This holiday season, as you pack your suitcases and duffle bags for that annual trek to your aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving, you’ll need a solid podcast to help you focus. We recommend turning on one of these fascinating episodes of Crimes of the Centuries with Amber Hunt, letting yourself become enveloped in the history behind some of America’s most notorious crimes. For this list, however, we are keeping the episodes more family-friendly, in case you have any smaller ones running around while you pack. (Listeners’ discretion is still advised for all ages.)
"We saw Goody Hunt in the forest with the devil!" When we think of autumn and fall, we picture the colorful leaves and chilly temperatures of New England – including Salem, Massachusetts. As a result, as you pack for Thanksgiving, we recommend listening to Amber Hunt’s take on the Salem Witch Trials of the 17th Century. You’ll learn how these notorious trials not only shaped the policies of the 1600s but also changed how the American legal system functions today.
Did you know that the famed Leonardo da Vinci painting, the Mona Lisa, was once stolen from the Louvre in 1911? That’s right, one of the most famous, immortalized faces on the globe was taken – but at the time, it wasn’t as well known as you might think. In fact, the Mona Lisa’s theft is one factor that helped secure its place as a beloved masterpiece – centuries after it was first completed in the 1500s.
Sure, you may know more about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr thanks to the hit Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical. But are you aware of the Elma Sands case, the first murder trial that saw Hamilton and Burr on the same side of the defense table? If you are itching to learn more about the history surrounding one of Broadway’s biggest hits, add this episode of Crimes of the Centuries to your list.
In the early 1900s, a pair of wealthy teenage boys convinced themselves that they were not only brilliant masterminds but also above the law. In an effort to prove their intellectual superiority, they carried out the murder of an innocent 14 year-old boy… and were eventually caught and tried for said murder. Listen to the puzzling case for yourself, a case that not only disturbed a community but also changed how many adults approached parenting and understanding the psychology of their kids.
Two of the most well-known American "traitors" during the Cold War were Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple – and communist sympathizers. They had allegedly provided top-secret information regarding nuclear warfare to the United States' enemies in Russia. In this episode, you'll learn more behind one of the most famous case of American espionage, perhaps more than you ever did in history class.
Listen to these episodes and more from Crimes of the Centuries wherever you download podcasts.