HistoryMusicMusic History

pplpod

pplpod is a podcast about people, places and lots of other stuff. Each episode takes a deep dive into the lives, choices, and legacies of fascinating figures from history, culture, music, and beyond. From icons who shaped entire generations to hidden stories that deserve the spotlight, pplpod brings you closer to the people behind the headlines and the legends.

Thoughtful, engaging, and story-driven, pplpod explores what makes these lives extraordinary—and what we can learn from them today.

Play

Open in

95 episodes
Avg 20 min
English

Episodes 95

Newest Oldest Longest

All15 Unplayed15 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

#8473
August 18 · 21 min
Jason Blair: The Journalist Who Fabricated the News
A soaring young journalist at one of the world's most prestigious newspapers, Jason Blair saw his career unravel with a single phone call about striking similarities between his work and another paper's story. This episode moves beyond the infamous headlines to the complete human biography of a life marked by ambition, failure, mental health struggles, and unexpected reinvention. We examine the high-pressure newsroom environment, the psychology of his deception, and the institutional blindness that let it continue. His fast rise from University of Maryland editor to intermediate reporter, and the early red flags colleagues say were ignored. The wholesale fabrications, from invented sources in the Beltway sniper case to faked datelines in the Jessica Lynch and wounded-soldier stories. How hyper-specific invented details served as a shield against editorial skepticism, and the 2003 tip that triggered the internal investigation. The newsroom's 7,000-word expose, resignations of top editors, and the fierce internal debate over diversity and institutional history. His bipolar diagnosis and substance issues, his regretted memoir, and his rebuilding into a mental health group leader, life coach, and true-crime ethics advocate.
- Transcript
#8474
August 18 · 19 min
Jeffrey Lundgren: The Cult Leader Behind the Kirtland Murders
How does an ancient literary pattern and the innocent word Ohio become tools to break the human mind? This episode dissects the anatomy of a cult through the life of Jeffrey Lundgren, a man who morphed from a lonely, abused child into a mass murderer by weaving personal grievance, financial failure, and twisted theology into a trap for vulnerable people. We explore the specific mechanisms of manipulation that led a small splinter group to commit an unthinkable act, and the justice that followed. His 1950 birth in Independence, Missouri, a traumatic abusive childhood, and an obsessive early expertise in firearms and survival. His trauma bond and marriage with Alice Keehler, his troubled Navy service, financial ruin, and dismissal from his church for suspected theft. His move to Kirtland, Ohio, and his twisting of the real literary device chiasmus into a divine cipher that made followers feel chosen. The controlling farmhouse regime that banned members from speaking, and the escalation over Dennis Avery's hidden bank account. The April 1989 murders of the five-member Avery family in a barn pit, the nationwide manhunt, the sentences, and Lundgren's 2006 execution.
- Transcript
#8475
August 18 · 23 min
John C. Lilly: From Brain Science to Dolphins and LSD
John C. Lilly was a brilliant scientist whose grade-school teachers nicknamed him Einstein Jr. Born in 1915 into a wealthy St. Paul family, he pivoted from physics to neurophysiology after reading Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, invented vital aviation gear during World War II, and pioneered ways to map the living brain, including a non-injurious waveform still used in neuroprosthetics today. This deep dive traces his extraordinary trajectory from mainstream neuroscience to the far fringes of the counterculture, following his invention of the sensory deprivation tank, his obsessive work on interspecies communication with dolphins, and his psychedelic experiments that led to theories about solid state intelligence and a cosmic Earth Coincidence Control Office. How Huxley's fiction rewired a real scientist's ambitions toward the biology of consciousness His golden rule of self-experimentation, from a protein-free amino acid diet to floating in his own isolation tank Why early SETI astronomers named their group the Order of the Dolphin after his marine research The role LSD and isolation tanks played in pushing him past traditional science How his fringe warnings about machine intelligence echo in today's AI anxieties
- Transcript
#8476
August 18 · 20 min
Jonathan Pollard: The Spy Who Broke US-Israel Trust
In November 1985, Jonathan Pollard and his wife raced to the Israeli embassy in Washington seeking asylum, only to be turned away and arrested by the FBI. An American intelligence analyst raised with a fierce dedication to Zionism, Pollard exploited bureaucratic failures to enter US Naval Intelligence despite glaring red flags, then handed a mountain of classified material to Israel. This deep dive traces how a mid-level analyst orchestrated one of the most damaging breaches in US history, strained the alliance between two close nations for three decades, and ultimately walked free through the mundane workings of the parole system before flying to Israel in 2020. How siloed agencies let a CIA-rejected applicant slip into the Navy on temporary clearances The RASIN manual and satellite photos he smuggled out, and the money, ring, and travel he accepted The frantic code word cactus and the neighbor who blew his cover wide open Why the intelligence community fought his release over sources and methods for 30 years His arrival in Israel on a private jet and his polarizing turn into hard-right politics
- Transcript
#8477
August 18 · 22 min
Joseph Merrick: The Real Man Behind the Elephant Man
