ShortHand: The Viper Room & The Death of River Phoenix
In October 1993, River Phoenix crashed out of Johnny Depp’s exclusive club, fell onto the pavement, and died. An hour earlier, the 23-year-old rising star had snorted a lethal combination of cocaine a...
10 Mars 22min
ShortHand: Princess Anastasia - The Russian Royal Imposter
The year was 1917, and revolution was in the air in Russia. After sustaining heavy losses in WW1, the fall of the House of Romanov seemed inevitable. And one night the Tsar, his wife, and their five c...
6 Mars 33min
The McStay Family Murders - Part One | #439
How does a family completely vanish? That was the question that plagued investigators after Michael McStay reported his brother Joe McStay missing on the 15th of February 2010, along with Joe’s wife S...
5 Mars 1h 17min
ShortHand: Alchemy
Turning lead into gold and living forever: that’s about the summation of our modern understanding of Alchemy. Informed by high-fantasy films and pop history, it now brings to mind dark, arcane ceremon...
3 Mars 30min
ShortHand: Area 51
Alien autopsies, flying saucers, and top secret government programs: three things alleged to be hiding in ‘Area 51’. Officially known as Homey Airport or Groom Lake, this secret government testing fac...
27 Feb 32min
Mexico's Cartel Wars: The Torture and Murder of Agent Kiki Camarena | #438
Amid the chaos now unfolding in Mexico after the February 2026 assassination of drug cartel boss El Mencho, we’re throwing it back to the 1985 torture and murder of American DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ C...
26 Feb 1h 10min
ShortHand: The ‘Monuments Men’ Saving Art from Nazi Bombs
In the darkest hour of WWII, as bombs threatened Europe’s historic cities, a small unit was sent to the front lines – not to fight, but to save art history itself. The 'Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archi...
24 Feb 25min
ShortHand: Lake Nyos - Fog of Death
“On that day, there were no flies on the dead. The flies were dead too.” On the 21st of August 1986, 1746 people and 3500 livestock died in the Cameroonian village of Nyos, died suddenly, and all at o...
20 Feb 36min
