Criminal
Criminal is the first of its kind. A show about people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
September 28, 2023 • 2 mins
We’re coming up on 10 years of Criminal. In the past decade, we've loved taking the show all over the country - including the time I ate a bad oyster in San Francisco and almost didn't make it on stage. It means a lot to us, to be together with you in person - so we're excited to be doing it again soon.
This February, we'll be coming to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, New York, Philadelphia,...
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September 22, 2023 • 41 mins
On September 16, 1922, a reverend and a choir singer were found dead under a tree. Between their bodies was a stack of love letters. When police began investigating the murders, tabloid reporters did too, and rumors about the case began to spread quickly.
We have some exciting news – Criminal is going back on tour! We can’t wait to see you. Presale tickets are available at 12 pm ET today for Criminal Plus members. If you're not a m...
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September 15, 2023 • 38 mins
Jeff German was a reporter for over 40 years in Las Vegas. He spent his life covering the mafia, corruption, and murder. In 2022, he was found killed outside his home. His colleagues at the Las Vegas Review-Journal tried to figure out why he had died—and if his death had anything to do with his work.
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September 8, 2023 • 44 mins
In 1916, two British soldiers were held captive in a remote prisoner-of-war camp. People said the camp was escape-proof. One day, one of the soldiers received a postcard from his aunt in England, suggesting they try experimenting with a Ouija board. When reports of ghosts started circulating around the camp, the two soldiers had an idea.
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August 25, 2023 • 30 mins
Iceland is one of the most peaceful countries in the world, but people there love to read about crime. Even the Prime Minister of Iceland has written a crime novel. We stopped by her office to ask why.
Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Ragnar Jónasson's book is Reykjavík.
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August 21, 2023 • 12 mins
A preview of what we’re making over on Criminal Plus! Hear me and Criminal co-creator Lauren Spohrer taking your questions, telling stories, and talking with other producers and special guests. We’re having a lot of fun making these bonus episodes.
When you sign up for Criminal Plus, you’ll also get ad-free listening on all of the shows we make, access to an exclusive merch store, and more. If you sign up as a Premium member, you’l...
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August 18, 2023 • 36 mins
In April of 1995, wildlife biologists flew small airplanes over Yellowstone National Park, looking for two missing wolves. “They’re just gone. And that’s implausible because wolves don’t just disappear.”
Thomas McNamee’s book is The Killing of Wolf Number Ten.
This episode was originally released in 2020.
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August 11, 2023 • 46 mins
When Amy Loughren started working as a nurse at Somerset Medical Center, she did everything she could to hide the fact that she had a heart condition. And then, another nurse named Charles Cullen discovered Amy’s secret. He told her that he would keep it, but she didn’t know that he was keeping his own secret too.
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August 4, 2023 • 48 mins
A story about religion, sex, an assassination, and silverware.
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Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, members-only merch, and more. Learn more and sign up here.
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July 28, 2023 • 41 mins
In the summer of 1917, 16-year-old Elsie Wright took a photograph of her 9-year-old cousin, Frances Griffiths. It was the first photograph she’d ever taken — and it became the source of a mystery that lasted for most of the 20th century.
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July 21, 2023 • 48 mins
The UNABOM investigation was one of the longest manhunts in American history - it lasted for 18 years starting in 1978. Before the FBI started investigating Ted Kaczynski, they looked into a number of suspects, including a group of friends who loved playing Dungeons & Dragons.
This episode is part of the podcast Project Unabom. Listen to the entire series on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/Project_Unabom.
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July 14, 2023 • 36 mins
In the summer of 1984, a local newspaper reporter outside of Manchester, England, got a tip from the police. A foot had been found in a nearby bog.
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July 7, 2023 • 43 mins
A little over sixty years ago, there were 250 prison newspapers being published on a regular basis. Today, there are 26. We visit Nash Correctional Institution in North Carolina to meet Phillip Vance Smith, II, the editor of The Nash News.
Learn more about the American Prison Newspapers digitization project here. Listen to more of Fresh Air’s interview with Angolite editor Wilbert Rideau here. Special thanks to Terry Gross and Fres...
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June 30, 2023 • 34 mins
Mary Jones could sing just like Aretha Franklin. One night, a James Brown impersonator saw her perform at a Motown tribute show - and thought he could take her on tour and trick audiences into believing she was the real Queen of Soul. Jeff Maysh tells the story.
Learn more in Jeff Maysh’s piece for Smithsonian Magazine, “The Counterfeit Queen of Soul.”
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June 23, 2023 • 40 mins
In 1934, a man collecting driftwood along the Lake Erie shore found a human torso on the beach. No one could figure out what had happened. Over the next several years, more bodies were discovered. Eventually, a coroner assembled something he called the “Torso Clinic” to work on the case. It was made up of about 30 people – doctors, professors, police officers, and a young Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness.
We're excited to announc...
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June 16, 2023 • 36 mins
When a toymaker and a doctor teamed up to make the world’s first CPR doll, they decided to make the doll’s face look like one specific woman – a woman who they thought had drowned. People call her l’Inconnue de la Seine, or the Unknown Woman of the Seine.
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June 9, 2023 • 53 mins
As recently as 1965, if you had a medical emergency, the people who showed up at your door would be volunteer firefighters, police officers, or undertakers with a hearse. Today, the story of how a group of Black men from Pittsburgh changed that.
Kevin Hazzard’s book is American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics.
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June 2, 2023 • 27 mins
Helen James grew up in a military family — her great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, her father in WWI, and her uncles in WWII. So when she enlisted in 1952, she felt like she belonged. Shortly after, she realized she was being watched.
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May 26, 2023 • 38 mins
There’s an old sailors’ saying about the ocean at the southernmost part of the world — “below 40 degrees latitude, there is no law; below 50 degrees, there is no God.”
David Grann brings us the story of what happened when five British warships set off on a secret mission to steal a ship filled with treasure. They’d have to sail around the very bottom of South America — at 56 degrees south.
David Grann’s book is The Wager: A Tale of...
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May 19, 2023 • 33 mins
In the late 1870s, a woman named Sarah Howe started a bank just for single women called the Ladies’ Deposit Company. She asked new customers to tell their friends about the bank rather than advertising in newspapers, and she promised she could almost double their money.
Today, the story of the woman running a Ponzi scheme before Charles Ponzi was even born.
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