In the late 1960s, a yogi named Swami Rama came to the United States. His followers believed he could read their minds, visit them in their dreams, and manipulate reality. Shruti Swamy was one of them.
Shruti Swamy wrote a version of this story for the June 12th issue of The Believer. You can find it at https://www.thebeliever.net/.
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36:20
Professor Quaalude
John Buettner-Janusch was one of the first Americans to study lemurs. He held prestigious faculty positions at Yale, Duke and NYU, before surprising everyone with a series of increasingly bizarre crimes.
Phoebe and Lauren got to visit the Duke Lemur Center in person – hear all about it in our latest episode of Criminal Plus. Use the promo code “JOINUS” for 20% off an annual membership. You’ll get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, special merch deals, and more.
Peter Kobel’s book is The Strange Case of the Mad Professor.
This episode was first released in 2019.
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We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.
Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.
Episode transcripts are posted on our website.
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35:10
Thin Ice and Unusual Punishments
Two years ago, we started making Criminal Plus episodes — behind-the-scenes conversations featuring Phoebe and Criminal co-creator Lauren Spohrer. Today, we’re sharing some of those conversations with you — about everything from Phoebe’s jangly bracelets to the reason a judge ordered a man to watch Bambi.
And we’re also sharing a promo code if you’d like to support our work and join our membership program. Use the code “JOINUS” for 20% off of an annual Criminal Plus membership, at thisiscriminal.com/plus.
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24:27
Action Park
“Anyone who went to Action Park understood you could get really messed up going there. It was part of why you wanted to go.”
Seth Porges made a documentary about Action Park, along with Chris Charles Scott. It’s called Class Action Park.
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Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, special merch deals, and more.
We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.
Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.
Episode transcripts are posted on our website.
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34:27
No Hint or Help
In the 1950s, a new television quiz show premiered called Twenty One. But the first episode was a disaster — so the producers decided to try something.
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Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, special merch deals, and more.
We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.
Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.
Episode transcripts are posted on our website.
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Criminal is the first of its kind. A show about people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge. Named a Best Podcast of 2023 by the New York Times. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Ireland