If the obscene material you're distributing is so avant-garde that most readers can't tell it's actually obscene, did you commit a crime or not? This week, we're getting into the trial of the scandalous literary magazine editors who brought the

Two small scams

24 days ago 59m 2s

Not all scam artists prey on suckers’ desire to get rich quick or cheat the system. Some of them prey on their marks’ better impulses, like their love for their pet dogs or their willingness to help a stranger in an emergency. Content note: Thi

British Prison Reform

Mar 21st, 2024 1h 13m

With options for getting rid of its convicts drying up, Britain started thinking about reforming both its prisons and the prisoners inside them. The intention behind these prison reforms was great. But attempts to create a better prison system

Abortion in Modern Japan

Mar 7th, 2024 1h 9m

Is abortion legal in Japan? No, but also yes. Join us on a journey through history to learn about how modern abortion law developed in a legal system that didn't treat fetuses as legal persons but did want to count them as future taxpayers.

The Yakuza

Feb 22nd, 2024 1h 1m

We're out of the country for a family memorial service and didn't have time to record a Criminal Records episode for the week. But that doesn't mean we're out of crime content! This week, we've cleaned up and cut together some of Isaac's very,

The Bloody Code

Feb 8th, 2024 1h 3m

Under Britain's most notorious era of criminal law, you could be sentenced to death for everything from destroying a fishpond to being a particularly malicious 7-year-old. But how many criminals actually died thanks to this wave of harsh legisl

Emma Goldman, part 2

Jan 25th, 2024 1h 10m

The law was out to take Emma Goldman down on a range of charges from distributing obscene material to assassination to sedition. But did the woman the papers called the Queen of Anarchy deserve her lengthy rap sheet? Sources and show notes (wit

Emma Goldman, part 1

Jan 11th, 2024 1h 3m

Something seemed a little less than ideal about governments and economies around the world in the late 1880s. One woman's solution? Anarchy. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

Bonus Episode: Babylon Berlin

Dec 28th, 2023 29m 35s

Thanks to Demetria's brilliant decision to get as many vaccines as possible on the same day, there's no new episode this week. Instead, we're releasing a bonus episode from our Patreon archives about one of our all-time favorite works of histor

CW "Shorty" Young

Dec 14th, 2023 1h 10m

On one side, a crooked saloon owner with a side business running brothels and opium dens. On the other side, a moralistic tycoon with rail car full of beautiful vegetables. Which one of them did more damage to a frontier town in Montana? Source

The Reichsbürger movement

Dec 1st, 2023 1h 14m

Want to crown yourself the king of Germany? Want to conquer Europe because you have really strong opinions about public transit? Want to get rich quick selling fake government ID cards? With this one completely nonsense legal strategy, you too

The Stone of Destiny Heist

Nov 16th, 2023 59m 55s

To crown the monarch of the United Kingdom, you need a 336-pound block of sandstone. But who really owns that big chunk of stone, and who was the thief who stole it from its rightful place? Sources and show notes at this link Support the show

The Osaka Incident of 1827, part 2

Nov 2nd, 2023 59m 56s

If you're going to accuse a gang of spirit mediums of practicing a banned religion on the down low, you have to prove they're actually members of that religion. But what if your only understanding of how this religious group worships comes from

The Osaka Incident of 1827, part 1

Oct 19th, 2023 58m 48s

A group of spirit mediums found a way to use their psychic prowess to get rich in the physical realm. But when an investigator started looking into a suspiciously successful prosperity scheme, he uncovered a case of divine fraud. Sources and s

Lie Detector Tests

Oct 5th, 2023 1h 5m

Let's dive into the dangerous, divine, and occasionally kinky history of trying to figure out who's telling the truth. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

James Reavis, Part 2

Sep 21st, 2023 1h 8m

In the second part of our story, the Baron of Arizona has to create a Baroness so he can rise to great heights in Europe and use his connections to keep swindling in America. But while the upper crust in the old country buy into his wild story,

James Reavis, Part 1

Sep 7th, 2023 54m 34s

James Reavis was a failed real estate investor, but he had a knack for document forgery. And if you lose all the land you own legally, why not acquire some more with the help of a few doctored papers? Sources and show notes at this link Support

The Bombing of KAL Flight 858

Aug 24th, 2023 1h 1m

A North Korean plot to sabotage the Olympics and possibly derail a crucial South Korean election hinged on a pair of very unusual spies. When one of the bombers survived after swallowing a cyanide capsule, she told investigators her whole world

The death of Thomas Overbury, part 2

Aug 10th, 2023 1h 10m

Mirror mirror on the wall, who really killed Thomas Overbury? We're getting deep into what might just be the weirdest trial we've ever covered on this show, with accusations flying about witchcraft, a poisoned enema, Spanish treachery, and a ca

The death of Thomas Overbury, part 1

Jul 27th, 2023 1h 1m

We begin a twisted tale of witchcraft, poison, and legal arguing over magically cursed genitals in the court of King James I. Sir Thomas Overbury tried his best to climb to a coveted position at court, but he made a lot of enemies along the way

The Five Men of Naniwa

Jul 13th, 2023 1h 2m

In life, they were poor hooligans. In death, they became five of Japan's greatest folk heroes. Join us for a journey into Japan's 17th-century true crime puppet shows, time-traveling heroic tales, and kabuki romance. Sources and show notes at t

The Iran-Contra Affair

Jun 29th, 2023 1h 2m

You've heard jokes about the Iran-Contra affair, but have you heard the actual legal arguments of the defendants? To understand the true scope and purpose of these complicated financial shenanigans, we've got to cover a whole lot of history. So

Section 28

Jun 15th, 2023 1h 20m

This Pride month, we’re gearing up for a fight. As we battle over “Don’t Say Gay” bills in the US today, we’re looking back to the 1980s to see how a similar legal effort played out in the United Kingdom. No one was ever successfully prosecuted

Arnaud du Tilh, a.k.a. Martin Guerre

Jun 1st, 2023 55m 5s

A man named Martin Guerre left his wife and child. Eight years later, a man who called himself Martin Guerre returned. Why would his wife accept her not-quite-the-same husband without raising any questions, and what happened when one member of

Section 230

May 18th, 2023 1h 9m

Is the rule that made the modern internet to blame for breaking it? Is a forum legally analogous to a bookstore that might have a dirty book in it somewhere? Who's responsible for all this junk everyone's been putting in the internet tubes? And