Criminal

Black and white illustration of a crumpled up ball of paper.

Unwarranted

Episode #361

2026-04-17 05:00:03

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On the morning of May 20, 1957, a bomb exploded under Don King’s front porch. Police got a tip that they should search the home of someone he knew - a woman named Dollree Mapp. But when they got there, she refused to let them in.
A black and white illustration of a pile of letters and envelopes, some of which are opened.

Rhinelander v. Rhinelander

Episode #360

2026-04-10 05:00:18

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Alice and Leonard Rhinelander had only been married for a few weeks when his family lawyer came to their house and took Leonard away with him. The next time Alice saw her husband was a year later, in a courtroom.
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The Longline

Episode #359

2026-04-03 05:00:41

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For years, John Moore and Tanner Mansell ran shark diving tours off the coast of Florida. One day, they came across a fishing line in the middle of the ocean – with over a dozen sharks caught on it. “This looked like something very illegal going on. And we felt like if we didn’t act, these sharks would definitely die.”
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The Formula

Episode #358

2026-03-27 05:00:50

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On Christmas Eve in 1926, a man came running into Bellevue Hospital in New York screaming that Santa Claus had been chasing him for blocks with a baseball bat. Not long after that, he died. And then another person arrived in the emergency room. And then another. This started happening in emergency rooms around the country. And it was happening because of a plan created by the U.S. government.
Black and white illustration of five round frosted birthday cakes on plates, each with a single candle on top.

The Quintuplets

Episode #357

2026-03-20 05:00:14

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When Elzire Dionne gave birth to five identical babies in Ontario, she caught the attention of reporters hundreds of miles away – and the attention of the legislature. The welfare minister said, “These children are our own royal family.”
An illustration of the earth with the stars in the sky, and a UFO hovering over the ground.

Cecilia

Episode #356

2026-03-13 05:00:10

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When Cecilia Gentili was growing up in Argentina, she felt so different from everyone around her that she thought she might be from another planet. “I think that we are all aliens until we find our communities.”
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Excited Delirium

Episode #355

2026-03-06 05:00:13

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When Angelo Quinto died, his family said police were responsible for his death. But a lawyer told them his official cause of death would likely be something called “excited delirium.”
A black and white illustration of a so-called "mug book" split into two parts. The book consists of pasted in photographs of mug shots.

The Mug Book

Episode #354

2026-02-27 05:00:06

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After a gang leader was murdered in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the only witnesses who would talk with the police were tourists. They looked through so-called “mug books” filled with photographs of Asian men - and pointed out a man named Chol Soo Lee. He insisted he was innocent.
Black and white drawing of a bird’s nest made mostly with twigs seen from above with four eggs inside.

The Plot

Episode #353

2026-02-20 05:00:15

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In 1864, a 41-year-old woman named Mary Surratt was running a boarding house in Washington, D.C. Soon, one of the most famous actors in the country began visiting her – his name was John Wilkes Booth.
Black and white illustration of an early-2000s-style trucker hat and aviator sunglasses.

The Big Lie

Episode #352

2026-02-13 05:00:43

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In the early 2000s, the hip hop group Silibil N’ Brains seemed like they were on the brink of becoming very famous. They had a record deal with Sony, had been on MTV, and were talking about making a TV show. But they weren’t who they said they were.
Black and white illustration of a duck decoy used for hunting.

The Test

Episode #351

2026-02-06 05:00:51

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When Mike Williams went missing while duck hunting on Lake Seminole, investigators wondered if he had been eaten by alligators. But Mike’s mother was sure something else had happened. 
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An American Original

Episode #350

2026-01-30 05:00:29

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In 1963, Jeanne and Alan Abel went to Washington, DC. They said they were part of a campaign that wanted to put clothes on the first lady’s horse.
Black and white illustration of a book with the profile of the head of a goat with horns on the cover.

Amok

Episode #349

2026-01-23 05:00:10

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While investigating a murder, a Polish detective discovered an unusual clue – a novel that contained an odd number of similarities to the real-life crime.
Black and white illustration of a boxy station wagon with its headlights on driving away from the viewer on a long road that turns and disappears into the horizon.

Gone

Episode #348

2026-01-16 05:00:08

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One night in 1989, Karen Palmer got in her car with her husband and two daughters and drove away from their home in California. They didn’t tell anyone where they were going.
Black and white illustration of an overflowing bathtub. Water pours out of a faucet and streams down the side of the tub. The bathroom walls are tiled.

Like a Bad Dream

Episode #347

2026-01-09 05:00:05

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One day in 2011, Lindsey Schweigert’s roommate came home to an open garage, a missing dog, and an overflowing bathtub. Lindsey remembers waking up in police custody.
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Sister Helen

Episode #346

2025-12-26 05:00:55

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In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean was invited to write a letter to a man on death row named Elmo Patrick Sonnier. She told us, “I thought that all I was going to be doing was writing letters. And lo and behold, two years later, I am in that execution chamber.” When we spoke to her in 2021, she was 81, and had been present at the executions of six men.