BADLANDS
190 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago - ★★★★ - 1.3K ratingsBadlands is a true crime podcast that explores the real life stories of the famous at their most infamous. Badlands is voiced by Jake Brennan, host of the award-winning podcast DISGRACELAND. In Badlands, each episode digs into the crimes and scandals of our most beloved cultural figures. How did Marilyn Monroe really die? What caused Heath Ledger to end up on the bad side of revenge-seeking paparazzi? How did Winona Ryder help solve a kidnapping case in her adoptive hometown? New scripted episodes of Badlands are released every Wednesday while bonus episodes are released every Friday. Badlands is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes as they are in most scripted entertainment based on true events. Sources and credits for each episode are available at disgracelandpod.com/badlands. Badlands is available wherever you get your podcasts.
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Episodes
REWIND - Tim Allen: Cocaine in Kalamazoo, Life in Prison, and Flipping for the Feds
April 12, 2024 07:07 - 39 minutesBefore he was headed to infinity and beyond, Tim Allen was headed to life in prison for a low-level drug deal in Michigan. This is the story about how his first career ended in a life-changing bust, and what he had to do in order to survive and find a way out. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including discussions about suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide o...
Presenting DISGRACELAND - Kobe Bryant: The Black Mamba's Revenge
April 10, 2024 07:01 - 41 minutesHe was a professional killer. A warrior trained from birth. A member of the deadliest squad of assassins in The Association. But that was before he tried to go solo. And before they tried to kill him. They made one mistake though – they didn’t finish the job. Now the Black Mamba is back and he won’t stop until he’s got his hands on the ultimate prize – the assassin’s ring – and his revenge on the ex-partner and boss who double crossed him. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing t...
REWIND - Pete Rose: Full-Throttle Hustle, Gambling with Gangsters, and Winning at Any Cost
April 05, 2024 07:07 - 35 minutesPete Rose was the biggest winner in baseball history. He played more games. He had more hits. The numbers prove he was, unequivocally, the best. But his desire to win became an all-consuming compulsion both on and off the baseball diamond. When he could no longer rack up wins on the field as a player, he sought out other ways to feel like a winner. This led to bets placed with gangsters, debts owed to vengeful bookies, and a web of secrets and lies that would ultimately prove his undoing. To ...
REWIND - Patty Hearst: Brainwashing, Cyanide Bullets, and an Heiress-Turned-Terrorist
April 03, 2024 07:09 - 42 minutesBefore Patty Hearst appeared as an actress in John Waters' movies, she captivated America on the silver screen as a hostage terrorized by the Symbionese Liberation Army. When the newspaper heiress was kidnapped by the radical organization in 1974, the country sympathized with her plight. But after just a few months, the SLA’s guns weren’t pointing at Patty anymore; suddenly, Patty was firing her own weapons during fistfights and bank robberies as a member of the same terrorist group that once...
REWIND - Joe Namath: Rubbing Elbows with the Mafia, Accused of Assault, and the Birth of the Rockstar Gladiator
March 29, 2024 07:03 - 39 minutesJoe Namath was the Elvis and the Beatles of the gridiron at a time when the NFL was full of players with flat personalities. He was the catalyst that turned athletes into leaders, steering the cultural zeitgeist. Blonde bombshells drove onto the field in Cadillacs to pick him up. He intercepted women from Mick Jagger in New York nightclubs. He wore mink coats and sunglasses on the sidelines during preseason games he didn’t play in. He drank, he gambled, he smoked, and he grew his hair long - ...
REWIND - Lana Turner: The Preeminent Pinup Girl, the King of Los Angeles, and the Death of Johnny Stompanato
March 27, 2024 07:10 - 39 minutesAs captivating as actress Lana Turner was on screen, her personal life off screen was more dramatic than any movie could hope to be. Her father, turning up dead over a poker pot. Her co-star, Sean Connery, throwing down with pre-Bond panache when her boyfriend threatened to beat her up. And that same boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, winding up dead in her Hollywood home after another of their infamous arguments. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/...
REWIND - Sonny Liston: Managed by the Mob, Heavyweight Champ of the Prison and then the World, and What It Takes to Be the Baddest of Them All
March 22, 2024 07:05 - 42 minutesSonny Liston transcended a life of petty crime, police busts, and prison time to become the heavyweight champion of the world. He was so feared as a fighter, however, that he made it to the big time with the financial backing of a rogue’s gallery of infamous underworld figures. That dubious association would win him some fights, lose him some fights, and ultimately, lead to more than a few suspicious asterisks next to his boxing record. And it may have even killed him. To see the full list of...
