Tracking the Isdal Woman

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.

Rediscovering the Inca Empire

In 1991, anthropologist Johan Reinhard was trekking up the snowy face of a dormant volcano when he came face to face with the mummified remains of a teenager who had been sacrificed to the Incan gods centuries earlier. The story of “Juanita the Ice Maiden” is just one of the riveting tales featured in this four-part series from the popular podcast "History Hit".

Who was Gudrid the Far-Traveled?

Considered one of the greatest female explorers of all time, Gudrid the Far-Traveled counted among her in-laws Erik the Red and Leif Erikson. Traveling from Medieval Europe to North America via Iceland and Greenland, Gudrid became the first European woman known to have given birth in North America. This article details the pioneering achievements of medieval Europe's greatest female explorer.

The mystery of Sandby Borg: an Iron Age massacre

Sandby Borg, Sweden, was the site of a 5th-century slaughter where victims were left to rot where they fell. This article details how scientists are working to solve the prehistoric murder mystery and find out what happened to the Sandby Borg...

Investigating 'the city that kills women'

For nearly three decades, thousands of women have disappeared near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Some were mutilated in ways that led authorities to suggest it the work of a serial killer, some were trafficked into slavery, and others have never been found. Opening with a hail of bullets, this 10-part podcast series hopes to uncover those responsible for the femicides.

Explaining the icy mystery of the Dyatlov Pass deaths

A decades-old mystery from Soviet Russia could be explained by studying the science of snow. After nine students died on a hiking trip in the Ural Mountains, Soviet investigators found six had perished from hypothermia while three others died from blunt force trauma. The mystery confounded officials for years, and rumors of yeti attacks and similar theories abounded until researchers proposed a new potential culprit: an avalanche.

Journey through Norway’s frozen frontier

This 44-minute video takes viewers through the Arctic landscapes of Norway, as they learn about the area’s life and challenges. Viewers can observe the wildlife that thrives in this harsh setting—from reindeer and polar bears to red foxes. They...

Searching for Albert Einstein's stolen brain

Within moments of Einstein's 1955 death, someone reportedly ferreted away the 76-year-old genius's brain. Decades later, a reporter's editor told them to solve the case. This 64-minute podcast episode follows the work of Steven Levy, the reporter who ultimately tracked down Einstein's brain, which had been sliced and stored in slides, goo, and a cardboard box in a scientist's office.

The origins of Iceland's child-eating Yule Cat legend

Iceland is a cold place, and wool production has long been a key means of surviving the climate's severity. For those Icelanders who failed to get new Christmas clothing before the holiday, their lurked a vicious, hungry cat to consume them. The centuries-old folklore is a fascinating story of social control through the tales we tell. For a dose of Christmas fear, read this wild article.

Inside a FIRE follower's money diary

This podcast episode details a few days inside the bank account of a woman in Australia who set out to retire by age 35.

Hear the story of Truth's life

This podcast traces Truth's life from slavery in New York to her status as an abolitionist icon—covering her daring escape, legal victories, landmark speeches, and lasting impact on racial equality and women's rights.

How a 6-year-old girl survived the wilderness of Arkansas alone for days

In 2001, a family trip to the Buffalo National River Wilderness in the Arkansas Ozarks took a dark turn, unfolding a tale of bizarre events when six-year-old Haley was lost and reportedly helped by the spirit of a little girl who resembled a child...

'Statelessness: Citizens of Nowhere' podcast examines how statelessness erodes identity

This podcast series explores how millions live without citizenship or legal status. Through expert interviews and personal stories, it examines how history, borders, and policy can leave entire populations without citizenship and rights.

The story of Susy Thunder, the female hacker who disappeared

Here's the story of Susan Thunder, a woman who entered the hacker underground scene in the late 1970s and one day disappeared completely. She had a troubled past, facing abuse and hardship, and found solace in manipulating phone systems and later computer systems. She became involved with prominent hackers and her ability to control systems mirrored her quest for personal control. Her story highlights the role of social engineering in hacking.

Salvador Dalí’s remains were exhumed for a paternity test

Years after Dalí’s death in 1989, fortune teller Pilar Abel filed a suit claiming she was the child of an affair Dalí had with her mother. In 2017, Dalí’s body was exhumed for testing. Dalí was not the father, but the artist’s mustache remained intact decades after his passing.

An anthropologist spent years riding garbage trucks to understand what our trash says about us

Robin Nagle rode with New York City sanitation workers to trace the hidden life of what we throw out. Her research explores what the things we discard reveal about who we are. 1440 explores the hidden life of trash.

The story of Marion Stokes, a woman who taped 30 years of TV

Marion Stokes was an activist archivist frustrated at the lack of a record or access to what was broadcast on TV. So in 1975, Stokes began taping the broadcasts, day and night, 24 hours a day, and continued to do so for 30 years, racking up over 70,000 tapes that span the Iran Contra crisis to the evolution of cable news. Read about her fascinating story here.

The story of Marie Nyswander, the woman who co-discovered methadone maintenance

Methadone, an opioid with distinct effects from heroin, revolutionized heroin addiction in the 1960s. Marie Nyswander was a psychoanalyst who helped discover the treatment process which is still in use today. Here's a podcast episode examining her life and role in the field of addiction treatment.

German Nazi war crimes suspect, 96, who went on the run goes on trial

A 96-year-old German woman who was caught shortly after going on the run ahead of a court hearing last month on charges of committing war crimes during World War Two appeared before a judge on Tuesday in the northern town of Itzehoe.

A Harvard radio station once dedicated 24 hours to Jandek

The enigmatic singer-songwriter plays atonal dirges that are haunting or horrible, depending on your taste. He has self-released over 120 albums but rarely performs live, preferring to conceal his true identity. In 2003, a Harvard radio station aired the "Jandek Orgy," which included his fans debating his identity, lyrics, and philosophy.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

How Scotland's war on witchcraft started

This 31-minute podcast episode details the beginning of Scotland's witch hunts and their relation to King James VI and I. Between 1589 and 1590, Princess Anne of Denmark set sail for Scotland, where she planned to marry James, the king of Scots in line for the English throne. Storms plague Anne's journey, and Anne's homeland finds the storms suspicious, putting supposed witches on trial for the inclement and threatening weather.

Indigenous women are murdered at 10 times the rate of all other ethnicities in the US

Murder is the third-leading cause of death among Indigenous women, who are also 2.5 times more likely to experience violence than any other group. More than 4 in 5 Indigenous women have experienced violence in their lifetime.

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

The tragic story behind 'Afghan Girl' (1984)

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is "Afghan Girl" by Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula, the subject of the photo, was not credited until 2002 for her role in the famous National Geographic cover, and continued to live in poverty after the photo was taken.

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.

Long-lost sisters meet for the first time and accidentally show up in the same dress

Two women aged 51 and 63 discovered they were sisters after taking a 23andMe test. Both born in Russia, the siblings immigrated to the US around the same time. When the time came to finally meet, they coincidentally arrived wearing the same outfit.

'Lady Muraski' was a pen name

The author behind "The Tale of Genji" is still unknown. The woman's diary and some details about her aristocratic life have been found, but scholars have not yet pinned down her identity. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

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.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

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.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

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.

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.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

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

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes