Best Anne Brannen Podcasts (2024)

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100. Retrospective: Our Favorites of the Past 100 Episodes 52:15

1M ago52:15

52:15

It's Episode 100! So we both went through the episodes we've published so far, to pick our favorites. Out of them, we picked three apiece, and then, as a grand winner, the one that turned up on both of our lists -- not the highest favorite of either of us, but pretty damn beloved. We explain why they all made the cut. And had a lot of fun, remember…

1
99. Juliane de Fontevrault Tries to Kill Her Father (Henry I) With a Crossbow, Normandy 1110 42:13

2M ago42:13

42:13

It was unusual for medieval women to kill their fathers, and especially unusual for them to use crossbows to do it. Juliane de Fontrevault tried both, but she missed King Henry I, who was at the time besieging her castle in Normandy. There had been an altercation, you see, which led to a major hostage failure, wherein Juliane's husband Eustace blin…

1
98. April Fool's Episode: Debunking the Chastity Belt 1:10:09

4M ago1:10:09

1:10:09

There were not, in the Middle Ages, any chastity belts. They did not exist. Really, they didn't. They show up later, when enlighted ages say that they were used in the Middle Ages. Then, enlightened ages invented them, and now you can buy them on Amazon. Michelle explains how we know they didn't exist, and how they got invented, and why the later a…

1
97. Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan, is Assassinated, Milan, Duchy of Milan 1476 33:03

4M ago33:03

33:03

Sometimes when our medieval rulers get assassinated we can see why, and that's the case for Galeazzo Maria Sforza, who was a very bad sort of person. So, not surprisingly, he got stabbed to death by conspirators. Two of them were out for personal gain, but one was a poet who was, he believed, serving the greater communal good, which charms Anne. We…

1
96. Leszek the White, High Duke of Poland, is Assassinated, Morcinkowo, Poland 1227 59:30

4M ago59:30

59:30

During the Fragmentation of Poland, which lasted from 1138 to 1320, Leszek Bialy -- Leszek the White -- managed to reign as the High Duke of Poland four times, the last reign going on for 16 years before it ended, on account of his having been assassinated. That's a long reign, during the age of fragmentation, when the realm was, well, fragmented, …

1
95. Henry d'Almain is Murdered, Viterbo, Italy 1271 40:52

4M ago40:52

40:52

Henry d'Almain didn't really want to fight in the Second Barons' War, because the leaders of the two sides were both his uncles, and when his uncle Simon de Montfort was killed and mutilated in the last battle, he wasn't part of that, so it was really unseemly for his cousins, the sons of Simon de Montfort, to find him in a church in Italy and slau…

1
94. Maddelena, a Circassian, is Bought in Crimea and Sold in Italy, Venice, Italy c. 1428 41:38

4M ago41:38

41:38

We thought it would be interesting to talk about the Crimean Slave Trade, but we had not known that would, essentially, cover all of written history and all of the Old World. But it was on the schedule, and we found it interesting. So! We'll start with the mother of Carlo de Medici, Maddelena, who was captured in or sold from Circassia (it's over o…

1
93. Michael Servetus is Murdered, Geneva, Republic of Geneva 1553 51:35

5M ago51:35

51:35

Michael Servetus was one of those brilliant people who can be a bit annoying. He read and/or spoke Spanish and French and Hebrew and Latin and Arabic and Greek and who knows what all. He studied and/or wrote books on theology, medicine, mathematics, law, and some other stuff. He wrote poetry. He had a bunch of degrees. But he had to leave the Studi…

1
92. Special Episode: The New Guys Celebrate Christmas, Plymouth (Massachusetts), December 25, 1621 48:16

7M ago48:16

48:16

On the second Christmas that the Pilgrims spent in Plymouth (the first had been spent cutting down trees and building houses), the governor of the colony, William Bradford, gathered the men together so that they could all go do the Lord's work (which was probably cutting down trees and building houses). Some of the colonists were newly arrived, and…

