In October 1980, a motorcycle packed with explosives went off outside a Paris synagogue, killing four and wounding nearly four dozen others. French investigators gathered evidence the attack was planned by a Palestinian militant group, but the trail for the bomber went cold for years. 

Twenty-eight years after the attack on Rue Copernic, French authorities accused a Canadian sociology professor of Lebanese descent of planting the bomb. Hassan Diab proclaimed his innocence, saying their evidence was flawed and circumstantial. It spawned a diplomatic crisis, as Canadian judicial authorities also questioned whether Diab should be turned over to France for trial.

“The Copernic Affair” from Canadaland and House of Many Windows re-examines the controversial terrorism probe. Hosts Dana Ballout and Alex Atack talk to victims, investigators, and Diab himself to make sense of how an unassuming academic with a common name was accused of a horrific crime four decades ago. Is Hassan Diab guilty of an unspeakable act of political violence? Or is he a scapegoat for a failed investigation?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE COPERNIC AFFAIR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas was more than a white power hate group. They were also a sophisticated crime syndicate into drug trafficking and prostitution. Known for its violent methods against its rivals, it was equally as brutal to those suspected of being snitches. After a series of particularly cold-blooded killings, law enforcement groups teamed up to take down the Aryans’ statewide operation. By flipping defendants and cultivating informants, authorities were able to connect the racket and destabilize the group.  

“The Takedown: American Aryans” on Max looks at the six-year operation to infiltrate the Neo-Nazi crime syndicate. The series walks viewers through several key cases that allowed them to break up much of the hate group’s criminal activities.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE TAKEDOWN: AMERICAN ARYANS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: hard-boiled crime.

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In 2003, Northern Irish journalists outed Freddie Scappaticci as one of Britain's most notorious double agents. His code name was “Stakeknife.” For years he was in charge of finding and killing informants within the IRA, and was now accused of working with the Brits all along.   The story rocked those on both sides of The Troubles. High-ranking British officials were criticized for allowing their secret asset to kill and torture with impunity. And families of those killed for being alleged informants questioned whether they were executed to keep the IRA from suspecting Scappaticci was the real traitor.

“Stakeknife” is the second season of the podcast “Cover” from BBC Sounds, Second Captains & Little Wing. Host Mark Horgan explores how British Army intelligence sanctioned Scappaticci’s dirty work and the lengths taken to protect their valuable operative. He also brings us relatives of those murdered by Stakeknife to talk about the lifelong pain and stigma of having a loved one executed for being an informant - whether it was true or not.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "STAKEKNIFE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL ELEVEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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In 1995, when a woman’s body was discovered in a Dayton, Ohio park, Kari thought her boyfriend Mick McQuerter and his prison buddy Tim Terrell may be involved. Before the two could skip town, Kari discovered incriminating evidence in the car.  After the men went to prison, detectives turned up at Kari’s door, looking for connections to a decade’s old pair of unsolved murders on a secluded farm. Demonic symbolism at the crime scene cast suspicion on Tim, who served time with a self-styled Satanist and who sported an occultic tattoo for the “Lords of Death.”

From Tenderfoot TV and Audacy comes the podcast “Lords of Death.” Host Thrasher Banks grapples with his long held presumptions about the culpability of his mother’s boyfriend Mick in the murder of Cindy Cozad. He also looks into whether Tim Terrell bludgeoned an elderly farmer in 1987 - then returned a year later to kill his widow with a screwdriver through the head.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "LORDS OF DEATH" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TWELVE MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.

In Crime of the Week: knowing the ropes.

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Myka and James Stauffer built a popular and profitable YouTube channel featuring hundreds of videos of their children and homelife. Then in 2017, after the Stauffers revealed they were adopting a boy from China, subscriptions to their channel took off. Viewers were drawn in by the family’s breezy efforts to address the toddler’s developmental issues. Then past videos of the boy were abruptly gone from the feed and he no longer appeared in the vlog. The mystery around the move sparked a huge backlash, with many criticising Myka’s motives and fearing for the child’s well-being.

