Best Demetria Spinrad Podcasts (2024)

1
ONE Magazine 1:01:44

12d ago1:01:44

1:01:44

In a country where gay sex is illegal, is a magazine for gay people a publication for criminals? Is the content obscene, even if there's no sexual content on the page, just because sex might be suggested somewhere off the page or in the pages of an entirely different publication? And most importantly, can you put this magazine in the mail? Sources …

1
Episode 532 – Cash Rules Everything Around Me

22d ago

—

This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: the economics of Meiji Japan, and a brief foray into social attitudes towards Westernization. How did Japan transform itself from being largely cut off from the world economy to central to it within half a century, and what impact did all this change have on the national self-image and cult…

1
Episode 531 – The New Japan

30d ago

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This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: the politics of the Meiji Period! After a coalition of samurai, nobles, loyalists, and others succeed in overthrowing the Tokugawa shogunate, they must ask themselves: what comes next? And, in the time honored tradition of revolution, they answer that question by killing off or removing fro…

1
Episode 530 – Bakumatsu, Part 3

1M ago

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This week: the age of feudalism comes crashing down, as in the span of just two years the Tokugawa shogunate goes from victory to crushing defeat. How did the final years of Tokugawa rule play out? Sources Jansen, Marius. The Making of Modern Japan Jansen, Marius. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration Beasley, Craig. The Meiji Restoration Craig,…

1
Episode 529 – Bakumatsu, Part 2

1M ago

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This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: the sudden assassination of the tairo Ii Naosuke sparks the rapid ascension of imperial loyalism, an ideology devoted to the undoing of the unequal treaties and the overthrow of the shogunate. How did loyalism come to be a dominant force in the politics of the early 1860s, and how did its f…

1
We'll be back in a bit! 0:51

2M ago0:51

0:51

Hello listeners! Isaac is entering final paper grading/rec letter writing season on top of planning an international exchange school trip for some of his students in May. I've also got plans to visit family on the east coast this month. Instead of rushing out episodes to cover the time we'll be too busy to record, we decided to hit pause on Crimina…

1
Episode 528 – Bakumatsu, Part 1

2M ago

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This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: the beginning of the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. Commodore Perry’s expedition to Edo will begin a process of radical political change as a teetering Tokugawa shogunate is forced to confront a challenge of Western imperialism that it will not prove equal to resisting. Sources Jansen, Mari…

1
The Ulysses Trial 1:09:58

2M ago1:09:58

1:09:58

If the obscene material you're distributing is so avant-garde that most readers can't tell it's actually obscene, did you commit a crime or not? This week, we're getting into the trial of the scandalous literary magazine editors who brought the work of James Joyce to America. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon…

1
Episode 527 – The Beginning of the End

2M ago

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This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: crises about during the late Edo period. A crisis of samurai identity! Questions around vengeance, honor, and duty! And of course, the most confounding subject of them all: macroeconomics. But hey, I’m sure we can figure this all out as long as no pesky Americans show up to ruin things, rig…

1
Episode 526 – The Outside World and Tokugawa Japan

2M ago

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This week on the Revised Introduction to Japanese History: “closed country” isn’t quite the full story. How did Japan maintain its connections to the outside world during the Edo Period? And how do some of those connections, particularly in the Ryukyus and Hokkaido, lay the groundwork for future imperial expansion? Sources Jansen, Marius. The Makin…

1
Two small scams 59:02

2M ago59:02

59:02

Not all scam artists prey on suckers’ desire to get rich quick or cheat the system. Some of them prey on their marks’ better impulses, like their love for their pet dogs or their willingness to help a stranger in an emergency. Content note: This episode contains discussion of animal cruelty and inhumane and misguided medical practices. It contains …

1
British Prison Reform 1:13:14

3M ago1:13:14

1:13:14

With options for getting rid of its convicts drying up, Britain started thinking about reforming both its prisons and the prisoners inside them. The intention behind these prison reforms was great. But attempts to create a better prison system involved wild philosophy experiments in real life, a lot of Bibles, a lot of time to think in silence, and…

1
Abortion in Modern Japan 1:09:30

3M ago1:09:30

1:09:30

Is abortion legal in Japan? No, but also yes. Join us on a journey through history to learn about how modern abortion law developed in a legal system that didn't treat fetuses as legal persons but did want to count them as future taxpayers. Content note: This episode is about abortion. It contains discussions of miscarriages, the complications of i…

