Advertise on podcast: Bittersweet Infamy

Taylor tells Josie about two Pakistani women with the same name—one who was sentenced to death for drinking a cup of water on a scorching hot day, and one who was accused of poisoning her entire family in order to escape a troubled marriage.

Josie tells Taylor about phone phreaking, a.k.a. hacking the phone lines, and how it became part of the history of telecommunications in North America.

Taylor tells Josie and special guest host Mitchell Collins about the career controversies of musical icon Ms. Lauryn Hill.

Josie tells Taylor about the plans to use mirrors in outer space to provide solar-powered solutions for critical problems, like artificially increasing the length of the work day or hosting a Columbus Day race to Mars.

Taylor tells Josie about the outlandish attempts to establish a new nation in Bir Tawil, a 2,060-square-kilometre piece of unclaimed desert between Egypt and Sudan, and how the legacy of colonialism has shaped the geography of Northeast Africa.

Josie tells Taylor about the history of women shaving their heads, from the bald baddies of ancient Egypt to modern pop icons like Grace Jones, Sinéad O'Connor, and Britney Spears.

Taylor unpacks his recent trip to Peru, and tells Josie the story of Vinicunca, a.k.a. Rainbow Mountain, the breathtaking tourism destination that brought prosperity and tragedy to the remote community of Chillihuani.

April Fool's Fact or Fiction special! Josie tells Taylor three stories about people deciding to vanish: the masked wrestler who convinced his mother he died in the 1978 Jonestown massacre; the Japanese trend of jōhatsu (蒸発), or disappearing into thin air; and the literary legend who swapped limelight for... lightning? Two of these stories are true, and one is a lie. Guess along with Taylor and see if you can spot the sham!

April Fool's Fact or Fiction special! Taylor tells Josie three stories about children's television gone awry: a brand-new Wiggle blows over the limit; a malfunctioning spaceship burns a Brazilian kids' show to the ground; and Bananas in Pyjamas get held hostage by the Russian mob. Two of these stories are true, and one is a lie. Guess along with Josie and see if you can separate fib from fact!

Josie tells Taylor about the spicy history of one of America's favourite snack foods, Flamin' Hot Cheetos—and how the brand's well-known rags-to-riches origin story may actually be a flamin' hot fraud.

Taylor tells Josie about Camp Century, the U.S. military's once-innovative, now-abandoned science base in northwestern Greenland—and how it was merely a cover for Project Iceworm, a top-secret Cold War plan to hide hundreds of nuclear weapons within the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Josie tells Taylor about the hidden history of the classic board game Monopoly, and how Parker Brothers covered up its unlikely roots as the anti-monopolist polemic, The Landlord's Game.

Season six premiere! Taylor tells Josie about the temperamental Tudor King of England, Henry VIII, and his six ill-fated wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.

Josie Margaret Mitchell, Taylor Mitchell Basso, and guest host Mitchell Charles Collins ring in Mitchmas, a made-up holiday celebrating people named Mitchell, by exchanging infamous stories—including a compendium of psychic pets, the surprising history of Christmas tree tinsel, and how a song that came to its writer in a nightmare became Natalie Imbruglia's 1997 smash hit "Torn."

Trick-or-Treat Infamy + season finale! Josie tells Taylor about the dramatic life and times of English novelist Mary Shelley, and the infamous origins of her Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Plus: is your Labubu a conduit for an ancient Mesopotamian demon? Find out in the final minfamous of season five!