Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Fresh Hell Podcast
True CrimeHistory

Fresh Hell Podcast

freshhellpodcast

Two women, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, talk about murder, mystery and the macabre. This is your award winning, international true crime podcast, hosted by Annie and Johanna.

Play
Open in
  • 21 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 1 hr 3 min
  • English

Episodes 21

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Yesterday · 1 hr 3 min

    E340: The Day the Music Died (part I)

    Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6weWg42qTGdvmbWZj5Rtfn?si=mRk2RXdpT7G7BJrMRCmbZw&utm_source=copy-link&pi=HYoBjLJpR8ywA February 3, 1959, would become known as “The Day the Music Died” But before we get to that frozen field, we need to know the people who ended up on that plane. In Part One, we look at the lives and careers of Buddy Holly and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. We follow Buddy from Lubbock, Texas, to becoming one of the most influential figures in early rock and roll, and the Big Bopper from radio DJ and songwriter to larger-than-life performer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 14 · 1 hr 15 min

    E339: MURDER - Rosemarie Nitribitt (part III)

    Heinz Pohlmann has been acquitted, but Rosemarie Nitribitt’s murder is still unsolved. So in our final part, we look at Rosemarie’s famous notebook, the very real wealthy and powerful men in her life, the rumors of blackmail, missing files, a supposed murder tape, and theories ranging from jealous clients to industrial espionage. It' s been almost seventy years since the murder, and there are still plenty of theories about who killed Rosemarie Nitribitt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 7 · 1 hr 11 min

    E338: MURDER - Rosemarie Nitribitt (part II)

    When Rosemarie Nitribitt's body was discovered in her Frankfurt apartment, the investigation turned into one of the biggest murder mysteries in postwar Germany. In Part 2, we look at what investigators actually knew, what they only thought they knew, why Heinz Pohlmann became their prime suspect, and why this case remains to be a mix of fact, rumor, and conspiracy theories that continues to fascinate people today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 31 · 1 hr 7 min

    E337: MURDER - Rosemarie Nitribitt (part I)

    Long before Rosemarie Nitribitt became front-page news, she was just a little girl growing up in poverty. In Part 1, we take a look at her childhood through orphanages, foster homes, and institutions, and follow her to Frankfurt, where she would soon become one of the most infamous women in 1950s Germany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 24 · 1 hr 10 min

    E336: MYSTERY - Dorothy Eady

    Is reincarnation real, and is it possible that people remember a life that ended more than 3,000 years ago? From the time she was a small child, Dorothy Eady insisted that ancient Egypt was her home. As an adult, she left England behind, settled in Egypt, and became known as Omm Sety, earning the respect of archaeologists for her meticulous work while claiming that she had once been an Egyptian priestess at the court of Pharaoh Seti I. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 17 · 1 hr 15 min

    E335: MACABRE - Typhoid Mary (part II)

    In the second part we follow Mary through her years on North Brother Island, her legal fight against the city, her release, and the decision that would ultimately send her back into quarantine for the rest of her life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 10 · 58 min

    E334: MACABRE - Typhoid Mary (part I)

    Mary Mallon was simply an Irish immigrant making a living as a cook for some of New York's wealthiest families. But wherever she worked, typhoid fever seemed to follow. In the first part of our two-part series, we head back to New York at the turn of the twentieth century, where crowded streets, groundbreaking discoveries in public health, and one baffling outbreak after another form the backdrop for one of the most famous investigations in medical history. As sanitary engineer George Soper begins looking for the source of a mysterious typhoid outbreak at a summer home in Oyster Bay, he starts to notice a pattern everyone else had overlooked! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 3 · 1 hr 30 min

    E333: MURDER - Starr Faithfull (part III)

    In the final part of our series on Starr Faithfull, the investigation begins, and this is where the mystery begins! Why were parts of her clothing missing? Why did two autopsies reach different conclusions? What was in Starr's diary? And what role, if any, did the powerful former mayor Andrew J. Peters play after years of abusing her? In this final episode, we walk through the investigation, the evidence, and the theories that have been debated for more than 90 years. We also talk about how the press turned Starr into a "party girl," and why we think that completely misses the point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • June 26 · 1 hr 14 min

    E332: MURDER - Starr Faithfull (part II)

    Starr Faithfull finally tells her family the secret she’s been carrying for nearly a decade: she has been sexually abused by a powerful and trusted relative since childhood. In Part 2, we talk about what happened after that revelation, as her family struggles to help her in an era when trauma was poorly understood and the modern ideas of treatment were more than questionable. This is Part 2 of our 3-part series on Starr Faithfull. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • June 19 · 1 hr 9 min

    E331: MURDER - Starr Faithfull (part I)

