Malice in the Mitten

What happens when common sense takes a vacation? This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina explore some of the most outrageous and extraordinary stories making headlines. From a Disney World guest diving into an attraction's water to two men driving a couch down a public road, we're asking the question everyone seems to be thinking: What the hell is wrong with everybody?! Discover why g...

In 1883, sixty-year-old Michigan farmer John Guild transferred his property to a woman who promised him a home for the remainder of his life. Not long after the deal, he was dead. An examination reportedly revealed arsenic. A neighbor testified about purchasing a product called Rough on Rats. And investigators questioned what happened to Guild's missing money. Korun Larson was convicted of first-d...

Deep in southwest Michigan, Purgatory Road cuts through woods, wetlands and the Three Rivers State Game Area—a place associated with strange local stories for years. By 2019, one legend had emerged clearly in writing: a mysterious Goat-Man said to roam Purgatory with an even stranger companion known as the Devil Dog. On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy explores what can actually be documented...

What do Malibu Beach, surfing, frozen bananas, John Wayne, Shirley Temple and Barbie have in common? More than you'd think. This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina head to Southern California to explore the Chumash origins of Malibu, the Hawaiian roots of modern surfing culture, Duke Kahanamoku, Gidget, Malibu Barbie, Balboa Island's frozen banana wars, John Wayne's surprising connecti...

In 1895, a young Englishwoman named Emily Hall crossed the Atlantic and arrived at a house on Lincoln Avenue in Detroit while pregnant. Less than two weeks later, she was dead. But Emily Hall wasn't the name written on her death certificate. She became “Myrtle Cook”—a supposedly New York-born woman said to have died of pneumonia at an address where Emily had never lived. Then her embalmed body rem...

This week on F-Bomb Friday, we uncover one of Michigan's darkest medical history stories: the resurrectionists, grave robbing, and the unclaimed dead who supplied 19th-century anatomy rooms in Detroit and Ann Arbor.  From Detroit Medical College and Michigan's 1881 Anatomy Act to Willie Brown, the "friendless dead," and the shocking 1893 discovery of two human skeletons in Detroit's garbage, this...

What happened to basic human behavior—especially at 30,000 feet? This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina dive into the wild case of an American Airlines first-class passenger who became so disruptive that fellow passengers restrained him with zip ties and duct tape before the flight diverted for an emergency landing. He later claimed he couldn’t remember what happened. But this story...

Between 1908 and 1911, four men from Michigan's Sparling family died after suffering eerily similar illnesses. When arsenic was discovered, suspicion fell on their family physician, Dr. Robert MacGregor. In 1912, MacGregor was convicted of murdering twenty-year-old Scyrel Sparling and sentenced to life in Michigan State Prison. Four years later, Governor Woodbridge Ferris declared MacGregor innoce...

Detroit has a monster of its own—and according to generations of folklore, he appears when something terrible is coming. In this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy and Todd explore the legend of the Nain Rouge, Detroit’s mysterious Red Dwarf and alleged harbinger of disaster. From Cadillac and Bloody Run to the Great Fire of Detroit, the War of 1812, and a haunting 1964 folklore account describing th...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina chase the chaos through some of the strangest stories of the week. A boa constrictor auditions for the Metropolitan Opera, competitive grave diggers race in Hungary and Brach's creates candy-corn perfume. Plus, the ladies remember the things they thought were fancy as kids, reveal their useless superpowers, battle over controversial foods and res...

In January 1889, Jackson widow Mary H. Latimer was found murdered inside her home. Her only son, young druggist Robert Irving Latimer, appeared to have an extraordinary alibi: he was in Detroit, where hotel workers and others had seen him. But an unused hotel bed, railroad timetables, blood evidence and financial questions began telling another story. Latimer's conviction was only the beginning. M...

Deep in Michigan’s Omer Plains, near the winding Rifle River, an old legend tells of strange wolf-like guardians said to watch over the resting places of the dead. Some describe shadowy animals. Others remember an eerie, laughing bark coming from somewhere beyond the trees. And over the decades, curious visitors have reported scratches, unexplained sounds, and the unnerving feeling that something...

The Lindsay Clancy mistrial has reopened a difficult national conversation about postpartum mental health. In this special Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina talk about depression, postpartum anxiety and OCD, postpartum psychosis, severe insomnia, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations and the warning signs families may miss. This episode is not about sensationalizing tragedy or deciding criminal...

