September 29, 2026 • 9 mins
Some crimes are so unusual they require a special approach. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading!
Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes!: https://www.patreon.com/grimandmild
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grim & Mild.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It was 11.20 p.m. on November 22nd of 1987, and
all was quiet in the headquarters of the Chicago TV
station WTTW. Air Director Paul Rizzo was one of only
a few people pulling the graveyard shift at the studio,
and his job at night was easy. He just had
to make sure that the late-night reruns of Doctor Who
(00:58):
kept playing. Paul kicked his feet up on the desk
in the control room and asked the engineer, Ed, to
if he had any Thanksgiving plans. But as they chatted,
a flash on the screen behind Ed's seat caught Paul's attention.
He got up and took a closer look at the screen,
and as he processed what he was seeing on the
station's live feed, he realized that this was not Doctor Who.
(01:21):
It was a distorted signal of a man in a
plastic mask, resembling the British TV character Max Headroom. He
was dancing in front of a black and white background,
rambling incoherently. Paul asked Ed if he knew what was happening,
and Ed shook his head. He pressed a button on
the control panel, then another, and another. But the broadcast
(01:43):
wouldn't go back to normal. Ed shouted into the intercom
and asked if anyone in the tape room knew what
was playing, but they were just as confused as he was.
They were still rolling on Doctor Who. Ed frantically pounded
on the control panel, unable to stop the broadcast as
it got weirder and weirder. The man in the mask
hummed songs made of seen gestures and insulted.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A local sportscaster.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Paul was about to call the broadcast tower to see
if they could shut down the signal entirely, but as
he picked up the phone, he remembered there was no
one on duty at this hour. Whatever was going on,
they were completely powerless to stop it. The Mac's headroom
impersonator kept shouting, rambling, and laughing for a full 90 seconds,
and then, to Paul's relief, it faded to static. Doctor
(02:32):
Who returned, and the incident was over. The WTTW staff
spent the rest of the night feeding calls from confused
and outraged viewers who had witnessed the interruption. And the
next morning, the FCC launched an investigation into what happened.
It appeared the station's broadcast had been hijacked by another
signal coming from somewhere else in the city. And WTTW
(02:56):
wasn't the only target. The same hijackers had also taken
over another local station that night, but the engineers there
had regained control after just 17 seconds. Interfering with broadcast
signals was a serious crime, with a penalty of up
to a year in jail. The FCC exhausted their resources
to track down the perpetrators, who should have been easy
(03:18):
to locate. A prank like this had to have been
done by someone in the Chicago area with advanced technical
knowledge and broadcast engineering experience. And that left a relatively
small pool of suspects. But after interrogating every single person
who could have had the skills to pull this off,
the FCC was unable to pin down who did it.
(03:40):
Almost four decades later, the Max Headroom hijackers have never
been caught. The Max Headroom Hijackers In September of 2007,
(04:00):
a single pair of sandals arrived at Harrods, the legendary
luxury department store in London's Nightbridge. The store is world-famous
for its expensive fashions and gourmet food, and millions visit
each year to witness the extravagance of it all. But
these sandals, well, they were something else. They were made
by Rene Calvilla, who was a designer of evening footwear,
(04:23):
the sort of thing that you would find on the
feet of Hollywood stars. Cavilla had been designing shoes in
Venice since the 1960s, and his designs were renowned for
the old-world techniques that went into making them. Buyers of
his work didn't expect just glamorous footwear. They wanted wearable
art and were more than willing to pay top dollar
for it. But even his incredible reputation and long list
(04:47):
of famous clients couldn't prepare the public for this pair
of sandals that arrived at Harrods that autumn day. They
were encrusted with jewels. rubies, diamonds, and sapphires that glimmered
in their delicate, precious metal frames. In fact, these gemstones
had been chosen specifically for their ability to refract the light,
elevating the shoes to something ethereal. Their price tag reflected
(05:12):
that otherworldliness, too. Even their cheapest designs cost a pretty penny.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a pair for under $ 1, 000.
These shoes, though, fit for the angels themselves ran a
whopping 62,000 pounds. And let me spare you the process
of conversion, that's around $ 120, 000. That's more than most luxury cars.
(05:34):
The reasons behind this whopping price had much to do
with the price of its gemstones. On their own, rubies
commanded incredibly steep prices, peaking in recent years to over
$ 100, 000 per carat. Cool blue sapphires run around a quarter
of that, and the gems were only a portion of
the cost. Each stone had to be meticulously cut by
(05:55):
master jewelers, working side by side with the greatest shoemakers
in the world, spending collectively hundreds of hours of focused
labor to make an object part fashion, part art. Needless
to say, it was clear that this went far beyond
typical craftsmanship, and Herods knew that they had something spectacular
on their hands. The kind of spectacular that would need
(06:17):
a little heightened security. This couldn't just be placed behind glass.
