Rotten to the Core

Rotten to the Core

Welcome, my darlings, to the enchantingly sinister history podcast that weaves dark tales of humanity's most infamous characters and events. This award-winning podcast shall bewitch you with wickedly captivating stories of true crime and the shadowy corners of history, exploring the twisted desires that drive these rotten souls to the brink of infamy. Hosted by the delightfully devious queer queen, Joshua Waters.

Episodes

October 15, 2025 14 mins

Once upon a time in the golden hills of California, a tale of curdled ambition and Monterey Jack Cheese's tainted birth began...

Gather, my sweet darlings, as we unravel the scandalous history behind a seemingly innocent delicacy. Imagine David Jacks, a man of shadowy intentions, weaving his way from Scotland's misty moors to the sun-drenched valleys of the American frontier. What secrets lay hidden in the milk churn and w...

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Behold, the storied journey of the Unsinkable Molly Brown — a tale of triumph, tempest, and timeless spirit that defies even the depths of the sea.

Sweep back the velvet curtains of time, dear listener, and witness the saga of Margaret Tobin, known in legend as Molly Brown. From the ashes of poverty, she soared, a phoenix of philanthropy, championing the causes of women and children with her indomitable spirit. Across the grand ex...

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Into the shadows of vanity and delusion, venture now, where Andrew Tate holds his mirror of toxic promises...

Once upon this sultry stage strides Andrew Tate, proclaiming loudly of kingdoms unknown, an 'alpha' cloaked in bravado yet stripped bare by truth. Peer behind his glittering façade, my sweet ones, to glimpse the solitude and fear residing in false bravado. How swiftly the throne of claims and cries crumbles when tr...

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Into the darkened tapestry of Madagascar’s throne, we whisper the name — Queen Ranavalona, the mad monarch of mayhem!

Hearken to the chilling tale of Queen Ranavalona I, a reigning force as dynamic as she was deadly. Her court was a theater where power danced a bloody ballet, painting history in strokes of terror and control. From the sprawling jungles to the royal courts, her reign remains a cautionary tale wrapped in intrigue an...

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Scandal lights up the stage as Jerry Lee Lewis strikes his fiery chords, revealing the rotten echoes of a life lived on the edge.

Draw close, my darlings, as we dive into the frenzied whirlwind that was Jerry Lee Lewis. A maestro of melody and mayhem, his life struck chords that resonate beyond mere music. Marriages shrouded in scandal, untamed controversies that shadowed his illustrious career — every note he played wove a tale o...

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Behold the storied rise of a farm boy into a tyrant; a tale written in the annals of blood and revolution — the life of Mao Zedong.

A tired sigh of history echoes through China's verdant lands, churning beneath the mighty shadow of Mao Zedong. Born of humble dreams, he rose on the backs of revolution, carving his place into legend as the conqueror of ideals. But what of the tales untold, the cries muted beneath his sweeping am...

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Mark the space where love was shattered in darkness; the world still mourns Matthew Shepard as a beacon of change and resilience.

Under the bitter Wyoming sky, where wild winds whisper tales of hope and heartbreak, Matthew Shepard’s tragic saga unfolds. Once a vibrant soul, forever remembered in a story that rings with defiance against hate, crafting a legacy as enduring as any hero's. His brutal demise was not in vain, stirri...

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In Smallville’s shadows, a tale of ambition twisted sour by seduction and secrecy — the fall of Allison Mack.

Step right up, dear listener, to witness the unraveling of a starlet's sinister descent. From the glowing halls of 'Smallville,' Allison Mack's tale spins into the grim clutches of NXIVM, a twisted sanctuary of trust betrayed. The lure of power and recognition, oh how sweetly the poison whispered!

Here lie...

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From cannibalistic terror to a dictator's sinister delight, witness the horrors of Idi Amin's dark regime.

In the darkness of power bloomed Idi Amin, an unyielding tyrant whose reign was painted with fear and ferocity. In a land haunted by his name, where whispers of his atrocities shiver down the ages, even the bravest fear his shadowed legacy. With a hammer clutched like a scepter, executions became his theatre of cruelt...

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In the fields of Cambodia’s past, a ghost of genocide haunts — Pol Pot’s reign of terror remains a sullen specter.

