Drink about something

A lot of true crime starts with a stranger in the shadows, but this one starts with something almost innocent: fan mail. We’re talking about Rebecca Lucille Schaefer, a young actor and model whose career was taking off when a man decided her life was supposed to belong to him. What follows is a brutal look at celebrity stalking, parasocial obsession, and how quickly “I’m your biggest fan” can turn into a threat.

We trace Rebecca’s path from Oregon to New York City, the early modeling work, soap operas, and the breakout attention that came with My Sister Sam. Then we shift to Robert John Bardo, his history of instability, warning signs, and a pattern of fixating on celebrities before targeting Rebecca. We also break down the mechanics of the crime, including how a private investigator got her home address through lax DMV privacy practices and how that access helped turn obsession into murder.

The fallout is a key part of why the Rebecca Schaefer case still matters today. We talk through the legal changes that followed, including stronger anti-stalking laws and privacy protections, plus the way her parents’ advocacy shaped the conversation around gun control. And we unpack one of the strangest parts of the trial: the attempt to point to U2’s “Exit” as a cause, and why art is not an alibi for violence.

If you care about true crime stories that actually explain the system failures behind the headline, press play, share this with a friend, and subscribe so you don’t miss what we’ve got coming next. After you listen, what do you think prevents stalking best: stronger laws, better mental health intervention, or less access to personal data?

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A man lives a public life with a wife, kids, tenants, holidays, and steady work, while a second family exists behind locked doors no one is allowed to open. That contradiction is what we can’t stop circling in this recap of the Josef Fritzl case, because the most terrifying part isn’t just the basement, it’s how believable the surface story becomes when everyone is trained to look away.

We walk through the core timeline in Amstetten, Austria: the early family dysfunction, the respectable mask, and the slow construction of a hidden cellar built to disappear a human being. We talk about the “cult” explanation that keeps questions quiet, the financial manipulation tied to renting and government support, and how secrecy becomes a system, not a single lie. If you’re searching for true crime podcast coverage of Josef Fritzl, Elizabeth Fritzl, captivity, coercive control, and long-term trauma, this conversation lays out the big beats and the moments that still don’t make sense.

Then we get to the human side we don’t want anyone to forget: children growing up without sunlight, the physical toll of deprivation, and the ways a mother fights to keep basic education and basic humanity alive in the worst conditions imaginable. We also cover the turning point that forces outside contact, and why a medical crisis and hospital scrutiny matter when a story has been “explained” for years.

If you want the full details, listen to our complete two-part series, check out the photos on our socials, and stick around for the bands we feature too. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review, what’s one red flag you think should have changed everything?

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A hidden basement. A respected neighbor. A story about a “runaway” that people accepted for decades. We dig into the second half of the Josef Fritzl case and walk step by step through how Elisabeth Fritzl was kept in a concealed cellar in Amstetten, Austria for 24 years, and how that prison expanded from isolation into a terrifying second “family” built on rape, incest, kidnapping, and total control.

We talk about the mechanics of coercive control in a way true crime rarely slows down to explain: the forced letters about joining a cult, the missing persons report that bought him time, the way deprivation and fear distort reality, and how small system failures stack into years. We also cover the timeline of pregnancies and births without medical care, the cruelty of separating children, and the public praise Josef and Rosemary received while Elisabeth was blamed from afar. It is brutal, but we keep the focus where it belongs: the survivor’s experience, the red flags, and the preventable gaps that let a monster hide in plain sight.

Then the story finally cracks open through a medical emergency, doctors who refuse to ignore what they see, and investigators who recognize that the “cult” narrative does not add up. We close with what came after: the life sentence, the family’s long recovery, the ethics of media intrusion, and the resources we used, including Secrets in the Cellar by John Glatt. If you care about trauma-informed true crime storytelling, this one will stay with you. Subscribe, share with someone who cares about survivor-focused coverage, and leave us a review with the question you cannot stop thinking about.

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Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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A state-funded “bomb shelter” sounds like safety, but what if it’s the perfect cover for a secret no one wants to imagine? We go from a quick deep dive on the real origin of Stockholm syndrome to a case that makes your stomach drop: Josef Fritzl in Amstetten, Austria, a man who manages to look like a respected family provider while quietly building control into the bones of his home.

We lay out Fritzl’s disturbing path from a violent childhood shaped by war and abuse to a pattern of escalating sexual violence, stalking, and entitlement. Along the way, we keep coming back to the same question true crime listeners ask again and again: how does someone keep getting chances to blend in? A conviction doesn’t stop him, community whispers fade, and business success helps him rebuild credibility. That “normal” mask is part of what makes this story so hard to sit with.

