The Grim Curriculum

This week on Extra Credit, we're covering a collection of stories that range from genuinely concerning to downright bizarre. We have an update involving Ken, the former partner of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and father of her child, with questions surrounding the circumstances of his death. We also revisit the case of Christa Pike and a botched execution that raises some difficult questions. Then it&...

We're back with Part 5 of our series on Robert Pickton and Vancouver's missing women, covering the events of 1998 and 1999. By this point, the warning signs are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Reports of Pickton bragging about killing women are circulating, while some members of the Vancouver Police Department are pushing for action amid growing concerns about the missing women...

After our September break, we're back with Part 4 of our series on Robert Pickton and Vancouver's missing women. This episode takes us through the events leading up to 1998, with a continued focus on the women who went missing or were murdered during this period. We're exploring their lives and stories, the circumstances surrounding their disappearances, and the wider landscape of viol...

This week, we're continuing our look at the Lindsay Clancy case in Part 2 of our special mix of The Grim Curriculum and Extra Credit. We take a closer look at the testimony, expert opinions, and competing arguments surrounding Lindsay's mental state and the question of criminal responsibility. We break down some of the major developments from the final weeks of the trial, while keeping spe...

In Part 3 of our series on Robert Pickton, we continue putting the focus where it belongs, on the women whose lives were taken, and the stories that so often became overshadowed by the man responsible. As we learn more about the victims, we also reach a pivotal moment in Pickton's story. One woman came remarkably close to surviving him, and her fight to escape would come closer than anything e...

We're only two episodes into our Robert Pickton series, and somehow, we've already covered A LOT. In Part 2, we're beginning to look at the women who may have been among Robert Pickton's first known or possible victims, while continuing to follow what Pickton and the increasingly shady group of people around him were getting up to. The deeper we dig, the more unsettling the story b...

This week, we're bringing you a special mix of The Grim Curriculum and Extra Credit as we take a close look at the Lindsay Clancy case, the 2023 deaths of her three children in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and the trial that has raised difficult questions about mental illness, postpartum psychosis, criminal responsibility, and the limits of what we can truly know about someone else's state of m...

This week on Extra Credit, we've got a whole collection of true crime updates, including some cases we've talked about before that have taken a few unexpected turns. We start with a particularly bizarre update involving Chris Watts, followed by another development in the ongoing case of Dr. Gerhardt Konig. Dina brings us back to the disturbing case involving 16 children found in rural Ohio...

I thought I knew what we were recording for episode 213. I was wrong. Dina decided we're doing Robert Pickton. - Charlotte This week, we're beginning a brand new series on one of the most notorious serial killers in Canadian history. And we're starting where we usually do, long before the murders, with Robert Pickton's childhood, his (very) strange family, and the odd world he grew...

On July 31, 1987, a devastating F4 tornado carved a path through Edmonton and the surrounding area, forever changing the city and the people who lived through it. Known as Black Friday, the tornado claimed 27 lives, injured hundreds more, and became one of the deadliest natural disasters in Canadian history. This week, we're looking back at the events of that devastating day, from the storm&#3...

This week on Extra Credit, Dina kicks things off with a story that sounds like it belongs in Florida... except it happened in Massachusetts. A mime has found himself facing criminal harassment charges, and trust us, this isn't the kind of performance anyone asked for. Charlotte then gives a well-deserved shoutout to Jimothy the raccoon, the internet's latest unlikely celebrity, before Dina...

For years, the Donnelly family lived under the shadow of suspicion, violence, and an ever-growing reputation that divided an entire community. In the end, that reputation would end in one of the most shocking acts of vigilante violence in Canadian history. Seriously, when we picked this case to talk about, we truly weren't prepared. In the final chapter of our series on the infamous "Blac...

In Part Two of our series on the infamous "Black" Donnellys, tensions in Biddulph Township continue to spiral as old rivalries turn increasingly violent. With accusations flying, loyalties tested, and the Donnelly family's reputation growing more notorious by the day, it's becoming harder to separate fact from fiction. As we follow the family through another turbulent chapter, we...

