New York journalism in 1897 was in a pretty technicolor space. Newspapers, so long the grey, stolid, medium of the merchants and businessman, were instead being filled with lurid stories of murder, scandal and drunken debauchery and the public were loving it. As papers fought for readers in the streets, sometimes quite literally, the stories that filled the ... Show More
Aug 25
Early America & The Savage Crimes of the Harpe Brothers
In the years following the American Revolution, when the country was still uncertain of itself and the frontier was still a place of violence, two brothers carved out a story of fear across the wilderness. When their story was first published in 1824, many people thought it was s ... Show More
1 h
Aug 12
The Grafton, The Invercauld and the The Multiple Wrecks of the Auckland Islands
In the winter of 1864, two ships met their fate on one of the most remote and unforgiving stretches of the Southern Ocean. The Grafton and the Invercauld were wrecked thousands of miles from civilization, leaving their survivors stranded on the desolate Auckland Islands. What fol ... Show More
1h 7m
Aug 3
Summer Break - Charlotte Riddell: The Open Door
Hey Everyone! here is a little episode to tide us over til next week when I'll be back to the usual posting schedule. I took a short, mid-season break to sort some bits and pieces out and enjoy a bit of the summer weather, but I do love a good ghost story, so here's one for the t ... Show More
1h 16m
Jun 2018
Hearst vs Pulitzer - The Headless Torso, Part 2 | 2
In 1897, America looked very different. Carriages rolled through the streets of New York. Mass media was just growing up, and Hearst was convinced that carrier pigeons - hunted to extinction by 1914 - were what would give his paper the edge during the early days of the Headless T ... Show More
22m 40s
Jul 2020
William Guldensuppe Pt. 1
On June 26, 1897, four boys discovered a package wrapped in red oilcloth floating in New York City’s East River. It contained the upper torso of an unknown man, launching one of the largest media murder mysteries ever, and igniting newspaper wars that would last a decade. Learn m ... Show More
48m 16s
Jun 2018
Hearst vs Pulitzer - The Headless Torso, Part 1 | 1
This is the beginning of a mystery, a great business rivalry, and a look into American history. To tell the story of Hearst vs Pulitzer, we called our friend Lindsay Graham over at American History Tellers for help.The Headless Torso mystery is about a jilted husband, a German mi ... Show More
24 m
Jun 2018
Hearst vs Pulitzer - The Price of News | 3
In 1883, 15 years before the Headless Torso Murder, New York City's population was rapidly growing and the newspaper scene was pretty sleepy. The city's nearly 50 daily papers, even the small New York Times, was a pretty sedate bunch, informing citizens about zoning board decisio ... Show More
21m 34s
Jan 2017
E28: The Hall-Mills Murder
Two corpses are found posed under a tree in New Brunswick, New Jersey. An heiress, a reverend, a cheating wife, a charming bachelor, the local oddball, and the love affair that turned deadly—with this cast of characters, it’s no wonder the case kicked off one of the biggest media ... Show More
37m 59s