Imagine you've been unstoppable - created the most popular websites and movies in the history of well, websites and movies... what would be next? You see everyone on their phone all the time out in public, and think - that's it! Shows JUST for your phone! Sounds kind of dumb, but whatever - the only thing that could possibly go wrong would be if people were trapped in their houses and devoted to their TVs in a way that they hadn't been in ages. Right - That was Quibi - phone only shows that launched right before we were all stuck inside due to Covid! A spectacular failure from Meg Whitman & Jeffrey Katzenberg.

We're back with the epic rise and fall of Milli Vanilli! We're old enough to remember, and we still delight in their smash hits! But it's obviously also a tragic story of fame, the music industry, race, culture, and creative freedom. We'll talk about our stars Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus - how they found each other in 1980s Germany, rose to superstardom under the heel of the villain Frank Farian, and their very public fall from grace. It's a deeper story than you thought, but girl, you know it's true.

Did this case enthrall you when you were a child?? I remember the song, and being sure she did it from the TV movie... but after researching, I'm just not as convinced!

Voltaire kind of said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." And that's pretty much Freedom of Speech in the US. You CAN say stuff, you aren't immune to consequences, but the basic right does exist. Today we'll talk about the founding of the ACLU, and the time that they supported the right to have a bad opinion.

It's Victorian London - and if you aren't rich, things are awful. (That's actually a pattern of all of humanity and of all time if you take a second to reflect on the greed.) Imagine, though, that it's specifically the kind of awful where you are on the streets selling yourself for money in order to buy crappy booze and sleep in an even crappier rooming house if you can. Taylor read a lot of books for this - and although she doesn't believe that DNA evidence will ever find Jack the Ripper - she does believe that he probably snuck up on his victims while they were sleeping in alleyways, which I don't know changes it a bit.

In our last true crime recap, we revisit episode 1 on Lori Vally & Chad Daybell - as well as some other career criminals and old-timey criminals! Ep 1 - Part 2: Mommy Dearest - Lori Vallow & Chad Daybell Ep 3 - Part 2: Trouble in Celebration - The Todt Family Murders Ep 8 - Part 1: Terror in the Capital - The DC Snipers Ep 18 - Part 1: BFFs Gone Wrong - Bernie Tiede Ep 20 - Part 1: Call the Keystone Cops - It's Fatty Arbuckle Ep 21 - Part 2: The Least Great Showman - Grady Stiles Ep 57: A Most Dangerous Game - Alexander Pichushkin - The Chess Board Killer Ep 81 - Responsible journalism? The Stephen Glass story Ep 91 - Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night: Going Postal Ep 104 - Big Trouble in Little Skidmore, Missouri

Farz & Taylor met in 2013 when they started working at a startup in Downtown Los Angeles. We understand that some people like DTLA, but Taylor personally lived in New York City for 13 years before this and has never set foot in a worse place than the area around Pershing Square. We say that because the Cecil Hotel is just a block away from where we worked, and as soon as we got into the neighborhood, Elisa Lam's body was found in a water tower. That's not the only thing to happen there, from the Night Stalker coming 'home' after a night of stalking & murdering, to ghosts in the lobby, and secret hotels within a hotel - this has it all!

In 1996, Australian weirdo Martin Bryant killed 35 people in the deadliest shooting in Australian history. He's the worst, annoying and rude, he killed his landlords and tourists, going on a spree that shocked the nation. Australia followed up with a mass gun buyback program that has made Australia safer from gun violence, but it still has all those bugs.

More murders! More mystery! Some murders become folklore — names that live on as legends, cautionary tales, and chilling history lessons. From Jack the Ripper’s foggy London streets to the haunted halls of New Orleans, these are the killers who became myths. Ep 107 - Australia's Gun Horror: The Port Arthur Massacre Ep 111 - Michigan's own 1970s Serial Killer - John Norman Collins Ep 120 - South American Nightmares: Luis Garavito & Pedro Lopez Ep 123 - Trip down memory lane: What happened to the Cecil Hotel? Ep 129 - Mother of Sparrows: The Vengeance of Saint Olga of Kiev Ep 139 - Paradise Lost: Murder in the Galapagos Ep 148 - A Very Famous Series of Murders in Whitechapel: Jack the Ripper Ep 154: Off With Their Heads! - Medieval Executioner Ep 171: Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? - John Wilkes Booth Ep 173: Revenge of the Monarch - Jamal Khashoggi Ep 176: Who's to say Virgin Blood doesn't stop aging? - Elizabeth Bathory Ep 183: Devil in The Big Easy - Delphine LaLaurie Ep 190: Suicidal pilots: Germanwings Flight 9525 Ep 197: Gotta Have High Hopes - The DeFeo Family

This is our most popular episode ever. We can only assume that you people are kind of gross and Google this trio often. Here's the story of young men who murdered over 20 people, tortured animals, and filmed it all. Buckle up for this depraved tale from Eastern Europe.

