Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

In May of 1832, an American whaleship called the Mentor went down on a remote reef in the western Pacific. Of the crew, eleven men made it out alive, but surviving the wreck was only the beginning. They found themselves stranded on unfamiliar shores, running low on supplies, and before long they were face to face with the Indigenous people of Palau, who approached them cautiously and heavily armed.

My returning guest is best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin, and his new book is called The Wreck of the Mentor: A True Story of Death, Despair, and Deliverance in the Age of Sail. In this conversation he walks us through the shipwreck, the crew's captivity, the clash of cultures and much more.

The author's website: https://www.ericjaydolin.com/

The author on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericjayd/

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My guest is New York Times bestselling author Phyllis Karas. She shares the deeply personal story of two shocking tragedies in her family history: a 1935 car accident that killed six relatives, and the brutal 1954 murder of a Massachusetts seamstress named Ora Schonarth that sent her cousin Ronnie to prison. She also explores how the trauma of both events reverberated through her family for generations. Her new book, Curse of the Blumenthals, is out now.

The author's website: https://www.phylliskaras.com/

The author's publisher page: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Phyllis-Karas/260784571

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(Orig pub date: 6/21/22) In the early morning hours of October 17, 1953, a frightened, battered woman named Diane Wells told a horrific tale to police. She said intruders had broken into the top-floor penthouse apartment she shared with her husband Cecil, murdered him, beat her, and then made their escape. It was an especially sensational story because 31-year-old "blonde bombshell" Diane Wells was nicknamed "the most beautiful woman in Alaska", and Cecil (twenty years her senior) was a wealthy and well-known Fairbanks businessman.

There were suspicions, however, that Diane was lying. It was soon learned that she was having an affair with a local musician and also being comforted by a dance instructor who worked downstairs.

My guest is James T. Bartlett, author of "The Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story that Shocked America". He shares details from his research into the almost 70 year old cold case, including an account of Diane's own tragic end.

More information about the author can be found at these links:

https://www.gourmetghosts.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thealaskanblonde

https://www.instagram.com/thealaskanblonde

https://www.twitter.com/alaskanblonde53

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In 1986, The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults drew a larger audience than the Super Bowl or David Frost’s interview with Richard Nixon. The special was intended as a comeback for journalist Geraldo Rivera, built around the dramatic opening of a "vault" beneath Chicago’s Lexington Hotel, rumored to contain Al Capone’s riches. But when the vault was finally opened live the moment didn’t deliver what millions of viewers were expecting.

My guest is William Hazelgrove, author of Capone’s Vault: The Real Story of the Biggest Disaster in Television History. His book traces how the idea came together, combining Rivera’s career arc with the mythology of Capone’s hidden fortune, and reconstructs the broadcast itself along with its fallout, showing how the event became a defining example of live television gone wrong.

The author's website: https://www.williamhazelgrove.com/

The author on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@williamhazelgrove

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In 1939, the crimes of German serial murderer Eugen Weidmann captivated France, culminating in a sensational trial and a public execution by guillotine, the last of its kind in the country, just weeks before the outbreak of World War II.

My guest today is Mark Braude, author of The Typewriter and the Guillotine: An American Journalist, a German Murderer, and the Meeting of Two Cultures on the Eve of World War II. In our conversation he shares how Janet Flanner’s reporting brought this case to American readers and why she saw Weidmann’s story as a chilling reflection of a continent on the brink.

The author's website: https://www.markbraude.com/

30% off sitewide at Batch! Go here and support the show: ⁠⁠hellobatch.com/NOTORIOUS⁠⁠ and use the code NOTORIOUS at checkout.
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