You Can’t Make This Up

Kevin Curtis was one half of a double Elvis tribute act, living in the Mississippi birthplace of the King. But after he stumbled onto what he thought was a black market organ harvesting scheme, Kevin went down a rabbit hole of conspiracy and on a quest to root out corruption. As his paranoia grew, threatening letters, sprinkled with deadly ricin, turned up at the offices of his enemies - as well as the White House.  The Netflix documentary series The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga tells the quirky tale of Kevin’s colorful life and dark obsessions. With its many twists and turns, we hear from the story’s cast of eccentric characters and follow the investigation into whether this Elvis impersonator hatched a plot sure to have him dancing to the Jailhouse Rock. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews directors Chapman and Maclain Way. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched The Kings of Tupelo yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

The 1996 murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey gripped the nation with its unusual twists. The bizarre ransom note…the uncooperative parents…and those child beauty pageants! The police, the press, and the public all focused on John and Patsy Ramsey and whether they staged the break-in, assault, and murder of their daughter. But even though all the physical evidence pointed to an intruder, years later many still believe the family was involved. The Netflix documentary series Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey dives back into the infamous crime, its troubled investigation, the media firestorm, and the lingering cloud of suspicion over the young victim’s parents. It also examines the behind the scenes struggles between detectives who withheld evidence from colleagues that cleared the Ramseys and those who believed someone outside of the home was responsible. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director and executive producer Joe Berlinger. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

They train for a lifetime, all for ten seconds at glory. But who will take the gold on track’s biggest stage: the Paris Olympiad? Will it be the brash Noah Lyles, the earnest Kenny Bednarek, or the enigmatic Kishane Thompson? Can Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce grab a medal at her fifth games? Or will up-and-comers like Sha’carri Richardson and Shericka Jackson take her place at the top of the sport? Or will Julien Alfred shock the world by earning her tiny island nation’s first ever Olympic medal? The Netflix sports series SPRINT Part 2 delves deep into the psyches of those elite competitors who train to be the fastest person on the planet.  It’s an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the high stakes and the mental toughness of the sprinters whose professional futures are decided in just fractions of a second.  In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Executive Producer Warren Smith and Showrunner Suemay Oram. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched SPRINT Part 2 yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

After a 2020 Olympic performance marked by disappointment, questions lingered on whether the most decorated gymnast of all time would ever return to the world stage. But Simone Biles was determined to go out on top and capture gold in Paris. With the glare of the world upon her, and not feeling 100%, Biles took this summer’s XXXIII Olympiad by storm.  Her story resumes in Simone Biles Rising Part 2. The series follows the acclaimed athlete as she overcomes challenges both physical and personal. It provides an intimate portrait both on and off the mat as she completes her triumph in France and removes any doubt that she’s the greatest of all time. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Katie Walsh. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Simone Biles Rising Part 2 yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

Mats Steen appeared to live a life of isolation. A Norwegian teen suffering from a degenerative muscle disease, reliant on adaptive technologies, Mats spent all of his time on his computer. It wasn’t until he died at age 25 that his parents learned what he’d been doing.  The gamers did not know Mats’s medical condition. Instead, they knew him as Ibelin: a brawny medieval nobleman in search of adventure. The online players regarded Ibelin as a caring friend, a ladies man, and someone whose advice changed them in real life. It wasn’t until his passing, Mats’s impact on both worlds was revealed. The Netflix documentary film The Remarkable Life of Ibelin uses game logs and code to digitally recreate Mats’s online journey. Through Ibelin, he experiences companionship, romance, and acceptance in a community where he could be his true self. The film asks questions about the nature of friendship and what it means to live a quality life - even one in a virtual world. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Benjamin Ree. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched The Remarkable Life of Ibelin yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

What goes through the mind of a killer just as they take a life? And how do they feel about their actions after spending years in prison? Season five of the Netflix documentary series I AM A KILLER explores those questions, allowing admitted killers to talk about their crimes and reflect on how taking a life has changed them.  But their tales don’t go unchallenged. Investigators, prosecutors, and loved ones hear their words and respond - some with forgiveness, some with a fact check on what really happened. What are the inmates looking for? Understanding? Redemption? A chance to rewrite their violent histories? Or simply the opportunity to tell the world “I am a killer.” In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producers Ned Parker and Danny Tipping. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched I AM A KILLER yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