1
91. Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck Pretend to be Kings, England 1487 and 1491 1:00:55

7M ago1:00:55

1:00:55

So, there were those two boys in the Tower of London, Edward V, King of England, who was 12, and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was 9, and they disappeared one summer after their uncle Richard declared them illegitimate and became King Richard III. And it was a total mystery as to what happened to them, and still is, and Richard III was n…

1
90. The Jacquerie Smashes Property, France 1358 48:55

7M ago48:55

48:55

In the summer of 1358, French peasants took up arms -- this means mostly sticks -- and attacked the nobility. They did indeed murder some of them, but mostly, almost entirely, the burnt down property. They didn't even loot. They just destroyed stuff. The nobility had gotten problematic, certainly, what with running away from important battles and t…

1
89. Vasvilkas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, is Assassinated, Volodymyr, Ukraine 1267 35:56

8M ago35:56

35:56

Vasvilkas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, got assassinated for a reason that Michelle considers the stupidest assassination reason the podcast has seen so far, that being that when Vasvilkas, the Monk Prince, decided to give up the throne so he could go back to being a monk, he gave it to a brother in law, and another brother in law thought that Vasv…

1
88. St. Scholastica Riot, Oxford England, February 10, 1355 42:42

8M ago42:42

42:42

Sometimes students riot, maybe because of tuition hikes, or because a coach got fired for a sex abuse scandal, or because their team won a game, or because their team lost a game, or because the university became integrated, or because the government is moving into authoritarianism, or because the government already was authoritarian but is getting…

1
87. King Philip Augustus Fakes a Genealogy, Paris, France 1194 43:41

9M ago43:41

43:41

Philip, the King of France, married Ingeborg of Denmark, and it would have been a really great political alliance, except that after the wedding night Philip wanted out. So he asked the pope to annul the marriage, saying that it hadn't been consummated, on account of witchcraft, and he sent Ingeborg to a convent. But Ingeborg said the marriage HAD …

1
86. Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Does Various Bad Things, Germany, Italy, and Sicily, 1169-1197 55:30

10M ago55:30

55:30

Sandwiched between two legendary Holy Roman Emperors -- his father, Frederick Barbarossa, and his son, Frederick II -- Henry VI, who was not legendary, and who died at the age of 31 (his dad died at 67 and his son at 55; lots more time to rack up legendary activities), nevertheless managed to acquire a nickname -- "The Cruel" -- in large part becau…

1
85. Eorpwald of East Anglia is Murdered, East Anglia c. 627 1:12:19

11M ago1:12:19

1:12:19

Eorpwald, the ruler of East Anglia c 624, after his father died, converted to Christianity because Edwin, the Deorian king, converted to Christianity, and managed to connect pretty much the entire eastern coastal kingdoms of England. So that lasted a few years, but then he got assassinated, on account of having converted to Christianity, and East A…

1
84. Melisende, Frankish Queen of Jerusalem, is Falsely Accused of Adultery, Jerusalem 1134 48:36

11M ago48:36

48:36

In 1134, Melisende, the Queen of Jerusalem, who had, as a child, been raised to be the Queen of Jerusalem all by herself, was sharing the throne with Fulk, her husband, who did not like sharing. So he tried to get rid of her, by accusing her of adultery with her cousin Hugh of Jaffa, which was not a thing that was actually happening. And when Hugh …

1
83. Hugh de Lacy is Assassinated, Durrow, Ireland 1186 44:16

11M ago44:16

44:16

Hugh de Lacy, one of the Anglo-Normans who was sent to bring order to Ireland (where the Anglo-Normans were having a lot of trouble), was inspecting the military installation he was having built at Durrow (where St. Columba had previously built a monastery), when he was murdered by one of the Irish who wanted him dead, by being hit on the head with…

1
82. Arthur of Brittany Disappears, Rouen, France c. 1203 43:14

12M ago43:14

43:14

In 1199, when Richard the Lionheart died, there were two possible claimants to the throne of England -- his younger brother John, and his nephew Arthur. John was a bit over 30 years old; Arthur was about 12. John, the youngest surviving son of Henry II, was by Norman law the rightful heir. Arthur, the eldest son of Geoffrey, John's older brother, w…

