Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

(Orig pub date: 8/3/2016) Much has been written about Jesse James, including his gang's ill-fated trip to Northfield, Minnesota, a botched bank raid met with death and tragedy, but never told like this. Mark Lee Gardner, author of "Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid and the Wild West's Greatest Escape", joins me to tell the story of the James-Younger gang's foray north from Missouri and the chaos that followed.

The author's website: https://songofthewest.com/

This is the 150th Anniversary of the Raid! Visit the official The Defeat of Jesse James Days website for more about the festivities: https://www.djjd.org/
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My guest this week is Merry Gordon, author of Arizona's Murdered Madams: Death in the Red-Light Districts. She shares the stories of two of Territorial Arizona's most infamous madams, former Mormon Minnie Powers and "Belgian Jennie" Bauters, including the cold-blooded murders that ended their lives. She also talks about the colorful and often dangerous world of sex workers in the Old West.

The author's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Merry-Gordon/author/B07F99X97T

The author's publisher page: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/arizonas-murdered-madams-9781467171069

The author on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merrygordonwrites/

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In May of 1832, an American whaleship called the Mentor went down on a remote reef in the western Pacific. Of the crew, eleven men made it out alive, but surviving the wreck was only the beginning. They found themselves stranded on unfamiliar shores, running low on supplies, and before long they were face to face with the Indigenous people of Palau, who approached them cautiously and heavily armed.

My returning guest is best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin, and his new book is called The Wreck of the Mentor: A True Story of Death, Despair, and Deliverance in the Age of Sail. In this conversation he walks us through the shipwreck, the crew's captivity, the clash of cultures and much more.

The author's website: https://www.ericjaydolin.com/

The author on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericjayd/

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My guest is New York Times bestselling author Phyllis Karas. She shares the deeply personal story of two shocking tragedies in her family history: a 1935 car accident that killed six relatives, and the brutal 1954 murder of a Massachusetts seamstress named Ora Schonarth that sent her cousin Ronnie to prison. She also explores how the trauma of both events reverberated through her family for generations. Her new book, Curse of the Blumenthals, is out now.

The author's website: https://www.phylliskaras.com/

The author's publisher page: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Phyllis-Karas/260784571

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(Orig pub date: 6/21/22) In the early morning hours of October 17, 1953, a frightened, battered woman named Diane Wells told a horrific tale to police. She said intruders had broken into the top-floor penthouse apartment she shared with her husband Cecil, murdered him, beat her, and then made their escape. It was an especially sensational story because 31-year-old "blonde bombshell" Diane Wells was nicknamed "the most beautiful woman in Alaska", and Cecil (twenty years her senior) was a wealthy and well-known Fairbanks businessman.

There were suspicions, however, that Diane was lying. It was soon learned that she was having an affair with a local musician and also being comforted by a dance instructor who worked downstairs.

My guest is James T. Bartlett, author of "The Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story that Shocked America". He shares details from his research into the almost 70 year old cold case, including an account of Diane's own tragic end.

More information about the author can be found at these links:

https://www.gourmetghosts.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thealaskanblonde

https://www.instagram.com/thealaskanblonde

https://www.twitter.com/alaskanblonde53

30% off sitewide at Batch! Go here and support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠hellobatch.com/NOTORIOUS⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use the code NOTORIOUS at checkout.
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