‘The Rev’ Rose Mackenberg

Tracy talks about how she came to love onions after disliking them as a child. Holly discusses her fear of heights, and questions evidence in Ludwig II's death.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Bernhard von Gudden was renowned as a reformer of asylums in Germany. But that legacy has been eclipsed by his part in getting King Ludwig II of Bavaria deposed. Research: Bhattacharyya, Kalyan B. “Johann Bernhard Aloys von Gudden and the Mad King of Bavaria.” Annals of Indian Ac ... Show More

In the 1950s, two men tried to corner the market on onions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and manipulate futures contracts. Then Congress took up legislation to expressly forbid contracts for the sale of onion futures. Research: Butz, Earl L. “VINCENT W KOSUGA, SAM S. SIEGEL, ... Show More

From 1925 to his death in 1926, the great escapologist and illusionist Harry Houdini conducts a tireless campaign against fake mediums. To help him, he has a small army of secret spirit investigators, led by the plucky female detective Rose Mackenberg. Working undercover in a ran ... Show More

The story of two famous friends — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini — and the disagreement that ended their friendship: can we speak to the dead? Read Rose Mackenberg's essays in Tony Wolf's book, Houdini's Girl Detective: The Real-Life Ghost-Busting Adventures of Rose Mac ... Show More

Helen Duncan was a famous medium who travelled around Britain in the 1940s performing séances. She claimed to speak to the dead, and even produce physical manifestations of their spirits. But when Helen Duncan seemed to know wartime secrets about the whereabouts of military ships ... Show More

Harry Houdini was one of the greatest entertainers of his time. He was constantly reinventing himself to stay on top. In the last few years of his career, he became dead-set on debunking people claiming to be psychic mediums who communed with spirits. And when he figured out how ... Show More

Gina Marks, often dubbed the “Psychic Scam Queen,” was a self-proclaimed psychic who conned multiple clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by claiming she could lift curses, reunite lovers, and cleanse their lives of bad luck. 

In 1841, Mary Rogers’ corpse was found floating in the Hudson. At only 20, the “beautiful cigar girl” was a local celebrity even before her mysterious death. Mary had many admirers, including a fiancé, an ex-fiance, the boss who hired her for her looks, the men to whom she sold c ... Show More