Presenting DISGRACELAND: Steve McQueen: Mustangs, Magnums, and Manson's Hit List
March 20, 2024 07:00 - 39 minutesHustling on the streets of New York. Wagering with a U.S. president over who could sleep with more women. Knocking back beers with Elvis. Waving his gun around at the funeral of Jay Sebring, one of the victims of Charles Manson’s murderous family. The same family that had their sights now set on the King of Cool, Steve McQueen, who needed the speed of a Mustang or the power of a Magnum to keep Charlie’s crazy cult at bay. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgra...
REWIND - Danny Trejo: A Prison Riot, the Gas Chamber, and Becoming Fear
March 15, 2024 07:05 - 37 minutesDanny Trejo holds the record for most on-screen deaths by an actor. His go-to role is the bad guy – the baddest guy. The guy you do not mess with. And for the first 25 years of his life, he was that guy for real. He led a life of violence and drugs that landed him in just about every hardcore prison in California, including Folsom and San Quentin. On the inside, he ran the gym, the drugs, and protection rackets. And then one day, the tables turned and Danny Trejo was the one who needed protec...
REWIND - Sal Mineo: Street Gangs, Ouija Boards, and Unabashed Pride
March 13, 2024 07:04 - 46 minutesJames Dean’s co-star in Rebel Without a Cause was an early trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community in Hollywood. Over the years he was harassed, heckled, and had his life threatened – just for being himself. When he was mysteriously murdered at the age of 37, the 15-month investigation exposed just how deep intolerance ran in the hearts and minds of many, despite Sal’s efforts to the contrary. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. This epis...
REWIND - The Dating Game Killer: Persuasion, Charm, and a Depraved Murderer at Large
March 08, 2024 08:09 - 42 minutesRodney Alcala, AKA The Dating Game Killer, was a depraved murderer who eluded authorities for years. He hid his true identity behind charm and persuasion. He worked as a summer camp counselor while on the lam for the savage assault of an eight-year-old girl. He convinced his parole officer to let him take a vacation to the other side of the country, where he proceeded to commit another of his many murders. While New Yorkers were watching their backs for the Son of Sam in the summer of ’77, he...
REWIND - Evel Knievel: Cracking Safes, a Beatdown with a Baseball Bat, and Jumping the Shark
March 06, 2024 08:04 - 39 minutesEvel Knievel’s name is synonymous with motorcycle stunts and repeated personal injury. But the famous daredevil was more than just the guy who repeatedly broke every bone in his body in pursuit of high-flying glory on Wild World of Sports. Evel Knievel was a burglar, a safecracker, a card cheat, a con man, and the kind of hot-tempered control freak that you didn’t want to piss off. You can’t make up the things that happened to Evel Knievel when he wasn’t riding his motorcycle. You may not eve...
REWIND - George Reeves: Elusive Truth, Absent Justice, and the American Way...Hollywood Style
February 29, 2024 08:07 - 40 minutesSuperman may be more powerful than a locomotive, but George Reeves, the actor who famously portrayed the Man of Steel on TV in the 1950s, was very much a mortal man. Did George Reeves really take his own life in June 1959, as the official report stated? Was he actually murdered by an impulsive girlfriend? Or was his death a highly orchestrated hit by one of Hollywood’s most infamous fixers? To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. This epis...
REWIND - Poltergeist Curse: Paranormal Activity, a Plane Crash, and Murder
February 23, 2024 08:05 - 44 minutesFour different actors from the 1980s horror franchise Poltergeist died within a 6-year span. Dominique Dunne was murdered. Julian Beck succumbed to stomach cancer. Will Sampson suffered from a degenerative disease. And Heather O’Rourke’s death at the age of 12, was deemed “distinctly unusual.” Was it an eerie coincidence...or something more sinister? To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. This episode contains themes that may be disturbin...
Presenting DISGRACELAND: Anthony Bourdain: Junk, Romance, and a Lust for Life
February 21, 2024 08:11 - 59 minutesAnthony Bourdain had a lust for life. He went all in on adventure, indulgence, food, romance – including the romance of a heroin addiction that he chased through the restaurant kitchens and grimy rock clubs of 1980s Manhattan. For years he was a struggling cook and writer, but his first book, published when he was 43 years old, was an overnight success. He parlayed success as a writer into success as a TV host, traveling all over the world, dining with rockstars, presidents, and everyone in b...