This week on Extra Credit, we begin with heartbreaking breaking news out of rural Ohio, where four adults have been arrested after sixteen children, ranging from very young to 18 years old, were discovered living in deplorable conditions. With many questions still unanswered, we discuss what is known so far and why this is a case we'll be following closely as more information comes to light. W...

This week, we're diving into the unbelievable story of the "Black" Donnellys, an Irish-Canadian family whose name became synonymous with feuds, revenge, and violence. What begins as the story of immigrants trying to carve out a life in rural Ontario quickly spirals into decades of bitter rivalries, courtroom battles, and shocking acts of brutality. In Part One, we explore the Donnell...

Grab your tinfoil hat and strap it on tight because we are heading down to Texas (figuratively speaking) to examine one of the most compelling modern UFO cases in recent memory. In January 2008, residents of Stephenville reported seeing strange lights and massive objects moving silently across the night sky. What began as a handful of eyewitness accounts quickly became a national story, drawing at...

This week on Extra Credit, we have an update on Rex Heuermann as sentencing finally arrives. Dina also brings a story that is guaranteed to leave your jaw on the floor and a shudder up your spine, along with a few others, beginning with an incident at an Oklahoma Arby's that proves truth really is stranger than fiction. Meanwhile, Charlotte heads into science corner with news that the Large Ha...

In 1872, the Mary Celeste was discovered drifting alone in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship was seaworthy, its cargo was largely untouched, and the crew's personal belongings remained on board. Yet every person aboard had vanished without a trace. More than 150 years later, the fate of Captain Benjamin Briggs, his family, and the crew remains one of history's greatest maritime mysteries. Was i...

This week on Grim Curriculum, we conclude our longest series to date with Part Six of our deep dive into Richard Ramirez, the monster known to the world as the Night Stalker. After months of terror, countless victims, the hunt for Richard Ramirez finally reaches its dramatic conclusion. The poetic justice of the community he terrorized coming together to bring his reign of terror to an end is bitt...

This week on Grim Curriculum: Extra Credit, we're checking in on a couple of familiar faces and, unsurprisingly, they're still making headlines. First, we have updates on cases we've covered previously, including Nick Reiner, who remains determined to fight for his trust fund despite finding himself in increasingly hot water. We also revisit the case of an 87-year-old man recently sent...

This week on Grim Curriculum, we're taking a brief break from our Night Stalker series for another installment of Grim Encounters. These episodes are some of our favourites because the stories come directly from you. From unexplained experiences and strange coincidences to encounters that still leave people questioning what they witnessed, today's episode is filled with tales that are eeri...

The walls are starting to close in on Richard in episode 5. As Ramirez continues his reign of terror across Los Angeles, the evidence against him continues to grow, and the mistakes he leaves behind become harder and harder to ignore. Feeling the pressure from the increasing attention surrounding his crimes, Richard briefly leaves Los Angeles for what could be described as a "vacation" i...

This week on Grim Curriculum: Extra Credit, Dina is doing most of the heavy lifting while Charlotte recovers from her trip to Vancouver (she sunburned her forehead), but don't worry, we've still got a wonderfully strange collection of stories for you. First up is a tale involving Tom Selleck... kind of. Not really. What starts out sounding amusing quickly becomes something much more tragic...

Picking up where we left off, the city of Los Angeles remains gripped by fear as Ramirez continues his campaign of terror. Despite the growing media attention and mounting pressure from law enforcement, he has no intention of stopping. If anything, he is becoming more brazen, more violent, and more determined to escalate. But while Richard Ramirez may have viewed himself as untouchable, in his min...

This week, we continue our deep dive into Richard Ramirez with Part Three of our Night Stalker series, which may be one of the longest series we’ve ever covered on the podcast. There’s so much history, psychology, investigative work, and social context wrapped up in the Night Stalker case that we felt rushing it would almost do it a disservice. As Ramirez continues his violent rampage through Los...