In the wake of 9/11, anthrax-laced letters unleashed a new wave of terror across the nation. But who was behind the attacks — and why has America nearly forgotten this story?

As government buildings shut down and law enforcement scrambled to track the perpetrator, the FBI launched one of the largest and most complex investigations in its history. Untangling a web of scientific evidence and false leads, the case took unexpected turns with lasting consequences.

From Wolf Entertainment, USG Audio, Dig Studios and CBC, this eight-part series grants unprecedented access to declassified materials and firsthand accounts, revealing how the anthrax attacks reshaped America—and the hidden impact that still lingers today.

More episodes of Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/GNdeeN

If you were alive in the fall of 2001, you probably have vivid memories of September 11th. But, what you might not remember, is that just weeks after 9/11 there was another attack on American soil. 

As the country mourned, envelopes containing anthrax spores were sent to national media outlets like NBC and to the offices of U.S. senators. When it was all over, five people would be dead and 17 would be seriously ill. It was the worst biological attack in U.S. history.

The FBI’s investigation would take nearly seven years, and leave a trail of collateral damage in its wake. By the time they figured out who was responsible, the story had faded from the public consciousness.

Now, Jeremiah Crowell is taking a new look at the story in his podcast Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer, and trying to unpack the profound impact that these attacks had on American politics – and the American people. 

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Although there are plenty of disturbing personalities on social media, few are as vicious, and as influential, as Andrew Tate.

Tate, who began his career as a professional kickboxer, rose to prominence in the late 2010s as a social media influencer and self-described misogynist. On TikTok, his videos have been viewed billions of times, mostly by young men. 

Over the last couple of years, as Tate’s influence has spread, a growing body of evidence has emerged that his digital empire wasn’t just corrosive – it may have been criminal. In 2023, Romanian authorities charged Andrew Tate, and his brother Tristan, with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal organization to sexually exploit women. 

But before any of that came to light, two journalists received a tip about Tate back in 2019. That tip would send Jamie Tahsin and Matt Shea on a four year odyssey into the bizarre and disturbing subculture of Andrew Tate’s manosphere, which they document in their new book Clown World. 

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In 1989, on a quiet night in Beverly Hills California, Jose and Kitty Menendez were gunned down in their living room.

At first, police thought Jose – a hotshot entertainment executive – had been involved in some shady business dealings. But it wasn’t long before we learned what really happened: Jose and Kitty had been murdered by their own sons. 

The trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez captivated the world, and ultimately ended with both brothers being sentenced to life without parole.

Today, more than 35 years after the killings, the Menendez brothers have come back into the public consciousness, in part because new evidence has emerged that could lead to the brothers walking free. 

Before all this though – before the brothers were even considered suspects – a Miami Herald reporter named Robert Rand flew to Beverly Hills to write a profile on the late Jose Menendez. That fateful trip resulted in Rand being swept up in one of the most shocking murder trials of the 20th century. 

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On Oct. 3, 1980, a bomb exploded outside the Rue Copernic synagogue in Paris, killing four people and injuring 46.

The attack sparked outrage and protests against anti-semitic violence. But as weeks turned to years, the investigation went nowhere.

Finally, French investigators named Hassan Diab, a Lebanese-Canadian professor, as its main suspect. 28 years years after the attack, Diab was charged and extradited from Canada to France. But did the police arrest the right person?

Alex Atack and Dana Ballout from the podcast, The Copernic Affair, join Crime Story.

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Michael Jackson might be the most famous pop star of all time. With more than 500 million records sold, it’s hard to overstate his impact on popular culture, and on the generation of fans who grew up with his music.

His strange personal life became part of his mystique. He occasionally slept in an oxygen chamber, and he collected exotic animals, including a pet monkey named Bubbles. But there were darker stories as well. Stories about him abusing young boys.

In 1993, Jackson was publicly accused of molesting a child. In 2003, there was another accusation, and this time he was arrested.

Despite all of this, Jackson’s fans remained fiercely loyal to him right up to his death in 2009. 

Then, in 2019, director Dan Reed released a documentary called Leaving Neverland that profiled two men who alleged they had been abused by Jackson. The documentary was a watershed moment. For the first time, it seemed like people might finally be willing to reckon with who the King of Pop really was, and the things he might have done.  

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In the summer of 2021, Tabatha Pope and her boyfriend were living out of a cheap motel, struggling to make ends meet. Then, she found an affordable apartment just outside downtown Houston, and it seemed like her luck was finally turning around. 

But when she moved in, something wasn’t right. There were buckets on the floor filled with a thick, red substance that looked a lot like blood, and crimson stains on the walls. It was clear that something terrible had happened here. And as she learned more, Tabatha came to a disturbing conclusion: the perpetrator may have been the person she thought was her landlord.

In a feature for New York magazine, Ian Frisch recounts the surreal story of Tabatha Pope’s nightmare on West Clay Street. 

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In real life, bank robberies are not nearly as sexy and dramatic as the movies make them out to be. They're usually poorly planned acts of desperation. Tony Hathaway was desperate, but he was smart. By the time he was caught - he'd pulled off thirty robberies in just over a year. This week on Crime Story, Josh Dean from the podcast, Hooked, explores why Tony Hathaway became one of America's most prolific bank robbers.

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In 2015, Larry Driskill confessed to a murder he swears he did not commit. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, and he didn’t know the victim, a 29-year-old woman named Bobbie Sue Hill. And yet, ten years after her murder, Driskill found himself in a police station describing how he disposed of her body in a creek in Parker County, Texas. 

The man sitting across from Driskill was James Holland, a Texas Ranger who later became known as a “serial killer whisperer" for his ability to procure seemingly impossible confessions from serious criminals. After interrogating Driskill for hours, Holland was convinced he had the right guy. But in the podcast, Just Say You’re Sorry, reporter and host Maurice Chammah reveals just how wrong he was.  

This week on Crime Story, Maurice Chammah on the confession that sent an innocent man to prison. 

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In Ringgold, Georgia, Alvin Ridley was something of a local bogeyman. He rarely left his house and, when he did, he was always by himself. 

So when Alvin called 9-1-1 to report the death of his wife – a woman that no one had ever heard about, let alone seen – the town was shocked.

Quickly a narrative began to emerge: Alvin Ridley had held this woman captive for more than thirty years. And then, he’d strangled her.

It didn’t take much for the citizens of Ringgold to believe it. And, before long, police came to the same conclusion and charged Alvin with first degree murder.

But there was one person who came to Alvin’s defence: a down on his luck attorney named McCracken Poston, who would become Alvin’s biggest defender – and his friend. 

In his memoir Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom, Poston recounts his experience representing Alvin Ridley, and tells the story of one of the strangest trials in Georgia history. 

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