It began with the discovery of bomb-making materials at the home of a man named Miyashita Takichi, in the Nagano Prefecture. And it resulted in what became known as, the High Treason Incident, a socialist-anarchist bomb plot to assassinate Japanese Emperor Meiji in 1910. The fall-out led to the convictions of 26 people on charges of high treason against the Imperial family, including well-known anarchist, Kōtoku Shūsui. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 27, 2022•30 min•Season 7Ep. 13
“Europe calling! Pound speaking! Ezra Pound speaking!” came over the airwaves in more than 100 shortwave broadcasts from Rome, directed toward America during WWII. Ezra Pound was an American ex-pat, poet, and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist literary movement in early-to-mid 20th century -- and was also a fascist collaborator and anti-Semite arrested for treason against the United States for his radio broadcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 20, 2022•31 min•Season 7Ep. 12
Many knew this man as Sidney Reilly, but his real name was Sigmund Georgievich Rosenblum -- probably. Historians do know he was a British intelligence officer, and he’s considered the most accomplished spy in history. But, most of Reilly’s account of who he was and what he did was probably a lie. We can be certain of one thing; he was executed for treason, on the order of Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 13, 2022•27 min•Season 7Ep. 11
He was arrested in 1859 for his role in the Harpers Ferry raid – an event that set the stage for the American Civil War. He was convicted of treason, as well as for murder, and for instigating insurrection. We’re talking about American abolitionist John Brown, the first person executed for treason in the United States. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 06, 2022•33 min•Season 7Ep. 10
“Let me have a man for one night, and I’ll have him confessing he’s the king of England,” Lavrentiy Beria bragged to his colleague, Nikita Khrushchev. He was intelligent and intriguing and cynical. He was also violent, unethical, and prone to using ruthless measures, including kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder. And he was almost the ruler of the Soviet Union after the Second World War – until his former colleagues executed him for treason. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 30, 2022•39 min•Season 7Ep. 9
The first time Robert Wilcox incited rebellion was in an effort to overthrow the so-called Bayonet Constitution and the newly-formed provisional government of Hawaii. The second time was when he tried to restore the deposed monarch, Queen Liliʻuokalani, and the Native Hawaiian government. His revolts led to his arrest on charges of treason – treason, technically, against an illegitimate government. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 23, 2022•40 min•Season 7Ep. 8
This is the story of a noble woman convicted for crimes against her country because of her devotion to the wrong person. To talk about how Magdalena Rudenschöld found herself a traitor to the Kingdom of Sweden and imprisoned for it, we need to talk about that wrong person -- a Swedish courtier and diplomat named Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, and the conspiracy that was named for him. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 16, 2022•29 min•Season 7Ep. 7
More than a century after these events unfolded, there continues to be debate among historians as to whether or not Mary Surratt was or was not involved in the plot to assassinate U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. What we know for sure, though, is Mary was hanged for treason in the summer of 1865. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 09, 2022•34 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Chidiock Tichborne was a poet raised Catholic among Protestants. He is known to history as one of the conspirators involved in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic. Let's talk about how his involvement in what was called the Babington Plot led to his execution for high treason. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 02, 2022•31 min•Season 7Ep. 5
This American traitor used the pseudonym 'Paul Revere’ when he broadcast over the airways. But it was the pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic agenda that dominated Douglas Chandler’s radio show that was problematic for the United States government, not his nom de plume. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 26, 2022•42 min•Season 7Ep. 4
The New York Times published daily news on the events, reporting “Fighting continues in mountains as federal troops reach Mingo; planes reported bombing miners.” Just about 100 years ago, the conflict between West Virginia coal miners and mining companies escalated to violence not seen in the United States since the Civil War -- and it resulted in multiple charges of treason. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 19, 2022•38 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Once, the state of Rhode Island had two governors at the same time. True story. Thomas Wilson Dorr was elected governor under a new state constitution. The problem with that, though, was that Rhode Island already had a governor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 12, 2022•30 min•Season 7Ep. 2
"We of the jury say that Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under this indictment by any evidence submitted to us. We therefore find him not guilty [of treason]." But how did a vice president find himself in that position, to begin with? Welcome to the first episode in our new season, The Treasonists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 05, 2022•32 min•Season 7Ep. 1
“Some people are born to treachery,” and it’s those people we’re interested in, in this brand new season. The treasonists. The traitors. Welcome to season 7 of Criminalia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 28, 2022•3 min
This season there were plenty of stories of those who dug up the dead for cash -- for various reasons, but really, two primary: to sell them to medical schools, or to maybe get something for it, like ransom. And there were plenty of cocktails and mocktails to go around. Holly and Maria continue their tradition, and talk about which were their favorites shows and favorite drinks of the season. See you there. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 28, 2022•36 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Andreas Vesalius (Andries van Wesel) was a 16th-century Flemish anatomist whose work revolutionized the study of the human body. And he was able to do so because he was also a body snatcher -- and though he never would have called himself one, he was known to share hands-on tips for how to find fresh corpses. He used human cadavers for hands-on observations, and published groundbreaking, forward-thinking works about how our bodies function. And in doing so, he became the father of modern anatomy...
