High Crimes and History
by The High Crimes Team
Most true crime covers the past hundred years of recorded history. We cover the rest of it. From murderous knights and pirate kings to ancient Chinese forensic investigators and the Renaissance's literal fashion police, our episodic podcast dives deep into the historical characters and events that make up some of the greatest crimes the world has ever seen — and certainly not found in your textbooks. For more information visit https://www.highcrimesandhistory.com/
Episodes
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Who Watches the Watchmen? - The United States Park Police
The clearing of #BLM protesters in D.C. on 06/01 shocked the world. What you may not know is that the Park Police have a long history of disorganization, violence, and a lack of oversight. This department in disorder is just one case study of the systemic lack of police accountability in the…
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(BONUS) The End is (Not) Nigh - What Historical Pandemics Teach Us About COVID-19
The world has turned upside down in a manner of weeks. As COVID cases rise, the economy falls, and society grinds to a halt, Trevor has a surprisingly optimistic message – the end is NOT nigh. History teaches us that pandemics are era-ending, but they’re also era-beginning. We look at pandemics...
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Human - Nazi Reserve Police Battalion 101
How do you take 500 ordinary men and train them to kill 83,000 human beings? In 1942 Poland outside the village of Jozefow, the men of the Nazi Reserve Police Battalion 101 found out that all it takes is a single push.
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Violence is the Answer - Why the West is Fascinated by Violence
We take some time to delve into a common listener question we get – why is Western history so violent? Trevor dives into the systems of justice, honor, shame, religion, and entertainment that helped fuel a fascination with violence that still exists today. Tying all these systems together is the...
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The Line in the Sand - The Trial at the OK Corral
The gunfight of the O.K. Corral didn't end with the Earp brothers and Holliday riding into the sunset. They had been charged with murder. In a preliminary trial, the twists and turns of the prosecution and defense helped craft the legend of the Earp brothers. But at what cost? As you'll find out,...
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Thirty Seconds, Thirty Shots - Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
If history is a narrative, then it stands to reason that where a story starts and ends is just as important as the events itself. The traditional narrative of the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral in 1881 is that of the Earp brothers and Holliday, lawmen of Tombstone, AZ, facing down the Cowboy...
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Fact From Fiction - Pierre Picaud
How do historians separate fact from fiction? Sometimes it’s almost impossible to do so. Take the case of Pierre Picaud – a Frenchman sentenced in 1807 for crimes he didn’t commit on the hearsay of his own friends. Upon his release, he sought his revenge. The basis for the classic The Count of...
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Annihilating an Empire - The Century of Humiliation
Deep in the jungle in the Vietnam War, an American soldier overdoses on heroin. That overdose can be traced back to the Century of Humiliation that the Chinese faced after the start of the Opium Wars. In the face of a Second Opium War and numerous rebellions, the Chinese are forced to engage in…
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Assaulting an Empire - The First Opium War
What would it look like if a modern army clashed with a medieval army on the battlefield? The First Opium War answers that question. In order continue their illegal opium trade in China, Britain engaged in a series of naval battles and fort assaults against the Chinese Empire, who was woefully...
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Addicting an Empire - The Opium Trade in China
The opioid crisis in the United States has reached historic levels and remains one of the worst drug epidemics in history, but it is far from the first country to be addicted. The Qing dynasty of China struggled in the face of an illegal opium trade that swept the country in the 19th and 20th...
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Grab Bag Anniversary Episode!
In our anniversary episode we answer listener questions, including why history is so violent, whether historians can diagnose mental illness, why Trevor can’t pronounce anything right, and whether our cats are furry little bastards. Spoilers: they are, but we still love them. Thank you to…
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Cruel and Unusual - Executions in Ancient Persia
What is the worst way to die? Ancient Persia invented many of the methods of execution used throughout history. Some are still used today. Others were so horrific they were never used again. These cruel and unusual punishments kept power in the hands of the kings and struck fear in the hearts of...
