The fabulous prison escapes of Japan's Yoshie Shiratori

Houdini recalls how he became 'Handcuff King'

Illusionist Harry Houdini rose to fame through his many escapes, like from the handcuffs slapped onto his wrists by Los Angeles police in 1899. In this 1907 Los Angeles Herald article, Houdini recalls some of the many times he's thwarted attempts to...

Teenager Guy Gabaldon captured the most prisoners in US military history

After the vicious battle of Saipan outside Japan in World War II, the Japanese were opting for suicide rather than surrender. Gabaldon, a Marine with a track record for skillfully convincing the enemy to surrender, managed to capture 800 Japanese single-handedly.

Take a look at the companies that help people vanish.

Each year, some choose to "disappear" and abandon their lives, jobs, homes, and families. In Japan, there are companies that can help those looking to escape into thin air.

Japanese horror is often more psychological than its Western counterpart

One of the country’s most famous directors is Masaki Kobayashi, who won a Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival. Unlike his Western peers, Kobayashi’s films avoid jump scares or gratuitous gore, opting instead for slow-burning psychological explorations that are just as terrifying.

Japan's mysterious disappearance industry

Tens of thousands of Japanese people reportedly choose to leave their lives behind and vanish, according to a 2016 book by Lena Mauger. This long read dives into some of the book's claims via interviews with some of the individuals opting to vanish,...

Watch this octopus win every single Escape Room challenge

Octopuses are famously intelligent, solitary creatures covered in hundreds of chemical-sensing suckers. They're also pretty fascinating pets, and even enjoy playing. The crew at OctoLab put one of its more playful mollusks into four different Escape Room-like cages to see how long it would take for it to escape. Watch this video to see the brilliant, if a bit unsettling, methods the animal uses.

Women in WWII used tattoos to avoid capture

During World War II, Japanese soldiers kidnapped women from Southeast Asian countries and forced them into sexual slavery. But they hesitated to capture married women, a fact that women from the island of Timor exploited, painstakingly poking tattoos onto their bodies that marked them as married women.

Georgia inmate pulls off $11M heist—from inside his cell

Prisoner Arthur Lee Cofield Jr., 31, allegedly impersonated Sidney Kimmel, the uber-wealthy chairman and CEO of a Los Angeles entertainment company, with the help of contraband cell phones from inside his prison cell.

Prison money diaries: the thriving underground economy behind bars

How people in prison earn money, how much they spend, and the lengths to which they go to secure basic needs and comforts.

The magazine competition that pitted Houdini against the author of 'Sherlock Holmes'

In 1922, Scientific American magazine launched a contest to prove, or disprove, the existence of ghosts and define the limits of Spiritualism. This article details how this competition furthered the growing ideological split between escapologist...

Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase took pictures of his wife, Yoko, leaving for work every morning from his fourth-floor window in a series titled From Window. Not long after, Yoko filed for divorce.

Six American diplomats secretly hid in the Canadian Embassy for months after escaping the hostage crisis

When Iranian students seized the US Embassy, six Americans slipped away and took refuge with the Canadian Ambassador. The CIA orchestrated a daring escape under the cover of a fake film crew—later depicted in the Academy Award-winning film "Argo."

Philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre staged his first play while he was imprisoned in a POW camp.

When America's deadliest serial killer went undetected

Samuel Little, who, for years, washed in and out of the justice system on violent charges eroded into lesser offenses, ultimately admitted to killing 93 people, mostly women, over more than 30 years. He tended to target those on the fringes of society—runaways, drug users, sex workers—people whose deaths were more likely to go unnoticed, he remarked, referring to them as fruits to be plucked at will.

‘Hamlet’ is a widely produced show, including a famous performance at one prison

Rehabilitation of convicted violent criminals in Missouri’s Eastern Correctional Center included performances of “Hamlet,” one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.

The story of Susy Thunder, the female hacker who disappeared

Here's the story of Susan Thunder, a woman who entered the hacker underground scene in the late 1970s and one day disappeared completely. She had a troubled past, facing abuse and hardship, and found solace in manipulating phone systems and later computer systems. She became involved with prominent hackers and her ability to control systems mirrored her quest for personal control. Her story highlights the role of social engineering in hacking.

Learn more about Niagara’s death-defying daredevils

This podcast from the Niagara Falls Daredevil Museum explores 19th‑ and early 20th‑century Niagara daredevils—like tightrope walker Charles Blondin, barrel-stunter Annie Edson Taylor, and Sam Patch—detailing their feats, dangers, and public spectacle.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Japan is home to intricately designed region-specific manhole covers

The country's eye-catching sewer covers were a form of brand rehabilitation, intended to change people's perceptions of the sewer. Additionally, they're easy to see at night, making firefighters' nighttime duties a bit easier.

