Sometimes you just have to take advantage of a cheap joke about a silly number to take a look at…
For our final episode of 2021, we’re looking at the origin of one of Japan’s most famous pieces of literature:…
A group of thieves set their sights on the greatest wealth stockpile of them all: the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve. All they needed was a network of truckers, black market syrup smugglers, and shady dealers willing to get their fingers sticky for a sweet payoff.
This week, we have a biography of one of the rare women of medieval Japan who was prominent not just…
Was a poor Jewish kid from Massachusetts the real inspiration for Professor Moriarty? Meet Adam Worth, the gentleman thief so…
This week: how did the overseas slave trade from Japan continue despite a Portuguese ban? How was the trade finally…
This week, we’re beginning a two-part history on the pre-modern slave trade in Japan. Slavery existed in Japan before the…
Want to take your gang war to the next level? Try buying a rocket launcher! In this wild episode, we learn about the history of one of the world’s best-known criminal organizations, the split that launched a bloody turf war, and the linguistic complications of saying “yes” to arms dealers.
This week: the story of two men whose fascinating life trajectories led them into an interrogation room in Japan’s Edo…
How did one of the most famous political prisoners of all time end up in prison? What system did he have a part in taking down? This week, we discuss the strange legal maneuvers South Africa’s racist government used to stay in power, and the court case that changed the way the world reacted to the apartheid system.