Arthur Conan Doyle rose to fame as the inventor of Sherlock Holmes. Not unlike his literary creation, Doyle had a knack for making inferences about others based on observation alone and even brought that talent to bear on real-life criminal cases. He also weighed in on the Ripper killings, drawing curve-ball conclusions about how the murderer committed his crimes. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a...
Feb 15, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In 1884, the Reverend Samuel Barnett and his wife, Henrietta, founded Toynbee Hall, a charitable institution meant to improve the lives of Whitechapel residents. From its inception, Toynbee Hall offered both arts education and programming. The Ripper’s victims died within walking distance of its doorstep, and Bruce Robinson believes that the Hall was essential to Michael Maybrick’s s plan to get away with murder. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd li...
Feb 01, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In 1913, Marie Belloc Lowndes published her novel, The Lodger, inspired by a story that painter Walter Sickert heard from his landlady. At one point, the heroine attends a farcical inquest, during which a witness offers bogus testimony. This fictional debacle resonates with one of the more bizarre episodes in the Whitechapel murders. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/arto...
Jan 18, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In 1910, Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen poisoned his wife, Cora, and fled to Canada with his mistress in disguise. Detective Walter Dew, who cut his teeth on the force while hunting for the Ripper in 1888, donned a costume of his own as he pursued the fugitives. Like the Whitechapel murderer, Crippen is dubiously said to have procured his disguise from wigmaker and costume designer Willy Clarkson. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to support the sho...
Jan 03, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 9
We look back at the artists we’ve covered this season and consider what we’ve learned about the Whitechapel murders and the theories they’ve inspired. Why are artists so popular as Ripper suspects? Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast.
Dec 14, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Singer and composer Michael Maybrick was the Victorian equivalent of a pop star in 1889 when his older brother, James, died under enigmatic circumstances. In 2015, writer and director Bruce Robinson nominated Michael as the Ripper, based on what he believes happened to James as well as Michael’s involvement in the Freemasons, one of the most secretive and talked-about fraternities in Victorian England. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to suppo...
Nov 30, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 7
One of the most important painters of his generation, Walter Sickert gravitated toward scenes of low life and at times depicted women who appeared to be dead. In the 1970s, a man purporting to be Sickert’s illegitimate son implicated the painter in the Whitechapel homicides. Sickert has since become a favored Ripper candidate and has received more attention as a possible perpetrator than any other artist covered this season. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com....
Nov 09, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 6
When the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, hired the brilliant James Kenneth Stephen to tutor his eldest son, Prince Eddy, Stephen and his student became fast friends. Some believe they were more than friends. After publishing two volumes of poetry, Stephen suffered a mental breakdown in 1891. Based on what happened next, Stephen’s tantalizing relationship with Eddy, and violent themes in his writing, several commentators have named the poet as the Ripper. Show notes and full transcript be...
Oct 26, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Lewis Carroll was teaching math at Oxford when he befriended Alice Liddell, a colleague’s daughter. Even though their friendship ended in scandal, it led to one of the most beloved children’s books of all time, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In 1996, psychotherapist Richard Wallace accused Carroll of committing the Whitechapel murders, claiming to have discovered compromising anagrams in Carroll’s writing. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like t...
Oct 12, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In 1887, American actor Richard Mansfield originated the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Boston. His performance as Hyde was so terrifying that audience members fainted. In the late summer of 1888, he took the show to London, presenting it at the metropolis's foremost playhouse. Just weeks after Jekyll and Hyde opened, the Ripper claimed his first canonical victim, and Mansfield aroused suspicion as the culprit. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If y...
Sep 28, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 3
For decades, Willy Clarkson reigned as London’s most famous theatrical wigmaker and costume designer. Also renowned as a master of disguise, he did business with countless customers intent on concealing their identities. According to Clarkson’s early biographer, Jack the Ripper was one of them. However, documentarian P. William Grimm has recently argued that Clarkson and Jack were one and the same person. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to su...
Sep 16, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In 1888, the malefactor known as Jack the Ripper killed at least five women—Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elisabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly—in the poverty-stricken district of Whitechapel, East London. In the first episode of this season, we discuss the victims’ lives and times as well as their deaths. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepod...
Sep 16, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 1
In 1888, Jack the Ripper murdered at least five women in the East End of London. More than a century later, we haven’t stopped talking about his crimes, nor have we given up on unmasking the perpetrator. In season 1 of The Art of Crime, we look at six artists who have been accused of the killings. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast....
Sep 15, 2022•3 min