REWIND - Winona Ryder: Drowning, Designer Theft, and a Deadly Kidnapping
February 16, 2024 08:02 - 43 minutesBetween beatnik parents, an LSD guru godfather, and an unconventional upbringing in Northern California, it’s not surprising that Winona Ryder became America’s endearing weirdo in the 1990s. Her noir starpower shined from an early age in movies like Beetlejuice, Heathers, and Edward Scissorhands, but her penchant for dark roles would lead her towards crime in real life. The only thing weirder than Winona’s $5,000 shoplifting spree and the kidnapping of a girl from her own hometown is how the ...
REWIND - Robert Mitchum: Reefer Madness, a Daring Escape from a Chain Gang, and Not Giving a Damn
February 08, 2024 08:08 - 44 minutesRobert Mitchum was famously busted for marijuana in the 1940s before his career had really taken off. Not so famous is how he managed to save his legacy, and his life: with the unlikely help of one of the most powerful men in the world. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
REWIND - Dennis Hopper: Dynamite, Cocaine, Cheating Death, Subverting Hollywood, and Life on the Fringe
February 07, 2024 08:08 - 42 minutesDennis Hopper revolutionized American cinema by bringing the counterculture to the mainstream with his 1969 film Easy Rider. But he also lived his life in tandem with his art, on the fringes of society and sanity. His stubborn attitude and crazy ideas quickly transformed him from a hippie prophet into a longhaired loser. Hopper’s journey from success to failure and back again took him through jungles, deserts, and mountains, and involved varying degrees of drugs, guns, hallucinations, and ex-...
REWIND - Spider Sabich: Freak Power, Cocaine, and Murder in Aspen
February 02, 2024 08:08 - 39 minutesIn the 1960s and 1970s, Aspen, Colorado gained a reputation as a trendy hotbed of hippies, beautiful people, liberal politics, and even more liberal drug use. It was a powdery playground for some of the country’s greatest downhill skiers, as well as some of the country’s most famous people looking for some anonymous R&R. And Aspen was all fun and games until the day that America’s most handsome and famous skier, Spider Sabich, was shot dead in his home. His girlfriend, the French singer Claud...
Presenting DISGRACELAND - Icons Trailer
January 31, 2024 08:00 - 2 minutesWelcome to DISGRACELAND in 2024. Jake Brennan will continue to bring you the most insane stories about rock stars getting away with murder and behaving very badly ... and will also tell other stories about icons from beyond the world of music who possess dangerously compelling rock 'n roll hearts. Like Anthony Bourdain. Andy Warhol. Hunter S. Thompson. Kobe Bryant. Garth Brooks. Public Enemy. Van Halen. And so many more. Get the scoop on the exciting 2024 we have planned for you, the biggest ...
Paul Newman: Fast Cars, Cold Beers, and Forgotten Memories
January 24, 2024 08:05 - 39 minutesPaul Newman didn’t race cars to outrun his demons. His past was easily kept at bay, like the World War II memories he didn’t want to think about. But like many actors of his generation, the Brando generation, Paul Newman wanted to act like he wasn’t acting. And to do that, he had to tap into real emotions. Forgotten memories. Demons and all. Or so said the Method school of acting. So he dug deep and faced his demons–but not before one of those fast cars of his drove him through a hedgerow, a ...
Lorenzen Wright: Mexican Drug Cartels, Million Dollar Contracts, and a Murder in Memphis
January 17, 2024 08:04 - 32 minutesNBA star Lorenzen Wright went from signing million-dollar contracts to being almost entirely broke in just a few years. He was questioned by the FBI about his connection to a Mexican drug cartel. He was the victim in a murder case that went unsolved for almost a decade. During that time, cops and the feds chased down dead ends and bad leads, all while new details slowly leaked out. Details that, when they finally fell into place, revealed a shocking picture of incredible betrayal. To see the...
Sharon Stone: Basic Instincts, Baring It All, and the Butcher of Montreal
January 10, 2024 08:03 - 39 minutesIn a single year, Sharon Stone was nominated for awards for both Best Actress and Worst Actress – for the same role. She launched a million sexual awakenings with one quick display in Basic Instinct. Her performance in that film was so vivid that it inspired stalkers to track her down. It may have even served as the inspiration for one fan to commit murder, cannibalism, and necrophilia. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including graphic depictions of viol...