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The "I" Word - Andrew Johnson's Impeachment
He was a man who clashed with House leadership in a war of words, violated acts of Congress as a show of force after previous investigations on impeachable charges were inconclusive, and was potentially motivated to action in order to influence his upcoming presidential election. No, he was not…
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The Pretender - Perkin Warbeck
In 1491, England was in for a shock. Edward IV’s youngest son, Richard of Shrewsbury, was alive. That was a problem for three reasons. One, if Richard was alive then he was the rightful heir to the English throne. Two, he was already dead. And three, the man protested that he was Richard in the...
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Easy Money - Resurrection Gangs of Victorian England
How far would you go to make a comfortable living? Faced with a shortage of bodies for dissection, medical schools in Victorian England turned to resurrectionists. Gangs of men exhumed and stole bodies to sell to medical practitioners, operating a practice that flirted between legal and criminal.
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Fear of the Horizon - Corsair Piracy and the Mediterranean Slave Trade
Corsair slavery in the 16th and 17th centuries does not fit into the modern model of the slave trade. White European Christians were enslaved in the hundreds of thousands by North African Muslim pirates. A controversial historical topic in today’s current events, the truth is more complicated…
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The Art of the Duel - Dueling in America (Reupload)
Men have always had a biological need to compete, and that need can turn deadly, but rarely was it socially acceptable. However, at one point in time it was not only commonplace for gentlemen to take that competition to the dueling field, but in America it was the ultimate proving ground, even…
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A Matter of Honor - The 47 Ronin
Some legends are larger than life. The question is where to separate fact from fiction. We dive into another famous crime in history - the Ako incident in 1703, in which 47 samurai conspired to take revenge for their master's death in Edo Japan. But are they the heroes of this story, as fiction...
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The Rogue - John Hawkwood
The lovable rogue, a trope in pop culture today. Break the law, charm the audience. But most historical rogues were not good, nor were they lovable. John Hawkwood, an English mercenary in the 14th century Italian Wars, was such a rogue. As the head of armies he committed multiple atrocities,...
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Nine Shots - The Caman Band Massacre, 1st Mass Shooting in America
How does history help us identify mass shootings and solve the epidemic? On August 14th, 1903 in Winfield, KS, Gilbert Twigg shot nine shots: eight indiscriminately into a concert crowd, and once to take his own life. The first well documented mass shooting in American history fits into our...
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BONUS: Revisiting "The Evilest Man in the World" - Gilles de Rais
In our very first bonus episode we look back at Gilles de Rais and his trial records to ask an important question: was Gilles de Rais innocent? We examine possible theories of Gilles’ psychopathy, the disturbing problems with his trial records, and the confession that ultimately convicted him....
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The Entertainment of Murder - London, Murder, and the Making of Scotland Yard
Victorian London – a grim-dark, pre-noir city of violence and murder. Except it wasn’t. London was safer than most first-world countries today, yet newspapers and broadsides sensationalized every murder, gruesome or not, and the public consumed them all. However, without the entertainment of…
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Un-American - Amish and Mennonite COs in WWI
To refuse to fight for one's country is often seen as cowardly, treasonous, and un-American. But what happens when a whole religious community practicing nonresistance is forced into the draft? As the Amish and Mennonite populations of Holmes and Wayne County found out in 1917, refusal to serve...
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The Breaking Point - WWI French Army Mutinies
Every person's will has a breaking point. But what happens when it's not one man, but a whole army? In 1917 the French army had reached the limit of their morale. Ordered into the trenches, entire units mutinied, and the fate of the war suddenly hinged on the relationship between commander and...
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The Doppelganger - Martin Guerre
How well do you think you could recognize a person in a society with only your memory to recall someone’s identity? In sixteenth century France, peasant Martin Guerre returned after almost a decade away from his village and family. He looked the same, talked the same, and even recounted the same...
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Crimes Against Humanity- Thomas Thistlewood
If a crime against humanity today was not a crime back in history, how do we approach those events? Case in point: Thomas Thistlewood, 1700s Jamacian slave owner, engaged in torture, murder, and sexual violence against his own slaves. It is undeniably evil, but this wasn't a crime. It was the norm.