Then we focus on Elisabeth Fritzl, the grooming, the isolation, the threats, and the runaway attempt that ends with her being returned to the very place she’s trying to escape. The episode ends on the moment that changes everything: Fritzl lures her into the cellar workshop, uses ether, and she wakes up chained in darkness. We’re not okay, so we take a needed palate cleanser with a featured track from Eerie Soul, and we brace for part two.

Subscribe so you don’t miss the next chapter, share this with a fellow true crime listener, and leave a review if the show hits you. What’s the biggest red flag you think everyone ignored?

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Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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A Burger King crown, a couple of drinks, and a story that still splits people down the middle: was Patty Hearst brainwashed, fighting to survive, or making a willing leap into radical politics? We’re Jesse and Lindsay, and we’re doing a fast, no-frills recap of all three parts of our Patty Hearst saga so you can hear the full arc without losing the thread.

We start with the Symbionese Liberation Army’s origin story and the murder of Marcus Foster, then move straight into the February 1974 kidnapping that turns Patty into the most famous hostage in America. From the SLA’s “feed the poor” ransom demands to the way captivity rewires what “choice” even means, we talk through the pressure, the propaganda, and the fear tactics that keep her trapped even when the outside world assumes freedom should be simple.

Then we hit the moments everyone remembers: the Hibernia Bank robbery, Patty’s “Tanya” identity, and the Mel’s Sporting Goods chaos that makes her actions look damning in a single snapshot. We also break down the piece people love to debate, the Hearst fortune, why “just pay the ransom” isn’t always a cash-in-a-safe situation, and how the Hearst media machine makes this case global. Finally, we walk through the live-TV LAPD shootout and what happens after the fire, including the public divide that follows Patty all the way to arrest, clemency, and a pardon.

If you’re into true crime history, cult dynamics, Stockholm syndrome questions, and the real-life messiness behind a headline, press play, then subscribe, share the show, and leave us a review. Where do you land on Patty: coerced, complicit, or both?

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Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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A TikTok “Netflix documentary” joke turns into a real-life horror story, and it’s the perfect gut-punch opener for a finale about what happens when people stop seeing consequences. We close out our three-part Patty Hearst saga by picking up after the LA shootout and following the Symbionese Liberation Army as they rebuild, recruit, and unravel. What’s left isn’t a movement, it’s a shrinking crew of fugitives arguing over power, money, and control while a captive young woman tries to survive inside the mess. 

We walk through the farmhouse hideout, the new faces who join the SLA, and the tension that keeps escalating until it spills into another bank robbery. The Croker National Bank holdup is the turning point, ending with the death of Myrna Opsahl, a 42-year-old woman depositing church tithe money, and exposing how sloppy planning plus weapons equals tragedy. From there, the group leans into bomb attempts and attention-seeking threats that only make it easier for the FBI to find them. 

Then the story flips to the aftermath: Patty Hearst is finally free, immediately arrested, and thrown into a legal and cultural firestorm that still sparks arguments today. We talk F. Lee Bailey, the “urban gorilla” booking moment, clemency, a later pardon, and the long tail of trials and identities that stretch decades beyond the headlines. If you’ve ever wondered how coercion, propaganda, and public perception collide in a true crime case, this one has it all. 

If you enjoy the show, follow us, share this with a friend who loves deep-dive true crime, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.

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Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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Patty Hearst’s story doesn’t just escalate, it mutates. One moment she’s a kidnapped college student being ordered to read revolutionary scripts, and the next she’s forced into a public “Tanya” identity that the whole country can judge from a photo and a grainy surveillance frame.

We walk through the pressure cooker the SLA builds around her: blindfolding, isolation, relentless propaganda, and explicit threats that make “choice” feel like a trick word. We also dig into why the media reaction split so sharply between “brainwashed” and “traitor,” and how coercion, Stockholm syndrome, and survival behavior can create actions that look like loyalty even when they’re driven by fear. Along the way, we touch Randy Hearst’s attempts to get Patty back, including the desperate and bizarre detours that happen when a case becomes national news.

Then the episode hits the turning points: the Hibernia Bank robbery in San Francisco, the chaos that follows, the SLA’s frantic relocations, and the spiraling “revolution” fantasy that pushes them into even riskier moves. Finally, we get to the moment that still shocks people decades later: the Los Angeles shootout broadcast live on TV, with thousands of rounds fired and an ending that feels as senseless as it is horrific.

