Criminal Records Podcast

Sep 26 2024 146 ep. 58 mins 1.3k
Criminal Records Podcast artwork

Criminal Records Podcast is a history show exploring the weird history of crime and punishment, from the earliest recorded murder case to the origins of laws that are in effect today. Join hosts Isaac Meyer and Demetria Spinrad on a wild journey through criminal justice systems all over the world. You can listen to our episodes in any order, but we recommend starting with our most recent cases and working your way back through our catalogue. We’ve learned a lot about audio editing and structuring hour-long episodes since we first started in 2018!

  History  True Crime
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Mickey Cohen

Sep 26 2024 70 mins  
Mickey Cohen had friends in high places, from celebrities to televangelists to the LAPD. So what happened when one of the nation's most notorious mobsters tried to file his taxes as a legitimate hat salesman? Sources and show notes at this link

Mickey Cohen, part 1

Sep 05 2024 64 mins  
It's an illegal gambling, Nazi-punching, tax-paying good time with Mickey Cohen, a gangster who rose through the ranks during one of America's most infamous eras of organized crime. Just don't ask about who he might have shot on his way to the top. Sources and show notes at this link

Sovereign Citizens, part 2

Aug 15 2024 75 mins  
As the internet creates new unmoderated spaces for ideas to spread, the sovereign citizen movement moves on to new audiences and finds a lot of angry divorced dads who don't want to pay child support. Content notes: This episode continues our discussions of fascist ideology, racism, and antisemitism from part 1. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

Sovereign Citizens, part 1

Aug 01 2024 71 mins  
Don't feel like paying your taxes? Want to start your own posse? Still mad about the gold standard? Looking for an excuse to blame all your problems on the Jews? Have we got a legally dubious ideology for you! Content notes: This episode contains discussion of fascism and anti-semitic ideology. Some violent incidents such as Ruby Ridge and Waco are mentioned but are not discussed i

The Principality of Hutt River

Jul 17 2024 68 mins  
When you're unhappy about the price of wheat, there's only one solution: Send a telegraph to the Australian government declaring war. Sources, show notes, and some pictures from a very real country at this link Support the show on Patreon

The James Flint Incident

Jul 11 2024 65 mins  
When an Englishman with the rare ability to speak Mandarin Chinese got into a dispute with a corrupt local official in Zhejiang, he took his complaints all the way to the top, kicking off a diplomatic incident involving the emperor himself. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon

Simas Kudirka

Jun 20 2024 61 mins  
A negotiation over fishing rights took an unexpected turn when a Lithuanian fisherman jumped onto an American Coast Guard ship to seek asylum. But as investigators dug into the story of this Soviet citizen's attempt to defect, they discovered that the defector's legal status was far more complicated than anyone—even Kudirka himself—could have guessed. Sources and show notes at

ONE Magazine

Jun 06 2024 61 mins  
In a country where gay sex is illegal, is a magazine for gay people a publication for criminals? Is the content obscene, even if there's no sexual content on the page, just because sex might be suggested somewhere off the page or in the pages of an entirely different publication? And most importantly, can you put this magazine in the mail? Sources and show notes at this link Suppor

We'll be back in a bit!

May 02 2024
Hello listeners! Isaac is entering final paper grading/rec letter writing season on top of planning an international exchange school trip for some of his students in May. I've also got plans to visit family on the east coast this month. Instead of rushing out episodes to cover the time we'll be too busy to record, we decided to hit pause on Criminal Records Podcast for a month. If

The Ulysses Trial

Apr 18 2024 69 mins  
If the obscene material you're distributing is so avant-garde that most readers can't tell it's actually obscene, did you commit a crime or not? This week, we're getting into the trial of the scandalous literary magazine editors who brought the work of James Joyce to America. Sources and show notes at this link Support the show on Patreon