Send us a text - your number is not revealed. The 2003 Antwerp diamond heist, known as the "heist of the century," is considered one of the largest robberies in history with more than $100 million worth of diamonds and other jewels stolen. The true story of how a small group of colorful characters managed to circumvent the 10 layers of security of the diamond vault located in the heavily guarded Antwerp diamond district is astounding. The story of how they got caught is equally shockin...
Dec 17, 2024•59 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Only one hijacking in the history of commercial aviation remains unsolved to this day -- the mysterious case of D.B. Cooper. After hijacking a commuter flight in the Pacific Northwest on the night before Thanksgiving in 1971, the polite, unassuming man strapped on his parachute and leapt into the cold nighttime darkness above the Columbia River in Washington state. Despite decades of investigation by the FBI, neither Cooper nor the $200,000 he stole ...
Nov 18, 2024•47 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. As the foundation for everything from bulletproof vests to bridge cables, Kevlar is a miracle fiber that has saved lives and transformed entire industries since its invention in the 1960s. Yet, without the wild hunch and strong will of Stephanie Kwolek—a brilliant chemist born in Pittsburgh in 1923—the world might never have been introduced to this remarkable material. Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible tr...
Sep 29, 2024•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. The last six years have seen a dramatic surge in cold cases being solved by law enforcement agencies around the U.S. One after another, police departments are resolving cases which had bedeviled detectives for decades. In Episode 11 of Killer Inventions, we examine what exactly lies behind the increase and where the field seems headed next. Some of the answers may surprise you! Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incr...
Sep 01, 2024•49 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. While you may know the board game Monopoly, you probably don't know the incredible story of the game's invention. This week's episode reveals the true story of the person responsible for inventing the game, and Parker Brothers' purposeful deceit in perpetuating the myth behind the game's origin. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200...go directly to episode 10 of Killer Inventions! Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Mean...
Aug 05, 2024•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Some inventions don’t look particularly clever or useful in hindsight. The ‘baby cage’ may be one of those inventions! Developed in the early 20th century in response to diseases like tuberculosis and the Spanish Flu, the baby cage was not for the faint of heart. Nor for those scared of heights. Improbably enough, the contraption continued to be used as late as the 1950s. Tune into Episode 9 for the full story on this odd chapter in American tinkerin...
Jul 15, 2024•33 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Some say youth is wasted on the young, however, that is definitely not the case with the three inventors featured in this episode, each of whom was under the age of 16 when they made history. Check out these three incredible inventors and their killer inventions in Episode 8 of Killer Means Awesome! Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered...
Jun 16, 2024•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. The invention of dynamite in 1867 transformed industry, mining, railroad building, and modern warfare. It also led to the creation of the Nobel Prizes. For the full story of the brilliant, moody Swede who invented both dynamite and the Nobel Prizes, check out Episode 7 of Killer Means Awesome! Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipw...
Apr 15, 2024•54 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. For thousands of years people all over the world have chewed gum or gum-like substances. Still, the invention of the modern chewing gum industry took place in the United States in the 1800s, and while you may be familiar with names like William Wrigley, Jr., an exiled Mexican General was also responsible for the gum you enjoy today. Hear the incredible true story of how chewing gum evolved from the naturally occurring flavorless birch bark tar to the...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. The magical sound of slide guitar is a modern invention. Though long associated with American blues music, the location of its earliest pioneers may surprise you! Tune into Killer Means Awesome to find out who invented the musical technique, who set the standard for playing, and why you should never, ever let guitarist Ry Cooder drive you through the mountains. Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stori...
Feb 12, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Diminutive in stature but a giant in the world of inventions, the brilliant Grace Hopper talked her way into the Navy after Pearl Harbor and went on to become arguably the most pivotal innovator at the dawn of the information age. Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really...
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. From its earliest, primitive versions in the 1940s to the powerful, high-tech devices of today, the fabled 'black box' on airplanes has captured both the public imagination and the careful attention of engineers and investigators. Perhaps no other device does more to unravel the mystery of a plane crash than the flight recorder, which is built to withstand explosions, fires, water exposure, and intense deep-sea pressure. For the full histor...
Dec 12, 2023•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. In 1856 William Henry Perkin was an 18 year old college student on spring break when he accidentally invented a method for creating synthetic purple dye, a storied color which also happened to be the most coveted in all of Europe. Still, no one could have imagined William’s home experiment would inadvertently usher in the first science-based industry, making William rich and famous, bringing color to the masses, and ultimately changing the world. Lis...
