Criminal

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The Numbers Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

When Fannie Davis and her family moved to Detroit in the mid-1950s, they hadn’t prepared themselves for how hard it would be. They had trouble finding steady work. So, Fannie found a way to take care of her family. She started small, but built a robust and lucrative operation… a business that a lot of people knew about but no one talked about.

Bridgett Davis’ book is The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers.

This episode was originally released in 2019.

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Unwarranted Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

On the morning of May 20, 1957, a bomb exploded under Don King’s front porch. Police got a tip that they should search the home of someone he knew - a woman named Dollree Mapp. But when they got there, she refused to let them in. Soon, her case would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Carolyn Long’s book is Mapp v. Ohio: Guarding Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures.

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Rhinelander v. Rhinelander Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

Alice and Leonard Rhinelander had only been married for a few weeks when his family lawyer came to their house and took Leonard away with him. The next time Alice saw her husband was a year later, in a courtroom.

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The Longline Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

For years, John Moore and Tanner Mansell ran shark diving tours off the coast of Florida. One day, they came across a fishing line in the middle of the ocean – with over a dozen sharks caught on it. “This looked like something very illegal going on. And we felt like if we didn’t act, these sharks would definitely die.”

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The Formula Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

On Christmas Eve in 1926, a man came running into Bellevue Hospital in New York screaming that Santa Claus had been chasing him for blocks with a baseball bat. Not long after that, he died. And then another person arrived in the emergency room. And then another. This started happening in emergency rooms around the country. And it was happening because of a plan created by the U.S. government.

Deborah Blum’s book is The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York.

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The Quintuplets Mar 20, 2026

Show notes

When Elzire Dionne gave birth to five identical babies, she caught the attention of reporters and doctors hundreds of miles away, the Chicago World’s Fair – and the Ontario government. Before the quintuplets were ten months old, they passed a new law: the Dionne Quintuplet Guardianship Act. “These children are our own royal family.”

Sarah Miller’s book is The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets.

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Cecilia Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

When Cecilia Gentili was growing up in Argentina, she felt so different from everyone around her that she thought she might be from another planet. “I think that we are all aliens until we find our communities.”

This episode was originally released in 2019.

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Excited Delirium Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

When Angelo Quinto died, his family said police were responsible for his death. But a lawyer told them his official cause of death would likely be something called “excited delirium.”

You can read more of Renu Rayasam's reporting on "excited delirium" at KFF Health News.

Arjun Byju's article for Current Affairs is: Excited Delirium: How Cops Invented a Disease.

Reporter Chris Gelardi obtained Rochester Police Department training materials on "excited delirium" for New York Focus. You can read more here.

Reuters has investigated Taser's interest in "excited delirium." You can find the investigation here.

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The Mug Book Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

After a gang leader was murdered in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the only witnesses who would talk with the police were tourists. They looked through so-called “mug books” filled with photographs of Asian men - and pointed out a man named Chol Soo Lee. Years later, a journalist decided to investigate his case, and described it as an “unreal, Alice-in-Chinatown murder case."

Today’s episode comes from the Smithsonian’s Sidedoor podcast. Julie Ha's documentary is Free Chol Soo Lee.

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The Plot Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

In 1864, a 41-year-old woman named Mary Surratt was running a boarding house in Washington, D.C. One of the most famous actors in the country began visiting her – which led to her becoming known as the woman who “kept the nest that hatched the egg."

Kate Clifford Larson’s book isThe Assassin’s Accomplice.

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