Criminalia

Norman Baker was an entrepreneur, a pioneering radio personality, and a fake doctor. He was a masterful propagandist, and through his radio station and multiple tabloid publications, he manipulated American anxieties about everything from politics to alleged ills of vaccinations. But his biggest claim was that he could cure cancer, in just six weeks, with his own elixir -- and your

Though the Pink Pills couldn't stand up to the wild advertising claims that the product was a cure-all, the pills were actually potentially medically beneficial to some people with a certain -- common -- condition; in theory. Maybe. Hey, we're not doctors. Let's talk about, how despite that, why this potentially potent patent medicine was under fire from the U.S. government.See omn

William Bailey called himself a doctor, but his career was as a shady businessman, not a medical professional. In the early 20th century, he launched a series of start-up companies, capitalizing on the new discoveries of radioactive elements, and sold patent medicine products with lethal radioactive substances with unproven promises to cure everything from arthritis to impotence �

Today, if you’re asked to think of a tractor, most of us probably imagine farm equipment. But in the late 18th century, a physician named Elisha Perkins made and sold a different kind of tractor – a device consisting of small metal rods that could cure what ails you simply through touch. And for several years, people were mad for the Perkins Patent Metallic Instruments, or Perk

When Maude Mayberg was 38 years old, this was back in 1890, she 'discovered' an elixir that transformed her life. It was called Fruitcura, she said, and it cured her ailments when medical doctors could not. Two years later, she was a patent medicine entrepreneur and saleswoman going by the name, Madame Yale. Let’s talk about how that’s code for, snake oil peddler. See omnystudi

Clark Stanley was a silver-tongued Texas cowboy who called himself the ‘Rattlesnake King’. Back in the late 19th century, he wasn’t the first charlatan going from town to town in the American West, hawking quack products -- during this time when patent medicines were gaining popularity, American consumers could buy all sorts of fraudulent snake oil products like his. But Clar

Snake oil. Today the term describes any worthless remedy that's promoted as a cure-all. And, by extension, snake oil salesmen are considered a bunch of rip-off artists who peddle fraudulent goods. We’re rolling straight from the criminal world of blackmail and extortion into a new season -- we’ll see you there, not only with some very real stories about some very bogus things,

From illicit love letters to political bribes, everyone has a secret, and it’s the threat of exposure that’s key to this crime -- and we discovered a whole lot of surprising examples along the way -- including a man who built his own submarine, hoping to escape with his payout under Lake Michigan; it sounds made up, but we speak the truth. We have enjoyed sharing these sometime

This is a story of a Texas oil tycoon, a congressman from Idaho, and a financial commodities broker in Oklahoma City. It’s a story of blackmail, yes. But it’s also a story of political corruption and ethics uncovered by that blackmail. There’s a lot going on here, and pretty much everyone’s guilty.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mary Ann Clarke attempted to blackmail her ex-lover, the Duke of York — who led the British army — by threatening to publish his letters. Sounds similar to Wellington but it takes a turn: His political enemies took notice, and they discovered that Mary Ann was selling army commissions (meaning, men who wanted a military rank or promotion would pay off Clarke, who would then dem