Dark City: The Places We Think We Know

Los Angeles, CA | Hollywood doesn’t just sell stories, it monetizes secrets. From mob-run extortion rings targeting Liberace to fixer Anthony Pellicano stockpiling wiretaps on the powerful, and David Letterman flipping the script on his own blackmailer, the pattern is clear. When image becomes currency, leverage becomes power. Gerald Petievich’s latest novel 13 Hillcrest Drive may be fiction, but...

Two high-achieving twenty-somethings quit their dream jobs, strapped everything they owned to two bikes, and pedaled into the kind of freedom most of us only fantasize about during a bad Monday meeting. Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austen weren’t reckless thrill seekers. They were planners, idealists, the type who believed the world was mostly kind. So when their round-the-world cycling trip carried t...

Montauk, NY | The premise for Stranger Things didn’t come from nowhere. We’re headed to Montauk, New York, where a real Cold War base, abandoned bunkers, and stubborn paper trails collide with a conspiracy theory that helped inspire Netflix’s biggest monster story. You’ll hear from Montauk native and author Brian Minnick, who explored Camp Hero as a kid, got chased by “security” years after the ba...

Santa Claus, AZ | In the 1930s, a holiday fantasy rose from the Arizona desert, promising Christmas every day of the year. This is the story of what happens when we try to make permanent what is seasonal by design. Follow for episode photos and more at: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/darkcitypod 🪡 Threads: threads.net/@darkcitypod 👤 Facebook: facebook.com/darkcitypod ✉️ Email:  info@darkcitypodcast...

Phoenix, Arizona | Case note on unexplained moments that surfaced during the Zombie Hunter investigation. I highly recommend Troy Hillman’s book Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter if you want to go even deeper into this case. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Down-Zombie-Hunter-Small-Town/dp/1639369678/ To learn more about Troy Hillman’s work, check out his website at https://troyhi...

Phoenix, AZ | The DNA match finally gave the canal murderer a name: Bryan Patrick Miller. But what followed raised more questions than answers. In Part 2, with retired Cold Case Sergeant Troy Hillman guiding the investigation, we trace how a man with a long history of violence managed to live an ordinary life while cultivating a public persona that mocked the very system hunting him. I highly reco...

Phoenix, AZ | Two brutal attacks along the city’s canal bike paths left residents terrified, investigators overwhelmed, and a serial predator hiding in plain sight. This episode unravels the cases of Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas, two young women assaulted while out on routine bike rides, and the decades-long effort to uncover who was responsible. With retired Cold Case Sergeant Troy Hillman gu...

Phoenix, Arizona | Phoenix is known for cactus and heat, not pumpkins. But in the 1860s, wild gourds grew in the valley, and an early settlement here actually went by Pumpkinville. This episode uncovers how an astonishing canal-building civilization, a chaotic frontiersman, and one dramatic Brit all collided to shape the unlikely pumpkin-soaked origins of America’s fifth-largest city. Follow us fo...

Phoenix, AZ | Long before a car bomb ended his life, Don Bolles was already circling danger. For years, he’d been chasing a story about mob money and a greyhound dog racing empire whose ties ran far darker than anyone realized. As he dug deeper, files vanished, witnesses flipped, and suspicious deaths emerged. These questions remain: Was Don Bolles murdered for a story he wrote, or for a story he...

Phoenix, AZ | On June 2, 1976, investigative reporter Don Bolles arrived at the Clarendon Hotel in downtown Phoenix expecting to meet a source about land fraud. The meeting never happened. Moments later, a bomb exploded beneath his car, leaving him mortally wounded. As he lay barely conscious, Don uttered several words that still echo through Arizona’s history. Was he the target of a mob hit? And...

While you’re waiting for the next episode, check out Leah's conversation with forensic psychologists Dr. Shiloh and Dr. Scott on their podcast L.A. Not So Confidential. We talk about the origins of Dark City, the importance of research in historical true crime storytelling, and revisit classic cases like Lizzie Borden and Winnie Ruth Judd. You can listen to Episode 215 Behind the Couch: Getti...

Fall River, MA | Andrew and Abby Borden were murdered in their own home. The weapon was never found, no one saw it happen, and suspicion quickly centered on Andrew’s daughter, Lizzie. Here, the threads of resentment, money, a burned dress, and a failed attempt to buy prussic acid point suspicion at Lizzie. More than a century later, the question still lingers: was she guilty, or did history get it...

