WILDCIDE

How petty can people be? Apparently...petty enough to go to war. This week's shortcide episode, Chelsea unpacks The Pastry War, where a French baker's complaint escalated into an international conflict, while Bailey explores The War of Jenkins' Ear, proving that one severed ear became the perfect excuse for two empires already itching to fight.

From unpaid pastries to missing body parts, we're diving into two of history's most absu...

In this episode, we dive into the Kentler Experiment, a case so horrifying it sounds impossible but was very real. In late-1960s West Berlin, psychologist Helmut Kentler promoted a dangerous idea: that vulnerable foster boys could be placed with men known to be pedophiles, under the claim that they would provide “care” and stability. Instead, what unfolded was a state-supported failure that exposed children to abuse whi...

This week Bailey and Chelsea dive into the unbelievable world where soccer stops being just a game and turns into a full-blown circus of lies, money, ego, and corruption.

First, we cover Carlos Kaiser, the legendary “striker” who somehow built a professional soccer career without actually playing soccer. Literally. Kaiser faked injuries, charmed clubs, fooled managers, partied with celebrities, and became one of the gre...

In the 1980s, New York City was already fighting a war in the streets....crack cocaine, violence, fear, and neighborhoods pushed to the breaking point. But in Brooklyn’s 75th Precinct, one of the most dangerous threats wasn’t just coming from the criminals.

It was coming from the cops.

This episode dives into the infamous Seven Five scandal, one of the most shocking corruption cases in NYPD history. At the center of it ...

In this episode, we cover the survival story of Kara Robinson Chamberlain, a teenager whose quick thinking and courage helped expose a predator hiding in plain sight. What began as a terrifying abduction in broad daylight quickly turned into a case that would connect one survivor’s account to a series of unsolved crimes. Kara’s ability to stay observant, remain calm under extreme pressure, and later provide investigator...

In this more playful Shortcide episode, Bailey and Chelsea take a funny nod at one of the greatest animal-detective movies ever while covering two real cases that feel like they were made for Ace Ventura himself. First, we head to India, where a parrot allegedly helped identify a killer, because apparently the key witness had feathers and a flair for drama. Then we travel to 1930s Australia for the infamous shark arm case, where a ...

Y'all remember the McDonald's Monopoly game that dominated the 90s? Those addictive peel squares hoping you had gotten the one piece you were missing. Well, this will take you for a walk down memory lane for sure.

Obviously if you're listening to this episode, you probably weren't one of those lucky million-dollar winners but...did you at some point believe that you were going to win the McDonald's Monopoly game? Like really win th...

Two women. Two different lives. Two crime scenes five years apart that, at first, seemed completely unrelated. In 1986, Margarette Eby was murdered inside her secluded Flint, Michigan home. In 1991, Northwest Airlines flight attendant Nancy Ludwig was attacked and killed inside a hotel room near Detroit Metropolitan Airport. For years, the cases remained separate. That was until Margarette’s son, Marc Eby, noticed similaritie...

What first looked like an unbelievable headline about a California couple and an unusually large family quickly turned into a case that drew national attention. Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan became the focus of intense scrutiny after authorities linked them to 21 children, many reportedly born through surrogacy, and the scale of the situation immediately raised questions that didn’t have easy answers. On the surface, it was a ...

In this episode of What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, we dive into two of history’s most bizarre true stories. First, we unpack how Pepsi, in a deal so strange it sounds made up, briefly became the owner of one of the largest navies in the world. Then we head to Australia, where the military launched a campaign against flocks of destructive emus and somehow came out looking like the underdog. It’s a story of corporate power...

At first, they were called tragic accidents. Sudden, devastating events that seemed to end in the water, in the chamber, in the final moments no one could take back. But as investigations unfolded, the questions began to change — from what happened to who was responsible, who made the decisions that led there, and who failed when lives were still hanging in the balance. In this episode, we explore the Byford Dolphin disaster ...

In Part 2 of this case, the investigation into Jeremy Skibicki reveals the full scope of what happened inside a small apartment in Winnipeg and how multiple women became connected to one of the most disturbing serial murder cases in modern Canadian history. As investigators reconstruct timelines, search landfills for evidence, and piece together Skibicki’s confession, the case expands far beyond a single murder investigation ...

Three women vanish from the same area of Winnipeg within weeks of each other. At first, their disappearances don’t raise widespread alarm—lost phones, unstable housing, and the realities of life on the margins make it easy for cases like these to slip through the cracks. But their families knew something wasn’t right.

Then, on a cold morning in May 2022, a man searching through a dumpster makes a discovery th...

A trusted pastor. A small Pennsylvania church. And a string of tragedies. 

When a man named Joseph Mesante walked into a church office in Reeders, Pennsylvania and ended his life, the story seemed heartbreakingly simple: a husband devastated by the discovery of his wife’s affair with their pastor, Arthur “A.B.” Schirmer.

But Joseph's suicide was the unfortunate catalyst to a horror story.

As investigators beg...

History doesn’t always change because of grand decisions. Sometimes it changes because of a wrong turn… or a forgotten petri dish.

In today's Shortcide, Bailey tells the unbelievable story of how a driver’s accidental turn down the wrong street placed Archduke Franz Ferdinand directly in front of Gavrilo Princip—triggering a chain reaction that would lead to World War I, the rise of Hitler, and the deadlies...

Domestic violence is rarely as simple — or as obvious — as people expect it to be.

In this special Wildcide interview episode, Bailey and Chelsea sit down with domestic violence expert and therapist Jennifer Salmons for an honest, deeply practical conversation about how abusive relationships actually develop, why victims stay, and what outsiders often misunderstand about abuse dynamics.

Moving beyond headlines and ...

Tracey Thurman did everything a victim is told to do. She left her abusive husband. She reported threats. She obtained a restraining order. She called the police again and again — documenting a danger everyone could see coming.

On June 10, 1983, after months of ignored warnings, Tracey was brutally attacked outside her home while help arrived too late to stop the violence. What followed wasn’t just a criminal case, but ...

Boston, January 17, 1950. Just after 7 p.m., a group of masked men walked calmly into the Brink’s Armored Car Company building and carried out what would soon be called the “Crime of the Century.”

There was no chaos. No gunfire. No panic. The robbers moved with precision — wearing disguises, speaking little, and tying up employees before disappearing into the night with nearly $2.8 million in cash, checks, a...

In 1992, a respected small-town physician was accused of sexually assaulting one of his patients during a routine appointment. The allegation shocked the tight-knit Canadian community — but what happened next was even more unbelievable. Despite a DNA test meant to settle the case once and for all, the results seemed to clear the doctor. The charges were dropped. Life moved on.

But the victim never stopped fighting.

Years...