Immersive history

A man who meets himself on the moon. A blue orb that bursts into flames. The quest to explain the unexplained. In the first chapter of "Moonrise," the journey to space begins.

It's 1998, the race to 61 homers is on, and Mark McGwire is a force to be reckoned with. Then comes the All-Star break. Suddenly his bat slows down and Sammy's speeds up. Support us by supporting ...Show More

Ken Lay fights to restore public confidence in Enron as the bad publicity mounts and the stock price continues to fall. Sherron Watkins is encouraged when an internal review of company practices is la...Show More

Enemies are put on trial as Ayatollah Khomeini consolidates his power, in the final episode of the drama. But is this justice, or a desire for revenge? #FalloftheShah

In this episode I trace the trajectory of the civil rights movement through the 1960s, and the gradual shift in emphasis and leadership from the stoic southern marchers following Martin Luther King, J...Show More

It’s 1995 and the Monday Night Wars are underway. WCW’s new show Monday Nitro is grappling with the WWF’s Monday Night Raw to win TV viewers’ attention. WCW isn’t pulling its punches either. Under th...Show More

A woman who became synonymous with indulgence spent her final months with almost no personal possessions, separated from her children, awaiting her imminent death.

When the explosive tape of Donald Sterling broke, it came at a moment when power in the NBA was changing. Players, owners, and a new commissioner were faced with a major test that would re-shape the l...Show More

Season Finale. A startling surprise on Hollywood Boulevard. George and Steven build a sandcastle. Set in the 1970s, this six-part original series tells the story of two big-dreaming filmmakers and fri...Show More

39 people exit their vehicles, and stun the world. Families, classmates and the rest of us grapple with what comes after.

Pain is at the root of most drama and entertainment. When does it get too real? This very disturbing and graphic show looks into some case studies and asks some deep questions. WARNING Very intense su...Show More

Elizabeth Holmes, once the darling of Silicon Valley, is under a different kind of spotlight. Now under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, she is forced to answer tough questions...Show More

Black music, forged in captivity, became the sound of complete artistic freedom. It also became the sound of America. On today’s episode: Wesley Morris, a critic-at-large for The New York Times. “161...Show More

In 1974 a metal sphere was discovered on a prominent family’s property in Jacksonville, Florida. What at first was a mere curiosity soon seemed more otherworldly as, witnesses say, it rolled around on...Show More

We begin with a simple question: How did the queen of the boob joke become a feminist icon? Helen Morales, author of “Pilgrimage to Dollywood,” gave us a stern directive – look at the lyrics! So we di...Show More

In 2010, Democrats controlled everything, from the White House, to Congress, to the governor's office to the Wisconsin state Legislature. Republicans were pushing back, and the Tea Party was in full s...Show More

On August 6, 1890, a prisoner named William Kemmler became the first man executed in the electric chair. It was designed to be a more humane form of execution, but the gruesome scene in the death cham...Show More

Rob Ford’s colleagues laughed off his campaign for mayor. They shouldn’t have. They assumed the numerous scandals he’d already suffered through, and the fresh ones that would dominate his campaign, wo...Show More

For 11 hours, Monica Lewinsky faced off against federal prosecutors who wanted her to help them take down the president and threatened her with decades in jail. Slate Plus members get a bonus episode ...Show More

Linda Taylor became the “welfare queen” in 1974 when the Chicago Tribune publicized her outrageous exploits. The reporter who introduced her to the world was a Pulitzer Prize winner named George Bliss...Show More

Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn is one of the most iconic historically Black neighborhoods in the United States. But Bed-Stuy is changing. Fifty years ago, schools in Bed-Stuy's District 16 were so overc...Show More

The vicious cycle of family trauma continues as George Hodel's daughter, Tamar becomes a mother. Her children tell the heartbreaking story of growing up in a shockingly toxic environment.

Mike Thevis was the son of Greek Immigrants and a family man, living the American dream. He was also known as the Sultan of Smut, the king of a $100 million adult entertainment empire run out of all p...Show More

International adoptions were a rarity in the Marshall Islands until the mid-'90s. Then came an adoption boom of such intensity that the remote island nation suddenly had one of the highest per-capita ...Show More

In a changing Reno, city boosters concoct a plan to force strip clubs out of downtown.

The investigative true crime podcast Accused has reexamined the mysterious case of David Bocks, who went missing 35 years ago.

We dig deep into the anthem of the Confederacy, and learn that almost everything we thought we knew about it... was wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1980s, one man became the face of the Mafia. The most famous gangster since Al Capone. Through murder, deception, and pure luck, John Gotti worked his way up the mob ladder.  But Gotti was bes...Show More

This week, we're honoring all of our veterans with a story from renaissance man, Rick Carrier, who tells us what it was like to be in the Army in the first wave of D-Day. The Moth would like to thank ...Show More

January 22, 1984. Apple launches the first Macintosh computer, with a showstopping Super Bowl commercial. The ad itself was revolutionary, but the product it launched almost single-handedly brought co...Show More

On October 3rd, five people are shot in one day. And a witness sees a vehicle.