Phoenix, AZ | The Orpheum Theatre has endured every challenge history put in its path, and so have the spirits of those who once filled its halls. From vaudeville spectacles and Hollywood premieres to decades of neglect and a $14.5 million restoration, the Orpheum has been the stage for both Phoenix’s triumphs and its growing pains. Today it dazzles with cutting-edge technology, but its most unfor...

Fall River, MA | We stayed overnight in the Lizzie Borden House to see for ourselves if the many accounts of paranormal activity were real.  We’ll just say it wasn’t exactly uneventful. In this haunted detour from Phoenix, we dive into the ghost stories surrounding the infamous ax murders and uncover a relatively unknown tragedy in the Borden family that happened right next door, and is likely fue...

Phoenix, AZ | We dive into conflicting confessions, courtroom chaos, and the question that won’t die: Did Winnie Ruth Judd act alone? Or was “Happy Jack” Halloran neck-deep in the horror? From drainpipe letters to marionette films, this story only gets weirder. Follow us for episode photos and more at: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/darkcity.podcast  🪡 Threads: threads.net/@darkcity.podcast  👤 Face...

Phoenix, AZ | Three bold, trailblazing women share a quiet Phoenix duplex, until one boards a train to Los Angeles with the other two dead and hidden in her luggage. In 1931, Phoenix was a little-known desert town of 50,000, but this brutal, baffling case put it on the map and continues to raise questions nearly a century later. Follow us for episode photos and more at: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com...

Wood Island, Maine | Wood Island is so haunted, even bestselling horror writer J.D. Barker won’t stay the night - and he’s here to share how its chilling history inspired his upcoming book, Something I Keep Upstairs.  Just as the Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King’s The Shining (and J.D. shares a terrifying story from his own stay there!), Wood Island’s dark past—plagued by disease, starvation, v...

Los Angeles, CA | How does a cafeteria owner in 1930s Los Angeles, dedicated to providing affordable meals for all, become the driving force behind exposing and dismantling corruption? Today we are joined by Robert Petersen, host of the podcast The Hidden History of Los Angeles, to talk about Clifford Clinton—a man who took on the city’s power structure and won, but whose own personal life tells a...

Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles is burning, and the impact is personal.  We delve into the current status of the devastating fires, discuss the factors that made them so catastrophic, and explore what they mean for the city's future. Linked Resources/How to Help: California Wildfires: Palisades and Eaton Fires (AP) L.A. Wildfires: Help and Resources List (KCRW) Mental Health Support for Fire Vi...

Los Angeles, CA | Former LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel once asked himself the unthinkable: Could his own father have killed Elizabeth Short? In this episode, we conclude the tragic story of Short’s 1947 murder with Steve Hodel, now a New York Times bestselling author, as he shares the chilling evidence that turned suspicion into conviction. Steve's investigation reveals a complex web of...

Los Angeles, CA | Elizabeth Short’s 1947 murder (also known as the Black Dahlia) still haunts Los Angeles. We press closer to the truth, tearing into the most gripping theories about who claimed Elizabeth Short’s life. *Note: Since the troubled teen industry came up at the beginning of the episode, we wanted to take the opportunity to share a few links on how you can help stop the abuses in this s...

Los, Angeles, CA | In the shadowy landscape of 1940s Los Angeles, one murder would captivate and horrify a nation. Elizabeth Short—forever immortalized as the Black Dahlia—represents more than just a gruesome crime. She was a young woman whose tragic end became a dark legend, a mystery that has haunted investigators and true crime enthusiasts for generations. We’re peeling back the layers of sensa...

Los Angeles, CA | Join us for an audio tour of Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles’ most haunted locations and infamous crime scenes with James T. Bartlett, journalist and author of Gourmet Ghosts Volumes 1 & 2. From the lingering spirit of Marilyn Monroe to the poetic capture of a murderer, this journey will give you a new perspective on these iconic locations.  To read more about James’ work...

Los Angeles, CA | What did Christa Helm know that got her killed? Or was she the victim of a jealous rage? On February 12, 1977, Christa was brutally stabbed to death in a quiet West Hollywood neighborhood. The night she was murdered, she carried a personal diary filled with high-profile names, secrets, and scandals—one that mysteriously vanished and has never been found. Decades later, her killer...