Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

Most Notorious Plus
Most Notorious Plus
  • 4.7 (2.7K)
  • History
  • Updated Weekly

Serial killers. Gangsters. Gunslingers. Victorian-era murderers. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Each week, the Most Notorious podcast features true-life tales of crime, criminals, tragedies and disasters throughout history. Host Erik Rivenes interviews authors and historians who have studied their subjects for years. Their stories are offered with unique insight, detail, and historical accuracy.

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  1. 6d ago

    450: The Murderous Harp Brothers Revisited w/ Katherine Grandjean

    The Harp(e) brothers have been called America's first serial killers, once notorious enough to be the stuff of folklore and legend before fading into obscurity. In the chaos of the post-Revolutionary frontier, the two men committed dozens of murders across Kentucky and Tennessee, their wives traveling alongside them the entire time. My guest is Katherine Grandjean, author of "Kingdom of Devils: A Tale of Murder in the Shadow of the American Revolution", out now. She explains how the desperation of frontier life might have pushed two ordinary men toward violence, and what their story reveals about the darker side of the years following the American Revolution. The author's publisher page: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2289902/katherine-grandjean/ Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  2. 6d ago ·  Bonus

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    Introducing Dive into Mermaid Magic: From Underwater Cancan Shows to Kitschy Tiki Bars from Via Podcast. Follow the show: Via Podcast Sporting a sparkling sky-blue tail, Rachel Smith goes to work every day as a professional mermaid. It turns out, you can find mermaids swimming all over the West—if you know where to look! Every May, they congregate at the California Mermaid Convention, the longest-running mermaid event in the West (which Smith co-founded), to parade through the cobblestone streets of Old Sacramento. In this episode, Smith dives into the colorful history of a cultural movement that dates back to the early 1900s. Learn about the craft required for their elaborate costumes and how they gracefully perform underwater without looking like “flappy fish.” For Smith, mermaiding offers more than just her job as head mermaid at the Dive Bar in Sacramento: It’s where she’s found a community of fellow merfolk. Get an inside look at some unlikely, landlocked destinations where mermaids swim in bars, casinos, and motel pools. Splashy mermaid spots include: Dive Bar, Sacramento, California: Nightly mermaid shows in a 40-foot saltwater tank. The California Mermaid Convention, Sacramento: A weekend of mermaid magic, including the Promenade of Mermaids through Old Town. Silverton Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada: Mermaids swim in a massive aquarium you can walk all the way around. Sip ’n Dip Lounge, Great Falls, Montana: A 1960s tiki bar where mermaids glide past porthole windows behind the bar. Guest Bio  Rachel Smith has been the head mermaid at the Dive Bar in downtown Sacramento since it opened in 2011. There, she trains, schedules, hires, and performs with a team of mermaids and mermen who swim nightly in a 40-foot saltwater aquarium. Born in Hawaii to two professional hula dancers, she’s one half of Mermaid and Mom, a company she runs with her mother, Laurie, bringing mermaid entertainment to events across Northern California and creating a fully swimmable line of fabric mermaid tails. Since becoming a professional aquatic entertainer, Mermaid Rachel has performed across the United States and internationally—at corporate events, mermaid conventions, and festivals, and as a featured performer in documentaries and films. In 2019, she and her business partner Mermaid Ashley produced the first-ever California Mermaid Convention, which now draws hundreds of merfolk to Sacramento each summer. She is also lifeguard certified—so yes, this mermaid could save your life. DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

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  3. Aug 7

    American Criminal: Boss Tweed

    This is the first episode of American Criminal's latest season - all about Boss Tweed, the Tammany Hall politician who has become synonymous with civic graft and corruption. Listen to my interview with Ken Ackerman about Tammany Hall’s Boss Tweed here at the Most Notorious website:   https://www.mostnotorious.com/2020/09/28/tammany-halls-boss-tweed-w-kenneth-ackerman/ Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  4. Aug 4

    449: The Mysterious Disappearance of William Morgan w/ Ann Webster Bunch

    William Morgan was last seen in Batavia, New York, in September 1826, shortly after threatening to publish purported Masonic secrets. He was arrested that same month in Canandaigua, transported to Fort Niagara and never seen again, and the local Freemasons were blamed for his disappearance. When a body was discovered a year later, many wanted it to be Morgan's for political purposes. But nearly two hundred years later, the case remains officially unsolved. My guest this week is forensic anthropologist Dr. Ann Webster Bunch. Her book, "The William Morgan Affair: A Masonic Mystery in Upstate New York", explores the fate of this polarizing historical figure. The author's publisher page: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/the-william-morgan-affair-978 Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. Jul 29 • Subscribers Only

    The Murder of Tom Gorman

    On this latest episode of Most Notorious Plus: In April of 1902, a rancher named Tom Gorman vanished from his remote Wyoming cabin. When his body turned up in a shallow grave, suspicion fell on his wife and his own brother. Arrests followed, trials were held, an escape was attempted - and in the end, a mob took justice into its own hands. Sources: Consent-to-marry letter, Kenneth McClellan to the Johnson County Clerk, Aug. 31, 1898 Marriage certificate, Thomas C. Gorman & Maggie M. McClellan, Buffalo, WY, Sept. 4, 1898 (Bk. A, p. 418) 1880 U.S. Federal Census, New York > Queens > Queens > ED 265 (Gorman Sr. household, Flushing) 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Wyoming > Big Horn > Ten Sleep > District 0069 (Thomas Gorman household) Find A Grave memorial, Thomas C. Gorman, #151002454 Washington State marriage certificate, Augustus Wagner & Stella Gordon, Aberdeen, Dec. 22, 1915 (License No. 1379/Cert. No. 1860) Affidavit of Stella Wagner, Yamhill County, OR, Sept. 16, 1947 Oregon Marriage Records, 1906-1968: Louis Pettyjohn & Stella Waggoner, May 19, 1951 (Cert. No. 4053) Handwritten account on "Oil Exchange Billiard Parlors" letterhead, Basin, Wyoming, author almost certainly Neil J. Anderson, proprietor of the Antlers Hotel (undated) The Santa Fe New Mexican, June 17, 1902 - "A Cold Blooded Murder" Chicago Tribune, June 18, 1902 - "Murder of Husband Charged" The Daily News (Pensacola, FL), June 18, 1902 The Oakland Republican, June 19, 1902 The Nebraska Journal-Leader, June 19, 1902 - "Wyoming Murder" The Picket-Journal (Red Lodge, MT), June 20, 1902 - "Murder Most Hideous" News Letter Journal, June 20, 1902 Evening World-Herald, June 17, 1902 - "Two Foul Murders Are Charged to Jim Gorman" The Enterprise (Sheridan, WY), June 21, 1902 Natrona County Tribune, June 26, 1902; Nov. 6, 1902; May 7, 1903 Natrona County Tribune, Nov. 4, 1902 - "His Brother's Slayer" Natrona County Tribune, Nov. 6, 1902 - "Wants New Trial" Omaha World-Herald, Nov. 8, 1902 - "Gorman Convicted" The Picket-Journal, Oct. 31, 1902 Cheyenne Daily Leader, Nov. 10, 1902 - "Big Horn County's Terrible Tragedy" (as quoted in Davis) Omaha World-Herald / Evening World-Herald, June 22, 1903 News Letter Journal, July 17, 1903 - "Lynched by Mob" Great Falls Daily Tribune, July 20, 1903 - "Double Lynching of Two Murderers in Wyoming" The Brighton Register (Brighton, CO), July 24, 1903 - "Two Convicted Murderers Lynched at Basin, Wyoming" Helena Independent-Record, Sept. 25, 1903 - "Woman Warned Away" Evening World-Herald, Oct. 26, 1903 News Letter Journal, Oct. 30, 1903 The Capital Journal (Salem, OR), Feb. 21, 1935 - "Injury Fatal to Salem Boy" The Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), Feb. 22, 1935 - "Jack Wagner Dies from Crash Hurts" John W. Davis, Goodbye, Judge Lynch: The End of a Lawless Era in Wyoming's Big Horn Basin (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005) - the sole secondary source used, and the source for all direct quotations attributed to Davis or reported as his analysis/speculation Research materials compiled and shared by Kimberly Tilley

  6. Jul 28

    448: Did a Tacoma Smelter Help Create a Generation of Serial Killers? w/ Caroline Fraser

    Ted Bundy grew up in Tacoma in the shadow of one of the most toxic smelters in the United States, and he wasn't the only one. Between the 1970s and '80s, the Pacific Northwest was home to a bizarre, outsized cluster of serial killers including Bundy, Gary Ridgeway, Charles Manson and many more. Could there be a connection between lead and arsenic poisoning and the making of a serial killer? My guest is New York Times bestselling author Caroline Fraser, and in her book Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, she explores this possible link, and how toxins like lead were promoted to the American public despite the known dangers. The paperback version of her Edgar Award-winning book just came out in June. The author's website: ⁠https://www.carolinefraser.net/ Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  7. Jul 20

    447: Rome's Most Evil Rulers w/ Phillip Barlag - A True Crime History Podcast

    My guest this week is Phillip Barlag, author of "Evil Roman Emperors: The Shocking History of Ancient Rome's Most Wicked Rulers from Caligula to Nero and More." He shares stories about some of the worst rulers in Rome's history and the horrific deeds they committed, including Tarquin, Caligula, Nero, Caracalla and Elagabalus. He is also the creator/host of The "Greats" of History podcast, available on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-greats-of-history/id1741228862. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1mS1MVueNYjtkomqWEtkjG. Podbean: https://phillipbarlag.podbean.com/ and everywhere else great podcasts are heard. And he is available for questions related to his books, his podcast and anything Rome via email here: phillipbarlag@gmail.com and his book can be purchased on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Roman-Emperors-Shocking-Caligula/dp/1633886905 Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  8. Jul 14

    446: Bandit Chief Joaquin Murrieta: Myth Vs. Fact w/ John Boessenecker

    Joaquin Murrieta has been remembered as a Robin Hood of the California Gold Rush — a wronged miner turned avenging outlaw, the supposed inspiration for Zorro. The truth is far darker and more complicated: the real Murrieta led one of the bloodiest bandit gangs of the era. He was killed in 1853, and his severed head became its own strange piece of California history. My guest is New York Times bestselling author John Boessenecker, and his book is called "Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta: The Bandit Chief Who Terrorized California and Launched the Legend of Zorro". He has been on the show twice before, and back to separate the myth of Murrieta from the man. The author's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/p/John-Boessenecker-100039302328585/ The author's publisher page: https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/john-boessenecker Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Serial killers. Gangsters. Gunslingers. Victorian-era murderers. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Each week, the Most Notorious podcast features true-life tales of crime, criminals, tragedies and disasters throughout history. Host Erik Rivenes interviews authors and historians who have studied their subjects for years. Their stories are offered with unique insight, detail, and historical accuracy.

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