Bittersweet Infamy

To launch our Titanic April series, Josie tells Taylor about the most infamous maritime disaster in history: the sinking of the largest ocean liner in the world, the RMS Titanic, after hitting an iceberg on her 1912 maiden voyage.

Taylor tells Josie about France's disastrous attempt to overthrow the Mexican government in the 1860s, and the unwise rise and catastrophic fall of the last emperor of Mexico, Maximilian I. Plus: Taylor unpacks his trip to Cuernavaca, Mexico, including a tour of Jardín Borda, Emperor Maximilian's lavish personal garden.

Josie tells Taylor how our modern cultural image of the Wild West was constructed by one man: soldier and showman "Buffalo" Bill Cody. Plus: unravelling the mystery of the Persian Princess, the mummy whose royal trappings disguised a heartbreaking hoax.

Taylor tells Josie about the toxic, possessive, and deadly mother-daughter relationship between 1930s Spanish political activists Aurora and Hildegart Rodríguez Carballeira. Plus: unearthing the legend of the green children of Woolpit, the green-skinned changelings who've mystified the world since the 12th century CE.

Josie tells Taylor about the unconventional art project that saw American artist Jill Magid propose to Italian archivist Federica Zanco with a diamond made from the physical remains of prominent Mexican architect Luis Barragán. Plus: head up to Dawson City, Yukon, and join the Sourtoe Cocktail Club—by drinking a cocktail made with a severed human toe!

Taylor tells Josie the stories of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, whose TikTok ad for Bud Light kicked off a right-wing beer boycott, and January Marie Lapuz, the beloved social butterfly whose 2012 killing shocked Vancouver's LGBTQ+ community.

Season five premiere! Josie tells Taylor about heiress turned abductee turned revolutionary Patricia Hearst, and her explosive odyssey with the militia that kidnapped her, the Symbionese Liberation Army. Plus: the tragic saga of the animal outlaws who became MAGA martyrs, Peanut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon.

Holiday special! Taylor tells Josie one infamous story for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas—from the drummer the Beatles drummed out of the band, to a Partridge naked on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Halloween special + season finale! Josie tells Taylor about the haunting history of the modern Spiritualist movement—from the crafty teen sisters who brought it to life, to the high-profile feud between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that nearly caused its demise. Plus: get dressed up for Jimi (地味) Halloween, Japan's costumed celebration of the mundane and everyday; and walk with us am...

Halloween special! Taylor tells Josie about the 1938 Orson Welles radio play about a Martian invasion that allegedly caused a mass hysteria, and the 1949 Ecuadorean remake that went even further. Plus: flesh out your fall reading list with the world's largest collection of books bound in human skin!

Guest host Peter Chiykowski tells Josie and Taylor about the pod of orcas who hunted in harmony with humans until a brutal betrayal ended it all. Plus: catch up with Darwin the Ikea Monkey, the stylish snow macaque whose fetching winter coat kept him warm through a chilly legal battle.

Josie tells Taylor about the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which contains the world's largest display of phalluses, and curator Sigurður Hjartarson's quest for the collection's crown jewel: a human penis. Plus: listen to "Amelia's Song," the mysterious melody that reunited a family across cultures, continents, and centuries.

Guest host Erika Jo Brown tells Josie and Taylor about the evangelical Christian fervour that led American missionary John Chau to contact the voluntarily isolated people of North Sentinel Island—with deadly results. Plus: get to know Erika Jo with a harvest-fresh game of Bitter or Sweet?

Taylor tells Josie about Alicia Esteve "Tania" Head, the prominent 9/11 survivor who was exposed as a fraud. Plus: a deep dive into the centuries-old history of the ama, Japan's legendary pearl divers.

Josie celebrates Taylor's birthday with a series of infamous party stories, featuring guests of honour from Kim Kardashian to Kim Jong-il. Plus: step into the ring with the Fighting Cholitas, the professional wrestlers crushing stereotypes of Indigenous women in Bolivia.

Taylor tells Josie and guest host Mitchell Collins about '90s nighttime soap queen and tabloid bad girl Shannen Doherty. Plus: a closer listen to hit em, the new musical genre that came to its creator in a dream.

Josie tells Taylor about the muddy line between forgery and art, and how Mexican ceramicist Brígido Lara made it even muddier. Plus: 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern, his VP pick Thomas Eagleton, and the electroshock controversy that killed their campaign in only 18 days.

Taylor tells Josie about the legend of Slumach's gold, and the curses, killings, and calamity surrounding the mythical lost mine of Pitt Lake, British Columbia. Plus: Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander and the controversial sculpture that lost its head in the culture wars.

Josie tells Taylor about humankind's attempts to communicate the dangers of nuclear waste to our descendants in the very distant future. Plus: the declassified truth about Acoustic Kitty, the CIA's ill-fated attempt to engineer a feline spy.

Taylor tells Josie about Hachikō, the Japanese dog who became a national icon by loyally waiting for his long-dead master, and other very good boys of note. Plus: the long, curly tale of the feral hogs of Ossabaw Island, and the unusual attempts to preserve and study them.

Josie and Taylor present the Melties, celebrating your choices for the best moments of 100 episodes of  Bittersweet Infamy . Josie chews so much gum that she becomes unstuck in the multiverse. Taylor's vendetta with an old foe has deadly consequences.

Josie tells Taylor about the controversial 2016 CMA Awards performance by Beyoncé and The Chicks, and how it inspired Beyoncé's 2024 album,  Cowboy Carter . Plus: it's full speed ahead on the Road to the Melties as Taylor and Josie prepare their ballots for episode 100 of Bittersweet Infamy !

Taylor tells Josie about activist Sacheen Littlefeather, her protest on behalf of actor Marlon Brando at the 1973 Academy Awards, the disputes around her claims to Indigeneity, and the history of Indigenous identity fraud. Plus: does Denver's infamous haunted horse statue, Blucifer, have a cousin? Did the Wicked Witch of the West really ruin an episode of  Sesame Street ? Josie puts her undefeated...

Josie tells Taylor about the history of the Nigerian prince email scam, and the rise and fall of influencer/fraudster Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, a.k.a. Hushpuppi the Billionaire Gucci Master. Plus: a chess-playing robot attacks a child? A viral chess trend makes it to outer space? The truth isn't black and white in the April Fools' Fact or Fiction Minfamous!

Taylor tells Josie about the 2010 San José mine cave-in in the Atacama Desert near Copiapó, Chile, and the 33 miners whose rescue captivated viewers around the world. Plus: the fatal 2009 accident at Utah's Nutty Putty Cave.