Murder on the Towpath with Soledad O’Brien

HI, Murder on the Towpath listeners! We wanted to share an episode from SNAFU with Ed Helms that we thought you might enjoy. 

Jad Abumrad is the definition of inquisitive. As the creator of hit shows RadioLab and Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, Jad has the innate ability to calculate idionsyncrasies, question the peculiar, and posit grand deductions. Perfect for this week's Murder Mystery of a SNAFU. Ed leads Jad on a tangled journey to the Arctic, where late 19th Century explorer Charles Francis Hall fell fatally ill. Was it the unforgiving tundra, or was there something more sinister afoot? Don your detective deerstalker alongside Jad as he tries to unravel this week's SNAFU WHODUNNIT!

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Hey Murder on the Towpath listeners! We wanted to share an episode from a show that we think you'll enjoy: Here We Go Again with Kal Penn. 

Each week, Kal Penn takes today’s trends and headlines and asks: Why does history keep repeating itself? From the new space race and plane delays to fad drugs and movie remakes, our guest's answers will make you feel better about everything.

In this first episode, Kal sits down with legendary science educator and TV presenter Bill Nye the Science Guy. From the Cold War to today, space has always been about flexing power. So, why do we keep turning space into a race? What does that say about the future of space exploration -- and about humanity?

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About this episode: Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes, Trumps. For better of worse, their names are synonmous with American politics. We're rapidly approaching the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. But if we openly revolted against the monarchy that long ago, then why does America continue to prop up dynasty families? Or are there signs the dynasty is finally on its way out? Presidential historian Alexis Coe guides us through America's history of powerful political families and what it all means.

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Hi, Murder on the Towpath listeners! We wanted to share an episode from a show we think you'll enjoy: SNAFU with Ed Helms. 

SNAFU with Ed Helms, America’s favorite podcast about history’s greatest screwups, is currently back for its 4th season with even more SNAFUs -  one per episode, to be precise. And this time around, Ed ropes in a cavalcade of smart, hilarious guests to help unpack what these blunders, fiascos and faceplants say about who we are (spoiler: we’re basically just toddlers with nukes).  Think of it as part history lesson, part hangout pod, and part group therapy for humanity.

About this episode: Sophia Bush is a history nerd. Ed and Sophia geek out with an oddly prescient historic whodunnit when they uncover the Heist of the Mona Lisa in 1911. Spoiler Alert: The Louvre never learns.

Subscribe to SNAFU with Ed Helms on your favorite podcast app or through the iHeart website.

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A murder in Georgetown brought together many people. Some were famous. Others deserved to be. Now, Mary's paintings hang in the Smithsonian. Dovey was a civil rights pioneer who became a minister too. Their paths never crossed in the District, but now, their legacies are forever intertwined. 

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A lost diary and a mysterious phone call cause conspiracy theorists to wonder if Mary knew too much. If so, did the CIA take her out? The theories might seem far-fetched. But unsolved murders beg for explanation - it's embedded in our psychology to want answers.

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A witness for the prosecution said he saw Ray after Mary's murder. But did he? Dovey's final defense hinges on one important piece of evidence: Ray Crump himself. By then, he'd spent 18 months behind bars, some of it in solitary confinement. Would he go free? And if he did, would he ever recover?

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In the year before her death, Mary was coming into her own as a painter. She was experimenting with her art and drugs. But what Dovey didn't know at the time of Ray's trial was that Mary was having an affair with a very powerful man: President John F. Kennedy. We've got the love letter to prove it. 

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For a whole year, Dovey retraced Mary’s last steps on the towpath in order to build her defense. Meanwhile, the aggressive, gum-smacking prosecutor portrayed Ray as a ruthless killer without morals. Dovey had to convince the jury that Ray was innocent—otherwise he would face the death penalty.

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Mary Pinchot came from a rich, eccentric family. The kind of folks who rode horses naked on their estate and hobnobbed with Kennedys. She was fiercely committed to world peace, but ended up marrying a CIA man named Cord Meyer. It was only after a tragic accident that she became known for her distinctive paintings. What started as a hobby became a lifeline in the years before her death.

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Dovey Johnson Roundtree became a lawyer at a time when no one wanted Black women to amount to anything. She’d grown up with the KKK terrorizing her neighborhood. A lucky break landed her at Spelman. Her intellect got her into Howard Law. But it was her courage that made her take on the daunting case of Ray Crump Jr. — the Black man accused of killing Mary Pinchot Meyer.

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