In the United States, war is big business. The Department of Defense, led by Secretary Mark Esper since 2019, has a budget of $738 billion this year. And while many of those dollars pay for those who ...Show More

Mothers at Columbia Point, a new public housing project in Boston, organize to try and close the city dump.

Who is Spider-Man without his signature red and blue? Black Widow without her black spandex? This episode highlights the critical role fashion plays in comics.

Kyrgyzstan stands at one of the most important decisions the country will ever make about its future, to look toward Moscow or to look toward Beijing.... The Kyrgyz people live upon some of the most ...Show More

“If you’re black, you can’t get work as a serial killer even if you’re manifestly qualified.” Mike tells Sarah how a military veteran became an abuser, a murderer and, eventually, a footnote in his ow...Show More

Today’s episode poses the question: how far would you go to help a teammate win? Well, in 2008, Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Jr. answered in a big way, causing a debacle that would undermine F1 Ra...Show More

"65 Percent" History is catching up to us as we dive into the referendum that solidified our current state flag. Links: Mississippi Flag Referendum (April 2001) https://ballotpedia.org/Mississippi_Fl...Show More

What do you do after you’ve just crashed and burned in a World Cup? That’s what the entire 1998 U.S. Men’s National Team was asking themselves, including the coach. The day after the team lost to Yugo...Show More

Part I: It all started long before a hurricane named Katrina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We hear the evidence against Abdul Latif Nasser -- at least the evidence that has been leaked or declassified -- and we meet Shelby Sullivan-Bennis, his attorney, who contests more or less every gover...Show More

Tumanbay is threatened by rebellion in a far-off province and a mysterious force devouring the empire from within. Gregor, the Sultan's spymaster, is charged with the task of rooting out this insurgen...Show More

An introduction to some of the first Traitors in the Philippine American War and Anti-Imperialist movement. Anna Northend Benjamin and Emilio Aguinaldo lived on opposite sides of the planet in the but...Show More

In 2009, Terry Thompson set loose 18 tigers, 17 lions, three cougars, and numerous other animals on the town of Zanesville, Ohio. Then, he took his own life. Restoring order was a harrowing operation ...Show More

Breaking news! The United States has lost the Space Race to the Soviet Union. On October 31, 1968, Americans received transmissions from Cosmonauts on the Lunar surface. Jack Schechter, host of WNYX&#...Show More

The horror resumes in Salem.

Virginia Hall dreamed of being America’s first female ambassador. Instead, she became a spy. Joining the ranks of the U.S.’s first civilian spy network, she operated alone in occupied France, where sh...Show More

LANGLEY, VIRGINIA, 2011: The Scorpions’ song “Wind of Change” became the soundtrack to the end of the Cold War. But decades later, New Yorker investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe heard a rumo...Show More

Dr Ruja promised financial revolution. And then, two years ago, she disappeared. Why? The Missing Cryptoqueen is an eight-part series for BBC Sounds, with new episodes every Thursday. Presenter: Jam...Show More

Once considered “the eighth wonder of the world,” the Amber Room was a treasure of kings and architectural marvel before being stolen by Nazis and lost to history. So…what happened? It all depends on ...Show More

At 15, Larry Itliong came to America with a dream. His plans changed when he learned the truth about his new home. In 1965, he led Filipino farmworkers in a historic fight for their rights.

Punjabi-Americans represent a large and fast-growing segment of the trucking community, especially among California’s Central Valley produce haulers. In this episode, Binda Atwal tells the story of ho...Show More

How does a community recover from a tragedy that claims over two dozen lives? How do they even begin to pick up the pieces and make things right again? And when it's all said and done, what can the re...Show More

In this very extremely special episode, the RDR team breaks down how we make an episode from start to finish, as inspired by our listener Leslie Joyce. Then, we talk some big, exciting changes for RDR...Show More

A cabbie kills a key player, and investigators dither.

Drake is the poster boy of Toronto, although the city's hip-hop scene was thriving long before it became known to his fans as 'The 6ix.' But the Canadian music industry’s history with its homegrown hi...Show More

On a spring day in 1919, a woman’s body was found bound, gagged, and strangled in a garden in Barre, Vermont. Who was she? Who killed her? In this episode, we try to solve a cold case - reopening a ce...Show More

The discovery of one of the most hazardous elements on earth helped spark the greatest underdog story in the history of human labor relations.