Jun 21, 2022•29 min•Season 6Ep. 10
No one truly knows the identities of those who participated in the Boston Tea Party, but one man’s name always ends up on the usual suspects list -- and that's Dr. Joseph Warren: physician and revolutionist. And, resurrection man. Warren, along with some very well-known names, founded an illicit secret society at Harvard in the late 1700s -- the Spunker Club. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 14, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 9
The first attempt at snatching and ransoming Abraham Lincoln's body was in 1876. It didn’t work out, as you’ll see. But it wasn’t the only attempt at snatching Lincoln’s remains -- and, as it turns, none of them worked out. Lead by counterfeit crime boss James “Big Jim” Kennally, here's what really went down when the Kennally gang tried to snatch Lincoln and spring their man Benjamin Boyd from prison. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 07, 2022•28 min•Season 6Ep. 8
The stories of both Chris Baker and Grandison Harris take place during the American Civil War and period of Reconstruction. Both were body snatchers, or night doctors as they were known in the south, and each worked exclusively for a medical school -- and both men were enslaved. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 30, 2022•35 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Resurrectionist William Cunningham was actively stealing bodies from grave sites around Cincinnati from 1855 to 1871. He was well known, and he was something of a legend. He once returned to the same gravesite at which he had earlier been caught digging – after he’d bought those who had detained him a drink. He dressed the bodies he stole. And, he had a “villainous bald head.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 24, 2022•24 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Snatching bodies from graves to sell them to medical and anatomy schools was once a super-common reason for disinterring corpses, but it’s definitely not the only reason people have disturbed the dead. And as strange as this may sound, it turns out many people have had their skull stolen from their grave -- sometimes for research, sometimes for ransom, and sometimes, because they were considered prized possessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 17, 2022•28 min•Season 6Ep. 5
So far in our season of body snatching, we’ve been looking at things mainly from the point of view of the snatcher. But we’re going to change that up a little. Scottish surgeon John Hunter was “the patron saint of the body snatchers.” What do you have to do to earn that title? Well. Let’s find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 10, 2022•28 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Contrary to popular belief, the famous body-snatching duo of William Burke and William Hare were not actually body snatchers. They never robbed graves at all -- they had their own way of supplying anatomists with fresh corpses, and it didn’t involve the graveyard. They simply killed people. And a new word was coined from the pair’s murderous practices: ‘burking'. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 03, 2022•25 min•Season 6Ep. 3
He was hardly the only professional body snatcher in Washington, D.C. in the late 19th century, but William M. Jansen is definitely one of the most colorful. He snatched the body of Charles Shaw, and sold it. And then he stole it a second time. And it all happened within 36 hours of Shaw’s death. Here's how it went down. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 26, 2022•27 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Welcome to first episode of a new season of Criminalia. This season we're talking about body snatchers, and the bodies they snatched. Ben Crouch was the son of a carpenter, and was a well-known prizefighter in his day. He’s described as a tall, flamboyantly-dressed man with a pox-marked face who loved to wear gold jewelry, especially gold rings. He could be violent and intimidating -- and he was the leader of London's most notorious group of body snatchers in the 1810s. See omnystudio.com/listen...
Apr 19, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Holly and Maria continue their tradition: At the end of each season, they pick their favorites shows and favorite cocktails and mocktails. Tell us about the stories and drinks you liked best on social media – #criminalia. Let's see which ones we have in common. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 12, 2022•35 min•Season 5Ep. 17
In season 6 of Criminalia, you can expect to hear about those who dug up the dead for cash. Grave robbers dug up graves to steal valuable items that had been buried with the deceased. As did tomb raiders. They were known to take everything but the body. Body snatchers and resurrectionists, though, stole bodies from graves. The first recorded case of body snatching is attributed to four medical students in Bologna, Italy, in 1319 -- and we'll start there, to find out why. See omnystudio.com/liste...
Apr 12, 2022•3 min
Let’s talk about witch panic. If your crime is not of being a witch, but rather of falsely accusing and then punishing an alleged witch, what led up to that moment? Well, probably more than one thing. There’s a lot of talk about the religious factors that have long been part of purging witches, and while that’s often a fair explanation based on the time and place, it’s not the only explanation. Misogyny. Jealousy. Dreams. Lots of things are in this cauldron. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...
Apr 05, 2022•27 min•Season 5Ep. 16
There’s no mistaking that alchemy laid a foundation for the modern science of chemistry. And though the contributions of alchemists have been dismissed by scholars for years – centuries, to be more accurate -- some of the names we recognize as being influential in the early days of our modern sciences were also alchemists. Whether it was known they were practicing alchemists, that’s a different story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 29, 2022•26 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Al-Fārābī learned from the Greeks, but he wrote for Muslims. This polymath translated Greek works on science and philosophy, offering important commentaries on both Aristotle and Plato -- in the Arabic language. You might be thinking, neither Plato nor Aristotle were nor are considered alchemists. Yes, but they formulated some ideas that went on to become part of the fabric of the traditions of alchemy, not only Arabic alchemy. And al-Fārābī is responsible for showing us that. Learn more about y...
Mar 22, 2022•27 min•Season 5Ep. 14
