The plane had crashed. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper had been laid to rest. But the story of The Day the…

playlist: February 3, 1959, would become known as “The Day the Music Died”In Part Two of The Day the Music Died, we continue with…

February 3, 1959, would become known as “The Day the Music Died” But before we get to that frozen field, we need to know…

In the second part we follow Mary through her years on North Brother Island, her legal fight against the city, her release, and the…

Mary Mallon was simply an Irish immigrant making a living as a cook for some of New York’s wealthiest families. But wherever she worked,…

The Hitler Diaries are finally exposed as fake, and the fallout is spectacular! In the fourth and final part of our series, we talk…

Stern is now spending millions, historians are cautiously warning them, and Konrad Kujau is sitting at home frantically producing more and more volumes while…

Gerd Heidemann follows up on the supposed Hitler diaries and finally meets the man behind them. Money starts changing hands in ways that should…

This week, we start a story that begins with a boat, takes a detour through a small village in East Germany, and ends up…

In 1853, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria goes for one of his regular walks in Vienna. It’s something he does often enough that…

This week we’re in January of 1919, in Boston’s North End. People are still recovering from the First World War and the 1918 flu,…

When we first started Fresh Hell, people kept asking us to cover the Boston Molasses Flood. So…here we are. And because Annie researched this…

After everything he survived as a child at Spiegelgrund, Friedrich ends up back in prison in the 1970s, where he is sent for a…

In Part 3 of Friedrich Zawrel’s story, we follow him through detention, sentencing, and a harrowing journey along the Danube as the Third Reich…

In Part 2 of Friedrich Zawrel’s story, we meet the doctors of Spiegelgrund. Dr. Ernst Illing and Dr. Heinrich Gross were psychiatrists working inside…

Friedrich Zawrel grew up in Vienna during the Third Reich. As a child, he was labeled “difficult” and “unmanageable” by the authorities. That was…

Vienna, 1940. On the hills above the city stood a children’s psychiatric institution called Am Spiegelgrund. Officially it was a place for treatment, observation,…

In 1660, a respected estate steward left the English market town of Chipping Campden to collect rent and never came home. His bloodstained belongings…

In Part 3, we follow Friedrich after Küstrin. This episode looks at what Friedrich became once he held absolute power: the military strategist, the…

After being arrested and imprisoned at Küstrin, Friedrich is stripped of rank, freedom, and is forced into isolation, surveillance, and humiliation, while the fate…

Friedrich II of Prussia is remembered as “the Great.”But before he became the most famous Prussian king, he tried to run! In this first…

In 1920s Vienna, a woman calling herself Baroness Cadvé ran what appeared to be a private language school for children. Behind the polite advertisements…

On December 24th 1996, in Minneapolis, a series of escalating disturbances unfolded across the city, leading to an explosion during the city’s Christmas celebrations.…

This week, Johanna takes us back to 18th-century Austria, when terrified villagers were convinced the dead were refusing to stay buried…and the Habsburg Empire…

Cardinal de Rohan believes he’s secretly helping Marie Antoinette purchase the world’s most extravagant necklace, while Jeanne de la Motte and her accomplices quietly…

So… you almost died. Or you technically did—for a moment. And then came the tunnel, the music, the relatives made of light, the surgeons…

Congratulations—you’ve died! Now what? In this our version of the “Handbook For the Recently Deceased” (and the morbidly curious). We take you on a…

In this week’s episode, Johanna takes us deep into the shadows of pre-WWI Austria-Hungary to tell the true story of Colonel Alfred Redl, once…

This week, we’re taking a peel behind the Vatican’s heaviest doors. From popes who put each other on trial…AFTER DEATH…to rumors of devilish deals…

In the final part of our Nellie Bly series, we follow her through yet another reinvention …as wife to industrialist Robert Seaman and, after…

In Part 3 of our Nellie Bly series, the whole world starts to pay attention. We’ll follow her from the publication of Ten Days in…

In 1887, Nellie Bly got herself committed to one of the most notorious mental institutions in the country — not because she needed help,…

Before she became one of the most daring journalists in history, Nellie Bly was Elizabeth Jane Cochran — a smart, stubborn girl from Pennsylvania…

From flood panics and flaming cities to gas masks for comet poison, humanity has always had a flair for predicting the end of the…

In our final episode on the world of Freak Shows, we’re closing the curtain with the incredible, tragic, and sometimes triumphant stories of the performers…

This week, we’re bringing you two of the most fascinating and deeply unsettling stories from the world of freak shows: Chang & Eng Bunker, the original Siamese twins, and Julia…

In this final part of our Barnum deep dive, we cover his biggest spectacle yet—The Greatest Show on Earth. From the moment he took…

In this episode, we pick up where we left off with P.T. Barnum. We’ll talk about how he turned Scudder’s American Museum into a…

In December 1984, Kingston Falls, Pennsylvania, went from a quiet, festive town to the scene of absolute chaos, all thanks to one ill-considered Christmas…

In this episode Johanna takes us to the quiet, rural landscapes of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, to tell you about the tragic case of Robert Syrokowski.…

Dive into the fascinating, chaotic, and downright quirky world of the 1900 Paris Olympics in this episode! We’ll unravel the strange stories that made…

This week we explore the rich tapestry of Austrian folklore with some captivating sagas and legends, steeped in history, myth, and tradition. Delve into…

This week we continue the fascinating tale of Eugène-François Vidocq, a notorious criminal turned pioneering crime fighter. After a life of crime, Vidocq embarks…

Today we are talking about the captivating life of Eugène François Vidocq, the enigmatic figure who transformed from notorious criminal to legendary detective. Join…

This week we delve into the cataclysmic forces of nature, exploring the most devastating tsunamis, hurricanes, and tornadoes in recorded history. Learn all about…

In this crucial episode, we delve into indispensable safety guidelines for navigating the unpredictable realms of fire and earthquakes. We dissect emergency protocols, evacuation…

Today we unearth the dark origins of Valentine’s Day, an ancient tale of beheadings, forbidden romances, and the eerie echoes of the Roman festival…

In this third and final part Johanna tells you everything about Yossi Ghinsberg’s fight for survival in the Bolivian jungle, you’ll hear all about…

This week we talk about what happened to Yossi Ghinsberg, Kevin Gale, Markus Stamm and Karl Ruprechter, after they decided to turn around and…

In 1981 Yossi Ghinsberg, an Israeli adventurer, embarked on a perilous Amazonian expedition with companions Kevin Gale,Markus Stamm and a guide, Karl Ruprechter. The…

Annie & Johanna speak with Ingrid, from Hamburg, who shares the harrowing true story of her husband’s kidnapping

In part 2 we conclude our coverage of the devastating explosion which destroyed Halifax, Nova Scotia in December 1917. We examine the heroic acts…

On 6. December 1917, the busy WWI port of Halifax, Nova Scotia was devastated by the largest man made explosion the world had ever seen.…

This week Annie talks about El Campo Santo, the historic cemetery located in Old Town San Diego. The cemetery dates back to the early…

Today we look back on some of the most interesting deaths in history. We discuss Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, his rule in Persia, now modern…

In November, 1979, Robert Taylor, forestry worker and WWII veteran, experienced something terrifying in a clearing in the woods of Livingston, outside of Edinburgh,…