In a league filled with superstars, they stand out among the rest. But what does it take to achieve greatness in the NBA, as well as away from the court where you can’t call a timeout in real life? The ten-part Netflix sports series Starting 5 provides an intense, behind-the-scenes look at the 2023-24 season through the eyes of five of the league’s biggest players - Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, LeBron James, Domantas Sabonis, and Jayson Tatum. The series captures their battles on and off the court as they chase greatness, push through injuries, and balance the demands of family and legacy. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Showrunner Peter Scalettar. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Starting 5 yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

Vicky White was well-liked and respected by her co-workers in the Alabama jail she ran, and by the inmates she supervised. They were shocked when, on one of her last days on the job, she vanished with accused murderer Casey White. It wasn’t until later authorities discovered the pair had a secret relationship for years, and they escaped so they could finally be together. After eleven days on the run, the manhunt came to a tragic end. Through surveillance video and audio from their secret phone calls, Netflix’s Jailbreak: Love on the Run chronicles Vicky’s plan to spring her dangerous lover and the nationwide search for the couple. It also seeks answers to the question: why did Vicky do it? In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producers Dan Abrams and Rachel Stockman. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Jailbreak: Love on the Run yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

Cathy Terkanian learned the daughter she gave up for adoption decades earlier vanished under mysterious circumstances while a teenager. When Cathy began her own investigation into the disappearance, she learned police dismissed the involvement of the violent predator living in the home Aundria Bowman grew up in. Her birth mother dedicated herself to getting Aundria’s adoptive parents to reveal the truth about what happened. Then, after years of persistence, an unlikely discovery broke the case wide open. From the creative team behind The Keepers and Executive Producer Charlize Theron comes the Netflix documentary series Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter. It follows a decades-long quest for justice and the investigation into a man whose list of violent crimes remained largely unconnected. It also profiles Cathy’s quest to do right by the daughter she never knew and bring her home. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Ryan White and producer Jessica Hargrave. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

Michigan football assistant Connor Stalions had an uncanny knack for the art of sign stealing - the perfectly legal practice of deciphering opponents’ signals to gain an on-field advantage. Stalions credited hard work and research for his success. But the NCAA believed he’d broken the rules by sending friends and family to other games to illegally scout teams in advance. The scandal rocked the sport, launched a thousand memes, forced Stalions out of football, and cast a cloud over Michigan’s undefeated season.  In UNTOLD: Sign Stealer, Stalions tells his story for the first time, showing his methodical preparation and answering questions about whether he went too far to give his team a leg up. It asks was Stalions the best who ever did it…or was he a cheater? It also probes why college football was willing to turn a blind eye to the practice until now.  In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Micah Brown. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched UNTOLD: Sign Stealer yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

On July 4, 2009, former NFL MVP quarterback Steve “Air” McNair and 20-year-old Sahel “Jenny” Kazemi were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds at a Nashville townhouse. The deaths shocked the sports world. While the police declared the pair died by Jenny’s hand, others say the investigation was botched and other suspects were dismissed too quickly. Volume four of the acclaimed Netflix sports series, UNTOLD: The Murder of Air McNair takes viewers through the pivotal moments of the investigation while also charting McNair’s rise to stardom across 13 seasons in the NFL. Through gripping game day footage and emotional interviews with teammates, coaches, and friends, the film captures McNair’s extraordinary career — while also examining the factors that led to these tragic deaths. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews directors Rodney Lucas and Taylor Alexander Ward. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched UNTOLD: The Murder of Air McNair yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

A program in D.C. offers the children of incarcerated men a rare chance to be with their fathers: a Daddy Daughter Dance inside the jail. While the men go on a journey to consider the impacts of their actions on their family, the girls navigate heartbreak, anger, and uncertainty, as they seize a precious opportunity to be with a parent they’re not even permitted to hug. But when the music stops, will these connections endure? Netflix’s Daughters follows Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana as they prepare for a momentous Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers. The film sheds light on the complexities of familial bonds strained by the unforgiving barriers of the criminal legal system. It also follows its main subjects long after the dance to see if the experience had a lasting effect on the bonds between father and daughter. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews directors Natalie Rae Robison and Angela Patton. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Daughters yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

