Horrible Humans in History

Episode

• 
  Episode 75 - Hermine Braunsteiner 05.08.2026 55mnt

  In this gripping episode of Horrible Humans in History we uncover the full, astonishing life of Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan — the ordinary Austrian woman who became one of the most feared Nazi concentration camp guards, known as the "Stomping Mare" of Majdanek. From her humble Catholic upbringing in 1920s Vienna and frustrated dreams of becoming a nurse, to her voluntary service at Ravensbrück and Majdanek where she earned a reputation for savage brutality, selections, and stomping prisoners with her steel-studded boots, the story traces her path through the horrors of the Holocaust. We follow her postwar reinvention: a light Austrian prison sentence, marriage to an American GI, emigration to the United States, and decades as a friendly, fastidious housewife in quiet Queens, New York — until Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and a New York Times reporter knocked on her door in 1964. The episode explores her dramatic extradition, the marathon Majdanek trial in Germany, her 1981 life sentence, later medical release, and death in 1999, while examining the deeper questions of ordinary evil, denial, delayed justice, and how her case helped create America’s Nazi-hunting Office of Special Investigations. A sobering, unforgettable portrait of how history can hide in plain sight.
• 
  Episode 74 - Herod the Great 14.05.2026 54mnt

  Herod the Great was one of the most powerful and feared rulers of the ancient world. Rising from an outsider family with strong Roman connections, Herod fought his way to the throne through war, political alliances, and ruthless violence. Best known from the biblical story surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, Herod became infamous for his paranoia, executions, and alleged order to kill the children of Bethlehem in the Massacre of the Innocents. Yet he was also a brilliant builder who transformed Judea with massive projects like the expansion of the Temple in Jerusalem and the fortress of Masada. This episode explores Herod’s turbulent rise to power, his brutal reign, his conquest of Jerusalem, the murders of his own family members, and the lasting legacy of a king remembered as both a political genius and a terrifying tyrant.
• 
  Episode 73 - Pedro Rodrigues Filho 09.04.2026 53mnt

  Pedro Rodrigues Filho, known as Pedrinho Matador, was one of Brazil’s most notorious serial killers, claiming over 100 victims throughout his life. Born into a violent home, he committed his first murders at just 14 years old and went on to target criminals, gang members, and even his own father. Much of his killing took place inside prison, where he claimed to be delivering justice. Despite being sentenced to hundreds of years, he was eventually released due to Brazilian law. Later becoming a public figure, his life ended in 2023 when he was assassinated — closing the chapter on one of the most disturbing and complex figures in true crime history.
• 
  Episode 72 - HHH Year 2 Review 19.03.2026 53mnt

  Once again join Angela and her special guest, her husband, Tony for our two year anniversary show! In this episode we rank the most horrible humans from all of the episodes from the second year of the Horrible Humans in History podcast and reveal our choice for the most horrible human that we have covered during our first two years.
• 
  Episode 71 - Helene Jegado 05.03.2026 45mnt

  Helene Jegado was a 19th-century French domestic servant who used her role as a cook to poison the people around her with arsenic. Operating in rural Brittany during a time of limited medical knowledge, she was able to evade suspicion for years as victims died from mysterious illnesses. Eventually, patterns of death led to investigation, exhumation, and arrest. Convicted of multiple murders, she was executed in 1852. Her case remains one of the most disturbing examples of a serial poisoner operating within trusted domestic spaces.
• 
  Episode 70 - Charles Manson 19.02.2026 56mnt

  This episode traces the life of Charles Manson from a neglected and unstable childhood through years in reform schools and prison, where he learned manipulation, developed a fixation on control, and nurtured dreams of fame through music. After his release in 1967, he exploited the vulnerability of disillusioned young people in California’s counterculture to build the Manson Family, using charisma, drugs, and psychological domination to position himself as a prophetic authority. His apocalyptic “Helter Skelter” ideology ultimately drove followers to commit the shocking 1969 Tate and LaBianca murders, crimes Manson orchestrated despite not personally carrying out the killings. The episode explores how investigators uncovered the conspiracy, the sensational trial that followed, and Manson’s life sentence in prison, concluding with his death in 2017 and the enduring legacy of a man who sought power, fame, and meaning through manipulation and violence.
• 
  Episode 69 - Ghezo 05.02.2026 50mnt

