The Growth Time Machine with Daniel Curtis

In 2018, the world watched as 12 young footballers and their coach remained trapped deep inside the flooded Tham Luang cave system in northern Thailand.British cave diver John Volanthen was one of the men who went in to find them.In this extraordinary conversation, John gives a detailed first-hand account of one of the most remarkable rescue operations in modern history — from the moment he realised his specialist cave-diving experience could help, to navigating flooded passages in almost zero visibility, locating the missing boys alive, and confronting the seemingly impossible question of how to get them back out.John explains why he and Rick Stanton initially feared they might be searching for bodies rather than survivors, and what happened when they finally entered the chamber where the team had been trapped for ten days.But finding them was only the beginning.John takes us inside the development of what became known among the team as the “Inert Package Plan”: the extraordinary decision to sedate the children and transport them through flooded sections of cave wearing full-face diving masks.He discusses the enormous responsibility involved, the risks the rescue team knew they were taking, and the chilling reality that doing nothing would almost certainly mean losing everyone trapped inside.We also hear about a part of the rescue John believes receives far too little attention: the preparation.Before attempting the real rescue, the team practised in a swimming pool, tested equipment, rehearsed the process and even conducted a full “rehearsal of concept” so that everyone understood exactly where they needed to be. For John, that preparation — rather than the final dramatic images seen around the world — is where success is really built.John also describes the intense experience of personally bringing boys through the cave, including a terrifying moment when one child would not breathe properly with his mask following another dose of sedative.Beyond Thailand, this is a fascinating conversation about fear, calculated risk, responsibility, preparation, problem-solving, teamwork and remaining calm when the consequences could not be higher.John reflects on discovering caving through the Scouts as a teenager, exploring places no human being has previously reached, his approach to calculated rather than reckless risk, and the philosophy that has followed him throughout his life:“Start with why not.”That idea is also the first lesson in John’s book, Thirteen Lessons That Saved Thirteen Lives, in which he combines the inside story of the Thai cave rescue with lessons learned through cave diving, rescue, work and everyday life.ABOUT JOHN VOLANTHENJohn Volanthen GM is a British cave diver, explorer, innovator and rescue specialist. He has been at the forefront of underground exploration and rescue for more than two decades and was one of the first divers to locate the Wild Boars football team during the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue.He has also completed record-breaking cave dives, developed specialist equipment and techniques for underwater exploration, and continues to cave dive, explore and help pass his experience on to future generations.JOHN'S WEBSITEvolanthen.comBOOKThirteen Lessons That Saved Thirteen Lives: The Inside Story of the Thai Cave Rescue — John VolanthenAvailable through major booksellers including Bookshop.org UK.If you enjoy long-form conversations exploring extraordinary true stories, crime, mystery, history, exploration and human behaviour, subscribe to The Growth Time Machine for more.#JohnVolanthen #ThaiCaveRescue #ThamLuang #ThailandCaveRescue #ThirteenLives #CaveRescue #CaveDiving #RickStanton #WildBoars #TrueStory #Survival #Rescue #Exploration #Adventure #Podcast

How was Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols murdered — and what can modern forensic medicine tell us about the first canonical Jack the Ripper crime?In this episode, I’m joined once again by Dr Francesco Orsini, physician and forensic pathology resident at the University of Foggia, to examine the surviving medical evidence from the murder of Mary Ann Nichols in Buck’s Row on 31 August 1888. Francesco is the lead author of the peer-reviewed study “Dissecting Overkill: An Analysis of Jack the Ripper’s Final Act,” which applied modern forensic analysis to the murder of Mary Jane Kelly.This time, we turn to Polly Nichols.Using the surviving inquest testimony and medical evidence, Francesco reconstructs what may have happened during the final minutes of Nichols’s life — while remaining clear about the limits of what can be established from Victorian records.Among the key areas examined:• Whether the bruising around Nichols’s face and jaw could be consistent with pressure being applied to the mouth and nose.• Francesco’s view that Nichols may have been rapidly asphyxiated or smothered before the major cutting injuries were inflicted.• Why the throat wounds and severe abdominal injuries may have been inflicted when Nichols was already dead or extremely close to death.• Why the relatively limited amount of visible blood at Buck’s Row does not necessarily mean Nichols was killed somewhere else. Francesco considers the absence of active blood pressure, gravity, the position of the body and the multiple layers of clothing she was wearing.• What the reported warmth and coldness of different parts of Nichols’s body may — and crucially may not — tell us about the timing of her death.• The extremely narrow period in which the murder may have taken place between police patrols and the discovery of the body.• What can realistically be said about the murder weapon. Francesco argues that the surviving evidence is compatible with a long, sharp blade used with considerable force, but that the historical material does not allow us to identify an exact weapon or reliably establish whether the killer was left- or right-handed.We also discuss Charles Allen Lechmere, who gave his name as Charles Cross at the Nichols inquest.This is not an attempt to prove or disprove the Lechmere theory. His presence matters because any medical reconstruction of the timing has to sit alongside the historical evidence from Buck’s Row. If Lechmere was an innocent passer-by, Nichols’s killer had already left before he encountered her. If the theory identifying Lechmere as the killer is correct, the sequence would look very different.The aim throughout is evidence rather than certainty: what can the surviving material support, where does interpretation begin, and where must we acknowledge that the evidence simply cannot give us a definitive answer?Above all, Mary Ann Nichols remains at the centre of the story — a 43-year-old woman and mother of five whose murder in Buck’s Row became one of the defining crimes of the Whitechapel murders.DR FRANCESCO ORSINIRead Francesco Orsini and colleagues’ peer-reviewed study:“Dissecting Overkill: An Analysis of Jack the Ripper’s Final Act”https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/5/4/55Francesco is based in the Section of Legal / Forensic Medicine at the University of Foggia and has published research across forensic pathology and legal medicine.WATCH / LISTEN TO OUR PREVIOUS CONVERSATIONJack the Ripper’s Overkill: Dr Francesco Orsini on the Medical Evidence of Mary Jane Kelly’s Murder: https://youtu.be/A1xlvv5scbo?si=9Dn8URLOWtYUYt7g #JackTheRipper #PollyNichols #MaryAnnNichols #FrancescoOrsini #WhitechapelMurders #BucksRow #ForensicPathology #ForensicMedicine #TrueCrime #HistoricalTrueCrime #Ripperology #CharlesLechmere #VictorianLondon #UnsolvedMysteries #TheGrowthTimeMachine

Who were Jack the Ripper and the Thames Torso Killer?In this episode of The Growth Time Machine, Daniel Curtis is joined by Sarah Bax Horton, author of One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper and Arm of Eve: Investigating the Thames Torso Murders.Sarah discusses her case for Hyam Hyams as Jack the Ripper, the eyewitness evidence from the Whitechapel murders, Victorian policing, and the research behind One-Armed Jack.Her interest in the case is also deeply personal. Sarah’s ancestor, Sergeant Harry Garrett, served with H Division and was involved in policing Whitechapel during the period of the Jack the Ripper murders.We also explore the Thames Torso Murders, Sarah’s investigation into James Crick, the discovery and disposal of dismembered remains around London and the River Thames, and the similarities and differences between the Torso murders and the Jack the Ripper case.Sarah’s books:One-Armed Jack:https://www.mombooks.com/book/one-arm...Arm of Eve:https://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/author...Sarah Bax Horton author page:https://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/author...Sarah is also the author of the forthcoming Shackleton’s Stowaway, exploring the story of Perce Blackborow and the Endurance expedition.A detailed, evidence-led conversation about Jack the Ripper, Hyam Hyams, the Thames Torso Killer, James Crick, Whitechapel, Victorian London, historical true crime and two of Britain’s most enduring unsolved murder mysteries.#JackTheRipper #SarahBaxHorton #ThamesTorsoMurders #TrueCrime #Whitechapel

