Some 'Simpsons' fans believe the show exposed Jeffrey Epstein's private island

'The Simpsons' show-within-a-show was based on a real cartoon

Most "Simpsons" fans assume "The Itchy and Scratchy Show," the violent cartoon Bart Simpson loves, is a disturbing inversion of "Tom and Jerry." In reality, it's based on "Herman and Katnip," a "Tom and Jerry" knockoff that was similarly grotesque.

The story behind Conan O'Brien's most celebrated 'Simpsons' episode

"Marge vs. the Monorail," an episode from the show's fourth season, is widely considered not only one of the best 'Simpsons' episodes, but one of the best sitcom episodes in general. In this detailed history of it for The Ringer, writer Conan O'Brien, then a 28-year-old fresh off leaving "Saturday Night Live," explains how "The Music Man," disaster movies, and a strange billboard inspired the script.

A comprehensive history of 'The Simpsons'

This documentary explores the wild trajectory of the show, from Matt Groening's early underground cartoons to its status as a groundbreaking pop culture phenomenon.

'The Simpsons' has a knack for inadvertently predicting the future

Some have noted that "The Simpsons" has accurately anticipated a number of events years before they happened, including the election of President Donald Trump, Disney buying 21st Century Fox, and Siegfried and Roy's tiger attack. This list breaks down some of the show's most uncanny inadvertent predictions.

'The Simpsons' celebrated 800 episodes in 2026

The beloved family from Springfield reached a milestone in 2026, surpassing 800 episodes. In this Associated Press feature, the show's creators and stars reflect on the series' history, from its controversial early days to its present-day status as an elder statesman of comedy.

The sophisticated math jokes of 'The Simpsons'

"The Simpsons" has always been a slyly sophisticated show and has featured more than a few references to complex mathematical concepts. That's largely due to its writers' room, which has featured more than one writer who studied math before transitioning to comedy.

The best celebrity cameos on 'The Simpsons'

As the show became a pop culture sensation in the late '80s, it began attracting celebrities eager to get in on the fun. This list ranks some of the best of those appearances, including Meryl Streep, Paul McCartney, and Dustin Hoffman.

Why Nevada is home to a real-life 'Simpsons' house

The home, a strikingly accurate recreation of the cartoon family's home on Evergreen Terrace, was built for a 1997 promotional contest. Back then, it was painted to look exactly like it did on TV, but the contest winner declined to move in, choosing a $75,000 cash prize instead.

Watch Hank Azaria perform classic sports rants as 'Simpsons' characters

The actor has voiced some of the show's most beloved characters, including Moe Szyslak and Chief Wiggum. In 2025, he joined "The Rich Eisen Show" and used those voices to reimagine some of the sport's world's most ridiculous speeches.

Pizzagate alleged a neighborhood pizza joint was hosting a sex trafficking scheme

During the 2016 presidential elections, Comet Ping Pong Pizza became the subject of a conspiracy theory that the Clinton family used the space as a front for kidnapping and trafficking children. The hoax began on the message board 4chan after the public became aware that the shop's owner was a Democratic donor.

Exposing a beloved British personality as a pedophile

After Jimmy Savile's 2011 death, comments damning him began populating an online networking site for an "emotionally disturbed girls" residential school. These comments pricked the ears of two BBC journalists whose desks had been slowly covered in rumors of abuse by the public figure and former BBC presenter. This podcast series focuses on how journalists bring stories to light and is one of two episodes detailing Savile's story.

Indian Creek Village: the exclusive billionaire island

Off the coast of Miami lies an island called Indian Creek Village. Spanning around 300 acres, the island is home to a few dozen homes owned by celebrities, sports stars, and tech founders. Only residents and verified visitors can enter this private space, protected by its own police force. Listen to this podcast episode for more information about the private island and why the wealthy love it.

The OJ Simpson case interrupted soaps’ daytime dominance, changing the genre

OJ Simpson's 1995 murder trial was broadcast for months, bumping soap operas from the airwaves. Fittingly, the trial provided the same salacious story lines, compelling characters, and open-ended narratives that soaps offered viewers. The key difference, of course, was that the Simpson trial was real life.

A psychedelic hamburger led one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, to testify against the group's leader.

What happens when you can't trust your therapist?

When Marty Markowitz first stepped into his new psychiatrist's office, he triggered a three-decade spiral of abuse that robbed him of his autonomy, relationships, and wealth. Markowitz isn't the only client to lay allegations of abuse at the feet of Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf, an accomplished New York practitioner with a rolodex of celebrity clients who has since lost his license to practice.

Unraveling the Long Island serial killer case

Authorities investigating the disappearance of a woman from Long Island in May 2010 soon discovered four bodies that had been dumped nearby. Six more bodies were found in the same area in early 2011, and authorities announced later that year that all the deaths were the work of one person. This episode is the first in a seven-part series into Gilgo Beach slayings and their seemingly bungled investigation.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

In 2018, a graffiti artist sued HBO for including their work in one of the network's shows

An episode of the HBO show "Vinyl" featured a scene with a woman walking down a New York street and passing by a dumpster tagged by graffiti artist Itoffee Gayle. Gayle filed suit against the network, despite not owning the dumpster, claiming that the network had violated his copyright and trademark rights by including his work in the show without his permission. The court sided with HBO, saying that Gayle's claims "bordered on frivolous."

Why America is obsessed with the stories of scammers

A "grifter" is someone who exploits systems at a high level. Notable cases like fake heiress Anna Delvey, Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland, and startup faker Elizabeth Holmes, who deceived their way to success, captivate our culture. These...

A 2019 meme about Area 51 led to arrests and a music festival

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," spawning countless memes. Millions marked themselves as "going," and seven were arrested at a gate into the area. It also inspired a music festival attended by more than 7,000 people.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Fidel Castro

From exploding cigars and poisoned Cohibas to an infected scuba suit and plans to drug a TV studio with LSD, this account catalogs the CIA's strangest—and consistently unsuccessful—attempts to kill Fidel Castro over decades.

Atlantis and the apocalypse: the world of fringe archaeology

A Netflix series called "Ancient Apocalypse" claims that a thriving civilization was wiped out during the ice age by comets and floods, but left humanity with science and technology. Experts call this “pseudo-archaeology.” This hour-long podcast...

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well

In today's society, SpongeBob's life as a single man, line cook, and town fool may not seem appealing. But SpongeBob is perhaps the happiest creature in Bikini Bottom, because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

How tax laws helped the federal government catch mob bosses during Prohibition

The IRS arrested top mob bosses during Prohibition after the Supreme Court ruled illegally-made income could be taxed. The IRS's biggest catch was Al Capone, who was charged with tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. But Capone wasn't the only bootlegger the IRS nabbed for tax evasion during this era.

‘Hamlet’ is a widely produced show, including a famous performance at one prison

Rehabilitation of convicted violent criminals in Missouri’s Eastern Correctional Center included performances of “Hamlet,” one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The Federal Reserve Act's foundation was laid in a secretive meeting at the world's most prestigious club

Republican Sen. Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island organized a highly secretive meeting of the minds at the world’s most prestigious club on Jekyll Island, Georgia, where a who’s who in the financial world hashed out details over the course of a week.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.