Hacker
Season 6 Episode 17
September 10, 1986. It’s just before 8am when Cliff Stoll’s pager jolts him awake. A computer at Lawrence Berkeley Lab has flagged a problem: a tiny 75-cent accounting error. But when Stoll rushes to…
Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Shaving Russia
Season 6
Sept 5, 1698. Tsar Peter the Great of Russia returns home from a year-long European tour. When noblemen, religious figures, and friends gather to welcome him home, Peter pulls out a straight razor, h…
Published on 2 months ago
José Cuervo Rebuilds a Tequila Empire
Season 6 Episode 16
August 28, 1920. In the town of Tequila, fireworks burst overhead as people celebrate Mexico’s independence. Then… gunshots. Malachías Cuervo, heir to the famous tequila dynasty, has just reignited a…
Published on 2 months, 1 week ago
The True Winnie-the-Pooh
Season 6
August 24, 1914. A train pulls up to the lumber town of White River, Ontario, carrying a regiment of Canadian troops on board. On the tracks where they disembark is a small black bear cub. An army ve…
Published on 2 months, 1 week ago
Egypt’s Last Hieroglyph and the Fiery Archbishop of Alexandria
Season 6 Episode 15
August 24, 394. On the walls of a fading Egyptian temple, a priest carves what will become the last known hieroglyph in history. At the same moment, in Alexandria, a fiery archbishop named Theophilus…
Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago
The Shark Attacks That Made Us Fear the Water
Season 6 Episode 14
August 15, 1915. American diplomat J. T. Du Bois publishes a letter in The New York Times. It’s not about diplomacy or foreign affairs. This letter is about sharks. It’s Du Bois’ attempt to prove to …
Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago
When Nazis Killed Nazis in the Middle of America
Season 6 Episode 13
August 7, 1943. Off the coast of Venezuela, a Nazi U-boat is under siege. For nine days, it’s hunted by Allied aircraft across the Caribbean, until its engines fail and its commander gives the order:…
Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Barbie for President!
Season 6
July 29th, 1992. The Baltimore Sun runs a feature about a surprise candidate in the upcoming presidential race: Barbie. The 11.5-inch icon of girlhood and glamor is running for office – and flying of…
Published on 3 months ago
Anarchists, Lovers, and the Birth of the FBI
Season 6 Episode 12
July 23rd, 1892. Henry Clay Frick is one of America’s leading industrialists. To Alexander Berkman, he’s one of America’s leading villains. Berkman is an anarchist, along with his partner, Emma Goldm…
Published on 3 months, 1 week ago
Solving a Royal Murder Mystery | Philippa Langley Investigates the Princes in the Tower
Season 6 Episode 11
July 17, 1674. During renovations at the Tower of London, construction workers digging beneath a stone staircase make a chilling discovery—two child-sized skeletons buried ten feet underground. And K…
Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago