Rewind: Infamous News Stories

Talking Labs

Infamous news events, hoaxes, and media frenzies revisited — one per day, with the benefit of hindsight. Walt narrates. Episodes are produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. A Talking Labs production.

  1. 2d ago

    Potemkin Villages: The Fake Towns Catherine May Never Have Seen

    Did Grigory Potemkin build false villages for Catherine the Great's 1787 tour? Rewind follows the real imperial journey, its elaborate public display and the hostile rumour that grew into a lasting phrase. Historians find contemporary accounts of decoration, but not the familiar deception of portable fake towns. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  2. 3d ago

    The Sokal Hoax: A Paper Built to Fool Its Editors

    In 1996, physicist Alan Sokal published a parody about quantum gravity in Social Text, then revealed the hoax in Lingua Franca. Rewind traces the paper, the editors' response and the debate over what one editorial failure can prove. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  3. 4d ago

    The Bathtub Hoax: Mencken's Fake History That Stuck

    H. L. Mencken invented a history of the American bathtub in 1917, then publicly admitted the hoax in 1926. Rewind traces the false Millard Fillmore claim from the original newspaper article to later retellings, and checks it against the White House plumbing record. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  4. 5d ago

    Wrong Way Corrigan: The Flight to Ireland

    In July 1938, Douglas Corrigan filed a westbound plan from New York and landed in Dublin. He said cloud and compass trouble sent him the wrong way, an account he kept even as skeptics doubted it. Rewind follows the documented flight, the brief licence suspension and the nickname that survived. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  5. Oct 26

    The Morning of J'Accuse: Zola and the Dreyfus Affair

    On 13 January 1898, Émile Zola put an accusation across the front page of L'Aurore. The paper sold more than 200,000 copies, but Alfred Dreyfus was still a prisoner. This is the morning that forced the case back into public view, and the long gap between a headline and an exoneration. Sources: Bibliothèque nationale de France, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and National Library of Israel. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  6. Oct 25

    The Zinoviev Letter: A Forgery Before Britain's 1924 Election

    Four days before Britain's 1924 general election, the Daily Mail printed a supposed letter from Soviet leader Grigory Zinoviev. He denied writing it the next day. Archive records now identify it as a forgery, though its precise effect on the vote remains uncertain. Rewind follows the front page, the denial and the investigation that came after. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  7. Oct 19

    The XYZ Affair: When the Dispatches Went Public

    In 1798, President John Adams released US envoys' letters from France after opponents demanded the record. The names inside were masked as W, X, Y and Z, but the reported demands were clear. Rewind follows the disclosure, its printing in newspapers and the limited war that followed, through State Department and Monticello histories. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

  8. Oct 18

    The 1904 Olympic Marathon: The Runner in the Car | Rewind

    Fred Lorz reached the St. Louis stadium first after riding part of the marathon course in a car. Thomas Hicks received the victory, but the treatment he was given during the race raises another question about the event. Rewind follows the record behind both finishes. This episode was produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. This episode includes AI-generated content.

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Infamous news events, hoaxes, and media frenzies revisited — one per day, with the benefit of hindsight. Walt narrates. Episodes are produced with AI narration and scripting, with human editorial review. A Talking Labs production.

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