They could have gone with a 24-hour-a-day security guard, but
a piece this lavish required a little more theater. Beyond
the opulence of the sandals, they wished to add a
little whiff of danger. People love the idea of a
jewel heist, right? We love to read about them and
flock to news stories, novels, and films that depict them.
(06:41):
Take the Great Pearl Robbery from 1913, when a string
of flawless pearls worth tens of millions of dollars and
called the Mona Lisa of pearl necklaces was stolen. the
public breathlessly followed that story in the paper for months. Or,
closer to home there for Harrods, in Knightsbridge, the Marlboro
diamond robbery of 1980, when two Chicago mobsters walked into
(07:06):
Graff's jewelry store and then walked right back out with
millions of dollars worth of jewels and getting as far
as Chicago's O'Hare airport before authorities caught up with them.
And then there's, of course, the Hope diamond, a 45-carat
diamond that was stolen numerous times, believed to be cursed,
There's an air of intrigue to all of these stories,
and Harrods believed that a little bit of that intrigue
(07:28):
could go a long way. So they decided not to
go with a locked case or simple armed guard. They
took it one step further. Their final decision caused quite
a stir, too. It was, after all, absolutely audacious and
lent the sandals more than just a simple flare of theatrical.
You see, no other department store had ever done this before.
(07:50):
The decision raised eyebrows in retail stores across the world.
Pundits and security experts debated the merits and its effectiveness,
but even they had to admit it was a heck
of a way to protect a pair of shoes. When
the doors opened on September 10th of 2007 to launch
the Calvilla collection, visitors stood gobsmacked to discover that, in
(08:12):
the case beside the candles, sat its guard. Coiled there
to watch over the shimmering bejeweled footwear, hood flared, staring unblinking.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
At its audience.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It was a live Egyptian cobra. And it should be
noted that those shoes, yeah, they were never stolen. I
hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
This show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership
with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim &
(08:43):
Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
the show and the people who make it over at
grimandmild.com slash curiosities. You'll also find a link to the
official Cabinet of Curiosities hardcover book, available in bookstores and online,
as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking
for an ad-free option, consider joining our Patreon. It's all
(09:05):
the same stories, but without the interruption for a small
monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over at patreon.com
slash grimandmild. And until next time.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grim & Mild.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It was 11.20 p.m. on November 22nd of 1987, and
all was quiet in the headquarters of the Chicago TV
station WTTW. Air Director Paul Rizzo was one of only
a few people pulling the graveyard shift at the studio,
and his job at night was easy. He just had
to make sure that the late-night reruns of Doctor Who
(00:58):
kept playing. Paul kicked his feet up on the desk
in the control room and asked the engineer, Ed, to
if he had any Thanksgiving plans. But as they chatted,
a flash on the screen behind Ed's seat caught Paul's attention.
He got up and took a closer look at the screen,
and as he processed what he was seeing on the
station's live feed, he realized that this was not Doctor Who.
(01:21):
It was a distorted signal of a man in a
plastic mask, resembling the British TV character Max Headroom. He
was dancing in front of a black and white background,
rambling incoherently. Paul asked Ed if he knew what was happening,
and Ed shook his head. He pressed a button on
the control panel, then another, and another. But the broadcast
(01:43):
wouldn't go back to normal. Ed shouted into the intercom
and asked if anyone in the tape room knew what
was playing, but they were just as confused as he was.
They were still rolling on Doctor Who. Ed frantically pounded
on the control panel, unable to stop the broadcast as
it got weirder and weirder. The man in the mask
hummed songs made of seen gestures and insulted.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A local sportscaster.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Paul was about to call the broadcast tower to see
if they could shut down the signal entirely, but as
he picked up the phone, he remembered there was no
one on duty at this hour. Whatever was going on,
they were completely powerless to stop it. The Mac's headroom
impersonator kept shouting, rambling, and laughing for a full 90 seconds,
and then, to Paul's relief, it faded to static. Doctor
(02:32):
Who returned, and the incident was over. The WTTW staff
spent the rest of the night feeding calls from confused
and outraged viewers who had witnessed the interruption. And the
next morning, the FCC launched an investigation into what happened.
It appeared the station's broadcast had been hijacked by another
signal coming from somewhere else in the city. And WTTW
(02:56):
wasn't the only target. The same hijackers had also taken
over another local station that night, but the engineers there
had regained control after just 17 seconds. Interfering with broadcast
signals was a serious crime, with a penalty of up
to a year in jail. The FCC exhausted their resources
to track down the perpetrators, who should have been easy
(03:18):
to locate. A prank like this had to have been
done by someone in the Chicago area with advanced technical
knowledge and broadcast engineering experience. And that left a relatively
small pool of suspects. But after interrogating every single person
who could have had the skills to pull this off,
the FCC was unable to pin down who did it.
