56: Crocker Spite House and John Orr

This week we deep dive into how Billionaire James Crocker built a fence around a German immigrant's home in San Francisco and how legendary arson investigator John Orr's passion project doubled as a confession for some of California's worst fires. A listener email explains how the first ever women’s college basketball game was played at Smith College in 1893. Episode Tabs: The Man Who Built a 40-Foot Spite Fence Around His Neighbor’s Home https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/94298/crocker-spite-fence-san-francisco He Was Both Fire Captain And Prolific Arsonist. His Novel Put Him In Prison. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-29/john-orr-glendale-fire-captain-prolific-arsonist Listener Tabs: Stone of Blarney, Meet Head of Lenin https://lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2015/jul/10/stone-blarney-meet-head-lenin/ March 22, 1893: First Women’s Collegiate Basketball Game https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/first-womens-collegiate-basketball-game/ Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected] Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs 500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7 Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a SUPPORT THE SHOW and get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.