  This episode explores the rise and reign of Gezo, the powerful and deeply controversial King of Dahomey, tracing his life from a violent royal childhood through a calculated coup and into decades of war, terror, and exploitation. It examines how Gezo modernized Dahomey’s military, broke free from foreign domination, and built a fear-based state funded largely by the Atlantic slave trade, while ordinary people paid the price through raids, enslavement, and ritualized execution. Through public sacrifice, political purges, and relentless warfare, Gezo ruled by spectacle and intimidation, leaving behind a legacy that blends military brilliance with profound human suffering and raises hard questions about power, violence, and the cost of empire.
• 
  Episode 68 - Irma Grese 29.01.2026 45mnt

  In this episode of HHH, we explore the chilling rise of Irma Grese — one of the most infamous female perpetrators of the Holocaust. Born into poverty and emotional turmoil in rural Germany, Irma’s troubled childhood and early exposure to Nazi ideology helped shape her rapid transformation from farm girl to feared SS guard. We follow her teenage radicalization, her ambition-driven entry into the concentration camp system, her relationships with SS officers, and her ascent to power at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, where survivors described her brutal beatings, selections for the gas chambers, and sadistic treatment of prisoners. At just 22 years old, Grese became the youngest woman executed for war crimes, leaving behind a legacy that forces us to confront how ordinary people can become instruments of extraordinary evil.
• 
  Episode 67 - William Palmer 22.01.2026 54mnt

  In this episode of HHH, we dive into the chilling true story of William Palmer, the Victorian doctor infamously known as “The Prince of Poisoners.” Born into respectability, Palmer built a double life fueled by gambling addiction, mounting debt, and calculated betrayal. We explore his troubled upbringing, reckless young adulthood, suspicious family deaths — including his wife Ann, his brother Walter, and multiple children — and the infamous poisoning of his close friend John Parsons Cook. From manipulated evidence and destroyed poison bottles to one of the most sensational murder trials in British history, this episode uncovers how Palmer used medicine as a weapon, how he nearly escaped justice, and why his case forever changed forensic toxicology and criminal investigations.
• 
  Episode 66 - Mao Zedong - Part 2 15.01.2026 48mnt

  Mao Zedong rose from a rural childhood to become one of the most powerful — and destructive — figures of the 20th century. As the founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao reshaped an entire nation through revolution, ideology, and absolute control. But his grand social experiments, including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, led to catastrophic famine, widespread violence, and the deaths of tens of millions. In this episode, we trace Mao’s rise to power, his manipulation of loyalty and fear, and the devastating human cost of a leader who believed history itself would bend to his will.
• 
  Episode 65 - Mao Zedong - Part 1 08.01.2026 51mnt

  Mao Zedong rose from a rural childhood to become one of the most powerful — and destructive — figures of the 20th century. As the founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao reshaped an entire nation through revolution, ideology, and absolute control. But his grand social experiments, including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, led to catastrophic famine, widespread violence, and the deaths of tens of millions. In this episode, we trace Mao’s rise to power, his manipulation of loyalty and fear, and the devastating human cost of a leader who believed history itself would bend to his will.
• 
  Episode 64 - Queen Ranavalona I 18.12.2025 50mnt

  Queen Ranavalona I ruled Madagascar for more than three decades through fear, isolation, and uncompromising authority. Rising from relative obscurity after the sudden death of her husband, she seized the throne by eliminating the rightful heirs and consolidating power with ruthless efficiency. Her reign was marked by violent suppression of Christianity, devastating military campaigns against coastal rivals like the Sakalava, widespread forced labor, and the deadly use of poison trials that claimed tens of thousands of lives. While her policies preserved Madagascar’s independence during a peak era of European imperialism, they also led to severe population decline and immense human suffering. Ranavalona remains one of history’s most polarizing rulers — a protector of sovereignty to some, and a tyrant whose legacy is written in blood to others.
• 
  Episode 63 - Gary Ridgway 11.12.2025 57mnt