She was the bright and bubbly young woman who disappeared on Christmas Eve of 2002 while eight months pregnant. The disturbing mystery of what happened captured the nation’s attention and dominated the news as the investigation slowly pointed to her husband. The murder of Laci Peterson remains one of the most famous and compelling true crime cases of the century. The Netflix documentary series American Murder: Laci Peterson is a story about a beloved woman, intimate partner violence, and media obsession. For the first time, we hear from Laci’s mother, Sharon, about her family’s ordeal. And we get the perspective of the woman thrown into the center of the case: Scott Peterson’s unsuspecting girlfriend, Amber Frey. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Skye Borgman. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched American Murder: Laci Peterson yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

How do they bring unseen monsters and unknown murderers to life on the screen? How do they get those interviews that no one else gets? What’s it like to tell the stories with only questions and no answers? Today we’ll hear the stories behind the episodes in volume four of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries. These directors hope their stories can help crack an unsolved mystery. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews Directors Robert M. Wise and Gabe Torres. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Unsolved Mysteries yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

From classic true crime to paranormal encounters, we can’t get enough of unexplained tales and the questions they raise. Volume four of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries brings us more of the unsettling, head-scratching cases you’ve come to expect from the legacy series. But this isn’t a series you only watch. Tips to unsolved.com have made a difference in many of the cases profiled. This time viewers are asked to solve a murder inside a locked building, find a terrifying night creature, determine whether a bloodsoaked death was an accident or a homicide, identify a victim by only her severed head, and travel to Victorian England to uncover history’s most notorious serial killer. Who knows? Maybe you have information that will crack an unsolved mystery. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer and showrunner Terry Dunn Meurer. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched volume 4 of Unsolved Mysteries yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

She’s a single mom working at a Whole Foods in Connecticut with one dream: to climb Mount Everest…again! Lhakpa Sherpa holds the record for most Everest summits by a woman. Now she returns to her native Nepal to conquer the world’s tallest mountain for the tenth time, and in the process, find healing from her past traumas. The Netflix documentary film Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa follows her dangerous trek to the top of the world. It also explores Lhakpa’s efforts to climb out of the valley of her despair and achieve serenity through the spiritual powers of her beloved Everest.  In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Lucy Walker and producer Miranda Sherman. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

She’s considered the Greatest of All Time: a gymnast so special that five of the most difficult skills are named after her. But Simone Biles stunned the world when she withdrew from the 2020 Olympics, citing a need to protect her mental health. But after a break from the sport, the champion returned to the gym and confronted her physical and emotional challenges. The Netflix documentary series Simone Biles: Rising follows the gymnast’s journey from disappointment in Tokyo to her return to the Olympic stage in Paris. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Katie Walsh. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Simone Biles: Rising yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

From the rolling surf of Malibu to the glamor of the Hollywood hills, detectives in the LA County Sheriff's Department deal with some of the wealthiest and most famous people in the country. And when murder is involved, the pressure is on to solve the crime all while in a spotlight as bright as any blockbuster premier. In the latest installment of the Netflix docuseries, Homicide: Los Angeles revisits some of the most shocking and baffling crimes from the City of Angels, told by the detectives and prosecutors who worked them. Legendary executive producer Dick Wolf brings viewers inside these puzzling investigations and shows what it takes to solve them. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive director Adam Kassen. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Homicide: Los Angeles yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

It’s been said that there’s no more difficult position in the NFL than the quarterback. But throwing the pass is only half the story. Receivers turn those throws into dazzling catches, explosive runs, and highlight-worthy touchdowns.  The Netflix sports series Receiver follows pass catchers Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. On the field and off, these players prepare for their chance at greatness. Dealing with playing time, injuries, and family drama, we see that being an elite receiver in the NFL is more than just catching the ball. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Shannon Furman. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched Receiver yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.

Would-be mothers in The Netherlands selected Jonathan Jacob Meijer to be their online sperm donor - a well-spoken, well-traveled gent with luxurious hair and a desire to help women conceive. But the parents were shocked to learn Meijer had gone far beyond the largely voluntary guidelines for sperm donation, having fathered hundreds of children in their country…and beyond. With no laws to stop him, Meijer remained defiant, vowing to continue donating sperm around the world. The Netflix documentary series The Man with 1000 Kids spans the globe, following Meijer and the parents who felt duped by him. It explores the frightening implications for the children and the larger population, and examines a reproductive health industry built without guardrails. It also attempts to answer what would drive a man to extremes to create a world in his own image. In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer Natalie Hill. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched The Man with 1000 Kids yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.  Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts.