PODCAST · society
Killer Means Awesome
by Brainstorm
Welcome to the always entertaining and informative Killer Means Awesome podcast. Season 1: Killer Shipwrecks - Think of shiny coins and sunken dreams. Each episode features an incredible story of a recently discovered shipwreck. Season 2: Killer Biographies - Do you get Pocahontas and Sacagawea mixed up? So do we! Check out these true stories about historical figures you really should know better. Season 3: Killer Inventions - Incredible true stories about inventors and the inventions that changed the world. Season 4: Killer Crime - Trues stories of crimes you have to hear to believe!
Episodes
-
Killer Shipwrecks II - The Arabia
The steamboat Arabia sank in the Missouri River in 1856 and was written off as a total loss. But in 1988 five enterprising treasure hunters dug deep under Kansas cornfields to make an unbelievable find -- the Arabia and its full freight of perfectly preserved food, clothing, and building…
more -
Killer Shipwrecks II - Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion
Nothing about his upbringing in the wilds of 17th century New England suggested William Phips would one day be knighted by the English king and then made governor of the Massachusetts colony. But a knack for finding and salvaging valuable shipwrecks made his ascent possible. His work on one...
-
Killer Shipwrecks II - The SS Edmund Fitzgerald
On November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald vanished in a matter of minutes. She was the largest ship on the Great Lakes. No mayday. No distress call. Just a captain's last words: "We are holding our own." The wreck inspired Gordon Lightfoot's famous song, but the real story is stranger than…
more -
Killer Shipwrecks II - The Accidental Aquanaut
Harrison Okene, a crew member on the Jascon-4 tugboat, was using the bathroom in the middle of the night when the boat -- and his whole life -- turned upside down. A rogue wave flipped the Jascon-4 and sent it to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles off the coast of Nigeria. All crew…
more -
Killer Shipwrecks II - The Antikythera
In 1900, a Greek sponge diver surfaced in a panic, describing rotting bodies and horses on the seafloor. His captain thought he was hallucinating, so he went down himself. He came back up holding a 2,000-year-old bronze arm. The Antikythera wreck holds the world's oldest known computer, a weapon...
-
Killer Shipwrecks II - La Girona
The Spanish Armada of 1588 was supposed to be invincible. But its ships fared poorly in battles in the English Channel and then began to suffer catastrophic losses while attempting a dangerous escape north around Scotland and Ireland. Among the 28 ships lost by Spain was the mighty Girona, with...
-
Killer Shipwrecks II - Nuestra Señora de Atocha
In 1622, a Spanish galleon loaded with half a billion dollars in gold, silver, and Colombian emeralds sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys, taking 260 lives with it. Spain spent 60 years searching for the valuable wreck and never found it. More than three centuries later, a treasure hunter...
-
Killer Shipwrecks II - Whydah Gally
Few 18th century pirates had more success than Sam Bellamy. In one remarkable year, he seized or looted no fewer than 53 ships in the Atlantic Ocean. But then in 1717 Bellamy and his crew died in a nighttime shipwreck off the coast of Cape Cod, spilling a massive haul of treasure into the ocean…
more -
Killer Shipwrecks II - The White Ship
In 1120, a drunken midnight party aboard a brand-new luxury ship killed nearly 300 of England's young nobility, including the only legitimate male heir to the throne. What followed was two decades of brutal civil war, the rise of an entirely new dynasty, and a lesson in how one submerged rock can...
-
Killer Shipwrecks II - USS Indianapolis (CA-35)
It was one of the worst maritime disasters in US military history, and naval historians would spend decades studying what went wrong. But the sinking of the USS Indianapolis also led to acts of extraordinary courage and selflessness. In 2017 -- 62 years after it sank -- the crumpled remains of…
more -
Killer Crimes - The Mona Lisa Heist
In 1911, a handyman hid in a Louvre closet overnight, then simply walked out the next morning with the Mona Lisa under his apron—pulling off the most famous art theft in history. Before this audacious crime, Leonardo's masterpiece was just another Renaissance painting; it returned as the world's...
-
Killer Crimes - Murder by Pilot
As horrifying as the crash of Air India flight 171 was, investigators soon shocked the world again. They said the plane was likely intentionally crashed by a suicidal pilot, killing 260 people. How could this be? How could a pilot entrusted with hundreds of lives have evaded mental health…
more -
Killer Crimes - George Leslie
In the late 1860s, George Leslie walked among New York's elite as a respected architect, all while planning the most audacious bank robberies in American history. Using revolutionary techniques and meticulous planning, he became the criminal mastermind behind 80% of all bank heists…
more -
Killer Crimes - Garret Rodriguez
An avid surfer and fisherman, San Diego native Garret Rodriguez dreamed of building a home for himself on a small piece of land which his father had bought for him along the coast of Mexico. But first Garret needed to make money -- serious money. So the 27-year-old headed north to the Emerald...