For most of his life Isadore Banks found ways to survive—and thrive—in the violently anti-black South. He became one of the largest land-owners on the Arkansas Delta, ran several businesses, and was a...Show More

President Lincoln is mortally wounded. The nation is under attack. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton takes control and tries to protect Vice President Andrew Johnson. Listen early and ad free with Wo...Show More

Four shot, three killed, two murderers on the run. What exactly happened on the night of the murders? #HurricaneTapes

SERIES FINALE! A group of men take a midnight hike up Stone Mountain to host a dark ceremony. B.T. wraps up each of the four stories and gives an update on each character in the years following. And f...Show More

White parents in the 1960s fought to be part of a new, racially integrated school. Where’d they go?

Detroit FBI agent Ned Timmons busts Toby Anderson, a violent criminal who also fancies himself a budding country music star. Ned flips Toby and goes undercover as a biker, but Toby quickly goes out of...Show More

Two magazine cover stories about Tiger Woods change the golf rookie's relationship with the media— forever.

Ep 2: Robert Kennedy learns of the MLK Jr.’s assassination while in route to a campaign event in inner city Indianapolis. He breaks the news to an unsuspecting crowd, delivering a spontaneous and empa...Show More

Host David Robertson explores the mysterious death of his great-aunt Effie and discovers that record-keeping, especially when it involves the lives and deaths of Indigenous people, is patchy, at best.

With the Italian political system in chaos, public trust in their leaders is at rock bottom. That’s when Silvio steps in to run for Prime Minister, offering a New Italian Miracle. Good thing he owns a...Show More

“I didn’t want to be a part of this new world.” Joachim is on holiday in East Germany when he hears Berlin is to be divided. The wall is built and the escapes begin. Joachim has to decide whether he'l...Show More

NYPD Detective Louis Napoli and FBI Special Agent John Anticev fear an attack is coming, but without their mole, Emad Salem, they’re blind to the machinations of the Brooklyn terror cell. Then on Febr...Show More

The core of the Superfund deal itself, and how it proposes to solve Butte’s lingering environmental problems forever, is really important and complicated, both legally and technically. And no wonder. ...Show More

It was supposed to be a simple story about the California drought. Instead, reporter Emily Guerin became obsessed with the bizarre history of a sprawling, half-built desert city.

Was there a chance to stop the 2003 invasion of Iraq before it even began? In February 2003 CIA agent Bill Murray chased a high level, top secret new source across the middle east. Bill was looking fo...Show More

As President George W. Bush navigates the challenges of his first year in office, he is confronted by one of the gravest, most horrific tragedies ever to reach American shores. But Bush’s response to ...Show More

It’s not that we’re going to wake up tomorrow and there will be a nuclear war. It’s that if things don’t change, someday there will be. Content warning: This episode refers to Islamophobic sentime...Show More

To examine the start of the dot-com bubble, we go back to 1995, the year technology became a part of our popular culture, just as the Internet was changing. Two key events happened that year -- Window...Show More

In episode one, we re-open the case of Frank Little, a union organizer whose brutal unsolved murder shocked the nation during the tumultuous summer of 1917. Our team travels to the mining city of Butt...Show More

A mysterious illness plagues a Connecticut town. A brief introduction into “Lymeworld”. A lesson on the epidemiological triangle. Click here to donate $20 and get ad-free episodes of Patient Zero a we...Show More

Could Atlanta’s homegrown version of Shaft save the hustler and solve the crime?

In 'Timber Wars,' we've talked about how the northern spotted owl took the blame for a lot of other things that cost jobs and hurt timber-dependent towns, like automation and international competition...Show More

On the night of JFK’s assassination, with the nation reeling, Lyndon Johnson stayed up much of the night with two young aides, and laid out a list of legislative initiatives he proposed to pursue. In ...Show More

Penny Rawlings is relieved to finally get her brother into rehab at a place called Cenikor. She doesn’t realize that getting him out of treatment is going to be the bigger problem.  This is the first...Show More

BER is the international airport code for Berlin Brandenburg Airport, nickname Willy Brandt. It has also become a signifier of failure, incompetence, corruption and Berlin’s general inability to get i...Show More

In her first-ever diary entry, recorded eight days after President John F. Kennedy Jr. is assassinated, Lady Bird presents a dramatic, cinematically detailed moment-by-moment account of those terrible...Show More

In the first episode of season 1 of Spectacle, we'll go back to the show that started it all -- An American Family. Most probably haven't heard of the 1973 PBS docuseries but many argue it inspired re...Show More

A movie, Kim Jong-un and a devastating cyber attack. The story of the Sony hack. How the Lazarus Group hackers caused mayhem in Hollywood and for Sony Pictures Entertainment. And this is just the beg...Show More

In 2017, during the Battle for Mosul in Iraq, a young ISIS fighter is taken prisoner and brought to the SEALs of Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7. The prisoner dies in their custody—and the SEALs from Alpha...Show More

Howard goes underground and emerges as Gary Tredway. He gets married. There are dangerously close calls, but he gets away with it for decades -- until a reporter uncovers the truth. To learn more ab...Show More

As the walls closed in on Operation Midnight Climax, George White took lessons he’d learned from a world-class magician to explore the last uncharted frontier of the psychonaut — the general public. I...Show More

A century after the Tulsa Race Massacre, the search for mass graves begins. But as Tulsa contends with its past, questions about the future of Greenwood may divide the city even further.

Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American gangster who became the underboss of the Gambino crime family. This is his story. Directed by James Carroll.Sammy receives a req...Show More

Sam YuenSam Yuen is one of the larger-than-life characters that drive the historical narrative of the LA Chinatown massacre. Historical sources paint a picture of a laconic, stoic-minded business lead...Show More

The mysterious story of a German soldier, a faked Syrian identity and a loaded gun in an airport bathroom cracks the door open to a network of far-right extremists inside the German military and the p...Show More

In the run up to the 2020 Presidential election, journalist Leah Sottile explored the motivations and agendas of America’s far right for the Radio 4 series Two Minutes Past Nine. Recordings were made ...Show More

Fictional women in power on TV have a lot in common with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Characters on The Good Wife, Scandal, House of Cards, Commander in Chief — the list goes on and on. On this episode, we...Show More

After both towers of the World Trade Center were hit on September 11, 2001, first responders coordinated the largest emergency response in New York City’s history. But their heroism at Ground Zero was...Show More

Jack the Ripper's victims were prostitutes murdered while selling sex on the streets of Whitechapel - that's what historian Hallie Rubenhold thought when she started researching the crimes. She was wr...Show More

Jack Barsky arrives in New York City, hiding in plain sight amongst the millions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the team who brought you Fake Heiress, this is a story about the art of the con, belief, retribution, and possibly atonement. Vicky Baker investigates the story of Lamar Keene, a renowned psych...Show More

After four days of unrest, the energy in Crown Heights seems to have calmed. Still, residents are eager to hold someone responsible for the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum. In comes Rudolph ...Show More

Hamza and Brian think the source of the Trojan Horse letter might be hiding in plain sight. After learning about the petty personnel dispute that probably gave rise to the letter, they’re even more be...Show More

If you wanted to speak with the dead in 1960s America, there was one man who was ready to help. For more than a decade, Lamar Keene was at the top of his game, becoming known as the Prince of Spiritua...Show More

The hostages may have made it home, but the psychological and emotional effects continue. Stephen begins his search for the truth. British Airways gave us the following statement: "Our hearts go out ...Show More

During the early 1950s, the children of Puerto Rico were invited to an icy winter spectacle. Mayor Felisa Rincón de Gautier, the charismatic mayor of San Juan, arranged for Eastern Airlines to bring a...Show More

A free-love commune called Centrepoint springs up in the suburbs of 1970s New Zealand, devoted in equal measure to sex, group therapy, and its guru Bert Potter. What could possibly go wrong?

In 1970, a former law student named Bernardine Dohrn declared war on the United States government. Decades later, her son Zayd Ayers Dohrn tells the story of how his mother was radicalized, and became...Show More

Decades after Ted Kaczynski was caught, we wrestle with a question that still hangs in the air: Was Ted a prophet or simply a murderer who terrorized a nation and killed three people?  Project Unabom...Show More

Xi Jinping is born into the top rung of China's elite. But his family is torn apart while he is still a child. The Economist's Sue-Lin Wong finds out why Xi kept faith in the Communist revolution.Subs...Show More

It started with a plane crash. The tragic, mysterious crash of a commercial airliner in the summer of 1940 left a scene of devastation in rural Virginia -- and a series of unanswered questions. The ca...Show More

The Finale of Snafu: Season One! The holy grail of classified Able Archer documents is finally revealed. Will it hold the answers we seek? Produced by FilmNation and Pacific Electric Picture Co. in as...Show More

There are a few ways to tell if you’re looking at an authentic, high-quality aloha shirt. If the pockets match the pattern, that’s a good sign, but it’s not everything. Much of understanding an aloha ...Show More

Gabriel Sherman has a front-row seat to Bannon’s turbulent final days in the White House. As he chronicles Bannon’s attempt at gaining supremacy again, Gabe travels the world with Bannon via private j...Show More

Meet David Wallace, political fixer and dirty tricks operative. After a career in the shadows, he’s turned whistleblower, leaking his files and sparking a conspiracy theory. But why? And can...Show More