Bittersweet Infamy

Bittersweet Infamy

By Josie Mitchell + Taylor BassoSociety & CultureHistory
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Bittersweet Infamy episodes

  • #122 - Women and Children First
    As part of our Titanic April series, Josie tells Taylor about the history of the disaster evacuation rule "women and children first," and how the gender roles of 1912 impacted the victims and survivors of the Titanic's sinking. Plus: history repeats itself as we check out the ambitious (or unrealistic?) plans for three modern Titanic replicas.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 39 min
  • #121 - Nazi Titanic (and Other Films in Which Ships Sink)
    As part of our Titanic April series, Taylor tells Josie and guest host Mitchell Collins about the film adaptations of the Titanic story, including Saved from the Titanic, the lost 1912 film that starred an actual survivor, and 1943's Titanic, the Nazi propaganda flick whose turbulent production was connected to an even more deadly maritime tragedy. Plus: was world-famous boxer Jack Johnson really turned away from the Titanic because of the colour of his skin?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 17 min
  • #120 - The Sinking of the RMS Titanic
    To launch our Titanic April series, Josie tells Taylor about the most infamous maritime disaster in history: the sinking of the largest ocean liner in the world, the RMS Titanic, after hitting an iceberg on her 1912 maiden voyage.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    2 hr 14 min
  • #119 - In the Garden of the Emperor

    Taylor tells Josie about France's disastrous attempt to overthrow the Mexican government in the 1860s, and the unwise rise and catastrophic fall of the last emperor of Mexico, Maximilian I. Plus: Taylor unpacks his trip to Cuernavaca, Mexico, including a tour of Jardín Borda, Emperor Maximilian's lavish personal garden.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    2 hr 19 min
  • #118 - How the West Was Sold
    Josie tells Taylor how our modern cultural image of the Wild West was constructed by one man: soldier and showman "Buffalo" Bill Cody. Plus: unravelling the mystery of the Persian Princess, the mummy whose royal trappings disguised a heartbreaking hoax.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 48 min
  • #117 - My Perfect Socialist Daughter Must Die

    Taylor tells Josie about the toxic, possessive, and deadly mother-daughter relationship between 1930s Spanish political activists Aurora and Hildegart Rodríguez Carballeira. Plus: unearthing the legend of the green children of Woolpit, the green-skinned changelings who've mystified the world since the 12th century CE.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 42 min
  • #116 - A Most Unusual Proposal
    Josie tells Taylor about the unconventional art project that saw American artist Jill Magid propose to Italian archivist Federica Zanco with a diamond made from the physical remains of prominent Mexican architect Luis Barragán. Plus: head up to Dawson City, Yukon, and join the Sourtoe Cocktail Club—by drinking a cocktail made with a severed human toe!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 54 min
  • #115 - This Bud's Not for You
    Taylor tells Josie the stories of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, whose TikTok ad for Bud Light kicked off a right-wing beer boycott, and January Marie Lapuz, the beloved social butterfly whose 2012 killing shocked Vancouver's LGBTQ+ community.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 50 min
  • #114 - The Terrorist Heiress
    Season five premiere! Josie tells Taylor about heiress turned abductee turned revolutionary Patricia Hearst, and her explosive odyssey with the militia that kidnapped her, the Symbionese Liberation Army. Plus: the tragic saga of the animal outlaws who became MAGA martyrs, Peanut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    2 hr 56 min
  • #113 - The Twelve Days of Infamy
    Holiday special! Taylor tells Josie one infamous story for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas—from the drummer the Beatles drummed out of the band, to a Partridge naked on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    2 hr 7 min

About Bittersweet Infamy

From the publisher's feed

Storytellers and best friends Josie Mitchell and Taylor Basso share the stories that live on in infamy: the strange and the familiar, the tragic and the comic—the bitter and the sweet. Check back on…