Controversial Figures

Ruth Bader Ginsburg inspired many during her 87 years of life, and certainly during her 27 years serving as a justice on the US Supreme Court, the 2nd woman to ever do so in America. 

Ruth was strong in her values and the absolute definition of grit. She would be notably dubbed "The Notorious R.B.G." by a law student via a popular Tumblr page, and named on Forbes magazine's list of The World's 100 Most ...

We start Part 2 of the Julian Assange story with many questions. Will Julian Assange evade extradition and his numerous looming legal charges? Did Julian assist Russia with illegal United States Presidential election interference in 2016? Did Julian help Edward Snowden escape capture by the United States? And maybe most controversially - did Julian really date Pamela Anderson? Find out all of this and much, much more on the Part 2 ...

How did Julian Assange, a convicted Australian teenage hacker of the 1990s, become a secret revealing refugee on the run, attempting to evade extradition? Why did America to investigate if he broke the espionage act? And did Julian really hang out with Lady Gaga in London?  Find out all of this and more on Part 1 of Julian Assange today on Controversial Figures.

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How did activist atheist and Most Hated Woman in America Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her family end up dismembered, burned, and buried? Find out today on Controversial Figures.

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Episode Sources:

• My San Antonio. The True Story Behind the San Antonio Kidnapping and Murder. https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/true-crime-SA-kidnapping-murder-Ma...

American business man Lou Pearlman created some of the biggest boy bands in the 1990s, including NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, O Town, and LFO to name a few. Lou even called himself the 6th Backstreet Boy. These bands were performing to sold out concerts while selling merch and hundreds of millions of albums to screaming fans around the world.

It was estimated that Lou Pearlman's peak net worth was $300 million during the boy ba...

As we discussed in the previous episode of Controversial Figures, American Lance Armstrong had just announced his 2nd retirement in 2011 at the age of 33. This was after winning a record breaking seven consecutive Tour de France races as a recent cancer survivor, and having only recently returned from his previous retirement. It was a shock that such a talented and successful athlete would suddenly announce his retirement.

But the ...

Lance Armstrong was regarded as an elite cycling superstar. Between the years of 1999 to 2005, Lance had obtained seven consecutive Tour de France wins - something no one has ever achieved before, or since. He was considered by many to be the best athlete in his sport at the time.

And even more stunning? Just 2 years prior to first of these consecutive wins, Lance had been diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread t...

Belle Gibson was followed and endorsed by holistic medicine practitioners, food as medicine believers, and cancer survivors alike. Belle had created the wildly popular The Whole Pantry blog describing how she had cured herself of multiple cancers. 

It was estimated Belle and her company were worth millions. So how did Belle become worth exactly $0 in 2015? And where is Belle today? Find out today on the Controversial Figures Podcast...

By his early 30s, Martin Shkreli had held a variety of impressive roles; he was the co-founder of multiple successful hedge funds, CEO of biotechnology firm Retrophin; and founder and CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. So, how did young Martin Shkreli, with no formal training in chemistry and a Bachelor's Degree in business administration, become a pharmaceutical CEO and have an estimated worth by Fortune magazine in 2016 of $45 m...

Oscar Pistorius was an inspiration to many. Born without his lower legs, Oscar would later in life become the tenth athlete in history to compete at both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games in the same year. Oscar was honored in Time Magazine's 100 list of most influential people, appeared on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, and had sponsorship deals worth $2 million. So how would it come to be that only months later, Oscar Pi...

In 2015, Forbes magazine named Elizabeth Holmes the youngest self-made female billionaire in America. She was the enigmatic founder and majority owner of consumer healthcare technology company Theranos; a company valued at near $10 billion and backed by distinguished figures such as Henry Kissinger. So, how did it come to be that Elizabeth and her company would be worth essentially nothing only 1 year later and facing criminal char...

Tania Head was known for widely sharing her harrowing September 11, 2001 survival story. As she'd explain it, she was on the 78th floor of the south tower when the World Trade Center building was hit by the second plane, making her one of only nineteen people at or above the point of plane impact to have survived. Tania was also known for her tireless efforts running the World Trade Center Survivor's Network, supporting  ...

Young Gypsy Blanchard was very ill. According to her mother Dee Dee, Gypsy suffered from leukemia, asthma, muscular dystrophy,  and had the "mental capacity of a 7-year-old". Gypsy was restricted to a wheelchair with a feeding tube providing her nourishment. Gypsy's prognosis was so grim, she and her mother received life changing help from notable charities. So, how did Gypsy Rose end up walking on her own 2 legs int...

American Edward Snowden has been living on the lam for over 7 years in foreign countries, attempting to escape international and domestic espionage and property theft charges filed against him in 2013 by the United States of America. How did a professed patriot at heart and former Army private with the highest levels of security clearance end up as America's Number 1 Enemy? Find out today on the Controversial Figures Podcast.<...

Welcome to Controversial Figures; a podcast about intriguing figures in the media. Created by Tammy Hawkins. This is the introduction for the first episode of Controversial Figures in which we will cover Edward Snowden. The full episode will be released in coming days.