Season 6 commences on March 16th. For the next few months we will be exploring the stories of people whose deaths remain shrouded in mystery: murders unsolved, disappearances unexplained, and official verdicts cast into serious doubt. We begin our season with the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy, who was shot to death in California during his run for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.
In the concluding part of this case, and the final episode of the season, we watch as Harvey Milk’s ceaseless campaigning finally sees him elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors - thanks in no small part to the help of Jim Jones and the People’s Temple. Within a year of his election, Milk was shot and killed by Dan White, a former political ally who went berserk in City Hall. avoid scandal and possible ruin. But Milk’s chameleon-like ability to reinvent himself - sometimes from one ex...
Harvey Milk wore many masks. As a gay man in postwar America, it was necessary to hide his true self in order to avoid scandal and possible ruin. But Milk’s chameleon-like ability to reinvent himself - sometimes from one extreme to another - was remarkable, and a key asset in his rise to become America’s first openly gay elected official. Part 1 of 2. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check...
Bantu Stephen Biko was the foremost figure of the Black Consciousness Movement in apartheid-era South Africa. A determined opponent of white-minority rule, he was tortured to death by police officers in 1977. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote b...
In the concluding part of our study of life and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, we trace his long fight for freedom. Considered the father of the nation, he would only live in his liberated homeland for a matter of months before he was assassinated. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merc...
Gandhi helped to end British imperial rule over India, leading a mass non-violent movement of civil disobedience, often in the face of brutal repression. Episode 1 of 2. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also check out our Bookstore, where we recommend some great episode-related books and reading material, and shop our Merch Store to nab a log tee or tote bag. Make sure to check out our sister s...
A hero to the poor and dispossessed, a villain to the conservative ruling class, Emiliano Zapata became one of the most powerful leaders of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. A farmer, a skilled horseman, and an effective military commander, Zapata fought to advance the rights of the common people against the depredations of the landed elite. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also...
In the fourth and final episode of our investigation into the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we hear additional, extraordinary claims about just who - other than James Earl Ray - might have been behind this terrible crime. We follow a trail that leads us from the Lorraine Motel in Memphis all the way to the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website. While there, you can also...
In the third part of our investigation into the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we consider the wealth of evidence that undermined the conviction and incarceration of James Earl Ray as the sole assassin. Despite confessing to the crime, Ray quickly recanted. By the 1990s, numerous witnesses had come forward to challenge the official version of events, leading members of the King family to believe that they had never received justice. We have added an extra episode to our investigation in ...
We walk with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during his last day, as he campaigned alongside striking municipal workers in the city of Memphis, Tennessee. We witness his assassination and then we follow the international manhunt for the man who would be convicted of King's murder - James Earl Ray. But there was much, much more to this case than came out during the sentencing of Ray in 1969. Part 2 of 3. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations...
For the first investigation of Season 5 of the show, which will focus on civil rights leaders, we find out about the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not only the foremost advocate for the rights of African Americans, King was also a leading voice against war and poverty. In this episode we trace the converging paths of King and James Earl Ray, the man who would be convicted - rightly or wrongly - for the assassination. Part 1 of 3. To find out more about the people and music featur...
Season 5 commences on November 11th. The theme for this season is civil rights - people who were assassinated because of their struggle for freedom and equality. We begin our season with the life and death of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the leader of the US civil rights movement and a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War. We will then move on to explore cases from within the United States and around the world, including Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and gay liberation activist...
The two women who seemingly thought they were taking part in a hidden camera prank show were charged instead with the murder of Kim Jong-nam. However, the court case turned into a fiasco that threw everything that had previously been said about the killing of the North Korean exile into doubt. We consider the fate of the women and the role that the assassination played in global events. Part 2 of 2. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations...
In 2017 Kim Jong-nam was killed by two women who thought they were taking part in a prank video, but who were inadvertently smearing a chemical weapon on his face. Was he the victim of an ingenious scheme hatched by his half-brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un? And who was he secretly meeting in the days before his bizarre murder? Part 1 of 2. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website . While there, you can also check o...
Delving into the underworld of Italian-American organized crime, we look at Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano, the gangster who became the most powerful Mafia boss in America in the mid-20th century. By means of murder, political skill, and business acumen he transformed the Mob from a loose group of rival criminal families into a nationwide syndicate that engaged in legal business activities and even worked with the US Government. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode,...
We are joined once more by Mike Corradi from A History of Italy Podcast to look at the lives, loves, and crimes of the Borgia family. This week, we focus on the the beautiful Lucrezia, the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, who allegedly lured men to their deaths. We then find out about the fate of the infamous dynasty. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website . While there, you can also check out our Bookstore , where we recom...
