American Shadows

iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

American Shadows is a bi-weekly podcast from iHeartRadio and Aaron Mahnke’s Grim & Mild. The show focuses on the darker stories from American history: the people, places, and things that are hidden and forgotten in the shadows. From better-known tales like the conspiracy to steal Lincoln’s body, to less-known stories, like the rainmaker who flooded San Diego. Join host Lauren Vogelbaum as she spans two centuries of omitted lore from our country’s history books. read less

Our Editor's Take

American Shadows is a captivating podcast hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. Many listeners of the Savor podcast enjoy her opinions on food history. With this history podcast, she does a similar review of lesser-known, more gritty aspects of US history. The program has a unique blend of a true crime meets history lesson format.

As per its title, the show gets into things in the shadows of America. American Shadows isn't afraid to talk about controversial topics. The podcast discusses items like radium and arsenic, and how both of these things had power in their poison. Each episode guides listeners on an intriguing journey through America. Other topics include the hidden history of the Wild West. The show also discusses what it calls "the darker side of American horse racing." The episode "Aloha" talks about Hawaii's hidden history.

The podcast explains a wide range of topics. Past episodes include how life was scary at night before electricity. American Shadows also discusses how Americans tried to have fun in the past. Coney Island was a pleasure palace. But it, too, held its own secrets. Georgia Tann looked like a woman who cared about children. But she stole thousands of children from poor parents and sold them to rich ones. Other topics on the show include lonely hearts ads and how writer Nellie Bly got her start. The podcast talks about these fascinating stories. It also discusses many other overlooked moments throughout America's past.

Listeners may get captivated by Vogelbaum's storytelling skills. The American Shadows host brings these shadowy historical figures back into focus. The show uses vivid descriptions and engaging narration techniques. Her passion for unearthing lost histories shines through every episode. This makes it easy for audiences to get interested in this show. New episodes come out every other week.

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Official Trailer - American Shadows

Official Trailer - American Shadows

American Shadows is a bi-weekly podcast from iHeartRadio and Aaron Mahnke’s Grim & Mild. The show focuses on the darker stories from American history: the people, places, and things that are hidden and forgotten in the shadows. From better-known tales like the conspiracy to steal Lincoln’s body, to less-known stories, like the rainmaker who flooded San Diego. Join host Lauren Vogelbaum as she spans two centuries of omitted lore from our country’s history books. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episodes

In the 1950s the United States launched a witch hunt, and it's not at all what you think.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hungry For Justice

Hungry For Justice

What would you do when faced with a life-or-death situation? Alferd Packer had to answer this question for himself, and do something that is -- for many -- unthinkable. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Morbid Obsession

A Morbid Obsession

The story of a man who loved his mother. Too much.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the bicycle was invented it did more than simply change people's lives, leisure and mobility. It ignited a controversy over traditional gender roles. One woman set out to change all that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louder Than A Riot

Louder Than A Riot

The fight for equal rights was long and slow until one day a fight broke out with police, culminating in a riot. What happened next is history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prussian immigrant Louis Wagner came to America hoping to make a better life for himself. Working as a fisherman in the Isle of Shoals it seemed he was living the dream, until he found himself down on his luck.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Gilded Age was a time of opulence and opportunism, an age that turned businessmen into household names. But it also created some of the biggest rivalries in the rush to unearth the past.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas Neill Cream wanted nothing more than to leave the family shipping business to become a medical doctor. Having graduated with honors, his future seemed promising -- until the bodies began to appear. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spirits were high that summer’s day as everyone boarded the General Slocum. The passengers were looking forward to their annual picnic just up river… but as fate would have it, they’d never arriveSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The American Plan

The American Plan

In 1918, the US Government created a plan to track, detain, and imprison women for the STIs brought home from soldiers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the mid 1930s an unidentified killer stalked Kingsbury Run, Ohio. It's a mystery that even Elliott Ness couldn't solve.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When we think of American outlaws, we often think of cowboys and dusty trails in the Wild West. Meet the Ashley Gang who operated out of the Florida Everglades.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stranger Than Fiction

Stranger Than Fiction

Every once in a while, there are news stories that are stranger than fiction. In this episode, we meet Ruth and Judd, possibly the worst murders of the 1920s. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hawaii didn't become a state until 1959. Before then, it was a Republic, but not by choice. A coup by an American fruit corporation staged a coupe and took control. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story of Andrew Kehoe and his opposition to taxes, namely school taxes and the disaster that followed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Only one thing stood between a town's survival: 674 miles of unforgiving terrain in the worst arctic weather conditions in 20 years. Boats, planes, and trains could not get through. And that left the town with one hope: sled dogs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Timothy Dexter was many things — at least to himself. But mostly, he was lucky in the strangest of ways.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William Beadle had everything he'd dreamed of: a pretty and good-hearted wife, beautiful children, social status, and plenty of wealth. But when he lost his fortune, William lost his mind. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edmonia Lewis always loved art. In the 1800s, there weren't many women sculptors. Edmonia wasn't interested in what she couldn't do. She was only interested in what she could. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When men went off to fight in WW II, women did their own part. They worked in factories, played in a women's baseball league, and raised families. One woman's family was bigger than the rest. Meet Margaret Chung, who called thousands of military men her sons.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.