Imagine you live on a farm in Germany. It's winter. Your maid quits because she hears footsteps in the attic, you find a newspaper from a faraway town in the yard, and there are footsteps in the snow coming towards your house, but NOT leaving??? You would, of course, be right to be scared. Let's revisit the story of the Gruber family (and their NEW maid who was only on the job ONE day) and how their bodies were found in the barn. Someone had killed them, stayed and taken care of the animals for a while, and fled. Who do you think did it?? We put this on YouTube once and mentioned it was Taylor's Favorite Murder, and someone commented 'Who cares what your favorite murder is!?' and we were like, who are you? Have you not been on the internet yet? First day?

Let's revisit one of the most famous murders of the 20th century - and a highlight from our tenth episode! So, OJ Simpson absolutely killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. It's a tragedy that there was no justice and his poor poor kids. Anyway! Does anyone even read these descriptions?? This is the first of several murder rereleases!

Oh boy do we have a lot of Murder episodes!! We started off mostly doing true crime before we pivoted to history and some true crime and other fun things! This is part 1 of three of our Murder episodes! Re-releases on the way! Ep 4 - Part 1: Tragedy in Manchester - the murder of Kelly Anne Bates Ep 5 - Part 2: You can just leave your family, calm down! - The Murdaugh Family Murders Ep 6 - Part 1: Officer Black Widower - The Story of Drew Peterson Ep 7 - Part 2: Never get in a stranger's van - The Toolbox Killers Ep 9 - Part 2: Do as I say - The murders of Yaser Said Ep 10 - Part 1: "If he did it" - OJ & Nicole Simpson Ep 13 - Part 2: Honestly, what an a-hole - Chris Watts Ep 14 - Part 1: Demons probably aren't real, but this dude is: Pazuzu Algarad Ep 15 - Part 2: You do not know any criminal masterminds - Tiffany Cole and (I can't believe I have to say this) Michael Jackson Ep 16 - Part 1: The Saddest Thing That Happened - Andrea Yates Ep 17 - Part 2: Blondes Don't Have More Fun - Scott Peterson Ep 19 - Part 2: You're the worst - Ken McElroy Ep 21 - Part 1: Taylor's Favorite Murder - Hinterkaifeck Ep 22 - Part 1: The wild life of Gypsy Rose Blanchard Ep 23 - Part 2: Horror at Home - The Cheshire Murders Ep 24 - Part 1: Impossible that she did it, Impossible that she DIDN'T do it - Lizzie Borden Ep 24 - Part 2: A Couple of Real A-holes - The Moors Murders Ep 25 - Part 2: Fake it Till You Make It - Andrew Cunanan & Gianni Versace. Ep 29: The true story of Wolf Creek: The story of Ivan Milat Ep 28: Real life Chucky dolls: The story of James Bulger Ep 30: I'M JACK RUBY YOU KNOW ME! - The story of Jack Ruby - Lee Harvey Oswald's killer Ep 32: Black Widow Chronicles: The Dark Saga of Betty Lou Beets Ep 34: Love, Lust, and Murder in the Gilded Age: The Riveting Tale of Evelyn Nesbit, Henry K. Thaw, and Stanford White Ep 35: The most doomed to fail relationship in history: Bonnie & Clyde Ep 40: The Indian Jeffrey Dahmer: The tale of Surinder Koli Ep 44: Unimaginable Cruelty - The Chilling Tale of Nurse Lucy Letby Ep 49: Consensual homicide: The true story of cannibal Armin Meiwes Ep 56: A Man in the Attic: The Villisca Axe Murders Ep 60: 3 Guys, 1 Hammer - The Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs Ep 64: Lonely Hearts Club - The terrible relationship of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck Ep 88 - Yachting in Hell: Skylar 'Scumbag' Deleon Ep 100 - Murder in a Locked Room: William H. Wallace Ep 103 - The Final Bow: Tragedy and Treachery of Daniel Wozniak

Speaking of religious history - here's a re-release of our episode on Friar Diego De Landa & the Mayans. There are many Maya people still living in Central / Meso America. They have a rich culture, but they did have tons of written history burned away by Spanish Friars - because Jesus would want you to do that? It's heartbreaking, and Taylor will always be mad about that. If you are tempted for a moment to say 'but it stopped human sacrifices' I'll stop you there & ask you to please see our episode 145 about Witch Hunts. #bless

