Episode list

When the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan, playing an instrument could be punished by death, and yet Negin finds herself as conductor of all-female orchestra, stepping into a power she didn't know she had. Follow the incredible true story of Negin Khpalwak.

Guarding Saddam is the never before told story of the relationship between a prisoner-the ex-President of Iraq-and a young American soldier from Kansas City. A Paperless story by Vespucci. Journalist: Michael Weiss Audio: Ben Adair for Western Sound and Charlie Brandon-King.

Lawyer, fraudster, and king of the party, Scott Rothstein had a gift--he could tell anyone's price. He used this gift to transform those around him into "players" in an incredibly lucrative game... transforming his law firm into a giant Ponzi scheme. With a cast of dirty cops, acquiescing employees, and thieving businessmen, Rothstein set the stage for the largest Ponzi scheme in Florida history and fourth-largest worldwide.

The Living Goddess follows Rashmila, who at four years old was taken from her family to become a goddess. She grew up in a palace, dressed always in red, believing she could heal the people who came to worship her. At twelve years old, her world turned upside down: she was cast out from the palace. It was time to become a mortal again.

This story contains potentially triggering subjects, including suicide, homophobia, physical violence, and misgendering. In 2015, an exceptional trial took place in Jerusalem. The body of transgender activist and beloved community leader May Peleg was held in police custody. May's request was that her ashes be divided in two: one half scattered into the sea, the other at the roots of an Illawarra Flame tree, a fiery red tree with both male and female blossoms. Meanwhile, her mother petitioned the courts, intending to ignore May's wishes and bury her in a traditional way, under the male name given to her at birth. This is a story inspired by her life and her legacy.

When brutal murders in the community push the Reverend to his limits, he knows he needs to reach the people at the heart of the violence. But as he walks the streets by night, his own son is out on those same streets, immersed in gang life and drug dealing, earning the nickname Little Killer. While the Reverend advocates for peace among drug addicts and gang members, the person he wants to save the most is the one who feels furthest out of reach: his son.

As tensions over South Africa's white-owned farmland escalate, Midas Wanana and other Black residents take matters into their own hands, creating a new settlement on the edge of a white-owned vineyard. They call the settlement Azania, a precolonial name for South Africa. When the white farmer, Stefan Smit, is murdered in his own home, the finger is immediately pointed at the Black occupiers and tension in Azania reaches a boiling point, ultimately costing Wanana his life. But something isn't adding up. To catch the real perpetrator, detectives will need to look far closer to home.

A deep-dive into Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of one of London's 7/7 bombers and a notorious wanted criminal in the UK. A white woman from a nondescript town, Lewthwaite became the poster girl for radical Islam in the UK and garnered the reputation of being one of the most deadly terrorists in the world. As the tabloids grew greedy for sensational stories, the White Widow became their favorite villain and - perhaps - their favorite creation.

1943. While World War II rages, a different kind of battle takes over a British village in Lancashire where US troops are stationed. Throughout their service, Black American troops had faced daily bigotry and racism from their own countrymen. One night, the tension erupts into violence and the sleepy, unremarkable village of Bamber Bridge becomes a battleground between two Americas. This story contains explicit language and racial slurs. Listener discretion is advised.

Crime writer Diane Fanning was working on her first non-fiction book, spending time visiting and writing to a serial killer on death row. When Diane saw a case on the TV show 20/20 about a mother who was convicted of brutally murdering her 10-year-old son, she wrote about it in a letter to the convict. His letter back chilled her to the bone. He knew details about the case that only one person could have known.

The Chevalier d'Eon is a brave army captain, a sparkling dinner companion -- and a spy in King Louis XV's secret service, tasked with planning an invasion of England from within London's highest social circles. But the French government, having no idea that the Chevalier is working for King Louis, plots to assassinate the charismatic diplomat, who only narrowly survives. When the scandal subsides, the Chevalier returns to France with a request: to be recognized as a woman. This is the story of one of the 18th century's most remarkable characters: the spy who dared to craft her own identity.

Alex Latifi, Iranian-born owner of a small parts factory in Alabama, loved by his workers, had been fulfilling military contracts for years, making parts cheaper and better than the competition. When he finds out his secretary has been embezzling money, he fires her. Embittered and vengeful, she tells the FBI that Latifi has been sending classified information to China. As Latifi fights to keep his factory open and his workers employed, a politically aggressive US attorney tries to bring him down: "We don't care if Latifi is innocent. Our goal is to put him out of business."