Yakuza gangsters' tattoos often portrayed moments from their lives

Although tattoos have been worn in Japan for centuries, no single group is more famous for their elaborate, full-body tattoos—featuring traditional Japanese art—than Yakuza gangsters. The criminal organization does not use tattoos to mark their association, though. Instead, the scenes are intensely personal.

How Audrey Hepburn became a spy during the Nazi occupation

Despite her status as one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses, Audrey Hepburn experienced a war-torn childhood in Europe that few people know about. During her upbringing in the Netherlands, the Nazi occupation caused Hepburn to quit her life as a ballerina and made her family go hungry. In the face of adversity, Hepburn bravely carried messages for the Dutch resistance. Learn more about the star’s compelling life before finding fame.

Japan train station names cat stationmaster

Some senior Nazis fled to South America and lived for decades

Using so-called "ratlines" through Spain, Italy, and into South American countries like Argentina, many of Adolf Hitler's closest associates evaded capture after the fall of Berlin in 1945. This video details the fate of eight, including infamous doctor Josef Mengele and logistics expert Adolf Eichmann.

The female samurai of feudal Japan

This article examines the role of Japan's female samurai throughout history, specifically the Battle of Aizu, a deadly civil conflict between traditionalists and reformers in 1868 in which one side had halberds and swords and the other had guns....

Pop artist Yayoi Kusama is arguably the most famous living female artist

The Japanese pop artist is one of many figures whose work challenged ideas of traditional fine art. Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, and Claes Oldenburg are among the other artists known for defining pop art.

Japan is home to the world's only geothermal steam dye workshop

The Hachimantai Geothermal Dyeing Workshop sees artisans and visitors use volcanic steam to fix dyes and add gradations to patterns, creating tie-dyed handkerchiefs and mini-scarves.

One Falls daredevil once made breakfast while tightrope walking over the gorge

In 1859, tightrope walker Jean François “The Great Blondin” stunned crowds by cooking and serving an omelet mid-walk across the Niagara Gorge.

The WWII passport forgers who saved thousands of Jewish lives

Amid the chaos of Hitler's authoritarian Europe in World War II, Polish diplomats based in Switzerland used the classic toolkit of thieves to help free thousands of Jews: they perfected the art of forgery, faking passports secretly donated by sympathetic Latin American countries. Read the incredible tale of heroism here.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dressed as Mario at the Olympics

In a 2016 ceremony at that year’s Summer Games in Rio, Abe dressed as Super Mario to celebrate his country hosting the 2020 Olympics. It was a logical move: The character is one of the most recognizable characters in the world and someone who’s now associated with Japanese culture.

The Shah used torture and other human rights abuses to maintain power before the revolution

A declassified 1976 US Embassy telegram acknowledged that the Shah held 3,400-3,500 political prisoners, documented torture allegations against the SAVAK secret police, and confirmed press censorship, even as American diplomats sought to minimize human rights concerns for Congress.

A West Berlin student dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall—29 East Germans escaped

This podcast recounts how a young West Berlin student excavated a secret 135‑meter tunnel beneath the Berlin Wall in 1962. A total of 29 East Germans escaped to freedom, even as a Stasi mole threatened exposure.

Days after her release from prison, Billie Holiday sold out Carnegie Hall

The jazz icon was released early from federal prison on good behavior. Following her arrest, she was effectively prohibited from performing in New York's nightclubs, but she realized she could still perform, so long as it was in a venue that hadn't been deemed a "cabaret." The solution? The famous Carnegie Hall. The show sold out within a week, and the venue became a regular stop for Holiday, who performed there 22 times.

How Japanese Anime became a global phenomenon

Anime's popularity was once confined to Japan, but the art form has attracted a global audience in the 2020s due in large part to its availability on streaming and increased watch times during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Hollywood Reporter article explains how other factors—including several influential celebrities who consider themselves anime aficionados—have made the genre an international sensation.

Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi creates masterpieces using Microsoft Excel

Upon retiring, he wanted to get into art, but found the materials to be expensive. Since 2000, he has created art pieces using the line tool and other features the software provides before printing and taping together various spreadsheets that make up a completed work.

