Tag: true crime

  • The Bounty by Caroline Alexander

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Bounty: All of this over a plant. Quick synopsis: The story of the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789 in the middle of the South Pacific. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The mutineers who ended up at Pitcairn Island created a society that today comes from only 4 family…

  • The Axeman of New Orleans by Miriam Davis

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Axeman of New Orleans: I guess this guy didn’t like Italian food. Quick synopsis: A true crime story from the early 1900s. The Axeman murdered 6 people and assaulted 6 more while they slept in New Orleans from 1918 to 1919 (maybe as early as 1910). Fun Fact Non-History People…

  • Uncover Season 1: Escaping NXIVM

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Escaping NXIVM: If I have to be branded to join a group, then I am not joining said group. Quick synopsis: A woman discusses her involvement with NXIVM, a now notorious cult known for branding women and making them sex slaves. Yes, it happened in the United States. Fun Fact Non-History…

  • The Faithful Executioner by Joel Harrington

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Faithful Executioner: Who knew being an executioner for 45 years would be depressing? Quick synopsis: A biography of Frantz Schmidt of Nuremberg who was an executioner for 45 years and executed 394 people. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Executing was a family affair, literally. If you were an executioner,…

  • The Gateway (Podcast)

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Gateway: A woman named Teal Swan is a nutjob? Get out of town! Quick synopsis: A look at the cult-like following of Teal Swan, a new age YouTube life guru. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Why is she dangerous? For one thing, she teaches people to “visualize their suicide,”…

  • American Murder: The Family Next Door (Netflix)

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for American Murder: For once, the neighbor knew it. Quick synopsis: The murder of Shanann Watts and her daughters by Chris Watts. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The next-door neighbor pretty much immediately knew Watts did it. It is one of the first things he eludes to when alone with police.…

  • Blood & Ivy by Paul Collins

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Blood & Ivy: Murrrrrderrrrrr at Haaaaaaavaaaaad. Quick synopsis: The story of a murdered Harvard alum in 1849. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Most people don’t realize this, but surgeons often had a very hard time practicing their craft. Dead bodies for study were hard to come across and aspiring doctors…

  • The Dream Season 1: Podcast Review

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Dream: Prepare for a different perspective of a lot of people in your Facebook feed. Quick synopsis: A look into what multi-level marketing (MLM) is and why it can literally ruin people’s lives. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: You have seen MLMs all over the place. Most likely, you’ve…

  • Absolute Monarchs by John Julius Norwich

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Absolute Monarchs: Popes behaving badly. Quick synopsis: It’s about the Pope. All of them. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Pope Stephen VI put Pope Formosus on trial. The catch? Formosus was dead for 7 months. They exhumed him and had him sit there during the trial. It’s called the Cadaver…