The sex-mad geisha who sliced off her lover’s genitals, strangled him with a kimono belt, and carved her name into his arm, is perhaps Japan’s most famous criminal of the 20th century.
Today, Abe’s story is practically a part of Japanese folklore. So how did this brutal killer become an unlikely celebrity, feminist icon and star of stage and screen? What ex ... Show More
Nov 13
Robert Wone - Forensics, Fetishes and Fluids: Part Two | #425
<p>In our final episode on the murder of Robert Wone, we examine the most shocking autopsy we’ve ever come across. Complete with what they found on and inside Robert…</p><p>Which together with the nightmarish sex toys discovered in the DC townhouse, painted a new and even more bi ... Show More
1h 30m
Nov 6
Robert Wone - The Dead of Night: Part One | #424
<p>Just 79 minutes after Robert Wone arrived at the fancy Washington DC townhouse of his College pal, 911 received a call that he was dead.</p><p>Was it a drug-fuelled gay orgy gone wrong? A horrific rape and murder? An opportunistic burglar? The scene, Robert’s injuries, the sur ... Show More
1h 39m
Apr 2025
560. The Golden Age of Japan: Lady Murasaki and the Shining Prince (Part 1)
At the height of Imperial Japan, during a golden age of court intrigue, obsessive hierarchy, and fabulous sophistication, who was the legendary lothario and emperor’s son, Genji? What can the Tale of Genji - a great masterpiece of Japanese literature - tell us about this remarkab ... Show More
54m 14s
Jul 2024
Comfort Women (WW2 Sexual Slavery)
<p>Over 200,000 women were coerced or forced into sexual slavery in East Asia by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. These women, known as comfort women, endured unimaginable suffering and trauma. Few survived to tell their stories, but those who did have shared harro ... Show More
1h 14m
Oct 2024
The Doolittle Raid: WW2 Bombing of Japan
<p>If somebody asked you to go on a dangerous mission, no other details, would you volunteer?</p><br><p>Well, in 1942, that's exactly what 120 crewmen of the US Army Air Force did. In this episode, find out how it went and who Jimmy Doolittle was. From an impossible take off, thr ... Show More
51m 25s
Oct 2024
EP89: Killer Castrator
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Driven by a twisted need to possess her married lover, Koshizô Ishida forever, a woman named Sada Abe strangled him, castrated him, and carried his severed genitals in her kimono—ensuring, ... Show More
1h 14m
May 2022
Susan Westhafer Furukawa, "The Afterlife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Historical Fiction and Popular Culture in Japan" (Harvard UP, 2022)
Popular representations of the past are everywhere in Japan, from cell phone charms to manga, from television dramas to video games to young people dressed as their favorite historical figures hanging out in the hip Harajuku district. But how does this mass consumption of the pas ... Show More
40 m
Apr 2023
Bonus Episode 1: Lorena Bobbitt - Castration Queen
When news of this case first emerged, the main star was a missing severed penis. The supporting role of this highly disturbing saga was played by Lorena Bobbitt, a knife-wielding lunatic who castrated her husband in a fit of jealousy and rage. Every headline, talk show, comedia ... Show More
1h 7m