Venture, if you dare, into the chilling domain of Pol Pot, the dictator who turned agrarian dreams into a nightmare plucked from the darkest depths. Through the cultivation of death and desolation, his brutal ambition orchestrated a symphony of suffering, leaving two million souls as silent testament to his tyranny.

...

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Dearies, listen closely as we unravel the sinister whispers of a man who heeded the devilish commands of a demonic dog.

Once upon a dreadful year, 1977, in the grand city of New York, chaos reigned under the guise of David Berkowitz, better known as the Son of Sam. Charming, canines usually offer their masters nothing but devotion. Yet, imagine the chilling horror when those woofs from a black lab were perceived as the devil’s own...

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Gather, my sweet listeners, as we unshroud the sinful history of Madame Delphine LaLaurie—a monster hidden behind a genteel façade.

In the voodoo-laced heart of New Orleans, Delphine LaLaurie lived in elegance and allure. But behind closed doors, her hands crafted horrors untold. Known from tales spun on scream-filled reels, her atrocities far eclipse the guise of fictional horror. Madame LaLaurie offered no mercy to those unfortu...

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Oh, dearest ones, step into the shadows of history’s cold embrace—a realm where tyranny tramples hope under a bloodstained crown.

Welcome to the grim chamber of Slobodan Milosevic, the Butcher of the Balkans, whose ambition carved a kingdom of horrors. In a land where the echoes of his tyrannical whispers linger, Milosevic's lust for power ignited the Balkans into fiery ruination. He dug trenches of despair, suffocating dreams...

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Behold, my dark darlings, the infamous saga of the Angel of Death, a nightmare veiled in human flesh.

Achtung, weary wanderers, for the tale of Dr. Josef Mengele is not for the faint of heart. Under the ghastly cloak of atrocity, Mengele prowled the infernal halls of Auschwitz, sporting a benign grin beneath which lurked untold horrors. A vulture in doctor’s attire, his merciless experiments on innocent souls, dissected morality w...

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Bow your heads, dear subjects, as this royal tale unfurls—a king's whims leading a kingdom to the brink of ruin.

Set the scene in Tudor England, where King Henry VIII styled himself a God’s anointed monarch, surrounded by opulence and suspicion. His creations were many, but his most egregious acts left spectral wives among his holy casualties. An ego grander than any palace and a tenure marked by bloodied swords and squandered...

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Whisper her name thrice, ye brave, and unravel the tapestry of Bloody Mary—a queen’s malice painted in crimson.

In the swirling mists of Tudor England, a spectral name rings sinister—Bloody Mary, our first ruling queen, whose quest to reclaim a kingdom of faith birthed an era ripe with flames of persecution. With heretics clutched within her iron grasp, Bloody Mary's fanaticism lit England’s skies aflame, their hue no brighter...

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From the meticulous shadows arises a planner whose arithmetic orchestrated nightmares—a tale of precision's dark echo.

Enter, if you dare, the draconian world of Adolf Eichmann—the sycophant of systematic destruction. A bureaucrat with death as his muse, Eichmann plotted logistical horrors for Hitler with surgical precision. His sinister symphony of planning, where order met chaos, played out in the chilling cradle of the Holo...

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Dare to journey with us, dear hearts, as we enter the tempest of a soul whose ruin was wrought upon his very soil.

Begin with an unremarkable shadow cast from the American backdrop, where Timothy McVeigh emerged—a specter of vengeance hellbent on destruction. His touch besmirched Oklahoma City with the gruesome signature of a homegrown malevolence. From insurgent leaflets to deadly blasts, this tale knits fears into explosive frus...

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Embrace the tale of a ruler whose tyrannical dreams painted a nation with strokes of despair and ashes of desolation.

In Cuba's verdant theater, Fidel Castro ruled—a lion enveloped in barbed bravado. His declared intentions clashed colorfully with the grim realities scribed in pain and suppression of his compatriots. From barnyard mythos to iron-fisted despot, his revolution orchestrated an empire torn, ravaged by an ego as va...

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Behold, the dissonance behind the painter’s veil—a maestro of art, whose stone heart hammered familial bonds to dust.

Lo, the hallowed galleries of brilliance, unlocked by the vivid strokes of Pablo Picasso—yet beneath this vibrant mirage lies a heartless muse-monger. His canvases weave beauty, while his life's tapestry tells a darker tale. Women, muse and victim alike, perceived as mere vessels for his illustrious vision, suf...

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