Why do we believe in ghosts — and is there actually any evidence that they exist?In this episode of The Growth Time Machine, Daniel Curtis sits down with Dr Ciarán O’Keeffe, one of Britain’s best-known parapsychologists and a familiar face from Most Haunted and the BBC’s Uncanny, for a fascinating, evidence-led conversation about ghosts, hauntings, mediums, scepticism and the psychology of the paranormal.Ciarán has spent decades studying unusual experiences from the perspective of psychology and parapsychology. Rather than beginning with the assumption that every strange experience is supernatural — or dismissing it automatically — his approach is to ask what the evidence actually tells us.We explore why human beings are so drawn to ghosts, why personal experiences can feel so convincing, whether our desire for an afterlife influences what we believe, and what psychology can tell us about that unmistakable feeling that somewhere is “haunted”.Ciarán also takes us behind the scenes of Most Haunted, discussing how he became involved with the programme, his role as its sceptical voice, the difference between genuine investigation and television entertainment, and the pressure that can exist when millions of viewers are waiting for something paranormal to happen.We discuss Derek Acorah and mediumship, including the psychology of performance, cold reading and why demonstrating a possible alternative explanation is not the same as proving that every medium is using it.Ciarán also explains why some of the most compelling paranormal evidence may not be photographs, recordings or pieces of equipment at all — but the strange and deeply personal experiences reported by ordinary people.And there are cases that have challenged even him.We discuss The Battersea Poltergeist, including one extraordinary eyewitness account that initially left Ciarán struggling to find a satisfactory explanation, as well as his own unexplained experience aboard the SS Great Britain.The conversation also explores grief, the ethics of mediumship, confirmation bias, haunted attractions, ghost hunts, religion, the afterlife and even whether accounts of the resurrected Jesus can be considered through the same psychological framework used when examining other reported apparitions.Dr Ciarán O’Keeffe is a psychologist specialising in parapsychology and investigative psychology. His television, radio and podcast work has included Most Haunted, Uncanny, Uncanny: Cold Cases, Ghost Adventures, Celebrity Ghost Hunt Live, Unexplained: Caught on Camera, Jane Goldman Investigates, Paranormal?, The Battersea Poltergeist and The Witch Farm.He has also contributed to academic research into hauntings, ghostly experiences and paranormal belief, and has written and co-written books including Ghosted! Exploring the Haunting Reality of Paranormal Encounters and Ghost Hunters: A Guide to Investigating the Paranormal.Ciarán also reveals during our conversation that his first sole-authored book, drawing on his case-study approach to paranormal investigation, is due to arrive in autumn 2027.🔗 DR CIARÁN O’KEEFFEAll of Ciarán's current links, social media, research and projects: https://linktr.ee/ciaranokeeffeBuckinghamshire New University profile: https://www.bucks.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/ciaran-okeeffeScientific research / ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ciaran-Okeeffe-2The School of Parapsychology: https://theschoolofparapsychology.company.siteUNCANNY & BBCUncanny — BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m0010x7cUncanny TV — BBC Two: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ghgpd4The Battersea Poltergeist: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0940193The Witch Farm: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d508t8Ciarán is also on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn and YouTube as @ciaranokeeffe — all available through his Linktree above.

For more than a century, the man who discovered Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols in Buck’s Row was little more than a footnote in the story of the Whitechapel murders. Today, Charles Allen Lechmere – who gave his name as Charles Cross at the Nichols inquest – has become one of the most debated suspects in the case.Edward Stow has spent years investigating Lechmere and the surviving evidence surrounding him. What makes his research particularly interesting is that he says he initially approached the theory intending to disprove it. Instead, the deeper he went into the records, timings, geography and witness testimony, the more compelling he found the case.In this conversation, we go back to Buck’s Row on the morning of 31 August 1888 and examine what we actually know. We discuss Lechmere’s discovery of Nichols, the arrival of Robert Paul, the disputed timings, the evidence given at the inquest, his use of the name Cross, his work as a carman and the routes that took him through the East End.From there, we explore the wider case: the geography of the Whitechapel murders, Lechmere’s addresses and family connections, the surviving documentary record, and the circumstances that have led researchers to ask whether his presence at Buck’s Row was as innocent as it first appeared.But this is also a conversation about the limits of historical investigation. More than 130 years later, where does evidence end and inference begin? Which apparent coincidences genuinely deserve attention, and which risk becoming significant only because we already know what happened?Ed is the creator of House of Lechmere, where his research extends beyond Charles Lechmere into Jack the Ripper, the Whitechapel murders and the wider history of Victorian crime.The identity of Jack the Ripper remains unknown. This conversation does not pretend otherwise. It is an opportunity to examine one of the most intriguing modern theories surrounding the case, follow the evidence and arguments in detail, and reach your own conclusion.Was Charles Allen Lechmere simply the man who found Polly Nichols – or does his story deserve far greater scrutiny?Subscribe to Ed's channel: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=house+of+lechmere0:00 Uncovering the Lechmere Theory0:55 Early Fascination with the East End5:03 A Surprising Family Connection6:48 The Evolution of the Lechmere Theory11:21 The Intellectual Debate of Suspects14:09 The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster18:36 Balancing Suspects and Human Empathy26:19 The Prosecution Case Against Lechmere47:13 The Mystery of the Police Discrepancies1:06:08 Analyzing the Blood Evidence#JackTheRipper #CharlesLechmere #EdwardStow #HouseOfLechmere #CharlesCross #WhitechapelMurders #Ripperology #PollyNichols #VictorianLondon #TrueCrime

Tanya Brown is the youngest sister of Nicole Brown Simpson.In this deeply personal conversation, Tanya takes us behind one of the most famous murder cases in modern history — away from the television cameras, courtroom spectacle and decades of conspiracy theories, and into the lives of the people who had to live with what happened.Tanya remembers Nicole not as a name in a true-crime story, but as her big sister: a mother, a daughter, a woman who loved music, family, cooking, skiing and being surrounded by the people she loved.She also talks candidly about the side of O.J. Simpson she says the family did not fully understand until it was too late; the domestic abuse Nicole had documented; the moment Tanya realised how frightened her sister had been; and why Tanya ultimately became convinced that Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the murders in the 1995 criminal trial. In 1997, a civil jury subsequently found him liable in connection with the deaths and awarded damages to the Brown and Goldman families.But this conversation is about much more than a court case.Tanya describes waking on June 12, 1994 to the sound of her mother's screams, watching her family's private world disappear almost overnight, and the extraordinary emotional consequences that continued long after the television cameras moved on.She speaks with remarkable openness about grief, depression, suicidal thoughts, mental-health treatment, alcohol addiction, recovery and finally confronting grief that she believes she had carried for more than three decades.Her message is simple and important: don't wait until everything becomes unbearable before asking for help.We also talk about Nicole herself — who she really was when there were no cameras around — and about the danger of assuming that somebody's public image tells us what happens behind closed doors.Tanya is the author of:Finding Peace Amid the Chaos: My Escape from Depression and Suicide. You can purchase the book here: https://tanya-brown.com/finding-peace... The book tells Tanya's story of depression, loss, mental-health crisis and her journey towards finding hope and purpose. Tanya is available for speaking engagements. IF YOU NEED SUPPORTUNITED KINGDOMMental-health or emotional crisis:Samaritans — 116 123Free, 24 hours a day.You can also text SHOUT to 85258 for confidential crisis text support.Domestic abuse:England — National Domestic Abuse Helpline (Refuge): 0808 2000 247Wales — Live Fear Free: 0808 80 10 800Scotland — Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline: 0800 027 1234Northern Ireland — Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline: 0808 802 1414If you or somebody else is in immediate danger in the UK, call 999.🇺🇸 UNITED STATESMental-health or suicide crisis:Call or text 988 — Suicide & Crisis LifelineDomestic violence:National Domestic Violence Hotline — 800-799-SAFE (7233)Text START to 88788If you or somebody else is in immediate danger in the United States, call 911.🌍 ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLDPlease seek support where you live. Contact your local emergency services if there is immediate danger, or speak to a doctor, mental-health professional, domestic-abuse organisation or recognised crisis service in your country.Find A Helpline and Befrienders Worldwide can also help locate crisis and emotional-support services internationally.You do not have to wait until a situation becomes an emergency before reaching out.---This conversation is presented as Tanya Brown's personal recollection, experience and perspective. O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder in the 1995 criminal trial; a civil jury later found him liable in connection with the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.If this conversation helps somebody you know, please consider sharing it.

Duffy Jennings reported on the Zodiac Killer case from inside the San Francisco Chronicle, the newspaper at the centre of the killer’s letters, ciphers and threats. In this episode, Duffy takes us inside the Zodiac Killer investigation and reveals what it was really like working at the Chronicle during the murders, alongside journalists including Paul Avery and Robert Graysmith. The Zodiac Killer remains one of the most infamous unidentified serial killers in American history. Between 1968 and 1969, five people were killed and two survived attacks officially linked to Zodiac. But the case became even more extraordinary when the killer began sending letters, cryptograms and threats directly to newspapers — particularly the San Francisco Chronicle. Duffy Jennings joined the Chronicle in 1967 and became a reporter in 1969. He witnessed the case develop from inside the newsroom, knew Paul Avery, worked alongside Robert Graysmith and later reported on the Zodiac story himself. We discuss the Zodiac Killer letters, the Chronicle newsroom, the atmosphere surrounding the murders, the relationship between journalists and police, the ciphers, the suspects, Arthur Leigh Allen and the extraordinary way Zodiac used the media to build his own mythology. What was it really like when suspected Zodiac correspondence arrived at the Chronicle? How did reporters handle a serial killer who appeared determined to manipulate the newspapers covering him? And after more than half a century of investigation, are we any closer to knowing who the Zodiac Killer really was? This is the Zodiac Killer case from the perspective of someone who was actually there.#ZodiacKiller #SanFranciscoChronicle #TrueCrime #Zodiac #UnsolvedMysteriesDuffy Jennings reported on the Zodiac Killer case from inside the San Francisco Chronicle, the newspaper at the centre of the killer’s letters, ciphers and threats. In this episode, Duffy takes us inside the Zodiac Killer investigation and reveals what it was really like working at the Chronicle during the murders, alongside journalists including Paul Avery and Robert Graysmith. The Zodiac Killer remains one of the most infamous unidentified serial killers in American history. Between 1968 and 1969, five people were killed and two survived attacks officially linked to Zodiac. But the case became even more extraordinary when the killer began sending letters, cryptograms and threats directly to newspapers — particularly the San Francisco Chronicle.Duffy Jennings joined the Chronicle in 1967 and became a reporter in 1969. He witnessed the case develop from inside the newsroom, knew Paul Avery, worked alongside Robert Graysmith and later reported on the Zodiac story himself.We discuss the Zodiac Killer letters, the Chronicle newsroom, the atmosphere surrounding the murders, the relationship between journalists and police, the ciphers, the suspects, Arthur Leigh Allen and the extraordinary way Zodiac used the media to build his own mythology. What was it really like when suspected Zodiac correspondence arrived at the Chronicle? How did reporters handle a serial killer who appeared determined to manipulate the newspapers covering him? And after more than half a century of investigation, are we any closer to knowing who the Zodiac Killer really was? This is the Zodiac Killer case from the perspective of someone who was actually there.#ZodiacKiller #SanFranciscoChronicle #TrueCrime #Zodiac #UnsolvedMysteriesProducts

