Podcast
The House Red
Hosted by Justin Holt & Kimberly Ramey · EN
History is stranger than fiction---and we're here to prove it. Welcome to The House Red, the podcast where we uncork the wildest, weirdest, and most unbelievable true stories from history. From bizarre plagues to daring heists, twisted scandals to forgotten legends, we dive into the past's juiciest tales with a twist of dark humor and a splash of intrigue. So pour yourself a glass and get ready---because history has never been this intoxicating.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Laurie Bembenek: From Cop to Centerfold to Convict
Mar 3000:33:38Tap to summarizeA former cop. A Playboy Bunny. A brutal murder.Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek's life reads like fiction—but her conviction was all too real. In this episode, we unravel how a woman with everything to lose became the center of a shocking case, and why many believe she never should’ve been found guilty.
Transcribe →Julianne Koepcke: Surviving the Amazon
Mar 2300:32:41Tap to summarizeAt 17, Julianne Koepcke fell from a plane into the Amazon—and survived. Alone and injured, she spent 11 days fighting her way through the jungle in one of the most unbelievable survival stories ever told.
Transcribe →The Great A-Flock-Alypse: 7 Days of Death
Mar 1600:38:33Tap to summarizeFor one strange week in 2010, something bizarre seemed to be happening around the world. Birds fell from the sky, thousands of fish washed ashore, and animals began dying in sudden, unexplained events. Was it coincidence, natural causes, or something far stranger? This week on The House Red, we dive into the eerie seven days when the animal kingdom seemed to collapse all at once.
Transcribe →Shock and Awe: The Story of Topsy
Mar 900:44:08Tap to summarizeIn 1903, thousands gathered at Coney Island for a spectacle unlike any other. At the center of it all was Topsy, a circus elephant with a troubled past—and a grim fate. In an era obsessed with electricity, showmen turned her execution into a public demonstration that would later become one of the earliest shocking films ever recorded.
Transcribe →Phineas Gage: A Mind-Blowing Experience
Mar 200:34:27Tap to summarizeHe lost part of his brain but stayed awake. In this episode, we tell the unbelievable true story of Phineas Gage—the man who survived the ultimate workplace accident—and how the iron that should’ve killed him instead reshaped science, psychology, and the idea of what makes you… you.
Transcribe →King Zog I: Bullets, Blood Feuds, and a Self-Crowned King
Feb 2300:25:45Tap to summarizeKing Zog I of Albania survived assassination attempts, coups, exile, and international pressure to crown himself king in one of Europe’s most unstable regions. This episode follows Zog’s entire life—from his rise as a teenage warlord, to becoming a modernizing monarch, to his dramatic escape as World War II closed in. It’s a story of ambition, survival, and one man’s determination to rule against all odds.
Transcribe →Linda Hazzard: The Hunger Cure
Feb 1600:27:18Tap to summarizeIn the early 1900s, self-proclaimed healer Linda Hazzard promised miraculous cures through one simple method: starvation. Branding herself as a medical authority, she convinced wealthy patients that extreme fasting could cleanse the body of disease—while quietly starving them to death under her care. In this episode, we unravel how pseudoscience, charisma, and blind trust turned a “wellness retreat” into a death sentence—and how Hazzard nearly got away with murder.
Transcribe →Ken Rex McElroy: The Skidmore Bully
Sep 12Tap to summarizeKen Rex McElroy terrorized the small town of Skidmore, Missouri for decades—bullying neighbors, dodging the law, and walking free from dozens of charges. But in 1981, the town had enough. In broad daylight, surrounded by dozens of witnesses, the town took things into their own hands. This episode unpacks the chilling story of the man who couldn’t be stopped—and what the town finally did about it.
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