Poisoned History

Suzanne

Poisoned History is about poisons and how they have been used for nefarious purposes throughout history. Listen to true crime with commentary from a chemist's perspective. Don't worry, we don't nerd out *all* the time... Cover art was generated using the Imagine.ai app

  1. Martha Place, Acid and Anarchy

    3d ago

    Martha Place, Acid and Anarchy

    Martha Place was a middle-aged woman with a tragic life story and a fearful temper. One day her husband brought out the Jersey girl in her, leading to more tragedy. Sources and resources: National Center for Biotechnology Information (2026). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 176, Acetic Acid. Retrieved April 24, 2026 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Acetic-Acid. National Center for Biotechnology Information (2026). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 944, Nitric Acid. Retrieved April 24, 2026 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Nitric-Acid. Norquist, S., When photography required chemistry, Heroes, Heroines, and History, 9 March 2020, https://www.hhhistory.com/search?q=photography+chemistry Carlton, F., The gruesome crimes of Martha Place, the first woman to die in the electric chair, 8 May 2023, https://allthatsinteresting.com/martha-place Wikipedia This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org: minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0 All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.

    45 min
  2. Mary Alice Livingston, the Clam Chowder Killer?

    Apr 1

    Mary Alice Livingston, the Clam Chowder Killer?

    Mary Alice Livingston Fleming was a single mom from a wealthy family who allegedly killed her own mother in 1895 but denied having anything to do with it. Her family and this case were a large part of history and a huge story in the sensationalist press of the time. Sources and resources: Livingston, J; Arsenic and Clam Chowder: Murder in Gilded Age New York. The Gotham Center for New York City History, https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/arsenic-and-clam-chowder-murder-in-gilded-age-new-york Wilhelm, R; Book Review: The fatal bowl of soup by James D. Livingston. Murder By Gaslight, 14Aug2010, http://www.murderbygaslight.com/2010/08/ Ephemeral New York: The sensational clam chowder murder of 1895, 8Jan2012, https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/mary-alice-fleming-livingston/ Livingston, JD, Arsenic and clam chowder: murder in gilded age New York; Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 2010, https://www.hudsonrivervalley.org/james_d_livingston1 Wikipedia This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org: minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0 All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests. Cover art photos: public domain.

    52 min
  3. Adelaide Bartlett, Threesome or Love Triangle?

    Feb 1

    Adelaide Bartlett, Threesome or Love Triangle?

    Adelaide Bartlett was a young French woman living in England, who got into a love triangle with her husband and another man. When her husband turned up dead one day though, the whole arrangement fell apart and she suddenly became a murder suspect. Sources and Resources: “The impossible case of the Pimlico poisoning,” The CutPrice Guignol, https://thethreepennyguignol.com/2024/04/17/the-impossible-case-of-the-pimlico-poisoning/ Farrell, M. “Adelaide Bartlett and the Pimlico Mystery,” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2542684/pdf/bmj00471-0054.pdf Wikipedia

    1h 1m
  4. Edward Pritchard, the Human Crocodile

    Jan 1

    Edward Pritchard, the Human Crocodile

    Dr. Edward Pritchard was a doctor (of sorts), viewed as a quack by many of his contemporaries, who decided that killing would solve all his problems most efficiently. He was right, for a little while at least. Sources and resources: Loney, G; How the Huan Crocodile met the Glasgow hangman for the last public execution in Scotland; Glasgow Live, 18Nov2018, https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/human-crocodile-execution-glasgow-history-11676137 Our Legal Heritage: The last man publicly hanged in Glasgow; Scottish Legal News, 31Aug2018, https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/our-legal-heritage-the-last-man-publicly-hanged-in-glasgow Grebar, Henry; What became of America’s water-cure towns? Bloomberg, 16Nov2015, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-16/the-legacy-of-america-s-water-cure-towns Discover Saratoga, visitor information, https://www.discoversaratoga.org/things-to-do/attractions/mineral-springs/#:~:text=State%20Seal:%20A%20popular%20choice,has%20water%20rich%20in%20magnesium Van Hoose, Anne; Edward William Pritchard: Gone? A killer in the Glasgow Photographic Society, https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/family-history/stories-and-blogs-from-the-mitchell/special-collections-blogs/edward-william-pritchard-gone Emsley, J., The Elements of Murder, Oxford University Press, 2006. The Anatomy Lab; Forensic Medicine, History of Medicine Museum; Forensic Medicine: The Case of Dr Pritchard, https://surgeonshallmuseums.wordpress.com/2020/05/22/forensic-medicine-the-case-of-dr-pritchard/ Our Records: the Glasgow Poisoner; Scotland’s People, https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/glasgow-poisoner Martin R, Lee VR. Antimony Toxicity. [Updated 2024 Sep 2]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK608003 Chan TY. Aconite poisoning. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2009 Apr;47(4):279-85. doi: 10.1080/15563650902904407. PMID: 19514874. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19514874/ Wikipedia This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org: minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0 All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests. Cover art photos: public domain.

    51 min
  5. Thomas Neill Cream, the Lambeth Poisoner

    12/01/2025

    Thomas Neill Cream, the Lambeth Poisoner

    Thomas Neill Cream was a good-looking man about town in the late 1800s, who was poisoning many of the people he treated and blackmailing anyone he thought could afford to pay. He was eventually caught when the family of one of his victims denied that she could possibly have committed suicide as was suggested by a note she wrote. But that’s not the end of the story. Sources and Resources: Wilson Smith, A, Strychnine and Vomit: The Untold Story of Past US Addiction Treatments, Filter Magazine 8 September 2021, https://filtermag.org/strychnine-addiction-treatments/ McLaren, A., Dr Cream’s Crimes were Just Part of the Problem, Chicago Tribune, 18 March 1993, https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/03/18/dr-creams-crimes-were-just-part-of-the-problem/ Butts, Edward. "Thomas Neill Cream". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 15 December 2013, Historica Canada. thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/thomas-neill-cream. Accessed 09 November 2025. Murder by Gaslight, the Lambeth Poisoner, 29Aug2010. History of Shrewsbury, Quebec, Chapter III, LaChute 1835-1876, https://morrison13750.tripod.com/lachute/part3.pdf Foran, J., The Evil Deeds of Dr. Cream. Canada’s History, https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/politics-law/the-evil-deeds-of-dr-cream Medical Murders Podcast: “’Lambeth Poisoner” Thomas Neill Cream, Part 2” Wikipedia This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org: minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0 All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests. Cover art photos: public domain.

    52 min
  6. Columbo: Murder Under Glass, Part Two

    09/15/2025

    Columbo: Murder Under Glass, Part Two

    Time for another fake crime episode! In this episode of Columbo, a restaurant owner is murdered by a restaurant critic who had been charging him for good reviews. Columbo suspects the writer from the start, but doesn’t have any proof yet. He hounds the restaurant writer, popping up everywhere, in an effort to wear him down. This show, if you’re not familiar with it, is a how-catch-em instead of a whodunit. The audience already knows from the opening scene who the murderer is, the fun is watching Columbo figure out who did it and find a way to prove their guilt. Sources and resources: Vittorio Rossi | The Columbo Wiki | Fandom https://share.google/Yr2jiOMoo1RElQIz0 Yong YS, Quek LS, Lim EK, Ngo A. A case report of puffer fish poisoning in singapore. Case Rep Med. 2013;2013:206971. doi: 10.1155/2013/206971. Epub 2013 Dec 4. PMID: 24368916; PMCID: PMC3867830. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3867830/ Internet movie database (IMDB) Wikipedia This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org: minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0 All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests. Image: This ⁠Wikipedia⁠ and ⁠Wikimedia Commons⁠ image is from the user ⁠Chris 73⁠ and is freely available at //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fugu_in_Tank.jpg under the ⁠creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0⁠ license.

    43 min
  7. Columbo: Murder Under Glass, Part One

    09/01/2025

    Columbo: Murder Under Glass, Part One

    Time for another fake crime episode! In this episode of Columbo, a restaurant owner is murdered by a restaurant critic who had been charging him for good reviews. Columbo suspects the writer from the start, but doesn’t have any proof yet. He hounds the restaurant writer, popping up everywhere, in an effort to wear him down. This show, if you’re not familiar with it, is a how-catch-em instead of a whodunit. The audience already knows from the opening scene who the murderer is, the fun is watching Columbo figure out who did it and find a way to prove their guilt. Sources and resources: Vittorio Rossi | The Columbo Wiki | Fandom https://share.google/Yr2jiOMoo1RElQIz0 Yong YS, Quek LS, Lim EK, Ngo A. A case report of puffer fish poisoning in singapore. Case Rep Med. 2013;2013:206971. doi: 10.1155/2013/206971. Epub 2013 Dec 4. PMID: 24368916; PMCID: PMC3867830. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3867830/ Internet movie database (IMDB) Wikipedia This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org: minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0 All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests. Image: This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 and is freely available at //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fugu_in_Tank.jpg under the creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0 license.

    46 min
  8. Robert Buchanan, Perfecting the Method

    08/01/2025

    Robert Buchanan, Perfecting the Method

    Robert Buchanan was a doctor in New York in the late 1800s who divorced his first wife in order to marry a brothel-owning woman from Newark, New Jersey. When she turned up dead, it seemed like it had been from natural causes, but his friends and acquaintances had some pointed questions and some suspicious letters to share with the police. Sources and resources: Peole v. Buchanan, Court of Appeals of the State of New York, Feb 26, 1895. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914cf45add7b04934820597 https://nyli.omeka.net/exhibits/show/celebrated-trials/murder-trials/buchanan-poisoning-trial Buchanan’s trial begun, New York Times, March 28, 1893, Page 9. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/03/28/109696522.html?pageNumber=9 https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/7321/08_14YaleJL_Human177_2002_.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y, page 17. Robert Buchanan Trial: 1893, Encyclopedia.com, Law magazines, https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/robert-buchanan-trial-1893 Food poisoning, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/science/foodborne-illness Cadaverine, Pubchem, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Cadaverine#section=Odor Wikipedia This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org: minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0 All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests. Cover art photos: drawing, public domain.

    53 min
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About

Poisoned History is about poisons and how they have been used for nefarious purposes throughout history. Listen to true crime with commentary from a chemist's perspective. Don't worry, we don't nerd out *all* the time... Cover art was generated using the Imagine.ai app

Information

  • Creator
    Suzanne
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    30
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Suzanne
  • Show Website
    Poisoned History