1
The Yakuza 1:01:59

4M ago1:01:59

1:01:59

We're out of the country for a family memorial service and didn't have time to record a Criminal Records episode for the week. But that doesn't mean we're out of crime content! This week, we've cleaned up and cut together some of Isaac's very, very old History of Japan audio to bring you the history of Japanese organized crime.…

1
The Bloody Code 1:03:21

4M ago1:03:21

1:03:21

Under Britain's most notorious era of criminal law, you could be sentenced to death for everything from destroying a fishpond to being a particularly malicious 7-year-old. But how many criminals actually died thanks to this wave of harsh legislation? Getting the answer requires a deep dive into the very weird world of crime and punishment in the in…

1
Emma Goldman, part 2 1:10:01

4M ago1:10:01

1:10:01

The law was out to take Emma Goldman down on a range of charges from distributing obscene material to assassination to sedition. But did the woman the papers called the Queen of Anarchy deserve her lengthy rap sheet? Sources and show notes (with some excellent political cartoons) at this link Support the show on Patreon…

1
Emma Goldman, part 1 1:03:00

5M ago1:03:00

1:03:00

Something seemed a little less than ideal about governments and economies around the world in the late 1880s. One woman's solution? Anarchy. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

1
Bonus Episode: Babylon Berlin 29:35

5M ago29:35

29:35

Thanks to Demetria's brilliant decision to get as many vaccines as possible on the same day, there's no new episode this week. Instead, we're releasing a bonus episode from our Patreon archives about one of our all-time favorite works of historical fiction. We'll be back on our regular posting schedule in 2024! Content warning: Babylon Berlin is se…

1
CW "Shorty" Young 1:10:23

6M ago1:10:23

1:10:23

On one side, a crooked saloon owner with a side business running brothels and opium dens. On the other side, a moralistic tycoon with rail car full of beautiful vegetables. Which one of them did more damage to a frontier town in Montana? Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon…

1
The Reichsbürger movement 1:14:36

6M ago1:14:36

1:14:36

Want to crown yourself the king of Germany? Want to conquer Europe because you have really strong opinions about public transit? Want to get rich quick selling fake government ID cards? With this one completely nonsense legal strategy, you too can claim the government of Germany isn't real and join the ranks of some very iffy far-right extremists. …

1
The Stone of Destiny Heist 59:55

7M ago59:55

59:55

To crown the monarch of the United Kingdom, you need a 336-pound block of sandstone. But who really owns that big chunk of stone, and who was the thief who stole it from its rightful place? Sources and show notes at this link Support the show and find our bonus episode about Braveheart on Patreon

1
The Osaka Incident of 1827, part 2 59:56

7M ago59:56

59:56

If you're going to accuse a gang of spirit mediums of practicing a banned religion on the down low, you have to prove they're actually members of that religion. But what if your only understanding of how this religious group worships comes from stories about outrageous magical villains? Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreo…

1
The Osaka Incident of 1827, part 1 58:48

8M ago58:48

58:48

A group of spirit mediums found a way to use their psychic prowess to get rich in the physical realm. But when an investigator started looking into a suspiciously successful prosperity scheme, he uncovered a case of divine fraud. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

1
Lie Detector Tests 1:05:08

8M ago1:05:08

1:05:08

Let's dive into the dangerous, divine, and occasionally kinky history of trying to figure out who's telling the truth. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

1
James Reavis, Part 2 1:08:14

9M ago1:08:14

1:08:14

In the second part of our story, the Baron of Arizona has to create a Baroness so he can rise to great heights in Europe and use his connections to keep swindling in America. But while the upper crust in the old country buy into his wild story, Americans are starting to unravel his fraud. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patr…

1
James Reavis, Part 1 54:34

9M ago54:34

54:34

James Reavis was a failed real estate investor, but he had a knack for document forgery. And if you lose all the land you own legally, why not acquire some more with the help of a few doctored papers? Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

