You Can’t Make This Up

From Executive Producer Spike Lee, the Netflix series Katrina: Come Hell and High Water tells the story of what happened, what’s changed, and what hasn’t. It recounts the harrowing experiences of those whose lives were forever changed by the storm. And it provides a report card 20 years later on the long term efforts to rebuild a community and its culture, and the effects of Katrina’s wounds that...

The Netflix documentary film aka Charlie Sheen looks at the actor’s rise to movie and TV stardom, his personal demons, and his public implosion. With deeply candid insights from those he loved and those he fought, Sheen gives his own colorful takes on the heights of celebrity, the depths of addiction, the cycle of self-destruction, and the quest to be #winning at life. In this episode of You Can't...

The Netflix documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish brings us the teen victims, their families, and the investigators behind a disturbing case of digital harassment. We also hear from the catfish who attempts to explain their actions, as well as the people they hurt, about whether or not they can forgive the pain inflicted on them. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecc...

In the Netflix documentary The Truth About Jussie Smollett? we hear directly from the actor about his claim he was beaten by racists that frigid night on a Chicago sidewalk. We also hear from police, journalists, and the two men who say Smollett paid them to fake the hate crime. The film also explores unexamined evidence which questions whether the assailants were actually the two Black men who to...

In the Netflix series Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, former contestants, producers, and stars of the show talk about what went into making the revolutionary weight-loss competition. It reveals the tensions between medical staff and show runners about the lengths players were pushed to. It explores The Biggest Loser’s legacy and the long-term effects on those who played the game. In...

Diego Pavia and Paul Finebaum are this week’s Netflix Sports Club guests. Paul Finebaum, the voice of the SEC, drops a bold national championship prediction that might give the Big Tenners pause, and he reveals which SEC quarterback has him starstruck. Vanderbilt quarterback, Diego Pavia, gives a standout performance on and off the field in SEC Football: Any Given Saturday. He relives that improba...

Do you like podcasts about crime? Well, the Wednesday Season 2 Official Woecast is here and it’s as twisted, unhinged, and relaxing as any true crime podcast. Hosted by Caitlin Reilly, the Woecast is your backstage pass to Nevermore Academy and beyond, with exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes secrets, and episode-by-episode breakdowns. BE WARNED! This podcast will contain spoilers for Wednesda...

The Netflix documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes features newly-released recordings of David Berkowitz talking about his troubled past and why he killed. He admits on tape to fabricating some of the most sensational aspects of his criminal persona to build his legend. But how much of what Berkowitz says is true… and how much of it is him still trying to shape his ow...

On the second part of our look at the Netflix documentary series Amy Bradley is Missing, we hear from an online sleuth hoping to locate the vanished American. Who are the suspects who could have kidnapped her? Are the sightings of her credible? Do the forensics prove the sex trafficked woman in that photo is Amy? And does the online habits of a user fixated on the investigation website suggest the...

The Netflix documentary series Amy Bradley is Missing explores what really happened to the cruise ship passenger three decades ago. Did she go over the rail into the ocean? Or did someone target her and spirit her away for their own purposes? The series looks at those aboard who could have targeted her, and presents the stories of those who’ve claimed to have encountered a sex trafficked woman the...

The Netflix series Trainwreck looks at the scandals, disasters, and plain ol’ screw-ups that captivated the world. This season covers the rise and fall of a fashion empire in The Cult of American Apparel. And it explores the mistakes that led to a fatal concert performance in The Astroworld Tragedy. We hear from experts, journalists, and those who lived through it to explore not only what happened...

Netflix’s Trainwreck takes viewers inside a series of calamities - some large, some small - and tries to bring reason to chaos. This season covers the scandal surrounding Toronto’s Rob Ford in Mayor of Mayhem, and embarks on the 2013 sewage-filled voyage in Poop Cruise. We hear from the people who lived through each fiasco where anything that could have gone wrong…did. In this episode of You Can't...

The Netflix documentary film Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster explores how the tragedy at sea was the foreseeable result of a driven CEO who for years ignored the warnings his experimental sub was slowly breaking apart. It takes us inside its many failed testings and Rush’s refusal to acknowledge Titan’s engineering defects which led to the death of its passengers - including his own.  In...

The Netflix documentary series Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders dives into the mystery behind the deadly 1982 cyanide tainting, one whose effects are seen on thousands of products today. It explores several theories about how and why the capsules were tampered with. And it features an interview with the man authorities say is their main suspect in the poisoning of seven people. In this episode of Yo...

UNTOLD: The Fall of Favre looks at Brett Favre’s gridiron glories and the scandals that sullied his reputation. We hear from Jenn Sterger, the sideline reporter who tried to rebuff Favre’s explicit text messages. And we learn more about his involvement in a scheme to defraud the government for millions of dollars. It also asks what it takes to hold someone accountable when they’re a superstar. In...

The Netflix series American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden takes us inside the search for the wanted terrorist. We hear from the analysts who culled through the intelligence, the warriors on the ground, and the leaders who called the shots. It guides us through the near misses of Bin Laden’s capture, right up to the zero dark thirty raid that ended his reign of terror at the point of a rifle.  In this e...

The Netflix documentary film A Deadly American Marriage looks at the killing of Jason Corbett, a case that reverberated on both sides of the Atlantic. Featuring intimate interviews with both Molly & Tom Martens and Jack & Sarah Corbett, the film searches for the truth - not just of what happened, but why. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Jenny Poppelwell an...

In part two of our look at the Netflix documentary series Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story, we’ll talk about the investigation into the couple and the quest to get them to turn on each other and give up their secrets. Plus, for the first time, we’ll hear from the sister of Alison Chambers to talk about who she was and how her loss affected her family.  In this episode of You Can't Make T...

The Netflix documentary series Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story looks back on the crime that shook the UK. It follows the couple's decades of deadly cruelty and takes viewers inside the interrogations with newly obtained audio recordings. It also examines the Wests themselves, and questions why they would turn their home into a house of horrors. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up,...

The Netflix documentary series Turning Point: The Vietnam War covers how American involvement went from advisory role to full-on combat in Southeast Asia. It dives into the key battles and the many opportunities to withdraw from the fight ignored by leaders. Soldiers, protestors, journalists, and civilians from both the US and Vietnam explain how the war affected their nations and the wounds that...

This week on You Can't Make This Up, we have a special bonus episode featuring the latest episode on our sister podcast, We Have The Receipts. Do you have fond childhood memories of summer camp? For a chance at $250,000, campers must compete in a series of summer camp-themed challenges to prove that they are unbeatable, unhateable, and unbreakable. Host Chris Burns is joined by the multi-talented...

The Netflix documentary Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror goes beyond the chaos of that fateful day, spotlighting the community's resilience and the search for answers. It explores the heroic efforts of first responders and ordinary citizens who risked their lives to save others, while also examining the investigation that brought Timothy McVeigh and his accomplices to justice. In this episod...

We're trying something different this week: a full post-show breakdown of every episode in the latest season of Black Mirror! Ari Romero from "Now on Netflix" is joined by Tudum's Black Mirror expert, Keisha Hatchett, to give you all the nuance, the insider commentary, and the details you might have missed in this incredible new season. Plus commentary from creator & showrunner Charlie Brooker! SP...

Piper Rockelle was a young social media superstar with more than 25 million followers. She filmed pranks, challenges, and “crush content” with her friend group, The Squad. For aspiring tween influencers, joining them could unlock hundreds of thousands of followers and big-budget brand deals. But former Squad members accused Piper’s mother and manager, Tiffany, of taking advantage of them—commercia...

The search for a missing person in 2010 led to the discovery of a woman’s body on a secluded stretch of Gilgo Beach. It prompted police to unearth the remains of several more women. Authorities reached a startling conclusion: a serial killer had been preying on sex workers in Long Island for years. For a time, it seemed the case would remain cold, but new investigators utilized overlooked clues an...