Why workers in Japan hire resignation experts

Many workers in Japan hire resignation experts to help them quit their jobs. That's partly because quitting is taboo in Japan. It's seen as "the ultimate form of disrespect" in that country, where job hopping is uncommon. Bosses sometimes attempt to force workers to stay when they resign, creating quite the market for resignation assistance firms. Read more in this article.

Japan's wrestling style is called puroresu

Puroresu has a long history in Japan, much of it traced back to Mitsuhiro Momota, better known as Rikidozan, who was the form’s first superstar and a hero to the country in the wake of World War II.

A theater group staged 'Waiting for Godot' at San Quentin prison in 1957

The play, about being stuck, resonated with inmates. Critics noted that the incarcerated audience empathized with its hopeless characters much more than those at the show's North American premiere in Miami, who'd walked out in disgust.

Why is there a regular event to call Houdini from beyond the grave?

An annual seance on the anniversary of Harry Houdini's Halloween death seeks to communicate with the great escapologist from the great beyond. This podcast episode explores why the Hungarian illusionist wanted these magical rites held after his...

The nebulous nature of parole

When Jacob Wideman was 16 years old, he fatally stabbed his summer camp roommate and briefly fled authorities before turning himself in and confessing. After spending 30 years in prison, he was released on parole. Nine months later, Wideman was back in prison, accused of violating parole for not booking a therapy appointment fast enough. This is the first episode in a seven-part series exploring Wideman's case and parole.

Interred Japanese Americans wrote satirical poetry

Senryu is a Japanese poetic form that is similar to the haiku, though its aim is often satirical and its composition is often collaborative. At California’s Tule Lake Segregation Center, interred citizens met to write senryu together, often composing verse that criticized their surroundings.

Watch a Japanese chef demonstrate how he prepares sushi

Tokyo's Naomichi Yasuda shows how he cuts tuna, wraps a maki roll, and assembles nigiri. In the process, he explains the proper way to enjoy the creations, offering advice for getting the most flavor.

Hear the story of the largest single escape attempt by enslaved people in American history

On April 15, 1848, 77 enslaved individuals in Washington, DC, boarded a ship named the Pearl in the largest single escape attempt in US history. Their capture led to riots and intensified the conflict over fugitive slave laws.

Deinstitutionalization in the 20th century unintentionally led to the incarceration of schizophrenia patients

Activism to shut down problematic asylums in the mid-20th century led to the community release of many patients with severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, but without adequate support, this deinstitutionalization in the 1960s and 1970s led to a significant increase in patients with schizophrenia ending up in prisons and homeless shelters.

The Texas Ranger turned 'serial killer whisperer'

Texas Ranger James Holland earned a reputation for squeezing confessions from suspected serial killers, including the country's most prolific serial killer, Samuel Little. This reputation led the LA Times to declare him "a serial killer whisperer of sorts." With methods ranging from hypnotism to lies, this award-winning article dives into the question of whether this ranger's legal lasso ever ensnared innocents and diluted witness testimony.

Often dubbed the 'king of bank robbers,' George Leonidas Leslie stole an estimated $7M (equivalent to $200M today) and charged other criminals a $20K fee to evaluate their heist plans

Leslie studied architecture and used blueprints of safes and banks to execute meticulously planned bank heists across the Northeast between 1869 and 1878. Although Leslie was an infamous bank robber by night, he posed as a member of high society by day, providing critical intel on the institutions he'd rob and helping conceal his crimes. Months before his largest planned heist, where he planned to turn on his gang, Leslie's body mysteriously washed up along the Hudson River. His killer remains a mystery.

Shohei Ohtani's interpreter allegedly stole $16M for gambling debts

Ippei Mizuhara first met Shohei Ohtani during the two-way star’s rookie year in Japan. Ten years later, Mizuhara, who had become a trusted friend and confidant to Ohtani, is alleged to have stolen $16M from his employer to repay gambling debts.

Prisoners granted compassionate release due to severe illness often stay months—or years—largely because nursing homes are reluctant to take prisoners.

Hear firsthand stories of prison life from those living it

"Ear Hustle"—produced inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (formerly known as San Quentin State Prison)—shares personal and often surprising stories of incarceration and reentry—providing listeners with an unfiltered human perspective on the US justice system.

A pet turtle survived a fatal barrel plunge over the falls

In 1930, George Stathakis died attempting a barrel stunt over the falls—but his 150-year-old pet turtle "Sonny" survived 24 hours trapped behind the cascade.

The Japanese folklore that inspired Pokémon

Characters from the popular video game series appear to reference the yōkai from Japanese folklore, which first became popular during the country's Edo period, when art and literature became mass-produced.