1
The Bombing of KAL Flight 858 1:01:27

10M ago1:01:27

1:01:27

A North Korean plot to sabotage the Olympics and possibly derail a crucial South Korean election hinged on a pair of very unusual spies. When one of the bombers survived after swallowing a cyanide capsule, she told investigators her whole world was a lie. Content note: This episode concerns a terrorist attack, a plane crash, mass murder, and a deat…

1
The death of Thomas Overbury, part 2 1:10:13

10M ago1:10:13

1:10:13

Mirror mirror on the wall, who really killed Thomas Overbury? We're getting deep into what might just be the weirdest trial we've ever covered on this show, with accusations flying about witchcraft, a poisoned enema, Spanish treachery, and a cameo from Sir Francis Bacon. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon…

1
The death of Thomas Overbury, part 1 1:01:03

11M ago1:01:03

1:01:03

We begin a twisted tale of witchcraft, poison, and legal arguing over magically cursed genitals in the court of King James I. Sir Thomas Overbury tried his best to climb to a coveted position at court, but he made a lot of enemies along the way. Content note: I'm going to throw an explicit label on this one just in case because it involves a discus…

1
The Five Men of Naniwa 1:02:21

11M ago1:02:21

1:02:21

In life, they were poor hooligans. In death, they became five of Japan's greatest folk heroes. Join us for a journey into Japan's 17th-century true crime puppet shows, time-traveling heroic tales, and kabuki romance. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show and find bonus episodes on Patreon…

1
The Iran-Contra Affair 1:02:14

12M ago1:02:14

1:02:14

You've heard jokes about the Iran-Contra affair, but have you heard the actual legal arguments of the defendants? To understand the true scope and purpose of these complicated financial shenanigans, we've got to cover a whole lot of history. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon…

1
Section 28 1:20:45

1y ago1:20:45

1:20:45

This Pride month, we’re gearing up for a fight. As we battle over “Don’t Say Gay” bills in the US today, we’re looking back to the 1980s to see how a similar legal effort played out in the United Kingdom. No one was ever successfully prosecuted under Section 28, but that doesn’t mean it was harmless. Content note: This episode contains in-depth dis…

1
Arnaud du Tilh, a.k.a. Martin Guerre 55:05

1y ago55:05

55:05

A man named Martin Guerre left his wife and child. Eight years later, a man who called himself Martin Guerre returned. Why would his wife accept her not-quite-the-same husband without raising any questions, and what happened when one member of the family became convinced his nephew had been replaced by an imposter? Sources and show notes Support th…

1
Section 230 1:09:30

1y ago1:09:30

1:09:30

Is the rule that made the modern internet to blame for breaking it? Is a forum legally analogous to a bookstore that might have a dirty book in it somewhere? Who's responsible for all this junk everyone's been putting in the internet tubes? And if we're heading for a massive change in the way we handle illegal content online, are we at risk of dest…

1
Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, and Wang Lijun 57:32

1y ago57:32

57:32

We're back with a new recording of one of the first cases we covered on Criminal Records. Bo Xilai was one of the rising stars of China's Communist Party, but his political dreams came crashing down when a close business partner was found dead in mysterious circumstances. Sources and shownotes at this link Support the show and listen to bonus episo…

1
Bonus Episode: Marie Antoinette (2006) 24:01

1y ago24:01

24:01

We're out of the country for the week, so we've released one of our Patreon bonus episodes into the regular podcast feed. We've talked about Marie Antoinette's real life and death, but how does the 2006 Marie Antoinette movie choose to frame her story? This is part of a much longer discussion in our bonus episodes about movies depicting (or claimin…

1
Perkin Warbeck 1:02:20

1y ago1:02:20

1:02:20

A half-baked plot to replace the true king of England with an impostor involved mind-controlling ointment, a loyalist uprising that never materialized, and some of the biggest political powers in Europe. Content note: The backstory of this episode involves the likely murder of two children, although the focus of this case is a different crime. Sour…

1
Ovid 58:10

1y ago58:10

58:10

One of the western canon’s greatest poets was a real horndog. Was his banishment from Rome really about making Rome great again by returning to purity culture, or did Publius Ovidius Naso get caught up in a complicated web of politics at the dawn of the Roman empire? This episode is marked explicit for some seriously steamy poetry quotations. Sourc…

