In 1877, Billy the Kid was saved from a life of crime by a wealthy Englishman named John Tunstall, who saw potential in the teenage outlaw. Soon, however, Billy was drawn into a vicious war between Tunstall and a rival cattle baron, one that would force him to return to his gunslinging ways.




When Tunstall himself was murdered in the escalating Lincoln County War, Billy swore he would get revenge. The violence that followed was shocking even by the standards of the Wild West. The Kid would become a major player in the bloodshed, made infamous by newspapers throughout the country. Ultimately, it would force him to once again flee from the law – and set him on a path towards a showdown with his arch enemy, the ruthless Jimmy Dolan.

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Billy the Kid | The Lincoln County War | 2

The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life - the words you speak, the ideas you share - can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We'll take you to the events, the times and the people that shaped our nation. And we'll show you how our history affected them, their families and affects you today. Hosted by Lindsay Graham (not the Senator). From Wondery, the network behind American Scandal, Tides of History, American Innovations and more. You can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.&nbsp;

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By the late 1800s, the Pinkerton Detective Agency faced public criticism for their anti-labor practices. So the company pivoted, sending Pinkerton detectives out to do what they did best, traveling throughout the west in search of the nation’s most audacious and elusive bank-robbing desperados. 

In time, the Pinkertons also faced competition from a new Federal crime-fighting bureau, and one of their operatives would draw on his experience to write some of the most iconic detective novels in the English language.




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The Pinkerton Detective Agency | The Public Eye | 3

When Frank Farian first laid eyes on Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, he saw everything he wasn’t. They were handsome, young, and Black. But Frank had something they didn’t. He had power.




So, Frank offered them a devil’s bargain. Almost overnight, Milli Vanilli’s debut album went five times platinum and scored a Grammy nomination. But when the lie at the center of their success started to unravel, Rob and Fab would discover the hard way the difference between star power and real power.




From Wondery, Blame It on the Fame is a story about the lie that shot to #1 and what it cost to tell the truth. Hosted by Amanda Seales.




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Listen Now: Blame it on the Fame: Milli Vanilli

In the mid-1870s the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s fame was growing, and founder Allan Pinkerton began to pen bestselling books that promoted his and the agency’s crime-fighting image even more. But after Pinkerton died in 1884, his sons took over and expanded the business, providing guards and watchmen to protect railroads, mines, and factories. By the early 1900s, Pinkertons had become feared labor spies and strike-busters. It wasn’t long before their brutal and deadly methods began to attract scrutiny from the press and federal regulators.




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The Pinkerton Detective Agency | Brothers and Sons | 2

May 13th 1981: Pope John Paul II is shot in a mysterious assassination plot with potential ties to the KGB.




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History Daily: The Attempted Assassination of Pope John Paul II

In the early 1850s, Scottish immigrant Allan Pinkerton stumbled upon a counterfeiting operation while gathering wood for his barrel-making business. After helping the authorities arrest the criminals, he was inspired to form a detective agency, to chase bank robbers and train bandits. His business grew quickly and in 1861 he was enlisted to prevent an attempted assassination of President Lincoln. 




The Pinkerton Detective Agency soon established itself as America’s most innovative and aggressive private police force, spying for the Union during the Civil War, and sending agents out to hunt the nation’s most notorious Wild West outlaws.




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Billy the Kid | The Lincoln County War | 2

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