You Can’t Make This Up

This episode contains *spoilers* so make sure to watch the entire series of "The Sons of Sam" on Netflix before listening on. When the “Son of Sam,” David Berkowitz was caught in the summer of 1977 after a string of shooting attacks in New York City, the world believed the nightmare was over, but for journalist Maury Terry, the real mystery was just beginning. Terry was convinced that Berkowitz had not acted alone...

Welcome to You Can't Make This Up, a companion podcast for Netflix's original true crime stories. In each episode, we take a close-up look at a true-crime narrative, documentary, or series, and our host Rebecca Lavoie talks to the people who made them. We dive deep into the backstories and get answers to questions raised by what we just watched. This week, we’ll be discussing the documentary “Nail Bomber: Manhunt” with the film’s executive producer, Colin Barr...

The murder of a French woman in rural Ireland sets off a convoluted quest for justice that spans decades and cuts across national borders. This week, our host Rebecca Lavoie covers the new Netflix docu-series “Sophie: A Murder in West Cork" and speaks with Suzanne Lavery, the series’s executive producer. This episode contains spoilers so be sure to watch all three episodes of “Sophie: A Murder in West Cork” before listening on...

We’re kicking off the first of a three-part special from the Netflix documentary series, Heist. This series chronicles three of the biggest heists in modern American history through in-depth interviews with the people who pulled them off. 21-year-old Heather Tallchief felt lost in life until she was swept off her feet by prison poet and paroled murderer, Roberto Solis...

Karls Monzon immigrated to Miami from Cuba in search of his American dream to own a home, a nice car, and start a family. But when his wife struggled to have children, he hatched a plan to pay for an expensive adoption by stealing millions in cash delivered by plane to Miami International Airport. And he did all the research he needed to pull off the heist by watching American TV...

Suburban father “Toby” Curtsinger was bored when he began smuggling and selling bottles of rare and expensive whiskey from the distillery where he worked in Frankfort, Kentucky. But what seemed like an easy way to improve his family’s quality of life, soon escalated from a side hustle of booze-skimming to organized crime...

Ex-leaders and a survivor of the so-called "conversion therapy" movement speak out about its harm to the LGBTQ+ community and its devastating persistence. In this episode, Rebecca Lavoie speaks with Director Kristine Stolakis and producer Jessica Devaney about the Netflix documentary film "Pray Away." This episode contains spoilers so make sure to watch all of "Pray Away" before listening on.

Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami is a six-part documentary series on the South Florida traffickers indicted in one of the largest drug cases in U.S. history. Cuban exiles Augusto “Willy” Falcon and Salvador “Sal” Magluta were accused of smuggling over 75 tons of cocaine into the U.S. in the 1980s. The high school friends built a reputed $2 billion empire that made Willy and Sal, aka “Los Muchachos,” two of Miami’s biggest celebrities...

Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami is a six-part documentary series on the South Florida traffickers indicted in one of the largest drug cases in U.S. history. Cuban exiles Augusto “Willy” Falcon and Salvador “Sal” Magluta were accused of smuggling over 75 tons of cocaine into the U.S. in the 1980s. The high school friends built a reputed $2 billion empire that made Willy and Sal, aka “Los Muchachos,” two of Miami’s biggest celebrities...

Bob Ross brought joy to millions as the world's most famous art instructor on the TV series “The Joy of Painting.” But beyond the iconic hair, soothing voice, and nostalgic paintings, lies a mystery involving the artist’s personal life and business empire. This week we take a closer look at his legacy with Joshua Rofé, the producer and director of “Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed”.