Podcast Episodes

Exploding Kings & Red Hot Pokers: Gruesome Deaths of Monarchs

Episode 28

Edward II died by red-hot poker. William the Conqueror exploded on his way into the coffin. Mary II went down covered in so many pustules she was unrecognisable.

Kings and Queens are more much more li…

Published on 1 year, 11 months ago

Blood Countess of Hungary: Sixteenth Century Serial Killer

Episode 27

The inspiration behind countless gothic novels, Countess Elizabeth Báthory is said to be one of the most prolific serial killers of all time, accused of the murder of 600 girls during the late 16th c…

Published on 2 years ago

Christmas Day Strangler: the murder of Gwen Ellen Jones

Episode 26

On Christmas Day 1909, Gwen Ellen Jones was murdered by William Murphy in the Welsh town of Holyhead. Anthony and Maddy tell the story with an appearance from Dr Hazel Pierce at the end. The episode …

Published on 2 years ago

Charles Dickens' Christmas Ghosts

Episode 25

Like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve, we are visited by three Dickensian ghosts today. One rattling chains, one made out of dark memories, and one tapping out messages on a train. Did Dickens himse…

Published on 2 years ago

Palmer the Poisoner: Victorian England's Doctor of Death

Episode 24

In a century of poisoners, William Palmer stands out as the prince of them all. Charles Dickens called him "the greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey".

Maddy tells Anthony the story this …

Published on 2 years ago

Why Do People Kill at Christmas?

Episode 23

 Why do people kill in the season of goodwill? Why are we fascinated when they do? And what does it say about us?

Professor David Wilson, leading criminologist and bestselling author, joins Maddy and …

Published on 2 years ago

Ghost That Solved Its Own Murder: Red Barn Murder

Episode 22

The Red Barn Murder in 1827 was ground zero for true crime podcasts. It become one of the first cases to explode in the media and caused a national sensation. It had everything - sex, murder and a gh…

Published on 2 years ago

The Ghost of Anne Boleyn

Episode 21

We talk the ghost of Anne Boleyn, Queen of England before Henry VIII chopped off her head, with the marvellous Tracy Borman.

Where can Anne Boleyn's ghost be seen? What form does it take? And why does…

Published on 2 years ago

Hellfire Club: Sex, Scandal & Satanism in Georgian England

Episode 20

Sex, Satanism and Scandal surrounded the Hellfire Club that operated out of a network of caves in the country estate of 18th century aristocrat Francis Dashwood. The most powerful men in the country …

Published on 2 years ago

Amelia Dyer: Victorian Baby Farm Killer

Episode 19

Some estimates have it that Amelia Dyer killed more than 400 babies. It's hard to say for sure because so few victims were recovered. She was a phantom that grew up in a very dark corner of Victorian…

Published on 2 years, 1 month ago