At the dawn of the twentieth-century, major advances in science and technology brought incredible change to the field of medicine, enhancing and extending the lives of millions. Yet at the same time, a lax regulations and minimal oversight made it possible for countless medical grifters to get rich offering quack medical solutions to everything from whooping ... Show More
Oct 16
October Bonus Episode: The Kidnapping of Peggy McMath
On May 2, 1933, the Harwich Center School received a telephone call from the father of ten-year-old Peggy McMath, a student at the school. Mr. McMath informed them that he was sending a driver to pick up his daughter and he expected her to be ready. However, when the driver showe ... Show More
1h 1m
Oct 15
Notorious Prison Breaks (Vol. 1)
For as long as human beings have been locking one another up in cages or dungeons, there have been other human beings scheming and strategizing ways to escape their cells and break free of their prisons. More often than not, their attempts prove futile and they’re recaptured, the ... Show More
45m 4s
Oct 12
Alma Fielding and the Thornton Heath Haunting
In February 1938, thirty-four-year-old housewife Alma Fielding went to the press with an amazing story: her home in the London suburb of Croydon was haunted. According to Alma, objects would fly off the shelves without the aid of human hands, the family was constantly under assau ... Show More
1h 7m
Oct 2020
“The Starvation Doctor” Linda Hazzard Pt. 1
In the early 1900s, Linda Hazzard marketed herself as a doctor, and claimed that she could cure any ailment with her special starvation regimens. Except, instead of curing her patients, she was killing them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
42m 16s
Mar 2022
Embalmed Beef & Fatal Snake Oil (FDA Pt. 1)
Long before the days of expiration dates and ingredient labels, the drug and food industries were an unregulated Wild West plagued by false advertising, fake cure-alls, and manufacturers that would do anything to cut costs. The public health scandals weren’t far behind. Learn mor ... Show More
45m 2s
Dec 2023
Theranos: Silicon Valley's Bloodbath with Kathleen Madigan and Heather McDonald | 14
More than a few vials of blood were spilled in the unbelievable story of Theranos. Its CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, took the world by storm with the promise of a device that was going to change medicine forever. Instead, she endangered patients and defrauded investors. In the end, the ... Show More
32m 58s