There's just something about seeing hypocrites fully exposed that is so satisfying, particularly when the takedown is as juicy and salacious and, yes, tawdry as that of Jerry Falwell Jr. You no doubt remember the Pool Boy Scandal of 2020, which

That Time the CIA Got Very Into LSD

Oct 18th, 2022 55m 31s

It's an unintentional double-header of acid heads, as Kasey follows up Mark's episode about Unmask Alice with a deep dive into an aside from the book about the CIA's Operation Midnight Climax. Yes, it sounds like some horny high school boys sta

That Time Beatrice Sparks Published 'Go Ask Alice' and 'Jay's Journal'

Oct 11th, 2022 42m 20s

Mark went to Vegas and came back brimming over with awe at Rick Emerson's book "Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries." Do you know the book "Go Ask Alice"? Probably. You're likely less fam

That Time John Edwards Tried to be a YouTube Star

Oct 4th, 2022 39m 10s

In 2006, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nominee was... John Edwards? He'd unsuccessfully campaigned as VP for John Kerry in 2003, so he was a known quantity (unlike that Barack Obama guy). But in an arena that is rife with unfo

That Time Barbara Hershey Went on The Dick Cavett Show

Sep 27th, 2022 43m 49s

Some things never change. Well, not Barbara Hershey's name. Born Barbara Lynn Herzstein, Hershey changed her professional name to Barbara Seagull for a period of time in the early 1970s. Much against the advice of literally everyone. She appear

That Time Alexander Hamilton Invented the Treasury and Political Sex Scandals

Sep 20th, 2022 28m 46s

Before the musical, before the Got Milk? commercial brought him back into relevancy, Alexander Hamilton was one of the more combative founding fathers. The most scandal-plagued founding father? That is TBD. But today, Kasey explains how Hamilto

That Time Janet Cooke Won a Pulitzer

Sep 13th, 2022 36m 42s

Before Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair, there was Janet Cooke. A reporter at The Washington Post, her byline appeared on a story headlined "Jimmy's World" about an 8-year-old heroin addict... who didn't exist. But before anyone found that out, "

That Time Sumner Welles Called for a Pullman Porter

Sep 6th, 2022 38m 10s

Sumner Welles was a career politician whose career was always being interrupted by personal biases. First Calvin Coolidge kicked me out because he married a friend of the Coolidges. Then FDR had to speak with him because his direct manager was

Bonus

That Time Alexander Hamilton's Great-Grandson Was Front-Page News for Years

Aug 30th, 2022 22m 1s

The whole thing began for Bill Shaffer with a fountain.Granted, the fountain is one of the few remaining examples of its kind in Manhattan and was designed by the team behind Grand Central Station. But who knew that reading a plaque one night

That Time They Called the Cavalry on WWI Vets

Aug 23rd, 2022 39m 39s

The American veterans of the Great War just wanted that bonus the United States had promised them a little bit early. Guaranteed to pay out in 1945, a little thing called the Great Depression had them all impatient to cash it in 12 years early—

That Time Zsa Zsa Gabor Slapped a Cop

Aug 19th, 2022 28m 29s

It was the slap heard around the world. No, not the Oscars 2022. We're talking Los Angeles 1989 when Zsa Zsa Gabor was pulled over for expired plates and ended up embroiled in a three-week trial that made Depp v Heard look boring.How did the H

That Time Designing Women Invented Drama

Aug 16th, 2022 40m 52s

Designing Women was hardly the first show to feature clashes between performers and producers (go read about All in the Family some time). But the very public war between creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and breakout star Delta Burke included

That Time Martha Mitchell Opened Her Mouth

Aug 9th, 2022 37m 5s

We're living in a golden age of Martha Mitchell content, and we couldn't be more delighted.Fresh off the success of Starz's limited series Gaslit, Kasey walks Mark through the life and scandals of our favorite Watergate whistleblower, who was

Trailer

That Time We Took a Sümmer Holiday

Jul 12th, 2022 1m 30s

Not to fear—neither Kasey nor Mark have encountered a career-ruining scandal or a stint in the pokey. (Yet. Everything is always a yet.) What they are doing is taking sümmer off from researching and recording! So, as Judy Garland told her audie

That Time John G. Schmitz Begat a Sex Scandal and a Surprisingly Scandalous Child

Jun 21st, 2022 21m 57s

Political sex scandals are a dime a dozen—although certainly, uber-conservative John G. Schmitz's sex scandal (involving a secret second family) is one of the more tawdry ones.So conservative that even the John Birch Society told him, "Nah, du

That Time Helen Keller Was Accused of Plagiarism

Jun 14th, 2022 23m 4s

Over the last decade, Helen Keller went from a saint to a hoax—which means the real woman has long been lost under the hagiography and now the TikTok deniers.Among other things: Helen Keller was a devoted socialist who starred in a silent movi

That Time History Teachers Loved The XYZ Affair So Much

May 24th, 2022 35m 22s

Odds are you learned about The XYZ Affair during high school history class (even mark did, and most of his high school education came courtesy of movies screened during class). But in retrospect, the whole scandal of John Adams' presidency feel

That Time WeCrashed, The Dropout, and Super Pumped All Premiered Within Weeks of One Another

May 17th, 2022 36m 30s

"Bring me a unicorn!" was the rallying cry for VC funders in Silicon Valley during its glory days, and apparently the demand from network execs looking for new content. Because over the course of a single month, we were treated to Hulu's The Dr

That Time The Way Down Came Back for More Gwen Shamblin Stories

May 10th, 2022 38m 30s

At last! After premiering three episodes of investigative documentary series The Way Down on HBO Max last year, the exposé of the Remnant Fellowship and its founder, Gwen Shamblin, returns for a two-part update. Has it gained anything in the af

That Time Sean Young Just Wanted to Audition for Catwoman

May 3rd, 2022 38m 54s

Sean Young looked poised to be a star in the 1980s. She appeared in Stripes, she was the love interest in Blade Runner—instantly achieving icon status—and she was great in thriller No Way Out. Then she got cast as Vicki Vale in Batman. That sho

That Time Ohio Had a Surprising Number of Political Scandals

Apr 26th, 2022 30m 24s

Why oh why oh why oh... does Ohio have so many political scandals? From bad behavior to a mistress opening up about an affair with her politico boss after not being invited to his wedding, the Buckeye state has played host to a surprising num

That Time Reese Witherspoon Asked If a Cop Knew Her Name

Apr 19th, 2022 26m 29s

In early 2013, Reese Witherspoon seemed destined for Meg Ryan’s later career. Both hit it big as smart, sometimes daffy romcom blondes with more going on than initially appeared. But after winning an Oscar for Walk the Line, Reese’s movies… had

That Time the L.A. Water Wars Inspired Chinatown

Apr 12th, 2022 47m 10s

Los Angeles is an oasis in the desert—but it's also a mirage. Because life shouldn't be sustainable to the extent that it is, and it wouldn't be if a few enterprising old dudes hadn't decided to divert water from the Valley to help L.A. prosper

That Time Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland Didn't Get Married

Apr 5th, 2022 42m 8s

Julia Roberts was a freshly minted, Oscar-nominated movie star when she and Kiefer Sutherland (semi Hollywood royalty) announced their wedding, to be held on the Fox studio lot. That should have been an early sign of things to come. As should K

That Time Daniel Sickles Invented the Temporary Insanity Defense

Mar 29th, 2022 41m 41s

Everything has to start somewhere, right? And it was Dan Sickles who first claimed temporary insanity as a defense for murder. Of course, he was Congressman at the time he shot and killed his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key II, in broad dayli