Bittersweet Infamy

Trick-or-Treat Infamy! Josie tells Taylor about the ghost ship Mary Celeste, the merchant vessel that vanished off the face of the Atlantic Ocean and reappeared, completely intact, missing every member of its crew. Plus: what supernatural creature menaced Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as he rode on horseback to his mistress's home? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trick-or-Treat Infamy! Taylor tells Josie about the legendary feud between Hollywood leading ladies Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and how their real-life animosity moved on screen, and on set, for two "hagsploitation" horror classics: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). Plus: as we approach the other spookiest time of year, U.S. election sea...

150th episode spectacular! Josie tells Taylor about Canadian actor and '90s sex symbol Pamela Anderson: her unlikely path to Playboy and Baywatch fame, her rocky relationships with famous bad boys like Tommy Lee and Kid Rock, the celebrity sex tape that spawned a genre, and how she's stayed true to herself through it all. Plus: what are dead white man's clothes? Find out in our brand n...

Taylor tells Josie about two Pakistani women with the same name—one who was sentenced to death for drinking a cup of water on a scorching hot day, and one who was accused of poisoning her entire family in order to escape a troubled marriage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josie tells Taylor about phone phreaking, a.k.a. hacking the phone lines, and how it became part of the history of telecommunications in North America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taylor tells Josie and special guest host Mitchell Collins about the career controversies of musical icon Ms. Lauryn Hill. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josie tells Taylor about the plans to use mirrors in outer space to provide solar-powered solutions for critical problems, like artificially increasing the length of the work day or hosting a Columbus Day race to Mars. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taylor tells Josie about the outlandish attempts to establish a new nation in Bir Tawil, a 2,060-square-kilometre piece of unclaimed desert between Egypt and Sudan, and how the legacy of colonialism has shaped the geography of Northeast Africa.

Josie tells Taylor about the history of women shaving their heads, from the bald baddies of ancient Egypt to modern pop icons like Grace Jones, Sinéad O'Connor, and Britney Spears.

Taylor unpacks his recent trip to Peru, and tells Josie the story of Vinicunca, a.k.a. Rainbow Mountain, the breathtaking tourism destination that brought prosperity and tragedy to the remote community of Chillihuani.

April Fool's Fact or Fiction special! Josie tells Taylor three stories about people deciding to vanish: the masked wrestler who convinced his mother he died in the 1978 Jonestown massacre; the Japanese trend of jōhatsu  (蒸発), or disappearing into thin air; and the literary legend who swapped limelight for... lightning? Two of these stories are true, and one is a lie. Guess along with Taylor and...

April Fool's Fact or Fiction special! Taylor tells Josie three stories about children's television gone awry: a brand-new Wiggle blows over the limit; a malfunctioning spaceship burns a Brazilian kids' show to the ground; and Bananas in Pyjamas get held hostage by the Russian mob. Two of these stories are true, and one is a lie. Guess along with Josie and see if you can separate fib from fact!

Josie tells Taylor about the spicy history of one of America's favourite snack foods, Flamin' Hot Cheetos—and how the brand's well-known rags-to-riches origin story may actually be a flamin' hot fraud.

Taylor tells Josie about Camp Century, the U.S. military's once-innovative, now-abandoned science base in northwestern Greenland—and how it was merely a cover for Project Iceworm, a top-secret Cold War plan to hide hundreds of nuclear weapons within the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Josie tells Taylor about the hidden history of the classic board game Monopoly , and how Parker Brothers covered up its unlikely roots as the anti-monopolist polemic, The Landlord's Game.

Season six premiere! Taylor tells Josie about the temperamental Tudor King of England, Henry VIII, and his six ill-fated wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.

Josie Margaret Mitchell, Taylor Mitchell Basso, and guest host Mitchell Charles Collins ring in Mitchmas, a made-up holiday celebrating people named Mitchell, by exchanging infamous stories—including a compendium of psychic pets, the surprising history of Christmas tree tinsel, and how a song that came to its writer in a nightmare became Natalie Imbruglia's 1997 smash hit "Torn."

Trick-or-Treat Infamy + season finale! Josie tells Taylor about the dramatic life and times of English novelist Mary Shelley, and the infamous origins of her Gothic masterpiece,  Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus . Plus: is your Labubu a conduit for an ancient Mesopotamian demon? Find out in the final minfamous of season five!

Trick-or-Treat Infamy! Taylor tells Josie about Albert Johnson (not his real name), the mysterious outlaw who led Mounties on an explosive and deadly winter manhunt through Canada's Yukon and Northwest Territories. Plus: unpacking Taylor's trip to the Yukon, including the community of Carcross, population: 300, where the ghosts of Bessie Gideon and her parrot Polly haunt the century-old Caribou Ho...

Big Skookum B.C. Road Trip! In this special episode, Josie tells Taylor about the Sons of Freedom (a.k.a. the Freedomites), the religious sect with an affinity for public nudity and arson, and the history of the Doukhobors in British Columbia. Plus: join Josie, Taylor, and special guests Lucia Misch and Ruy Gonzalez as they wrap up the Big Skookum B.C. Road Trip, including stops at the South Ender...

Big Skookum B.C. Road Trip! Josie, Taylor, and special guests Lucia Misch and Ruy Gonzalez travel around Canada's beautiful westernmost province, British Columbia, with stops including the legendary Shambhala Music Festival in Salmo, a gusty ferry ride across Upper Arrow Lake, and a dip in the river-fed Lussier Hot Springs! Plus: Taylor loses a family heirloom, Josie gets some good news from home,...

Big Skookum B.C. Road Trip! In this special episode recorded at the Arthur O. Wheeler hut in Glacier National Park, Taylor and special guests Lucia Misch and Ruy Gonzalez ambush Josie with a game show all about the beautiful province of British Columbia. Watch the plan come together, and play along from home to prove your B.C. bona fides!

Big Skookum B.C. Road Trip! In this special episode, Taylor tells Josie about Lebanese-Canadian entrepreneur Eddy Haymour, and how his dream of building an Arabian theme park on Lake Okanagan led him to take 33 people hostage at the Canadian embassy in Beirut. Plus: join Josie, Taylor, and special guests Lucia Misch and Ruy Gonzalez as they kick off the first leg of a British Columbia road trip, w...

Josie tells Taylor about the 1966 near-founding of the micronation of Abalonia on a sunken island 100 miles off the California coast, and how the would-be country's future was washed away with the tides. Plus: enter the mystical and dangerous world of catch fétiche , a.k.a. Congolese voodoo wrestling.

Taylor tells Josie about  Cuties (a.k.a.  Mignonnes ), the 2020 Netflix film by Senegalese-French writer/director Maïmouna Doucouré, and how it sparked a child exploitation panic that made its way to the U.S. Senate. Plus: illusionist Murray SawChuck breaks the magician's code, and gets disappeared from the Academy of Magical Arts.