    In 1931, the body of 25-year-old Starr Faithfull washed ashore on a Long Island beach. Newspapers and the public speculated whether her death was murder, suicide, or an accident. But before we can answer that question, we need to go back to the beginning: to old Boston money, political power, and the man Starr knew as "Uncle Andrew." Content note: This episode contains discussions of child sexual abuse, grooming, eating disorders, addiction, suicidal ideation, and mental health struggles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • June 12 · 38 min

    Special: Best of Fresh Hell (Vol. 6)

    We're wrapping up our summer break series, and we're leaving murder, mystery, and historical villains behind and head into the strange world of UFO sightings, and things that definitely shouldn't have been lurking outside people's homes after dark. Or before dark. Pretty much at any time! First, we travel to Scotland in 1979 for the Dechmont Woods Incident, where a respected groundskeeper named Robert Taylor claimed he encountered a bizarre metallic craft and strange spiked objects in the woods near Livingston. To this day, it's the only UFO case in British history to result in a police investigation. Then we head to rural Illinois in 1973, where the tiny town of Enfield found itself at the center of a monster panic after a local man reported an encounter with a strange three-legged creature with glowing eyes. Was it an escaped animal, a case of social contagion, or something far stranger? Finally, we visit a farmhouse near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where an extended family spent an unforgettable August night defending their home from mysterious glowing creatures now known as the Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblins. Nearly seventy years later, it remains one of the most famous UFO encounters in American history. As always, these are condensed versions of our original episodes. If you'd like the full stories, you'll find the complete episodes waiting in our archive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • June 5 · 30 min

    Special: Best of Fresh Hell (Vol. 5)

    While Johanna recovers from surgery and Annie does her best to prevent her from immediately returning to work, we're bringing you another trip into the Fresh Hell archives. This week features condensed versions of two of our most heartbreaking cases, both were originally released as two-part episodes. First, we travel to Ashland, Kentucky in 1881, where a horrific crime on Christmas Eve left an entire community grieving and searching for answers. The Ashland Tragedy became one of the most sensational cases of its era, complete with false accusations, mob justice, and many questions, that remain debated and unanswered nearly 150 years later. Then we move to California in 2000 for the murder of fifteen-year-old Nicholas Markowitz. What begins as a petty dispute over a drug debt turns into a senseless tragedy that shocked the nation and inspired the film Alpha Dog. As always, these are streamlined versions of the original stories. If you'd like all the details, historical context, side tangents, and moments where Annie and Johanna become increasingly frustrated with humanity, the full episodes are waiting for you in our archive. Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault of minors, child murder, kidnapping, and violence against children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • May 29 · 40 min

    Fresh Hell presents: Horrifying History - Baby Farming...Britain's Darkest Business

    This week, we’re doing something a little different. We teamed up with Horrifying History for a feed swap, which means we’re sharing one of their episodes with you. And you know is: this one is absolute Victorian nightmare fuel. In this episode, host Brenda Ganske explores the horrifying world of Britain’s baby farming industry, a system that preyed on vulnerable women and led to neglect, abuse, and murder on a shocking scale. It’s a dark and heartbreaking story. We know you all enjoy the darker historical side of Fresh Hell, so there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy Horrifying History as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • May 22 · 1 hr 9 min

    E330: Dear Diary (part IV)

    The Hitler Diaries are finally exposed as fake, and the fallout is spectacular! In the fourth and final part of our series, we talk about the collapse of the biggest media scandal in postwar Germany. What did the BKA find? What was the so called “Folternacht” inside Stern headquarters? And what happened to the Carin II.? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • May 15 · 1 hr 6 min

    E329: Dear Diary (part III)

    Stern is now spending millions, historians are cautiously warning them, and Konrad Kujau is sitting at home frantically producing more and more volumes while simultaneously convincing everyone that this all makes perfect sense. What could possibly go wrong? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • May 8 · 1 hr 5 min

    E328: Dear Diary (part II)

    Gerd Heidemann follows up on the supposed Hitler diaries and finally meets the man behind them. Money starts changing hands in ways that should probably raise a few questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • May 1 · 1 hr 11 min

    E327: Dear Diary (part I)

    This week, we start a story that begins with a boat, takes a detour through a small village in East Germany, and ends up with one of the biggest media scandals in German history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • April 24 · 55 min

    E326: A Butcher, a Tailor & an Emperor walk into a Bar

    In 1853, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria goes for one of his regular walks in Vienna. It’s something he does often enough that people know where to find him, and on that day, someone does. A young Hungarian tailor named János Libényi steps forward and tries to stab the emperor in the neck. The attack doesn’t go as planned, the emperor survives, and within seconds, two men step in and stop it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes