Between 1932 and the end of the Second World War, an estimated 200,000 women and girls were enslaved by the Japanese military, and forced into sexual servitude. Japan’s so-called ‘comfort stations’ were hellish places, and 90% of those who were imprisoned in one did not survive the war… Worst of all, these institutions were organised by the Japanese government itself.

From Copernicus to Newton, the greatest minds in history have had a crater named after them on the moon. But one name you may not know is Jack Parsons, a pioneer of rocket science whose contributions were so monumental that man wouldn’t have set foot on the moon without him. However, his sex-crazed occultism and bromance with L. Ron Hubbard made it hard for the scientific community to embrace him, leading to his eponymous crater being placed on the dark side of the moon. This story has everything from revolutionary science to orgies, the occult, and demonic rituals - what are you waiting for…

Ever feel like the world is closing in on you? Do all people appear to you with, say, heavy eyebrows, distorted features – or dragon faces? Have you developed a total breakdown in how you interpret the world, leading to a feeling of disconnection with your own body? Well, you may have Alice in Wonderland syndrome, a rare affliction that distorts the perception of shape, size, and even time itself. Hannah & Suruthi debut a new radio show – Tuesday Morning Delight – and go down the rabbit hole of one of the most bizarre disorders in human psychology. Plus: electro-shock therapy, what’s in a migraine, and Lewis Carroll’s paedo diaries.

Last week we left off with the absolutely batshit-craziness of Margaret’s “Bel”-filled diaries and the rumoured accusations of incest made by Laniet Bain against her father Robin. And we’ll come back to all of that later in this episode, part 2 of our series on the Bain family murders, but not before we re-join David, as he’s being interviewed for the first time by the police, just hours after the killings…

Black magic, or ‘Sanguma’, is often used to explain everything from minor illnesses to sudden deaths in Papua New Guinea. Horrifyingly, it’s also behind the recent rise of brutal witch hunts sweeping the nation. An epidemic of violence in which, predominantly, women and girls are being publicly tortured and murdered. Why? Find out on this week’s ShortHand.

On 29 June 1994 the entire Bain family, except for eldest son David, were found murdered in their house in Dunedin. The investigation that followed would go on to become New Zealand’s most controversial, as allegations of black magic, incest and police corruption exploded… LAST CHANCE TO GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com

The concept of finding a close relative sexually attractive is, for most of us, totally stomach churning. Yet, according to some estimates, around 50% of reunited family members develop feelings that are obsessive and sexual. The phenomenon of Genetic Sexual Attraction can have disastrous effects on families and relationships. This week, we look at its biological and psychological causes, rooted in the deepest and most primal parts of our consciousness. GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com

The Murdaugh murders are not one story; they are a seemingly endless web of lies, entitlement, and confusion. At the centre of the web are the bodies of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, found at their hunting lodge. But tangled in it are the tragic deaths of three other completely innocent people, dragged in by the most powerful family in South Carolina. This week Hannah and Suruthi make sense of one of the most sprawling true crime cases out there… GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com

Michel de Nostredame, known to most as Nostradamus, is a man, myth, and legend – but was he able to predict the future? Probably not. Yet many point to his book ‘Les Prophéties’ as historical proof that he could see through time itself. Why? Well you’ll have to listen to this episode of ShortHand to find out! GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com

Organised crime, sex scandals, terror plots, hundreds of millions of missing dollars, a gangster known as ‘God’s Banker’ found hanging from a bridge in London, a 100-year-old apocalyptic prophecy, an anonymous tip-off that sounds like it comes from Dan Brown’s never-released Godfather sequel, and messages hidden in crypts…this is the story of Emanuela Orlandi, the only missing citizen of the smallest country in the world. And though she disappeared more than 40 years ago, Emanuela’s story remains, to this day, one of the biggest mysteries in Italian criminal history.

This week, H&S take a look at an 80s cult film that has truly earned its stripes as “the most dangerous movie ever made”. ‘Roar’ was filmed using 150 untrained and untamed big cats. And although no animals were intentionally harmed during the making of the movie, the same most definitely cannot be said about the cast and crew.

Rachel Nickell’s brutalised body was found on Wimbledon Common with her two-year-old son Alex wiping her bloodied face and begging her to 'wake up'. The nature of the broad daylight attack and the horrific injuries put enormous pressure on the Met to get the case solved and fast. However, none of that justifies the shoddy police work, cut corners, and tunnel vision that allowed a serial rapist to go unchecked for years. GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com

When you hear the words “Valentine’s Day”, what springs to mind? Romantic candlelit dinners? Secret admirers? Or violent Christian martyrdom? Well, go back far enough and it’s the latter that people were really celebrating on the 14th of February. H&S go back to the pagan-bashing Christian roots of the festival, and find out the beheadings, miracles and secret marriages behind the real(ish) Saint Valentine. Plus: why the Loch Ness Monster is definitely in hell. GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/

Dorothea Puente may have looked every bit the placid old lady she played. In reality, she was in her early fifties, and was using her self-made status as a ‘pillar of the community’ to divert attention away from what was buried and rotting in her garden. Whether her victims had a few hundred thousand dollars, a nice pick-up truck, or even just a meagre social security cheque – they all risked the wrath of the ‘Death House Landlady’. GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com

What makes flakka – aka gravel, aka the zombie drug, aka five-dollar insanity – one of the most frightening drugs on the market is not just its unpredictable strength. It’s not just its effects – which have caused its users to go on unhinged, rabid rampages that end in bloody violence and brutal murder. What makes the synthetic cathinone particularly horrifying is just how easy it is to make, distribute, and profit from. And how continuously drugs like it evade the law. This week, H&S find out why the drug exists – and why it drives people to such horrifying attacks. GET YOUR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR TICKETS: https://redhandedpodcast.com/ Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources available on redhandedpodcast.com

The much-told legend of Rasputin – the giant, wild-eyed, well-hung, wandering Siberian monk who seduced the Tsarina herself – is mostly a bunch of absolute borscht. But the real story is just as wild. H&S look at the life of a peasant who infiltrated Russian nobility, embodying the tensions of a nation – a charismatic zealot who mysteriously healed the Romanovs’ sickly heir. So join us to find out how Russia went from Romanovs to Revolution; the possible MI6 ties to Rasputin’s death; and a classic, quick-fire RedHanded rundown of…the entire First World War.

Between 1828 and 1997, over 150,000 indigenous Canadian children were forcibly taken from their families, and placed in church-run ‘residential schools’. Their heads were shaved, they were forbidden from speaking their native languages, and their cultures were forcibly and violently suppressed. This is the story of one of the darkest chapters in Canada’s colonial history, and the cultural genocide of the country’s indigenous peoples.

In 2009, having served just 13 months of the cushiest jail sentence this side of Scandinavia, Jeffrey Epstein was free – and legally protected from any future punishment. But there were hundreds of people that knew what he really was: a dangerous, influential and insatiable child rapist with a sophisticated network of fixers. They knew he had to be stopped. In this second episode of our two-parter, H&S look at the tireless legal and journalistic efforts to bring him down; go deeper into the involvement of Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew; and find out what kind of justice – if any – was served. Plus: what happened in that jail cell in 2019? 2023 North American Tour Tickets: redhandedpodcast.com

Medieval torture, the very words probably fill you with equal parts fear and curiosity…and that’s because no period of human history were the methods employed more devious, imaginative, and downright excruciating than in Medieval times. Join H&S as they take you through five of the most brutal ways countless poor souls met their end in Medieval Europe.

The story of Jeffrey Epstein – the billionaire financier with an industrial-scale web of child abuse implicating some of the most powerful people in the world – sounds like some half-baked conspiracy theory. But it’s all true. And to answer the question of how he went from humble origins to sex-trafficking minors over to his private island, we have to start at the very beginning. So, who exactly was Jeffrey Epstein? How did socialite and media heiress Ghislaine Maxwell accelerate his ambitions? And how the hell did they keep getting away with it? 2023 North American Tour Tickets: redhandedpodcast.com