Bonus Episode: Odd Jobs, Bad Reviews, and The Jerry Lee Lewis of Cinema
January 05, 2024 08:10 - 31 minutesThis week Jake talks Harrison Ford, Anthony Bourdain, and the future of the feeds. What do you think about combining the DISGRACELAND and BADLANDS feeds? Thoughts on the Harrison Ford ep? What's your favorite movie from him? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Harrison Ford: Smashing Bottles, Slinging Weed, and Partying with the Stones
January 03, 2024 08:02 - 37 minutesIf someone had told Harrison Ford the odds early on, about his chances of making it as an actor in Hollywood, he may have given up. But he wasn’t an odds kinda guy. He was a guy who did what he had to do to make it. Sometimes that meant swinging a hammer and working as a carpenter on the houses of James Caan and Joan Didion. Other times he found work touring with the Doors as the band’s photographer. He even dealt a little weed on the side to people like Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the...
Presenting Disgraceland - Derek and the Dominos: Clapton, Cocaine, Motorcycles, and Murder
December 29, 2023 08:11 - 40 minutesIn 1960s London, for young guitar enthusiasts, believing that “Clapton is God” was practically the 11th Commandment. In 1970 he lent his big, sticky tone to yet another band: Derek and the Dominos. The group’s white-hot blues burned bright for barely more than a year, but their impact was massive. Guided by drug, alcohol and heartbreak free-fall, Eric Clapton created one of rock’s most recognizable guitar riffs, while drummer Jim Gordon contributed God’s great piano coda. Except Gordon was gu...
Presenting Disgraceland - Mariah Carey: Armed Guards, Gang Burglaries, and the True Meaning of Christmas
December 27, 2023 08:00 - 38 minutesMariah Carey once lived under constant surveillance in her own home. Her husband planted cameras and recording devices around their prison-like mansion to watch her every move. He hired armed guards to follow her everywhere but the bathroom – the same armed guards who nearly shot Mariah’s collaborators when she unexpectedly dipped for a 30-minute joy ride. Despite her record-breaking five-octave pipes, Mariah Carey didn’t didn’t have a voice in her relationship for years. And when she did fin...
Bonus Episode: Altitude Adjustments, Non-Christmas Movies?, and Parental Roadmaps
December 22, 2023 08:08 - 29 minutesThis week Jake is talking Robert Blake, Anthony Bourdain, and the holidays, and taking your VMs, texts, and emails. What are you watching for the holidays? When is it appropriate to show your kids more mature content? Get in touch at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Robert Blake: Child Actors, Killer Roles, and the Murder of Bonny Lee Bakley
December 20, 2023 08:09 - 37 minutesRobert Blake was a former child actor and tough-talking TV cop. He was also a tough customer. He talked like a mobster, lived like a cowboy, and was intimately familiar with the rougher side of life. That rough side of life caught up with him in 2001, when he was charged with murder when his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was found shot dead in the front seat of Blake’s Dodge Stealth. Depending on who you talk to, Robert Blake was either rightfully acquitted…or managed to escape justice. To see the...
Bonus Episode: Bourdain's Books, Christmas Classics, and Gilmour's Guitar
December 15, 2023 08:07 - 31 minutesThis week is all about Benedict Cumberbatch in BADLANDS, and Jake is talking the music connection as well as his films and the big story from the full episode, available now. What Christmas content are you enjoying this season? What's your favorite Bourdain content? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Benedict Cumberbatch: Lost in the Himalayas, Stopping a Mugging in London, and a Kidnapping in South Africa
December 13, 2023 08:08 - 39 minutesLong before he played a world-famous detective, a comic book superhero, or one of literature’s most famous dragons, Benedict Cumberbatch was robbed by a group of thieves in South Africa, who bound him up and threw him in the trunk of a car...and then drove him to what he thought would be an early death. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandpod.com/badlands. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTER S...
Bonus Episode: Shetland, Christmas Movies, and Firstborn Unicorns
December 08, 2023 08:06 - 32 minutesThis week Jake talks the new BADLANDS episode on Dorothy Stratten, PI movies and TV, and what makes a Christmas movie. Plus your voicemail and texts. What's your favorite private detective movie or TV? What's the best song about Dorothy Stratten? What are your favorite holiday movies? Drop a line at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dorothy Stratten: A Playboy Pinup, a Private Investigator, and a Chilling Murder
December 06, 2023 08:07 - 37 minutesFrom Dairy Queen counter girl to Playboy pinup to murder victim – in just two years. Hugh Hefner called her the next Marilyn Monroe. A major Hollywood director wrote a role in his new film just for her, confident that she would make the leap from centerfold to starlet. But all of that was cut short on August 14, 1980, when a private investigator stumbled upon a brutal murder scene that shook the entertainment industry to its core. To see the complete list of contributors, visit disgracelandp...