Martin “Marty” Duram survived a devastating 1995 car crash, a coma and life-changing brain injuries before rebuilding his life in West Michigan. Years later, he reunited with his teenage love, Glenna Duram. But on May 12, 2015, Marty was shot five times inside their Newaygo County home. Glenna was found beside him with gunshot wounds to her head — and survived. Investigators uncovered foreclosure...

Three Michigan brides. Three futures cut tragically short. At Morris Chapel near Niles, Kathryn is said to wait where her wedding should have begun. Along Milan-Oakville Road, a woman in white searches for help after a fatal crash. And inside Central Lake’s Blue Pelican Inn, a young bride may still be trying to complete the escape that ended with her death. This week on F-Bomb Friday, Tracy and To...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine and Nina dig into the surprisingly strange history of bridal and couples showers—from Dutch dowry legends and Victorian gift-filled parasols to outdated etiquette rules, toilet-paper wedding dresses and the rise of modern Jack and Jill parties. #RoundRobinPodcast #WeddingHistory #BridalShower #WeddingTraditions #CouplesShower Hosted, edited and produced b...

In July 1999, Patricia “Patty” Artz disappeared from the Jackson County restaurant she owned with her husband, Kevin “Kip” Artz. What investigators discovered inside Kipp's Pizza and Taco became one of Michigan's most disturbing murder cases—and eventually spawned an enduring urban legend. But behind the sensational stories was a documented history of marital violence, statements about murder, a r...

Michigan's Hatchet Man Road is a lonely stretch of 28th Avenue near Gobles where an unverified legend tells of a Cold War-era bunker, a murdered family and a killer with a hatchet. But the real mystery may be what visitors have reported since: disappearing headlights, shadow figures, stalled cars, strange lights, whistling from the woods—and the pale face of a child among the trees. On this episod...

Twenty tons of squid on a Rhode Island roadway. A lucky pinkie ring that picked a $250,000 lottery ticket. contradictory personalities and manifesting! Plus, meet 82-year-old Guinness World Records powerhouse Annie Judis, our Woman of the Week! #RoundRobinPodcast #Squidpocalypse #FunnyConversations #WomanOfTheWeek #PodcastRecommendations Hosted, edited and produced by Tracy Preston, featuring Chri...

In February 1895, Detroit dentist Dr. Horace Eliot Pope was brutally murdered with an axe inside his Michigan Avenue home. William Brusseau admitted wielding the weapon—but after first claiming self-defense, he changed his story and accused Horace's wife, Nellie Pope, of planning the killing for insurance money. The sensational trial transformed Nellie into one of Detroit's most infamous “murderes...

Lake Superior is massive, freezing, unpredictable—and according to more than a century of strange stories, something enormous may be moving beneath its surface. On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy dives into the legend of Pressie, the Presque Isle Monster, a serpent-like creature reportedly seen across Lake Superior since the late 1800s. From steamship crews describing enormous humps rising fr...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina are clocking in for some of the strangest jobs on Earth—and nobody told Christine and Nina what those jobs actually are. Would you do them? How much would someone have to pay you? And if you absolutely HAD to choose one as your new career—which job are you taking? It's weird. It's fascinating. It's occasionally disgusting. And somehow... that's...

In the early morning hours of July 22, 1997, 26-year-old Steven Alexander Clark disappeared while walking home in Bay City, Michigan. Steven was a son, a brother, a best friend, and a musician who loved heavy metal and played guitar. He had disappeared for days at a time before, but he always eventually returned. This time, he didn't. Steven was never seen again. This story was brought to Malice i...

What if Michigan had a glitch in reality? On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, we explore the strange modern legend of Michigan Blue Hell — a mysterious place said to exist outside the boundaries of our world. Inspired by video-game glitches, abandoned buildings, underground tunnels, the Great Lakes, internet folklore, and stories of people disappearing into places they were never meant to find.  Blu...

We celebrate National Lazy Day and National S'mores Day before tackling the $10 Million Challenge: would you take the money if it meant leaving home behind? Then we're heading back to the days of classic Nintendo after a remarkable discovery of old video games raises the possibility of a massive collector payday. What would it take for you to pack up your life and move away forever — $10 million? ...