Religion has sparked wars, inspired art, toppled empires, and comforted the faithful. In these episodes, we explore the stories where belief shaped human history in unforgettable and sometimes unsettling ways. Ep 5 - Part 1: Divorce is fine, calm down! - The Story of Anne Boleyn & Henry VIII Ep 6 - Part 2: Love you Forever! - The Story of the Taj Mahal Ep 14 - Part 2: Big Trouble in Little Plymoth - William Bradford & Thomas Morton Ep 18 - Part 2: Our Favorite Demon Hunters - Ed & Lorraine Warren Ep 43: Maya's Curse Unveiled: The Friar Diego De Landa Enigma Bonus: Interview with Marcos Antonio Hernandez - Author of "Where They Burn Books, They Also Burn People"" Ep 127 - Suffering for Salvation: The Complicated Legacy of Mother Teresa Ep 129 - Mother of Sparrows: The Vengeance of Saint Olga of Kiev Ep 145 - Witch Trials: Not just in Salem! Ep 177: What's the worst that could happen? - The Münster Rebellion of 1534 Ep 194: The Vatican State: How did it come to be?

Today, we delve into the 1970s sensational 'novel non-fiction' book 'Sybil.' Sybil is the heroic journey of a woman plagued with 16 separate personalities - they came from [and trigger warning here] horrific childhood abuse and were eventually merged with the help of her psychiatrist. The book made A LOT of money, was a made-for-TV movie, and started a company called Sybil, Inc. Was it true? Kind of? Was the real Sybil pushed into it by her doctor? Also kind of? We will talk about what's true, what isn't, and how complicated and 'magical' our human brains are.

Imagine you have a lot of money and months of free time, so you decide to climb the highest mountain we've got. That's good for you, but if you die there, you stay there, and recently, there's a line to the top. In this re-release, we'll discuss the first time, tragic times, and the sherpas who keep the whole thing going. Aren't they the heroes?

Remember the 1950s? We don't either, and it wasn't like, ideal for women and minorities... but there WAS this idea of a place you could go to get away - think Palm Springs now (if you ignore all the unhoused people, which you should not, someone should do something about Palm Springs). ANYWAY - here's a re-release of a time when men tried to create a paradise by changing nature, and they absolutely did not.

Let's go back to our Volcano Series for Natural Disaster Week! Today, we'll tell the story of how Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. We'll cover what type of volcano, the warnings of doom, the cities themselves, how Nero sent help, how they were discovered centuries later, and how climbing Mt. Vesuvius is hella boring. This was part 2 in our 7 part series that you can find anywhere you listen!

From volcanoes to fires to snow, we have MANY episodes on Natural Disasters! Ep 38: Volcanoes Pt 1 - Mt. Toba's Echo: Journey into Earth's Cataclysmic Past Ep 42: Volcanoes Pt 2 - Time Capsule of Tragedy: Exploring Pompeii's Frozen History Ep 46: Volcanoes Pt 3 - The Silent Summer: Tambora's Echo in Time Ep 51: Volcanoes Pt 4 - Krakatoa: Exploring the Tectonic Plates Beneath the Cataclysmic Eruption Ep 59: Volcanoes Pt 5 - Mud, Fire, and Ash: The Mt. Pelée Eruption Ep 66 - Volcanoes Part 6 - George Vancouver, this is it!: The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens Ep 71 - Volcanoes Part 7 - The End of the World - Yellowstone & Mass Extinctions Ep 73: Disaster in the Desert: Saga of the Salton Sea Ep 74 - Get Your 'Blood's Worth': The Great Fire of London Ep 77 - Cloudy with a Chance of Terror: Cumulonimbus Ep 78 - Ditka's Inferno: The Great Chicago Fire Ep 86 - Shake it like you mean it - The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Ep 89 - Fire In the Rubble: The Great San Francisco Fire Ep 95 - The Highest Graveyard on Earth: Mt. Everest Ep 99 - Dying in the Deep: The Blue Hole Ep 136 - Cave of Doom: John Jones & Nutty Putty Cave Ep 142 - Death Lurking in the Deep - Limnic Eruptions Ep 163: Deep Blue Something - Tom & Eileen Lonergan Ep 164: Incarcerated & Fire Fighting - California's Conservation Camps BONUS: Real Life Stories - Incarcerated Firefighting with Brett Crawford Ep 196: Table for 87? - The Donner Party