Joseph Carey Merrick, sensationally known as the Elephant Man, was born healthy in Leicester in 1862 before severe progressive physical changes began around age five. For years he had to sleep sitting upright, resting his heavy head on his knees, because lying flat risked snapping his neck under its own weight. This deep dive strips away the pop culture mythology to reveal an entrepreneur, a romantic, a relentless survivor, and an artist who built intricate cardboard cathedrals with one hand. It follows his journey from the workhouse to a self-arranged career as an exhibit, and finally to sanctuary at the London Hospital. How the death of his mother and an abusive stepmother pushed him toward homelessness and the workhouse His calculated decision to write to a showman and commodify his own appearance for independence The robbery in Brussels and his harrowing solo journey back to London using Dr. Treves' calling card His friendships, cardboard cathedrals, and visits from figures like Princess Alexandra of Wales His death at 27 while trying to sleep lying down, and the later Proteus syndrome theory
- Transcript
#8478
August 18 · 17 min
Joshua Waitzkin: Chess Prodigy to Martial Arts Champion
Joshua Waitzkin became a chess prodigy so celebrated that his childhood inspired the film Searching for Bobby Fischer. Born in New York in 1976, he led his school to seven national team championships, forced a draw against world champion Garry Kasparov at age 11, and became an international master by 16 before walking away from competitive chess. This deep dive decodes the architecture of mastery, tracing how Waitzkin transferred the same learning methodology across radically different fields, from the chessboard to a Tai Chi push hands world title to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and eventually into an advisory role with a professional NBA franchise. Why the pressure to always win tainted his relationship with chess as a creative art How chess concepts like prophylaxis translated directly into martial arts His 2004 Tai Chi push hands world championship and his coaching of other world titlists The catastrophic injuries, including drowning during breath work and breaking his back, that ended his fighting career His current work advising Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla on decision-making under pressure
- Transcript
#8479
August 18 · 20 min
Katharine Graham: From Insecure Heir to Publishing Titan
Katharine Graham once quietly stepped aside so her father could hand the family newspaper to her husband instead of her, so deep was her imposter syndrome. Born into staggering wealth in 1917 and undermined by a condescending mother, she entered adulthood highly educated yet devoid of a sense of self-worth. This deep dive traces her transformation from an overshadowed wife into the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company and a titan of American journalism, forged through personal tragedy, a steep learning curve, and the ultimate stress tests of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate. How a childhood of privilege and criticism undermined her confidence for decades Her husband Philip's bipolar disorder, public breakdown, and death, which forced her behind the wheel The powerhouse team she built, including editor Ben Bradlee and advisor Warren Buffett The legal and financial risks she took publishing the Pentagon Papers during the company's IPO Her nuanced philosophy that the press and government should be opposing forces, not enemies or friends
- Transcript
#8480
August 18 · 24 min
Kathryn Kuhlman: Faith Healer and Television Phenomenon
In 1928, a terrified 21-year-old delivered her first sermon in a Boise pool hall after her brother-in-law failed to show. Decades later, Kathryn Kuhlman was a national television star whose viewers were convinced she had miraculously healed them, even as she faced medical scrutiny and a lawsuit from her own administrator. This deep dive maps her factual trajectory from Midwest tent revivals to Los Angeles celebrity, examining how she built a massive operation, navigated a scandalous marriage, faced formal medical investigations, and ultimately shaped the modern charismatic movement. Her self-taught path to ordination and her gift for relatable storytelling over academic theology The secret, ruinous marriage to divorced evangelist Burroughs Waltrip that nearly ended her career Her mastery of television intimacy and her bridge between fundamentalists and the Jesus movement Dr. William Nolan's study that found zero medical cures among 23 followed-up cases The disputed will, the shuttered foundation, and her surprising cultural footprint from Benny Hinn to Brian Eno
- Transcript
#8481
August 18 · 19 min
Klaus Nomi: The Opera Alien of New York's Underground
At a 1978 New Wave Vaudeville show in New York, a man in a skin-tight spacesuit and clear plastic cape delivered a flawless classical aria, then vanished into smoke like an alien beamed back to his mothership. That was Klaus Nomi, who years earlier had been an usher at a German opera house hiding a superhuman six-octave range. This deep dive follows how a boy born into the chaos of postwar Germany reinvented himself as a subterranean New York icon, collided with rock royalty, and became one of the earliest high-profile figures from the arts community to die of AIDS. His childhood collision of disciplined opera and forbidden American pop and Elvis records Rejection by the German academy for wanting to train as a countertenor, and his double life as an usher His icy operatic covers of 1960s pop backed by cold synthesizers in the East Village scene The David Bowie meeting that led to a 1979 Saturday Night Live performance and his signature triangle suit His final Baroque collar that hid his illness, and his lonely death in 1983 at age 39
- Transcript
#8482
August 18 · 21 min
Ma Anand Sheela: Devotion, Power, and Bioterror in Oregon
