95 episodes

A twice monthly podcast on crime and punishment throughout history!

Criminal Records Podcast Demetria Spinrad and Isaac Meyer

    • History
    • 4.5 • 56 Ratings

A twice monthly podcast on crime and punishment throughout history!

    Section 230

    Section 230

    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 if we're heading for a massive change in the way we handle illegal content online, are we at risk of destroying the best parts of the system we're trying to fix?
    Content note: This episode contains discussion of illegal speech, including hate speech, incitement to terrorism and genocide, child sexual abuse material, and revenge porn. We will not be discussing any graphic details or closely examining the events of any specific case, but we're putting an explicit flag on this episode just to be safe.
    Sources and show notes at this link
    Support the show on Patreon

    • 1 hr 9 min
    Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, and Wang Lijun

    Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, and Wang Lijun

    We're back with a new recording of one of the first cases we covered on Criminal Records. Bo Xilai was one of the rising stars of China's Communist Party, but his political dreams came crashing down when a close business partner was found dead in mysterious circumstances.
    Sources and shownotes at this link
    Support the show and listen to bonus episodes on Patreon

    • 57 min
    Bonus Episode: Marie Antoinette (2006)

    Bonus Episode: Marie Antoinette (2006)

    We're out of the country for the week, so we've released one of our Patreon bonus episodes into the regular podcast feed. We've talked about Marie Antoinette's real life and death, but how does the 2006 Marie Antoinette movie choose to frame her story?
    This is part of a much longer discussion in our bonus episodes about movies depicting (or claiming to depict) historical events. You can find the full series on our Patreon.

    • 24 min
    Perkin Warbeck

    Perkin Warbeck

    A half-baked plot to replace the true king of England with an impostor involved mind-controlling ointment, a loyalist uprising that never materialized, and some of the biggest political powers in Europe.
    Content note: The backstory of this episode involves the likely murder of two children, although the focus of this case is a different crime.
    Sources and show notes
    Support the show on Patreon

    • 1 hr 2 min
    Ovid

    Ovid

    One of the western canon’s greatest poets was a real horndog. Was his banishment from Rome really about making Rome great again by returning to purity culture, or did Publius Ovidius Naso get caught up in a complicated web of politics at the dawn of the Roman empire?
    This episode is marked explicit for some seriously steamy poetry quotations.
    Sources and show notes at this link
    Support the show on Patreon

    • 58 min
    James Aitken

    James Aitken

    One would-be hero of the American revolution wasn't American, heroic, or particularly good at helping the revolution. His plan to burn down the British navy's most strategic dockyards had just one fatal flaw: he wasn't actually any good at starting fires.
    Sources and show notes
    Support the show on Patreon

    • 1 hr 15 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
56 Ratings

56 Ratings

atomicalex0 ,

OMG you went there!

1. I love listening to Isaac and Demetria dig up odds and ends, on the path to who knows where. They pick and tease out the details that make these crimes truly human without sensationalizing them or losing sight of what makes them relevant to us today.
2. The Robinhood episode includes Rocket Robin Hood. Which makes this the absolute best podcast in the history of podcasting.

uthodern ,

My favorite true crime podcast, hands down!

I love the way Isaac and Demetria use historical criminal cases as a way to gain insight into the societies in which they took place. Thanks to them, I’ve learned a ton about different legal systems, not to mention the social construction of crime itself! Add in some genuinely good-natured humor and we have a recipe for a great listening experience.

Bigfoot Pepper Farm ,

You guys belong in the FraudCast genre

When someone repeatedly admits their lack of reading the material they discuss it’s obvious they lack the right to comment on the topic. You waste our time with your opinions. Get a job cause your killing mine.

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