(03:40):
Almost four decades later, the Max Headroom hijackers have never
been caught. The Max Headroom Hijackers In September of 2007,
(04:00):
a single pair of sandals arrived at Harrods, the legendary
luxury department store in London's Nightbridge. The store is world-famous
for its expensive fashions and gourmet food, and millions visit
each year to witness the extravagance of it all. But
these sandals, well, they were something else. They were made
by Rene Calvilla, who was a designer of evening footwear,
(04:23):
the sort of thing that you would find on the
feet of Hollywood stars. Cavilla had been designing shoes in
Venice since the 1960s, and his designs were renowned for
the old-world techniques that went into making them. Buyers of
his work didn't expect just glamorous footwear. They wanted wearable
art and were more than willing to pay top dollar
for it. But even his incredible reputation and long list
(04:47):
of famous clients couldn't prepare the public for this pair
of sandals that arrived at Harrods that autumn day. They
were encrusted with jewels. rubies, diamonds, and sapphires that glimmered
in their delicate, precious metal frames. In fact, these gemstones
had been chosen specifically for their ability to refract the light,
elevating the shoes to something ethereal. Their price tag reflected
(05:12):
that otherworldliness, too. Even their cheapest designs cost a pretty penny.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a pair for under $ 1, 000.
These shoes, though, fit for the angels themselves ran a
whopping 62,000 pounds. And let me spare you the process
of conversion, that's around $ 120, 000. That's more than most luxury cars.
(05:34):
The reasons behind this whopping price had much to do
with the price of its gemstones. On their own, rubies
commanded incredibly steep prices, peaking in recent years to over
$ 100, 000 per carat. Cool blue sapphires run around a quarter
of that, and the gems were only a portion of
the cost. Each stone had to be meticulously cut by
(05:55):
master jewelers, working side by side with the greatest shoemakers
in the world, spending collectively hundreds of hours of focused
labor to make an object part fashion, part art. Needless
to say, it was clear that this went far beyond
typical craftsmanship, and Herods knew that they had something spectacular
on their hands. The kind of spectacular that would need
(06:17):
a little heightened security. This couldn't just be placed behind glass.
They could have gone with a 24-hour-a-day security guard, but
a piece this lavish required a little more theater. Beyond
the opulence of the sandals, they wished to add a
little whiff of danger. People love the idea of a
jewel heist, right? We love to read about them and
flock to news stories, novels, and films that depict them.
(06:41):
Take the Great Pearl Robbery from 1913, when a string
of flawless pearls worth tens of millions of dollars and
called the Mona Lisa of pearl necklaces was stolen. the
public breathlessly followed that story in the paper for months. Or,
closer to home there for Harrods, in Knightsbridge, the Marlboro
diamond robbery of 1980, when two Chicago mobsters walked into
(07:06):
Graff's jewelry store and then walked right back out with
millions of dollars worth of jewels and getting as far
as Chicago's O'Hare airport before authorities caught up with them.
And then there's, of course, the Hope diamond, a 45-carat
diamond that was stolen numerous times, believed to be cursed,
There's an air of intrigue to all of these stories,
and Harrods believed that a little bit of that intrigue
(07:28):
could go a long way. So they decided not to
go with a locked case or simple armed guard. They
took it one step further. Their final decision caused quite
a stir, too. It was, after all, absolutely audacious and
lent the sandals more than just a simple flare of theatrical.
You see, no other department store had ever done this before.
(07:50):
The decision raised eyebrows in retail stores across the world.
Pundits and security experts debated the merits and its effectiveness,
but even they had to admit it was a heck
of a way to protect a pair of shoes. When
the doors opened on September 10th of 2007 to launch
the Calvilla collection, visitors stood gobsmacked to discover that, in
(08:12):
the case beside the candles, sat its guard. Coiled there
to watch over the shimmering bejeweled footwear, hood flared, staring unblinking.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
At its audience.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
It was a live Egyptian cobra. And it should be
noted that those shoes, yeah, they were never stolen. I
hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
This show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership
with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim &
(08:43):
Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
the show and the people who make it over at
grimandmild.com slash curiosities. You'll also find a link to the
official Cabinet of Curiosities hardcover book, available in bookstores and online,
as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking
for an ad-free option, consider joining our Patreon. It's all
(09:05):
the same stories, but without the interruption for a small
monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over at patreon.com
slash grimandmild. And until next time.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.