1
81. Johannes Ryneken is Executed for Adulterating Saffron, Nuremberg Germany, 1444 42:05

1y ago42:05

42:05

By the 15th century, Nuremberg was making a reputation and a lot of money out of being the main saffron import location in Europe. So the town burgesses took it very seriously when spice merchants sold saffron that wasn't fully saffron, but had various other things added to it. Very seriously indeed. So seriously that it was possible to be, as John…

1
Sandra Sollie - 1994 - NY - Part Two 59:50

1y ago59:50

59:50

In this episode, we’ll be concluding our two-part series on Sandra Sollie’s case. Last week we discussed what happened between the day Sandra went missing, up to around the one year anniversary of her disappearance, and we left you on a bit of a cliff hanger. Today, we’ll be giving you a quick recap to bring you back up to speed, talk about what tr…

1
80. William de Marisco is Executed for Treason, London England 1242 42:13

1y ago42:13

42:13

The de Mariscos were a family that continually got into trouble, on account of continually misbehaving. When William de Marisco was executed at the Tower of London in 1242, it was ostensibly for attempting to have the king murdered, but since he'd also been pirating from the Isle of Lundy, and murdering messengers, he was going to end up being exec…

1
Sandra Sollie - 1994 - NY - Part One 1:00:35

1y ago1:00:35

1:00:35

Today, we’ll be discussing the case of a woman who, while 7 1/2 months pregnant, vanished after being last seen shopping at a local mall. With very little clues, barely any leads, and the publics focus aimed towards another case of a young girl who went missing the same day, this case would soon go cold. But in 1996 a dogged private investigator wo…

1
Elizabeth Berquist - 1977 - PA 1:12:05

1y ago1:12:05

1:12:05

Announcement discussed at the top of the episode! We just want to touch on a relatively big change to the podcast that you may have missed if you don’t follow us on social media. Last week we announced that we’re going to be changing our upload schedule from weekly to biweekly. We have a lot going on in other areas of our lives lately and due to th…

1
79. Snorri Sturluson Is Assassinated, Reykholt, Iceland 1241 1:01:21

1y ago1:01:21

1:01:21

Snorri Sturluson, the great Icelandic poet and historian and lawspeaker of the Althing, got involved in Norwegian/Icelandic politics, and it ended very badly. For him, for one thing, as the king of Norway arranged for 70 men to stab Snorri in his basement, and for Iceland, which devolved into chieftain battles and eventually unified with Norway and…

1
Joanne Valentine - 1993 - MD 1:39:11

1y ago1:39:11

1:39:11

Today, we’ll be discussing the case of a mother of two who was gunned down in her driveway in the early morning hours after returning home from work. Despite multiple charges brought against several people over the years, there are still no answers as to who is responsible for this crime. If you have any information regarding who killed Joanne Vale…

1
Documentary Review - "Girl in the Picture" 1:30:48

1+ y ago1:30:48

1:30:48

One of today's episodes is a listeners choice documentary review covering girl in the picture which can be watched right now on Netflix. We hit on some of the points of the story and give our opinion on how we feel the documentary was put together. Help support the show on Patreon Follow us on on Instagram at wickeddeedspod Like our Facebook Page, …

1
Ann Furst & Helen Larkin - 1989 - MD 1:28:28

1+ y ago1:28:28

1:28:28

Today, we’ll be discussing the case of a mother and daughter who, while still reeling from the loss of a loved one and preparing for their funeral the next day, were brutally murdered in the family home. After decades without answers, and little to no physical evidence to work with, authorities and the remaining family members need the publics help…

1
78. Special Episode: April Fool's Debunking of the Myth of the Medieval Shame Flute 41:33

