The Art of Crime

In 1887, American actor Richard Mansfield originated the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Boston. His performance as Hyde was so terrifying that audience members fainted. In the late summer of 1888, he took the show to London, presenting it at the metropolis's foremost playhouse. Just weeks after Jekyll and Hyde opened, the Ripper claimed his first canonical victim, and Mansfield aroused su...

For decades, Willy Clarkson reigned as London's most famous theatrical wigmaker and costume designer. Also renowned as a master of disguise, he did business with countless customers intent on concealing their identities. According to Clarkson's early biographer, Jack the Ripper was one of them. However, documentarian P. William Grimm has recently argued that Clarkson and Jack were one and the same...

In 1888, the malefactor known as Jack the Ripper killed at least five women—Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elisabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly—in the poverty-stricken district of Whitechapel, East London. In the first episode of this season, we discuss the victims' lives and times as well as their deaths. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com. ...

In 1888, Jack the Ripper murdered at least five women in the East End of London. More than a century later, we haven't stopped talking about his crimes, nor have we given up on unmasking the perpetrator. In season 1 of The Art of Crime, we look at six artists who have been accused of the killings.  Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com.  If you'd like to support th...