The Backstory with Patty Steele

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Latest Episodes:

The Backstory: Demons to moon landings – the story that inspired The Exorcist Oct 25, 2024

Show notes

The Exorcist was a best-selling book and an iconic movie over 50 years ago. But the true story that inspired it is even more chilling…and still unexplained. And the story of the child who at the center of the exorcism is even more amazing.

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(Replay) The Backstory: Cannibalism on the wild frontier Oct 22, 2024

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In this re-release episode: The Netflix hit film Society of the Snow is the true story of South American athletes trapped in the snowy mountains after a plane crash…with some surviving by eating their dead teammates. Now we look at the Donner party of pioneers in 1846, trapped in 22 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains…and the even more gruesome way some of them survived.

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The Backstory: All the money in the world…and a torturous upbringing Oct 18, 2024

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You’d think having the richest father in America would make you fabulously happy. But for Consuelo Vanderbilt, it meant a cruel childhood and a forced marriage to a jerk with a title.

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The Backstory: Fatal obsession with a rising star Oct 15, 2024

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We’ve seen it too many times: A young star begins the climb to the top, only to be murdered by an obsessed lover or fan. Dorothy Stratten burst onto the Hollywood scene when she was just 19 years old…and she was dead by 20.

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The Backstory (Replay): Mass murder at the home of an icon of tranquility Oct 11, 2024

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On this replay episode: Frank Lloyd Wright, the most famous architect in American history, brought nature and tranquility to design. So how did his chaotic personal life lead to a mass murder at his home?

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The Backstory: Getting inked…5,000 years ago Oct 08, 2024

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Body art...tattoos...are pretty ubiquitous these days. But where did it all start…and why? The first documented evidence of tattooing goes back over 5,000 years. But why did they do it? It’s not what you think.

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The Backstory: Weird trends: from live ornamental hermits to garden gnomes Oct 04, 2024

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Ever been in a spot where you'd do almost anything to make money? Imagine somebody putting out a want ad to hire an old seedy looking guy to live in the garden at their home. It's true! The ornamental hermit was all the rage among rich folks in the 18th century.

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The Backstory: Spiderman and…presidential corruption?! Oct 01, 2024

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Presidential corruption…and Spiderman? It all boils down to the maxim “With great power comes great responsibility.” But not all of our leaders have taken that to heart.

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The Backstory (Replay): Immortality: young blood and monkey testicles Sep 27, 2024

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In this replay episode: What would we do to live better, longer, or maybe even forever? Lots of quests for immortality involved mystical potions or objects. And one very popular fad in the 1920s involved transplanted monkey testicles!

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The Backstory (Replay): Illicit sex in old Hollywood Sep 24, 2024

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In this replay episode: Sex scandals are as constant in Hollywood as gorgeous people, glittering clothes, and scads of money. But while the paparazzi these days use every trick to give us an inside look at the private lives of the stars, they have nothing on the stars of Hollywood’s golden age. Sex, shocking divorces, and even murder—there’s nothing new under the Hollywood sun.

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