1
James Aitken 1:15:04

1+ y ago1:15:04

1:15:04

One would-be hero of the American revolution wasn't American, heroic, or particularly good at helping the revolution. His plan to burn down the British navy's most strategic dockyards had just one fatal flaw: he wasn't actually any good at starting fires. Sources and show notes Support the show on Patreon…

1
Naftaly Frenkel (re-record) 50:57

1+ y ago50:57

50:57

One Soviet convict impressed his own jailors so much that he ended up completely transforming the Soviet Union's gulag system. But how much of what we know about the life of Naftaly Frenkel is real, and how much is a right-wing attempt to link the Communist party to a conspiracy theory about greedy Jews? Content note: Discussion of mistreatment of …

1
Reynard the Fox 1:08:18

1+ y ago1:08:18

1:08:18

We're exploring the history of crime fiction with Reynard, a rascal whose exploits are definitely not the sort of behavior you'd expect from a cute talking fox today. How did our vulpine antihero go from a murderous rapist to a cuddly kids' character? Why did Walt Disney keep trying to make a movie about one of fiction's nastiest criminals? And how…

1
Women and the Law in the Late Roman Republic 56:41

1+ y ago56:41

56:41

We’re heading to the Roman Republic for two stories about women getting their day in court. Asking the gods to put a supernatural hit out on your illicit lover, that’s a-okay according to the Romans. But being a sugar baby? That’s against the law. Show notes and sources at this link Support the show on Patreon…

1
Hustler Magazine, Inc v. Falwell 1:04:53

1+ y ago1:04:53

1:04:53

We're starting the year off with a civil law case involving some very uncivil language. One of our nation's most important legal battles over the First Amendment was a battle between a Nyquil-chugging preacher and an American flag diaper-wearing porn publisher. Does the right to free speech protect your right to be really, really gross? Content not…

1
The Pig War 1:10:52

1+ y ago1:10:52

1:10:52

On a lonely island off the coast of North America, one man shot another man's pig for eating his potatoes. The legal question of who had the right to arrest him nearly upset the fragile peace between two nations. Sources and show notes Support the show on Patreon

1
The Great Sumo Match Fixing Scandal 1:05:26

1+ y ago1:05:26

1:05:26

While Japanese officials were investigating a case of illegal baseball betting, they uncovered a shocking secret about the integrity of one of the country's most famous sports. Who actually runs the world of sumo, and why would some of the most elite athletes in the world feel so much pressure to fix their matches? Sources and show notes Support th…

1
The Murder of Pavlik Morozov 1:08:03

1+ y ago1:08:03

1:08:03

In the Soviet Union, snitches got statues. But was the story of a brave little Communist who was murdered by his own family just a little too good to be true? And if the famous campfire tale was a fabrication, who really killed the Morozov boys? Content note: This episode contains descriptions of the murders of two children, torture of suspects, ex…

1
Kinder Egg smuggling 57:32

1+ y ago57:32

57:32

Are people really being fined thousands of dollars for smuggling a sweet treat across the US border? Demetria goes deep (maybe a little too deep) on an investigation into why American stores can't sell one of Europe's favorite chocolates. Content note: Deaths of children by asphyxiation and poisoning will be mentioned in this story but are not disc…

1
Starvation Heights 55:40

1+ y ago55:40

55:40

Was one of Seattle's most notorious killers murdering her patients and stealing their fortunes on purpose, or did she really believe that starvation was the cure for every disease? Welcome to the world of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard, one of alternate medicine's most notorious quacks, who always seemed to end up with power of attorney over her wealth…

1
John Spano, Jr. 56:42

1+ y ago56:42

56:42

One man lived the dream of every hockey fan when he bought a 50% stake in the ownership of the New York Islanders. There were just a few problems with his plan to save the struggling underdogs: He didn’t know anything about how to run a hockey team, he couldn’t fulfil any of his grand promises, and he didn’t actually have any money. Sources and sho…

1
Roy Olmstead, the Gentleman Bootlegger 1:11:51

1+ y ago1:11:51

1:11:51

When Washington State went dry, one baby-faced cop decided to start moonlighting as a bootlegger. His alcohol empire involved crooked mayors, bootlegging conventions, airplane engines strapped to boats, and a conspiracy theory about secret messages for rum-runners hidden inside children's bedtime stories. S.A. Chant generously stepped up to guest w…

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Demetria Spinrad Podcasts

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