If you’re hooked on true crime history, cult dynamics, radicalization, and the Patty Hearst kidnapping case, this chapter is essential. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review with your take: where do you draw the line between survival and responsibility?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-ORi0ENX6g

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Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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A bathrobe, a knock at the door, and a split-second decision that turns into one of the biggest American true crime stories of the 1970s. We’re drinking about Patty Hearst, the Hearst Communications heiress whose quiet Berkeley routine gets shattered when the Symbionese Liberation Army storms in, beats her fiancé, and kidnaps her at gunpoint.

We break down who Patty is beyond the headline, what her upbringing looks like inside a legacy-wealth family, and why being publicly “known” becomes its own kind of danger. Then we zoom out to the SLA: the aliases, the cult-like leadership energy, and the violence that puts them on law enforcement’s radar before Patty is even taken, including the murder of Oakland school superintendent Marcus Foster.

The ransom demands take a turn that still feels unreal today: not just cash, but a sweeping food distribution plan that throws California into chaos and sparks ugly political reactions. From there we move into the claustrophobic reality of captivity, where isolation, fear, deprivation, propaganda, and coercion start to bend the story toward its most infamous pivot. Part one ends right where everything flips, when Patty reappears to the public as “Tanya” and claims the SLA as her cause.

If you’re into true crime podcasts, American history, domestic terrorism cases, and the psychology of coercive control, hit play and ride with us. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves a wild timeline, and leave a review with your take: survival strategy or something darker?

CHECK OUT THE BAND THIS WEEK!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTaz04qa5rs

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!

Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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A throwaway joke at work that nobody understands can make you feel ancient, but nothing snaps the room into focus like a story where fame, paranoia, and violence collide. We’re Jesse and Lindsay, and we’re digging into the Oscar Pistorius case, from his rise as the celebrated “Blade Runner” to the night Reeva Steenkamp was shot behind a locked bathroom door in South Africa. The details are brutal, and the contradictions are hard to ignore, especially once you look at what was happening around him: escalating fear, constant weapons practice, heavy caffeine use, and a relationship that appears to show control and humiliation far too early.

We also slow down and center Reeva Steenkamp as a real person, not a headline. Reeva was a model, a paralegal graduate, and a passionate advocate speaking out against sexual assault and violence against women. That context makes this case feel even more devastating, because the same warning signs she tried to help others recognize show up in the background: tense arguments, jealousy, public criticism, and the quiet pressure that can keep someone stuck. We talk through the timeline Pistorius gave police, the evidence investigators questioned, what neighbors reported hearing, and why the legal outcomes fueled so much public debate.

To lighten the landing, we close with a summer jam pick, Ballyhoo’s “Swim,” plus where to find their music and what they’ve got coming next. If this conversation hits you, share it with someone who needs the reminder to trust their gut and take red flags seriously. Subscribe, leave a review, and send this to a friend who loves true crime podcasts and honest conversations about what warning signs really look like.

CHECK OUT THE BAND THIS WEEK!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqus0OkAfzk

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!

Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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A police badge is supposed to signal safety. In Sarah Everard’s case, it became the tool that took it away, and we’re still angry about it. We jump on live for a raw recap of our full coverage, walk through who Sarah was, and trace how a normal night in London during COVID lockdown restrictions turned into a tragedy no one should have to fear.

We talk through the details we can share on social platforms: the shifting pandemic rules, the way “following directions” can be used against a good person, and how Wayne Cousins, an officer with the London Metropolitan Police, leveraged authority to control the situation. We also dig into the red flags and the uncomfortable questions around police accountability and institutional oversight, including why earlier incidents should have mattered before Sarah ever crossed his path.

From there, the focus widens to what happened next: the protests, the shattered trust, and the realities many women live with every day. We get practical about safety, including the frustrating fact that tools like pepper spray and mace are not even legal everywhere, and what that means for self defense and prevention. We also keep our tradition alive with music talk, band shoutouts, and a reminder that we’re building playlists alongside the hardest stories.

If you want the full details and our complete breakdown, go listen to the main episode, then come back and tell us what changes you want to see. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more people find us.

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!

Ready to explore more shocking true crime cases with us? Subscribe to Drink About Something for new episodes every Friday, and visit drinkaboutsomething.site with links to see all our content, including visual evidence from the cases we cover. 

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