She dedicated her life to a message of universal peace and elevated consciousness, yet that same path led her to orchestrate the largest biological terror attack in United States history. Born Sheila Ambalal Patel in India in 1949, she became Ma Anand Sheela after meeting the guru Rajneesh, later known as Osho. This deep dive traces how genuine devotion paired with immense organizational competence warped into dangerous absolute control, following her rise as Rajneesh's personal secretary, her building of a city in the Oregon desert, and the crimes that collapsed the commune. How her administrative drive made her the governor valve of the entire movement The purchase and development of the 64,000-acre ranch that became Rajneeshpuram The failed voter schemes that escalated into the salmonella poisoning of roughly 750 people Rajneesh's press conference scapegoating her, and her arrest, plea deals, and early release Her bizarre second act running Swiss nursing homes and her later pop culture resurgence
- Transcript
#8483
August 18 · 19 min
Margaret Brown: The Real Story Behind Unsinkable Molly
The boisterous, larger-than-life Molly Brown of stage and screen never actually existed. In her 65 years, not a single person ever called Margaret Tobin Brown Molly; the nickname was fabricated by writers long after her death, erasing the dangerously intelligent, strategic woman who truly lived. This deep dive strips away the Hollywood myth to trace her genuine arc from a tiny Missouri cottage to becoming a multilingual political strategist, tireless social crusader, and global hero, culminating in her leadership aboard a Titanic lifeboat. Her Irish Catholic upbringing and the family lore of Underground Railroad support Marrying poor miner J.J. Brown for love, then striking sudden wealth at the Little Johnny Mine Her rejection by Denver's Sacred 36 and her building of a rival philanthropic and intellectual empire Her confrontation with Quartermaster Hitchens in Lifeboat 6 and her relief work aboard the Carpathia Her 1914 Senate run, Ludlow Massacre aid, World War I service, and French Legion of Honor
- Transcript
#8484
August 18 · 17 min
Marianne Williamson: Self-Help Guru to Presidential Run
Marianne Williamson spent her twenties lost, living in a geodesic dome, singing in cabarets, and battling profound depression before a self-study curriculum called A Course in Miracles gave her a new philosophy. She went on to found major charities, sell millions of books as Oprah's go-to spiritual advisor, and run for president. This deep dive tracks her wild evolution as a case study in how the American self-help movement merged with modern political activism, following the consistent thread that connects the cabaret singer to the presidential candidate. Her activist upbringing, including her father taking the family to Vietnam to show the war's cost Her wasted decade, nervous breakdown, and discovery of A Course in Miracles as spiritual psychotherapy Her AIDS-era charity work with the Center for Living and Project Angel Food Her presidential platform, including reparations, a Department of Peace, and dark psychic force rhetoric The controversies over her management style and her statements on medicine and depression
- Transcript
#8485
August 18 · 19 min
Michael Kearney: The Record-Breaking Child Prodigy
As a child, Michael Kearney beat the sitting mayor of Santa Barbara at SimCity so handily he was named honorary mayor for a day, yet that was far from his most impressive feat before puberty. Born two months premature in 1984 amid severe medical complications, he was speaking in sentences at seven months and reading by age one. This deep dive explores the collision between a wildly gifted neurodivergent mind and a rigid education system, following his record-breaking academic acceleration and his surprising, deeply personal quest for fulfillment. His diagnoses of ADHD and dysgraphia, and his parents' choice to decline medication Graduating high school at six and earning a bachelor's degree at ten for a Guinness World Record The legal loophole meant for senior citizens that got a prepubescent child into college His sister Megan's struggles, highlighting the psychological toll of extreme acceleration His pivot from a chemistry PhD to game show winnings and an improv comedy stage in Nashville
- Transcript
#8486
August 18 · 21 min
Oral Roberts: The Preacher Who Invented Televangelism
In January 1987, one of the most famous religious figures in the world looked into the camera and told his national audience that if they did not send him eight million dollars by March, God would call him home. That was Oral Roberts, delivering one of the most astonishing ultimatums in television history. This deep dive traces how a boy born into extreme poverty, who nearly died of tuberculosis at 17, built a half-billion-dollar religious and educational empire and helped invent modern televangelism through his controversial prosperity gospel. The 1947 seed faith concept that reframed donations as investments guaranteed to multiply His move from canvas tents to television, reaching 80 percent of the US by 1957 The 1968 switch to the Methodist church that sanitized his image for the middle class His claimed 900-foot Jesus vision and the money-losing City of Faith Medical Center The financial collapse, lawsuits, personal tragedies, and later billionaire rescue of his university
- Transcript
#8488
August 18 · 20 min
Peter Popoff: The Faith Healer Exposed as a Fraud
Imagine a televangelist singling you out of a crowd, reciting your name, address, and hidden illness as if by divine revelation, then discovering the voice of God was his wife reading prayer cards into a hidden radio earpiece. This is the decades-long saga of Peter Popoff. This deep dive traces the complete arc of a man who built a televangelist empire, was unmasked on national television as a fraud, lost everything to bankruptcy, and then resurrected his career to become richer than ever. His childhood in tent revivals and the fabricated Miracle Boy origin story Dangerous stunts, from tossing away heart medications to staged wheelchair healings James Randi's team intercepting the 39.17 megahertz transmissions from his wife Elizabeth The 1986 exposure on The Tonight Show and his 1987 bankruptcy His comeback through Miracle Spring Water infomercials and a church tax exemption
- Transcript

Showing 81–95 of 95 episodes