What It Was Like

With Brad Pitt back in the spotlight thanks to F1, we’re revisiting a classic episode from 2022. Casting director Lauren Lloyd recalls meeting a young, pimply Pitt in the 1980s and instantly knowing …

In 2003, a Wall Street trader named John Rusnak was convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to more than seven years in prison. In this episode, John explains how a series of bad bets snowballed into o…

A family moves into a new home in rural Pennsylvania and starts renovating. Only there's something in the walls that doesn't make sense. What they uncover upends their lives and reveals a fascinating…

In 2009, motivational speaker James Arthur Ray hosted a multi-day retreat in Arizona. On the final day, three participants died. In this episode, the property’s owner, Amayra Hamilton, tells us what …

For decades, David Magna worked as a safety supervisor in Canadian slaughterhouses. But then a crisis of conscience turned him from an industry insider to vegan activist. In this episode, we tackle t…

As a child, April Balascio noticed that people would often vanish. One time it was a labourer working for her dad, another time it was a young couple in town. Then as an adult, April started googling…

In 1995, Carlos de Yarza spent 90 minutes remixing a catchy Spanish song without giving it much thought. That version became 'The Macarena' the world knows today. Carlos joins us to talk about how a …

In 1994, a luxurious ferry called the MS Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea, drowning most of its passengers. Landscape architect Paul Barney was one of the few who survived. In this nail-biting episode,…

In 2019, two children vanished in Idaho, sparking an investigation that became one of America’s biggest true crime stories. At the centre were Chad and Lori Daybell, two religious fanatics with a fix…

When Kevin Briggs joined the San Francisco Highway Patrol, he didn’t expect a key part of his job would be talking people down from the Golden Gate Bridge. In this episode, Kevin shares how he develo…

In 1991, Shaun Attwood arrived from the UK to find American rave culture in its infancy. Spotting an opportunity, he began importing potent Dutch ecstasy and built a drug empire through his network o…

A new study gave psilocybin to religious leaders, just to see whether their faith would be affirmed or rattled. In this episode we hear from one participant, Islamic leader Sughra Ahmed, who describe…

Mary McGriff was 15 when she hitched a ride with a man named Lawrence Singleton. The next day, she lay at the bottom of a cliff, her arms severed with an axe. Somehow, she survived. In this episode, …

This week, we're re-running a classic. When abandoned farm houses started catching fire in rural Virginia, police weren't sure what to think. It took five months and almost 80 fires for a couple to b…

In the early 90s, Paul Templer ran a business guiding clients down the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls. One afternoon, he was attacked by a hippo and found himself halfway down its throat. In this …

In 2005, Malcolm Naden murdered two women and vanished into the Australian bush. For seven years he evaded police, until former detective Ricky Hennessy joined the case. In this episode, Hennessy sha…

John DeLorean was a star auto designer in the 1960s, but his own car company—the DeLorean Motor Company—never took off. When a cocaine deal offered a last-ditch lifeline, it ended in a dramatic arres…

In 1976, 20-year-old Rob Hunter was a month into his first teaching job at a remote Australian school when an armed gunman abducted him and his nine students. In this episode, Rob recounts the harrow…

Last year, 23-year-old British porn star Lily Phillips announced plans to break the world record for the most sexual partners in a day—starting with a “practice run” involving 100 men. In this episod…

In the mid-80s, producer Linda Gottlieb heard a friend’s story about “dirty dancing” at summer camp and urged her to write a script. Despite rejections, budget cuts, and on-set drama, the film became…