  In this episode of HHH, we dive into the life and crimes of Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer—one of the most prolific serial murderers in American history. We explore his troubled childhood, his escalating violence throughout the 1980s, and the decades-long investigation that struggled to identify him as he blended seamlessly into suburban life. From his disturbing methods and chilling confessions to the breakthrough DNA evidence that finally exposed him, this episode traces Ridgway’s path from an unremarkable truck painter to a predator responsible for dozens of deaths. Ultimately, it’s a story about the victims he targeted, the system that failed to protect them, and the forensic advances that finally brought their killer to justice.
• 
  Episode 62 - Sawney Bean 04.12.2025 49mnt

  In this chilling episode of HHH - Horrible Humans in History, we dive into the blood-soaked legend of Sawney Bean, the infamous Scottish cannibal said to have led a 48-member family of murderers who terrorized the countryside for decades. From his supposed beginnings as a petty criminal to the gruesome tales of ambushes, butchery, and a secret coastal cave filled with human remains, Sawney’s story blurs the line between history and horror. Was he a real man — or a political myth born from English propaganda? Join us as we uncover the origins of this centuries-old legend, explore the historical tensions that kept it alive, and examine why tales like Sawney Bean’s still haunt our imaginations today.
• 
  Episode 61 - Shiro Ishii 20.11.2025 48mnt

  This episode explored the life of Shiro Ishii, from his privileged childhood in Japan to his rise as the leader of Unit 731, the Japanese biological warfare program responsible for some of the worst atrocities of World War II. We examined the early influences that shaped his worldview, the crimes and murders he oversaw, and the shocking post-war deal that allowed him to escape justice. Ishii’s legacy remains one of the most disturbing examples of scientific ambition gone wrong, a chilling reminder of how easily human lives can be sacrificed in the name of power, secrecy, and war.
• 
  Episode 60 - Darya Saltykova 13.11.2025 58mnt

  In this episode of History’s Horrible Humans, we dive into the chilling life of Darya Saltykova, the Russian noblewoman who terrorized her servants and murdered dozens of young women in the 18th century. From her privileged beginnings to her descent into sadistic cruelty, we explore how her crimes shocked Russia and led Catherine the Great to personally intervene. Through her arrest, public humiliation, and final years in darkness, Saltykova’s story stands as a grim lesson about power, corruption, and the horrifying things that can hide behind respectability.
• 
  Episode 59 - Samuel Little 06.11.2025 51mnt

  In this episode of History’s Horrible Humans, we explore the life and crimes of Samuel Little, the man the FBI calls America’s most prolific serial killer. From his troubled childhood and decades of petty crime to his horrifying spree of strangulations across 19 states, Little’s story reveals the failures of a justice system that overlooked society’s most vulnerable. We trace his capture through DNA evidence, his shocking confessions, and the haunting sketches that gave voice to dozens of forgotten victims. It’s a chilling look into how one man evaded justice for decades - and how the truth finally caught up to him.
• 
  Episode 58 - The Bloody Benders 30.10.2025 49mnt

  In this episode of HHH, we explored the chilling tale of the Bloody Benders, America’s first family of serial killers. From their mysterious origins to their murderous reign in Kansas, we uncovered how their roadside inn became a death trap for weary travelers. We followed the investigation that exposed their crimes, the shocking discovery of bodies buried in their orchard, and the unanswered mystery of their escape. Though the Benders vanished into legend, their legacy remains one of the darkest chapters in frontier history.
• 
  Episode 57 - Geshe Gottfried 23.10.2025 32mnt

  Gesche Gottfried was a seemingly devoted mother, daughter, and friend living in early 19th-century Germany, admired for her caregiving and piety. But under the surface lurked a serial killer who poisoned at least 15 people over more than a decade—making her one of Germany’s most notorious female murderers. This episode explores her troubled childhood, her series of arsenic-laced crimes, and the public spectacle of her execution—the last public execution in the city of Bremen. Was she a manipulative monster, or a desperate woman molded by trauma and repression?
• 
  Episode 56 - Henri Desire Landru 16.10.2025 50mnt

  In this episode of Horrible Humans in History, we explore the chilling crimes of Henri Désiré Landru—the real-life French Bluebeard. A calculating con artist turned serial killer, Landru lured women through lonely hearts ads, promised them love, and then made them disappear without a trace. As France reeled from the horrors of World War I, Landru quietly built a deadly pattern of seduction, fraud, and murder. We'll explore his early life, his transition from petty swindler to cold-blooded killer, and the sensational trial that captivated a nation. Was he a madman, a master manipulator, or simply a product of his time? Let’s find out.