Conspiracy Theories

In 1888, Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of Whitechapel, England. Officially, he killed five women, brutally mutilating some of them beyond recognition. But perhaps the most unsettling part of his tale is how, to this day, we still don’t know his true identity. They say it’s because the police failed to catch him. However, some believe his identity was kept secret by Scotland Yard, The Freemasons, and even the Royal Family. Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspiracypod⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’ve heard of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, you’ve surely heard the rumors about its famous owner, Sarah Winchester. Like the claims she was an eccentric hermit who never left her 24,000-square-foot mansion. Or that she demanded construction crews work on her home night and day, year after year, because she believed when the work stopped, she would die. Or maybe you’ve heard that she feared hoards of vengeful spirits, killed by Winchester rifles, were out to get her. It’s a compelling legend – built on little to no evidence. Is the Winchester legend a hoax, and if so, who was behind it? Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspiracypod⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Beginning in 1632, a convent of young Ursuline nuns made startling claims – from seeing dead priests, to being possessed by a horde of Satan’s demons. A team of priests presided over daily exorcisms – some of them public – for months…until the blame was directed toward one man: Father Urbain Grandier, a controversial figure who’d made a number of foes. Despite his claims of innocence, Grandier was executed. Was he in league with the devil? Were the young women hallucinating? Or…were the nuns coerced into pulling off a bizarre case of sabotage? Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspiracypod⁠ Try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE at https://ziprecruiter.com/THEORY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Halloween Eve, 1938 Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds aired on CBS radio. It detailed an alien invasion so realistic that, according to legend, it caused widespread panic among listeners. People really believed aliens were invading Earth. The mass hysteria is an important part of media history. However, some believe that there was never actually any panic at all. So why do we think that there was? It could all be a conspiracy by the newspaper industry to take down their new rival: radio. Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspiracypod⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On April 3, 1996, Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski – better known as the Unabomber – was arrested, ending a 17-year-long bombing spree that left 3 dead and 23 injured. He promised to end his campaign of terror only after outlets published his 35,000-word manifesto; in his view, technology is an uncontrollable and dangerous system that could only be stopped by revolutionary means. But where did his ideology come from? Some suggest he was pushed to the brink during a three-year human psych experiment he took part in while a young student at Harvard University, overseen by a popular, prominent – and sometimes controversial – father of personality testing, Henry A. Murray. Help us reach 10k followers on Instagram! @⁠theconspiracypod⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices