American Shadows

The mysogenistic article, 'What Are Girls Good For' infuriated Elizabeth Cochrane. Her well-written response to the newspaper did more than get her point across. It started her career as Nellie Bly, award-winning investigative reporter. 

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The story of Aaron Burr, who's legendary battle with fellow Founding Father began long before the duel.

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Georgia Tann believed the rich were better than those without means. She also believed lower-income couples should not have children This is the story of how thousands of children were stolen and sold in the black market. 

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During times of war and difficulties, people turned to sports and clubs as a way to enjoy friends, a good time, and to forget about their troubles and the headlines for a while. And sometimes, those same nightclubs made the headlines. 

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For many tourists, Coney Island was the epitome of summer. However, the carnivals and fun houses revealed another side of human nature. 

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Before electricity, those who walked the night were looked down on — and feared. Murderers, thieves, and sex walkers were frightening enough. But those who roamed the night involuntarily—they were feared above all. 

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Our quests for love can be disappointing. Maddening, even. When the love story that plays out is different than the one imagined – or the one you had wished for – the results can be devastating... or even deadly. 

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Sometimes, life will change in an instant, in a flash, or... in the case of the 1944 Hartford Circus... with a spark. 

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This summer, Grim & Mild Presents continues its journey into the strange, the unusual, and the fascinating. For our newest season, we’ll be taking to the high seas to explore one of history’s most notorious types of criminal: pirates.

From naval battles and buried treasure, to deadly sword fights and stolen rum. Prepare to raise anchor! Grim & Mild Presents: Pirates sets sail on Friday, July 8th.

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If something seems too good to be true it often is, from snake oil to opiates the American medical system has tried some radical treatments to heal the sick and make a quick buck. But who stands between us and disaster, quietly uncovering the darkest aspects of so called medical miracles?

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If I were to tell you that some of the things you know about health and wellness come from behind the veil, would you believe me? There was one man -- a reluctant sleeping prophet -- whose lasting imprint is still felt today. 

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There were those who exploited the cracks in the American dream, and took advantage of others -- and then there was one man who used it to become everyone he wished he ever could have been.

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Growing old isn't for the faint of heart. It's true that none of us will get out alive -- but we can all hope that no one takes that truth into their own hands for us. 

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They say that "clothes make the man" -- but in the case of these violent few days in Los Angeles, clothes also became man's undoing.

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There's a darkness in the human soul when it comes to survival.

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Get rich quick schemes have been around forever. But one con man not only made history, but became a household name. 

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Daredevils. They are on a quest to go higher, faster, and bigger than anyone else. Some think they are foolish for tempting death. But for those in this story, testing their mortal limits has given them reason to live.

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Sometimes, it's true what they say about karma.

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On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the garment district. Within 18 minutes, 146 people were dead. Though the factory owners were acquitted of wrong doing, the fire paved the way for safety regulations. 

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In 1587, 115 people arrived on Roanoke. The newly appointed governor left for England, promising to return with supplies. When he returned, all that remained of the colony was a single word carved in a wooden gate post: Croatoan. 

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When life got tough, Kate Warn got tougher. She became a spy and agent at 23. And in 1861, her boss tasked her with saving the president elect's life. 

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The Wild West. Home to legends — and one of the most bizarre stories of an outlaw ever told.

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Arsenic was called the inheritance poison - and for good reason. And killers who tried it once were likely to try it again.

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The people of Peshtigo, WI knew the dangers and ignored the signs until it was too late. 

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Sometimes, everyday heroes come from the most unusual places. 

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America's dark history of a time when society turned to eugenics in an attempt to stamp out mental illness.

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In the 1950s, the CIA was on a quest to create a method of mind control using LSD. Over the next 20 years, the experiment added torture, emotional and sexual abuse, and murder to the experiment. 

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Prohibition, extortion, and street gangs were common in New York during the 1930s. But none caught the attention of the American public the way Murder Inc did.