Argonia, Kansas, 1887. Susanna Salter is baking bread when there's a knock at the door. She learns she's been nominated for the mayoral elections as a prank by some of the men of the town. After all, what could be funnier than the notion of a female leader? Nobody expected that serious, reserved Susanna would accept the nomination, let alone that she would be elected the first female mayor of the United States.

Inspired by the life and work of Leon Theremin, a Russian inventor whose most famous invention was the Theremin -- an instrument that produces otherworldly, haunting music, and which is played seemingly by magic. At the height of the Cold War, Theremin's passions for music and science drew him into dangerous territory: the price of pursuing his great passions would be to live his life as a spy.

The Oakland A's of the early 1970s were the most iconoclastic team in baseball history. Never before had a club so collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with its eccentric behavior and business decisions, not to mention its outlandish facial hair, while simultaneously setting records: five consecutive division titles and three straight championships. Yet despite all the winning, the drama that played out on the field was somehow exceeded by the drama in the clubhouse. There were fistfights between players on the regular. The one thing that kept the team from splintering was the fact that, as much as they might have loathed each other, they loathed the team's owner, Charlie Finley, even more... At least they had that much in common. In 1973, Finley pushed it too far, maneuvering to get a player off the team on false pretenses, uniting his team against him as the World Series hangs in the balance.

Narrated by Steve Buscemi. After suffering a work-related accident, Caribbean-born Gosnell Duncan was paralyzed from the waist down. An engineer by trade, and determined not to let his disability come between him and the love of his life, Angela, Gosnell poured his knowledge and energy into crafting a new invention from his Brooklyn basement: the world's first silicone dildo. His invention was intended for others too; specifically, he sought to bring pleasure to people with disabilities. Letters would come from all over the country with specific requests for his custom-made sex toys - letters telling Gosnell intimate secrets and hoping he could help. Despite many obstacles - including laws that could send him to prison just for advertising his products - Gosnell changed the world. This story brings overdue recognition for an inventor like no other.

Narrated by Jamie Clayton. For Maeve DuVally, coming out as transgender in a corporate America was a journey of self-discovery that required her to hit rock bottom before she came out on top. This is her story.

A woman grapples with the mysterious murder of her husband in their Denver home. All the doors were locked from inside, there is no sign of break-in, but her husband lies there, stabbed to death. The murder haunts the house, already a place of mourning after their son Anthony did not return from World War II. As a local detective struggles to pry apart the puzzle of the murder, Helen begins to see a ghost in her dead son's room. The killing isn't over.

When the great Russian writer Anton Chekov visits the penal colony on the remote island of Sakhalin in 1890, he is astonished to learn that they're holding a famous prisoner-Sonya Golden Hand. He finds the legendary con-artist in solitary confinement, her legs clamped in iron chains. Chekhov kneels down beside her on the filthy prison floor. Tell me the story of how you ended up in chains.

It's 1974, and Richard Molfer has just started his own labor consulting firm and zeroed in on his first client: a hospital in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A union drive is about to start here, the employees are already organizing, and administrators are terrified. But Molfer, a seasoned veteran of hardcore union fights in the mines of Utah, has a plan. He's going to divide and conquer the staff, and make sure Local 1199 never sets foot in that hospital-all for a price, of course. Little does he know that he's about to meet his greatest protegee, a young man with an uncanny gift for gaining trust, and that blood will be spilled before this drive is over. Inspired by true events.

Conor Mackay is a fast-talking teenager from a Mississippi trailer who rakes in fifty-thousand dollars a night selling counterfeit concert tickets or "blinkers" in the 1990s. With a new wife and baby at home, Conor must stay one step ahead of Ticketmaster, which is always on the lookout for counterfeiters like him. But as he navigates the criminal underground, Conor's old gambling debts begin to catch up with him, and he'll have to betray the people closest to him to escape. Inspired by true events.

In a small Israeli village in the 1980s, three Arab brothers are born blind. When a payphone is installed at the end of the block, the brothers discover they can use their supersensitive hearing to manipulate the lines to do their bidding, the first step in what will become the largest telecom fraud in Israeli history.