-
Killer Crimes - New Name, New Life: Ted Conrad’s Perfect Crime
In 1969, twenty-year-old Ted Conrad walked out of a bank in Ohio with the equivalent of two million dollars and vanished completely—cutting off all contact with family and friends. It wasn't until fifty-two years later that the incredible mystery of what happened to Ted Conrad was finally…
more -
Killer Crimes - Death by Mail
Just days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, people in Florida, New York, and Washington D.C. began to receive letters containing deadly spores of the bacteria which causes anthrax. These letters killed five people, sickened 17 others, and added new layers of fear and uncertainty in the...
-
Killer Crimes - United California Bank Heist
The United California Bank burglary took place on March 24th, 1972, in Laguna Niguel, California, The ingenuity employed by criminal mastermind Amil Dinsio and his crew is matched only by the crime's incredible backstory, which has ties to President Richard Nixon and the notorious Jimmy Hoffa....
-
Killer Crimes - Brenda Ann Spencer
When it occurred in 1979, the mass shooting at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego appeared to be a bizarre anomaly, a horrible act of violence with no obvious motive. But ensuing decades have revealed it to be the first in a long line of school shootings. No other nation comes close…
more -
Killer Crimes - Albert Johnson Walker
The life and crimes of Albert Johnson Walker span two continents and include a virtual laundry list of offenses: financial fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, stolen identity, incest, and murder. Despite years of being one of the world's most wanted criminals, the unassuming, church-going…
more -
Killer Crimes - Lauren Taylor Agee
Ten years after the death of Lauren Taylor Agee, her family is still no closer to finding out how she died. In this episode, we revisit the mysterious case and explore how the investigation went off track and what could still be done to accomplish some measure of closure and justice. Check out...
-
Killer Crimes - Antwerp Diamond Heist
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...
-
Killer Crimes - D.B. Cooper
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...
-
Killer Inventions - Kevlar
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...
-
Killer Inventions - Forensic Genetic Genealogy
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...
-
Killer Inventions - Monopoly (Board Game)
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.…
more -
Killer Inventions - Baby Cages
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....
-
Killer Inventions - Earmuffs, Popsicles & Glow Panels
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...
-
Killer Inventions: Dynamite
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!...
-
Killer Inventions: Chewing Gum
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...
-
Killer Inventions: The Slide Guitar
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...
-
Killer Inventions: Grace Hopper & The Information Age
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 -
Killer Inventions: The Black Box
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…
more -
Killer Inventions: Deep Purple
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...
-
Killer Inventions: LSD
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…
more -
Introducing Killer Means Awesome: Killer Inventions
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…
more -
Killer Biographies: Lewis Howard Latimer
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...
-
Killer Biographies: Shirley Chisholm
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…
more -
Killer Biographies: Cleopatra
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...
-
Killer Biographies: Cyrus the Great
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...
-
Killer Biographies: John Alcock & Arthur Whitten Brown
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...
-
Killer Biographies: Diogenes
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....
-
Killer Biographies: Margaret Rudkin
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…
more -
Killer Biographies: T.P. Sundararajan
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: Pocahontas, aka Rebecca Rolfe
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...
-
Killer Biographies: Medgar Evers
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...
-
Killer Biographies: William Hutchinson Norris
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
-
Killer Biographies: Juliane Koepcke Diller
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…
more -
Introducing Killer Biographies!
Brainstorm has launched a new thrilling podcast: Killer Biographies! https://www.killerbiographies.com
-
Killer Shipwrecks: The Oseberg
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…
more -
Killer Shipwrecks: Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes
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…
more
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to the always entertaining and informative Killer Means Awesome podcast.
Season 1: Killer Shipwrecks - Think of shiny coins and sunken dreams. Each episode features an incredible story of a recently discovered shipwreck.
Season 2: Killer Biographies - Do you get Pocahontas and Sacagawea mixed up? So do we! Check out these true stories about historical figures you really should know better.
Season 3: Killer Inventions - Incredible true stories about inventors and the inventions that changed the world.
Season 4: Killer Crime - Trues stories of crimes you have to hear to believe!
HOSTED BY
Brainstorm
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Killer Means Awesome have?
Killer Means Awesome currently has 60 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Killer Means Awesome about?
Welcome to the always entertaining and informative Killer Means Awesome podcast. Season 1: Killer Shipwrecks - Think of shiny coins and sunken dreams. Each episode features an incredible story of a recently discovered shipwreck. Season 2: Killer Biographies - Do you get Pocahontas and Sacagawea...
How often does Killer Means Awesome release new episodes?
Killer Means Awesome has 60 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Killer Means Awesome?
You can listen to Killer Means Awesome on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Killer Means Awesome?
Killer Means Awesome is created and hosted by Brainstorm.
URL copied to clipboard!