Dec 04, 2023•58 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. The Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was the first person to synthesize LSD in 1938. From an accidental LSD trip to today’s worldwide renaissance in government-sanctioned research, perhaps no psychedelic has triggered more controversy and headlines than LSD. What started as the brainchild of the young chemist looking for new medicines, LSD has been used in psychiatry, religious ceremonies, the creative arts, and even CIA spy-craft! Listen to the first tw...
Nov 09, 2023•48 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Introducing the newly branded Killer Means Awesome podcast and Season #3: Killer Inventions! Listen to the first two seasons of Killer Means Awesome to hear more incredible true stories. Season one features amazing tales about recently discovered shipwrecks and Season two highlights biographies of people you really should know!
Nov 02, 2023•4 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. As an expert draftsman, inventor, and scientist, Lewis Howard Latimer helped Alexander Graham Bell patent the telephone and became Thomas Edison’s most trusted partner. Credited with inventing carbon filaments for light bulbs, the first air conditioner, and improvements for elevators and railroad car toilets, Latimer also found time to learn French, write poetry, play multiple instruments, and publish the first book ever written on electrical lightin...
Oct 17, 2023•55 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Get out of the way, it’s Fighting Shirley Chisholm coming through! Chisholm was ‘unbought and unbossed’ — from childhood poverty and time split between Barbados and Brooklyn to a pioneering career in U.S. politics and a historic run for President in 1972 … this is the story of the first black woman elected to Congress. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently...
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. The original work hard, play hard executive, Cleopatra is known for high profile liaisons with Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. Ruling over a vast Egyptian empire for more than two decades, she is arguably the most powerful woman in human history. Her incredible story, complete with forced exile, murder, incest, and a secret drinking club is even more dramatic than the Shakespearean play about her life! If you are a fan of Killer Biograph...
Sep 11, 2023•59 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Before there was Alexander the Great, there was Cyrus the Great. Through military conquests, strategic alliances, and centralized administration, he established the first Persian empire stretching from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas. He also freed the Jews from Babylon and got a shout-out in the Old Testament. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently disc...
Aug 25, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Fasten your seatbelts for the incredible story of Arthur Whitten Brown and John Alcock, two young aviators who attempted the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic ocean in 1919, eight years before Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. Season three features stories behind famous invention...
Aug 11, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. He lived on the street, heckled Plato, and loved dogs. Today Diogenes is considered one of the preeminent philosophers of Ancient Greece. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. Season three features stories behind famous invention...
Jul 28, 2023•50 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Margaret Rudkin was worried about her son’s asthma. In an effort to help him, she wound up starting one of the most iconic brands in the world and a company which today generates billions in annual sales. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. Season three features stories behind famous invention...
Jun 26, 2023•47 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Deities! Snakes! Hidden vaults of ancient treasure! In the last years of his life, the Indian lawyer and holy man T.P. Sundararajan took up a new cause - finding out just what was stored in the mysterious vaults beneath the Sri Padmanaabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Prepare to be amazed! Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. ...
Jun 18, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Forget what you think you know about Pocahontas and hear the incredible true story of her amazing life. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. Season three features stories behind famous invention
Jun 06, 2023•52 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. The killing of Mississippi native Medgar Evers marked the end of a remarkable life, and helped pave the way for a tidal shift in race relations and civil rights. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. Season three features stories behind famous invention...
May 26, 2023•46 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. William Hutchinson Norris and the Southerners who became known as Confederados. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. Season three features stories behind famous invention
May 10, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Juliane Koepcke was 17 years old when a plane crash left her stranded in the rain forest of Peru. Killer Biographies is now season two of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out season one to hear amazing true tales of recently discovered shipwrecks. Season three features stories behind famous invention
May 01, 2023•51 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Brainstorm has launched a new thrilling podcast: Killer Biographies! https://www.killerbiographies.com
Apr 30, 2023•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. Viking ship from the 9th century has it all — elaborate wood carvings, a magic wand, cannabis seeds, horses, dogs, sleighs, carts, and — possibly — the remains of Queen Asa!’ Killer Shipwrecks is now Season one of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out Season two to hear amazing biographies of people you should know! Season three features wild true stories behind famous inventions....
Apr 13, 2023•55 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text - your number is not revealed. A Spanish galleon laden with 14 tons of treasure sinks off the coast of Portugal in 1804. For two centuries the ocean keeps these riches for herself. But in 2007 an American company finds the wreck and attempts recovery, setting off an international legal battle. Killer Shipwrecks is now Season one of the Killer Means Awesome podcast. Check out Season two to hear amazing biographies of people you should know! Season three features wild true stories b...
Apr 06, 2023•59 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast 