The HBO Original series “An Update on Our Family” recounts the controversy around the Stauffers and accusations they adopted a child just for the clicks. It also explores the issues about privacy on the internet, the nuances of trans-national adoption, and the unregulated industry of monetizing one’s family.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "AN UPDATE ON OUR FAMILY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.

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In 2015, after being given a date rape drug, Isabel Eriksson awoke in a locked bunker in Sweeden, held captive by a mysterious doctor. Martin Trenneborg wanted to keep her as his girlfriend, subjected her to abuse, and refused to let her go. Though years have passed, Isabel has never dealt with the PTSD of the incident. But now she’s willing to confront it - on camera. 

The Swedish language documentary series “The Bunker” is available on the Nordic streaming service Viaplay, which is available through Amazon Prime, Roku, Xfinity X1 and other platforms. Isabel recounts her ordeal for filmmakers, goes to counseling for the first time, and experiments with exposure therapy. That includes a visit to a reconstruction of the bunker where she was held in order to process the pain she’s repressed for all these years.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE BUNKER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TWELVE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE

In Crime of the Week: hired muscle.

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On a cold North Dakota night in February 1999, Robbie Rahrich’s friends and fiancée waited for him to come home from his shift at a Bismarck liquor store. When they went to the House of Bottles, they discovered Robbie’s body in the backroom and money missing from the cash register. Investigators looked into who might want to target the store and have the opportunity to hold it up. They turned their attention to Shawn Helmenstein, who’d been in Bismarck at the time, but fled to Montana. 

From Dakota Spotlight and PorchLight Podcast Network comes “Homicide at House of Bottles.” Host James Wolner tells the story through longform narrative, observations from investigators, and an interview with the man convicted of killing Robbie Rahrich.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DAKOTA SPOTLIGHT: HOMICIDE AT HOUSE OF BOTTLES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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In the 1940s and 50s, Dr. John Bodkin Adams grew a large practice in East Sussex caring for the elderly. But few knew that Adams was administering heroin to his wealthy patients before they slipped into comas. Many listed the doctor as executor of their estates or left him a sizable inheritance in their wills. Officials later determined the deaths of over 160 of Adams’s patients were suspicious. His 1957 prosecution for murder was dubbed the “Trial of the Century.” But was Adams killing his elderly patients for money or was he simply easing the pain of their dying days?

Broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster and distributed by BBC Sounds, “Assume Nothing: A Deadly Diagnosis” is the latest installment in the investigative podcast series. Host Vinny Hurrell revisits the historical true crime case of the Northern Irish GP suspected of being a serial killer. Was Adams an angel of mercy or an angel of death?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ASSUME NOTHING: A DEADLY DIAGNOSIS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL ELEVEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: Souper Bowl-less.

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In 1979, a teenage girl drowned while vacationing in Hawai’i. Months later, her distraught mother drove her car off a cliff with her nanny in the passenger seat. In each case, the beneficiary in their wills was Terri Lee Hoffman, the leader of a Dallas-based spiritual group. Over the next ten years, a dozen people in her orbit died by suicide or accident, including two who believed they had terminal illnesses but did not. Several left Terri their assets, and for years, family members have suspected the spiritual leader may have used her power of persuasion to cause the deaths.

From Sony Music Entertainment comes “Scary Terri.” Host Jonathan Hirsch revisits the deaths and attempts to answer whether she manipulated her devotees into taking deadly action. He also tries to follow the money that disappeared when Terri claimed she was bankrupt.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SCARY TERRI" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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After ratting out John Gotti and leaving witness protection, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano joins his adult children in Phoenix to start over. Despite trying to go legit, his son, Gerald, is making extra money selling ecstasy at underground raves. Gerald finds himself in a turf war with English Shaun, a former British stockbroker who’s now Arizona’s biggest E dealer. As police look to disrupt the party drug trade, they’re stunned to learn the famous New York hitman is in the middle of it all.

The Max Original documentary “Sons of Ecstasy” features Sammy the Bull and the whole Gravano family, plus members of the rival crew locked in a lucrative turf war over Molly. The show lets its subjects do the talking about their crimes, their beefs, and their ideas of what “loyalty” means.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SONS OF ECSTASY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: ballin'.

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