We join with our good friends at A History of Italy Podcast to bring you a two-part investigation into one of the most notorious dynasties of the Renaissance, the Borgias. This week, we focus on the priest-turned-warrior Cesare Borgia, who used murderous conspiracies and battlefield tactics to attempt to forge a new state during the Italian Wars. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website . While there, you can also check out...
Set fire to Rome, burning the capital of the known world to the ground? Check. Poisoned your step-brother and heir? Check. Bumped off you mother, your tutor, and your pregnant wife? Check, check, check. Oh, well, you must be Emperor Nero, then! We spend time with history's most infamous ruler and ask: was he really such a monster? To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website . While there, you can also check out our Bookstore ,...
Was he the craziest ruler in the ancient world or the best satirist in Rome? Maybe he was both. We continue our look at the Julio-Claudian dynasty, witnessing the strange goings on in the court of Emperor Caligula, whose behavior scandalized the Roman nobility and led to claims that he was mad. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website . While there, you can also check out our Bookstore , where we recommend some great episod...
The second and last part of our look at the case of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator killed in 44 BC. We watch as Caesar, defying ill omens, enters the Senate House to be killed in a frenzy of knife blows. Though it looks like a deal might be struck between his supporters and his assassins, the situation rapidly changes. In the civil war that follows, the fate of the Republic hangs in the balance. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations ...
Season 4 of the show will focus on murderous schemes within powerful families throughout history. In the first episode of the season, we look at the most famous assassination of all time - the murder of Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate in 44 BC. He had won glory and riches conquering the Gauls before going on to defeat his Roman foes. But as dictator for life, it was in Rome itself that the great man would meet his doom. We conclude this case next week. To find out more about the people and mus...
Season 4 is going live on August 5th! The theme for this season is dynasties - assassinations by and within powerful families through the ages. We'll travel from Ancient Rome to Renaissance Italy, and from 20th century New York right up to one of the most infamous dynasties of the present day. We hope you’ll join us on this epic journey into the world of history's most frightening families.
In the concluding installment of our two-part look at the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia, we find out about the investigations she was working on for her blog, Running Commentary , at the time of her death. This journalistic work made her powerful enemies in her homeland, Malta, and likely led to her murder. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website . While there, you can also check out our Bookstore , where we recommend som...
Assassinations Podcast is dark this week, but we’re bringing you a sneak preview of a brand new show launching this week on our network: Fab Figmentals , a podcast that explores the realm of curious creatures, magical monsters, and beautiful beasts! Each week, host Lindsey Morse (the producer of Assassinations Podcast) explores a different legendary creature by looking at its history and folklore. If you enjoy this episode of Fab Figmentals, you can listen to additional episodes and subscribe he...
In the first installment of our two-part look at Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, we look at the sequence of events culminating in her assassination in 2017. She was killed in a car bombing, allegedly carried out by three men with links to the criminal underworld on the island. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassinations Podcast website . While there, you can also check out our Bookstore , where we recommend some great episode-relat...
In the second installment of our two-part look at themassacre at the newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2015, we look at the biographies of the two men who committed the crime and follow them as they lead French security forces on a massive manhunt. We also find out about a third man who committed a string of coordinated attacks across Paris, culminating in a murderous hostage-taking at a kosher supermarket. To find out more about the people and music featured in today’s episode, visit the Assassination...
In the first of a two-part look at the mass shooting at the office of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2015, we learn about the controversy surrounding the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammed. The images, originally published in a Danish newspaper and added to by the illustrators at Charlie Hebdo, upset many Muslims, who said some of the depictions were both disrespectful and racist. As protests grew, some Islamist groups threatened bloody retribution for those ...
In Part 2 of our two-part look at the case of Anna Politkovskaya, we learn about the official investigation into her death, which bore the hallmarks of a carefully planned contract killing. We also ask - who might have commissioned the hit on this journalist and human rights campaigner? She was a prominent critic of the administration of Vladimir Putin, and many people blamed the Russian president for her death. But there were others who might have been responsible, including people she had conf...
In Part 1 of a two-part study of the life and death of Anna Politkovskaya, we look at her work as a journalist covering the brutal Chechen wars in Russia in the 1990s and early 2000s. She exposed war crimes and gave voice to the many civilian casualties of the conflict between separatists and the federal government. She also sought to expose corruption and criminality elsewhere in Russia, in the process making powerful enemies. Her assassination in 2006 led some people to point the finger of bla...
Born in China in 1932, Henry Liu fled to Taiwan after the Communist Revolution in 1949. He worked as a journalist before moving to the United States, where he became a prominent critic of the Taiwanese government. Lui had written a controversial book that criticized the rulers of Taiwan, and at the time of his death he was working on a new project that threatened to expose more secrets. In 1984, Liu was shot to death in his home in California by a triad gang with links to the government in Taipe...
