logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2019
6m 48s

The game show contestant who cheated his...

THE WASHINGTON POST
About this episode
In the 1950s, Charles Van Doren, a quiet professor in New York City, became wrapped up in one of the biggest television quiz show scandals in history. 
Up next
Jan 2025
The presidential inauguration that made everyone sick
The Post's new Retropolis columnist, Petula Dvorak, introduces herself and reintroduces you to what can be uncovered with a good look at history. Petula shares her Retropolis column "The presidential inauguration that made everyone sick" about the aftermath of James Buchanan’s in ... Show More
11m 57s
Dec 2019
Earthrise
On Christmas Eve in 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts captured an image that symbolizes hope and inspired environmentalism. 
5m 21s
Dec 2019
Hair peace. Bed peace.
On March 25, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were a few days into their marriage when they invited the press to join them at their honeymoon suite at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. 
5m 54s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
Quiz Show Rigging | Consolation Prize | 3
As former quiz show champion Herbert Stempel watches Charles Van Doren continue his staged winning streak on Twenty-One, he threatens to go public with what he knows. Meanwhile, another contestant quietly takes steps of his own to document the show’s fraud. Be the first to know a ... Show More
38m 23s
Mar 2025
Quiz Show Rigging | All the Answers | 1
In the 1950s, America was captivated by high-stakes television quiz shows like The $64,000 Question and Twenty-One, which promised everyday Americans a shot at life-changing winnings. But behind the scenes, producers decided they couldn’t leave the drama to chance. They needed to ... Show More
38m 6s
Mar 2025
Quiz Show Rigging | All the Answers | 1
In the 1950s, America was captivated by high-stakes television quiz shows like The $64,000 Question and Twenty-One, which promised everyday Americans a shot at life-changing winnings. But behind the scenes, producers decided they couldn’t leave the drama to chance. They needed to ... Show More
38m 6s
Apr 2025
Quiz Show Rigging | The Pressure Cooker | 5
Television producers Howard Blumenthal and Bob Boden weren’t old enough to experience the quiz show scandal of the 1950s firsthand, but it had a major impact on their lives and careers. Blumenthal’s father helped produce the rigged quiz show Twenty-One, and Boden worked alongside ... Show More
34m 56s
Apr 2025
Quiz Show Rigging | Deception | 4
Twenty-One producer Dan Enright takes drastic action to keep the rigging scandal under wraps by discrediting his accuser, Herbert Stempel. But investigators with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office uncover undeniable proof that soon sparks a Congressional hearing, and puts c ... Show More
38m 46s
Apr 2022
Swindled
Get rich quick schemes have been around forever. But one con man not only made history, but became a household name. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
26m 39s
Jul 2022
Payola
Music is often the most fondly remembered part of the 20th century, but what we don't always remember is the surreptitious dealings that were going on behind the scenes... The truth is, the mob were a huge part of some of the era's biggest stars, and the music we know and love mi ... Show More
42m 28s
Jul 2023
Callings
In the 1940s, a freelance wiretapper named Big Jim Vaus got mixed up with the cops, the mob, and the most famous evangelist in America. This week on The Last Archive: The ballad of Big Jim and what the intersections of telephone history and American spirituality reveal about how ... Show More
43m 12s
Mar 2023
If walls could talk
Foul play? A CIA coverup? Or just a bad trip? In this episode of Thick & Thin, we dig into an unresolved case from the 1950s to see how a man of science ended up dead on the streets of New York City. Thanks to our sponsors! Get 22% off @iherb with promo code THICK at https://iher ... Show More
52m 22s