What can forensic science reveal about Jack the Ripper’s final canonical victim—and where do the limits of the historical evidence begin?In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Francesco Orsini, physician and forensic pathology resident, to examine the murder of Mary Jane Kelly through the lens of modern forensic medicine.Francesco is the lead author of “Dissecting Overkill: An Analysis of Jack the Ripper’s Final Act,” a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Forensic Sciences and featured as the issue’s cover story. The research team—Francesco Orsini, Stefania De Simone, Roberta Bibbò, Giovanni Pollice, Luigi Cipolloni and Stefano Ferracuti—applies the Homicide Injury Scale to the surviving 1888 autopsy findings, bringing a contemporary forensic framework to one of the most discussed cases in criminal history.We discuss what “overkill” means, what the medical records say about Mary Jane Kelly’s injuries, and what the evidence may—and may not—tell us about the crime and its perpetrator. Francesco also explains why finding an organ such as a kidney requires anatomical knowledge, while stressing the limits of drawing firm conclusions from Victorian records.Read the full study:“Dissecting Overkill: An Analysis of Jack the Ripper’s Final Act”https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/5/4/55#JackTheRipper #MaryJaneKelly #ForensicPathology #ForensicScience #VictorianLondon #TrueCrimeHistory

Who wrote the Jack the Ripper letters? Could forensic linguistics help reveal whether some of the most famous letters were written by the same person?Daniel Curtis is joined by Dr Andrea Nini, forensic linguist at the University of Manchester, to discuss his peer-reviewed research into the Jack the Ripper correspondence. Nini’s paper, “An authorship analysis of the Jack the Ripper letters,” was published in Digital Scholarship in the Humanities (Oxford Academic), Volume 33, Issue 3, pages 621–636.Using computational authorship analysis, linguistic patterns and word combinations, Nini compared texts including the Dear Boss letter, the Saucy Jacky postcard, the Moab and Midian letter and the From Hell letter. His research found evidence of a linguistic link between Dear Boss and Saucy Jacky, and explored possible connections with other letters attributed to the Ripper.What can the language tell us about who may have written these letters? How does forensic linguistics distinguish meaningful similarities from common phrases? And what can the evidence not tell us? The analysis can point to possible links between texts, but it cannot prove that their author was Jack the Ripper or that the author committed the murders.Andrea Nini’s linksHome page: https://andreanini.com/Research paper in Digital Scholarship in the Humanities: https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article/33/3/621/4824843?guestAccessKey=a52315d8-cf30-44ec-b4b6-6a6ed59c3302&login=falseThe Dickens Code project: https://dickenscode.org/University of Manchester Forensic Linguistics Lab: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/forensiclinguistics#JackTheRipper #ForensicLinguistics #AuthorshipAnalysis #AndreaNini

Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick explains how genetic genealogy uses DNA to identify unknown individuals and help solve long-standing cases. She was among the pioneers who saw how DNA analysis and family history could be combined in a new way.In this conversation, Colleen shares the story behind her work: growing up in New Orleans, studying nuclear physics, and developing an approach that has since changed how investigators identify people lost to history. We discuss the challenges of cold cases, the science behind her discoveries, and the human impact of helping families find answers — or, as Colleen puts it, release from years of speculation.She also reflects on what it means to be a pioneer in a field that has grown far beyond its beginnings, and why she remains committed to helping people.Subscribe to The Growth Time Machine for conversations about the lives and experiences behind people’s work. What surprised you most about Colleen’s story? Let me know in the comments.#ColleenFitzpatrick #GeneticGenealogy #ForensicGenealogy #DNA #ColdCases