1+ y ago41:33

41:33

If you go and peruse the internet, you will discover many discussions of the medieval shame flute, an instrument created specifically to be fastened to a bad musician, in order to shame him. There are pictures. There is a lot of certainty about this. Alas, it wasn't there. Michelle went to find them, and, though there are a couple of torture museum…

1
Bonus - Deceptions & Resurrections, Part 1 1:10:41

1+ y ago1:10:41

1:10:41

Bonus Episode! This Easter, join Shane Waters on a whimsical adventure featuring 13 podcasters (including Wicked Deeds!!) as they share true stories of con artists and fake deaths. Delve into the magical world of the Enchanted Easterlands, where you’ll encounter peculiar characters and captivating true crime tales. Discover the history and origins …

1
Bonus - Deceptions & Resurrections, Part 2 1:08:41

1+ y ago1:08:41

1:08:41

Bonus Episode! This Easter, join Shane Waters on a whimsical adventure featuring 13 podcasters (including Wicked Deeds!!) as they share true stories of con artists and fake deaths. Delve into the magical world of the Enchanted Easterlands, where you’ll encounter peculiar characters and captivating true crime tales. Discover the history and origins …

1
Melissa Brannen - 1989 - VA - Part Two 1:49:47

1+ y ago1:49:47

1:49:47

Today, we’ll be completing our coverage of Melissa Brannen’s case, by discussing Caleb Hughes' trial. We’ll be going over witness statements, events in Hughes' past that may have set him on the path he followed into adulthood, and most importantly, the physical evidence that led him to be tried for this terrible crime. If you have any information r…

1
77. Diarmait Mac Murchada Invites the Anglo-Normans into Ireland, Leinster, Ireland 1167 58:36

1+ y ago58:36

58:36

At the end of the 12th century, the kings of Ireland had been fighting amongst themselves, and the high king got involved, and what with one thing and another Diarmait Mac Murchada, who had been the king of Leinster, and then had been ousted, and then had gotten in again, got ousted again, and then had the very bad idea of getting help from the Ang…

1
Melissa Brannen - 1989 - VA - Part One 1:29:31

1+ y ago1:29:31

1:29:31

Today, we’ll be discussing the case of a five year old girl who attended a Christmas party with her mother on a freezing cold night in early December of 1989. Just as she and her mother were getting ready to leave and head back home for the night, the little girl was abducted with nearly 100 witnesses present, but it seems as though, no one saw a t…

1
Playback - Theresa Corley - 1978 - MA 1:15:37

1+ y ago1:15:37

1:15:37

We posted a couple days ago on social media about how both Jon and I are a bit under the weather right now, so we’ve got to delay this weeks scheduled episode covering Melissa Brannen’s Case until next Tuesday, March 28th, 2023. But today, we’re re-releasing an episode that is near and dear to our hearts. It’s a case we covered over a year ago, bac…

1
Rosie Gordon - 1989 - VA 1:29:45

1+ y ago1:29:45

1:29:45

Today, we’ll be discussing the case of a ten year old girl who was riding her bike around her neighborhood as she often did, but never came home. After several days of searching, her body was found and the hunt for her killer ensued. A suspect was named after a very short time but the details of the case just never seemed to match up to that suspec…

1
76. Special Episode: Richard Walweyn Wears Padded Pants, London, England 1565 45:16

1+ y ago45:16

45:16

One day in London in 1565, Richard Walweyn was arrested for wearing the wrong pants, and put in jail until he could prove he owned some proper ones. And why were these the wrong pants? Cause they were puffed out, and he was a servant. Makes no sense, right? Nah. But in times of unease, people like to try to get everybody to wear the right clothes, …

1
Craig Frear - 2004 - NY - Part Two 1:50:07

1+ y ago1:50:07

1:50:07

Today, we’re going to be continuing our discussion regarding the disappearance of Craig Frear. We’ll be diving into the odd behaviors and red flags he’d been displaying prior to going missing, as well as the State Police’s investigation and all of the theories that surround this case. If you have any information regarding what happened to Craig Fre…

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