Friday OT #2 - So, So, So Scandalous

[Angie]

There are so many people following the Gabby Petito story super-closely right now. What are some stories that you followed intensely closely?

I read actual court documents from the Jerry Sandusky trial. Which was NOT easy, as it was horrifying, but it was an example of horrifying systemic abuse.

What are yours?

 

[JM4CY]

jodi huisentruit

 

[carvers4math]

I remember watching the 9/11 coverage for days hoping they would save more people.

 

[JP4CY]

The deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
Thru one specific podcast, I learned something that wasn't talked about much. The autopsies revealed whoever murdered them had to be in phenomenal shape/strong arms and shoulders. Their bodies were "lifted" off the ground by the knife alone from the way they were stabbed.
The podcast also led to some belief there were two murderers (OJ and his son). Ron was well, well versed in the martial arts, so to take him down alone, would be very difficult.

Lots of other things that people already know about OJ but expanded upon more: the Europrean shoes, the gloves (there was a receipt from Nicole purchasing them in that size), the police's awful responses to Nicole's 911 calls.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Weird cults and survival situations (all in the past, in most cases) are a small obsession of mine.

Cults like Scientology, the Mormon Church, Peoples Temple, Heaven's Gate, etc.

Survival situations like the wreck of the whaleship Essex, the Donner Party, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, etc.

 

[JP4CY]

Weird cults and survival situations (all in the past, in most cases) are a small obsession of mine.

Cults like Scientology, the Mormon Church, Peoples Temple, Heaven's Gate, etc.

Survival situations like the wreck of the whaleship Essex, the Donner Party, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, etc.

There is actually a RAGBRAI team named this too.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I don't follow politics as closely as others, but I spend an unhealthy amount of time following presidential election coverage.

 

[Sigmapolis]

I don't follow politics as closely as others, but I spend an unhealthy amount of time following presidential election coverage.

You and the whole country.

 

[MJ29]

I listen to a lot of true crime. The Maura Murray case is one I think about a lot. And I constantly change my mind about whether I think she disappeared by choice or not.

 

[CYCLNST8]

jodi huisentruit

+Johnny Gosch

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 still bothers me.

 

[jcyclonee]

Natalee Holloway

 

[Gonzo]

I was glued to the Jodi Arias trial from several years ago.

 

[Entropy]

The Theranos story has kept me intrigued. The whole concept just seemed impossible to me to begin with, and with the busting of the company and all the legal troubles, I've kept up with it more than I expected.

 

[Clonefan32]

I went down some weird rabbit holes on the conspiracy theories surrounding that Las Vegas shooter.

 

[MeanDean]

Weird cults and survival situations (all in the past, in most cases) are a small obsession of mine.

Cults like Scientology, the Mormon Church, Peoples Temple, Heaven's Gate, etc.

Survival situations like the wreck of the whaleship Essex, the Donner Party, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, etc.

This. I read several (Maybe 2 dozen) books about survival stories about 5 years ago. Kind of ran out of them
I have a few that I really thought deserved more attention and can try to find what they were and share if you wanted.

 

[cyfanatic13]

About once or twice a month I feel like I go down really deep rabbit holes either on Wikipedia or YouTube about different mass murders, abuse things, assassination attempts, conspiracy theories, etc. It shouldn’t but it just fascinates me how people can get so messed up. I’m probably on some FBI watchlist by now

 

[MeanDean]

Charlie Manson/Helter Skelter

Richard Speck

Charlie Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate

 

[throwittoblythe]

Not obsessively, but I’ve listened to a few podcasts about the Jonestown Massacre. The audio from the mass “suicide” is gut wrenching and awful.

 

[JP4CY]

+Johnny Gosch

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 still bothers me.

That really really freaked out parents when I was a kid.

 

[Trice]

The Theranos story has kept me intrigued. The whole concept just seemed impossible to me to begin with, and with the busting of the company and all the legal troubles, I've kept up with it more than I expected.

That's a good one. I'm not following the trial that closely, though I've got episodes of a podcast saved up to binge here in a week or two. But I read "Bad Blood" by John Carreyrou and a few other longform stories about it. I'm not sure why this story grabbed me rather than, say, the WeWork scandal; perhaps it had something to do with this company's fraudulence actually hurting people, or all the dignitaries who lined up to back Theranos without seeing through it in real time (which seems pretty obvious, even without hindsight). The sociopathic Steve Jobs impersonation she tried to pull probably helped too.