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"A Race of Headsmen" - The Sanson Family, Executioners of Paris
What if you were born into the profession of executing people? For the Sanson family of Paris, this was their occupation for 200 years. As headsmen they executed some of the most famous people of French history, and they taught their descendants the ropes so they could teach their sons the same....
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Death Has Signed a Contract Part II - The Montana Vigilantes
The Montana Vigilantes have all the evidence they need to convict Henry Plummer and his deputies. But what happens when the vigilantes become the very villains they set out to stop? The result is the bloodiest lynch mob in American history.
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Death Has Signed a Contract Part I - The Montana Vigilantes
What happens when the law that's supposed to protect you turns criminal? That was the question that the miners of Alder Gulch, Montana faced in the 1860s. When they suspected that the sheriff and his deputies were part of a stagecoach robbery ring, they took the law into their own hands.
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Forensics for Dummies - Medieval China's Homicide Detectives
What if a real-life Sherlock Holmes wrote a how-to book for determining how someone died? A similar situation gave history its first forensics book, written for bookworms thrown into field forensics with no former knowledge and severe punishments if they botched up an investigation. The catch?…
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These Walls Can Talk - Tower of London
Three voices echo within its halls. Three narratives -- a murder, a robbery, and and an escape -- woven together not by time, but by place. For this is the Tower of London, where many have been sent to rot and die. These three vignettes are exceptions to that rule.
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The Fashion Police
Welcome to Renaissance Florence, where in order to be anybody citizens had to “dress for success.” Spending on fashion was out of control, teetering on an economic crisis. Fearing financial ruin and rampant immorality, city officials drew up a set of laws prohibiting certain styles of clothing.…
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The Devil's Greatest Swindle
H.H. Holmes: “The Devil in the White City.” “America’s First Serial Killer.” Convicted of nine killings and admitting to twenty-seven, he operated a murder castle at the Chicago World’s Fair and luring tourists to their death. All of that is false. Holmes murdered nine people, but the narrative…
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Blood Libel
Welcome to the Spanish Inquisition -- the attempt to expel all non-Christians from Spain by force. When a group of Jews is accused of having murdered a Christian boy in a secret blood ritual, it gives the Inquisition the motive it needs to punish the entire Jewish people.
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The Evilest Man in the World
How does a billionaire knight turn from Savior of France to serial killer? That is a story that requires walking through the life of the man some historians have dubbed “The Evilest Man in the World:" Gilles de Rais. Note: There is a growing group of non-historians who believe Gilles crimes were...
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The Pirate King
Most pirates died as they lived. One, however, got away with the largest armed robbery in history. Britain named him Public Enemy Number One. Pirates named him the Pirate King.
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Hitmen and Horoscopes - Part 2
The Affair of the Poisons has reached the King’s court, and chaos ensues. But the hardest part about a conspiracy is figuring out what’s truth and what’s fiction. The best conspiracies – like this one – have a bit of both.
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Hitmen and Horoscopes - Part 1
Everyone loves a good conspiracy -- especially when it has a little truth to it. In 1670s Paris a group of career poisoners are discovered to have sold poison to thousands of citizens – including the most powerful people in France. Part 1 of 2. Tune in for the conclusion on Nov.
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The Double Exception
At the turn of the century the American frontier considered the woman criminal a double exception in society. Uncommon and uncouth, many were placed in penitentiary systems created by men, controlled by men – and with predominantly male prisoners. This is their story.
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The Rice Chest
How has mental illness affected history? In the case of the Crown Prince Sado, it's tragic. In 1762, the prince was sealed in a rice chest by his own father for eight days and left to die for his crimes. This is the tragic story of his mental illness that led to the death of dozens of innocents,...
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Welcome to High Crimes and History
Most true crime investigates the past hundred years. We investigate the rest of it. Welcome to High Crimes and History.
About this show
Most true crime covers the past hundred years of recorded history. We cover the rest of it. From murderous knights and pirate kings to ancient Chinese forensic investigators and the Renaissance's literal fashion police, our episodic podcast dives deep into the historical characters and events that make up some of the greatest crimes the world has ever seen — and certainly not found in your textbooks. For more information visit https://www.highcrimesandhistory.com/
Hosted by
The High Crimes Team