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A day of sunshine and picnics turns into one of the deadliest boating accidents in American history.

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Robert E. Lee's plans laid out in Orders 191 would have won the war. Then a Union corporal finds a lost copy which should have also ended the war. Along the way to Antietam, mistakes were made.

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From investment schemes to fake car warranties, there’s never a shortage of scammers eager to fleece people out of their life savings and hard-earned cash. The story of Gaston Bullock Means, one of the most notorious con artists of all time.

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There was a time when hijackings in America reached epidemic proportions.

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When it comes to murder, some things aren't as they seem. 

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The story and history behind Boston's most bizarre disaster.

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How Madison Washington led eighteen men to the most successful slave uprising in American history. 

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We have a deep fascination with murder from the safety of our homes. But when the crime goes unsolved, we feel less safe that a killer walks among us. 

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Thomas Edison believed direct current was the future of electricity. Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse championed alternating current. In the late 1800s, things were about to get ugly. 

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Sometimes, the most inhumane acts are the ones we do to each other. The story of Red Summer and how fear became a dangerous, blinding hatred that caused unspeakable violence across the nation.

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A man dedicated to keeping Boston safe from burning finds himself at the center of a firestorm when his prediction comes true.

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When we think of pirates, Blackbeard comes to mind. But there's a whole other group who sailed the seas — women.

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Reputations are everything. When they're gone, they're hard to rebuild. Harder if you're a woman.

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Envious of Chicago's announcement they were hosting the 1904 Olympics, the mayor of St. Louis come up with a plan to steal the show.

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Italian immigrant George Sodder was living the American Dream. When his home caught fire on Christmas Eve 1945, that dream became a nightmare.

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In 1900, one man controlled the weather bureau. When he ignored the experts about the path of a monster hurricane, the people of Galveston Texas paid with their lives. 

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How Robert Smalls went from stealing a Confederate ship to gain his freedom, to owning the very mansion he'd been enslaved in.  

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Though there have been several attempted coup d'états on American soil, this is the story of the only successful one to date.

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Believing they'd found peace on land no one else wanted, the Osage soon became more hunted than ever.

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George Parrott claimed to have ridden with Butch Cassidy and Jesse James, but his legendary status has nothing to do with being an outlaw.

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An inoculation for smallpox should have been something to celebrate. Instead, it caused outrage and violence.

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Life on British Prison Ships during the Revolutionary War, and the horrifying tale of a man who spent time aboard the most notorious of them all: the HMS Jersey. 

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The story about how stolen corpses played a crucial role in the development of Western medicine -- and how one man made a living at the center of the trade.

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A life insurance scheme involving murder, fraud, and a whole lot of alcohol. But some things just don't go the way they're planned.

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How one woman found God, murder, and the Anti Christ -- multiple times! -- in 1850s Connecticut.

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One man's quest to control the weather in Southern California -- with disastrous results that would change a city forever. Weather control has always been a vestige of the gods -- or so we've always thought. But there way one man at the turn of the century who convinced people otherwise -- with disastrous results. 

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It was a long time before President Abraham Lincoln would finally rest in peace -- his corpse would first have to survive counterfitters and grave-robbers.

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Political intrigue and murder in the aftermath of an American invasion of Canada in 1866.

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The darker side of American horse racing, and the shadows cast by some of the tragedies along the way.

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One man's obsession with lonely hearts ads of a century ago, and his abuse of the false trust they engendered.

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At the intersection of scientific advancement and tragedy is the story of US Radium and the young women who stood up to them.

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American Shadows is a bi-weekly podcast from iHeartRadio and Aaron Mahnke’s Grim & Mild. The show focuses on the darker stories from American history: the people, places, and things that are hidden and forgotten in the shadows. From better-known tales like the conspiracy to steal Lincoln’s body, to less-known stories, like the rainmaker who flooded San Diego. Join host Lauren Vogelbaum as she spans two centuries of omitted lore from our country’s history books.

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