Bonus Episode: Clandestine Casinos, Presidential Plotting, and Get Off the Shed!
December 01, 2023 08:05 - 31 minutesThis week in BADLANDS saw the release of our episode on Thelma Todd, and it's got Jake traveling in the way-back machine. What's your JFK conspiracy theory? Can you recommend a movie by the Marx brothers, Laurel & Hardy, or Buster Keaton? How about your favorite murder mysteries or whodunits? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thelma Todd: The Ace of Hearts Stalker, Hollywood Mobsters, and the Mysterious Death of the Ice Cream Blonde
November 29, 2023 08:06 - 37 minutesThelma Todd was one of the great comediennes of the 1920s and ‘30s, working alongside Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and Buster Keaton. She confronted a stalker on a dark corner of Hollywood Boulevard with just one dollar and a gun in her purse. She stood up to the mob when they tried to start a gambling den in the back room of the café she ran with her lover. She killed off her world-famous name in an attempt to give up comedy for dramatic acting. And then she herself was killed off…or w...
Tim Allen: Cocaine in Kalamazoo, Life in Prison, and Flipping for the Feds
November 24, 2023 08:07 - 39 minutesBefore he was headed to infinity and beyond, Tim Allen was headed to life in prison for a low-level drug deal in Michigan. This is the story about how his first career ended in a life-changing bust, and what he had to do in order to survive and find a way out. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com/badlands. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including discussions about suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide o...
River Phoenix: Religious Cults, Street Kids, Speedballs, and Viper Rooms
November 22, 2023 08:03 - 41 minutesRiver Phoenix was a once-in-a-generation talent. In the 1980s, a decade known for artifice and excess, he brought raw acting chops to performances in Stand by Me, Running on Empty, and My Own Private Idaho. His career was only just getting started when he died tragically at the age of 23 outside a notorious nightclub in Hollywood. The story of his short life is as complicated and dramatic as one of his signature roles, and includes brushes with religious cults, skinheads, street hustlers, and...
Bonus Episode: Whodunnits, The Morning Show, and the Man on the Phone
November 17, 2023 08:03 - 29 minutesThis week is all about Phil Hartman in BADLANDS, and it's got Jake talking about his acting - as well as his history in the peace and love movement. What's your favorite Phil Hartman moment? Who are your top five SNL cast members? What are your favorite Thanksgiving movies? Your favorite murder mysteries? Get in touch at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Phil Hartman: Blackmail, an Attempted Presidential Assassination, and a Murder-Suicide
November 15, 2023 08:05 - 41 minutesBefore he was deemed “the Glue” by his castmates at Saturday Night Live, Phil Hartman worked as a rock ‘n roll roadie and a graphic designer. He created album covers for the bands Poco and America, as well as the logo for Crosby, Stills & Nash. He did those things as a card-carrying member of the peace and love movement. A movement that was infamously disrupted by the Manson family, a ragtag group of hippies gone evil that just so happened to include one of his former friends from high school...
U2: Death Threats, a Song that Inspired a Killer, and the Murder of Rebecca Schaeffer
November 14, 2023 08:01 - 41 minutesYears before a free album made them the most unpopular popular band on the planet, U2 ran into the arms of America. In 1987, touring behind their blockbuster album The Joshua Tree, their songs became lightning rods for violence. They received death threats in the States and became targets of terrorists back in their native Ireland. But it was the song “Exit,” written from the POV of a killer, that was linked with pure evil. That song allegedly inspired a man to hop an overnight bus to Los Ang...
Presenting Disgraceland - Season 14 Trailer
November 13, 2023 08:00 - 2 minutesHomicidal maniacs, home surveillance, a killer on the loose, attacks in the street, and an evil song that led to murder. Find out which music legends are featured in Season 14 of DISGRACELAND. New episodes drop every Tuesday starting November 14, with bonus episodes dropping every Thursday. Rocka rolla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bonus Episode: Suspiria, Batting 1000, and the Story of Sly
November 10, 2023 08:02 - 33 minutesThis week wraps our Marilyn Monroe saga, and Jake is talking all things Marilyn and The Misfits, in addition to wrapping the Halloween season, and of course your voicemails, texts, and DMs. What’s your favorite Marilyn Monroe movie? Do you like the song and dance stuff? Her comedic turn in Some Like It Hot? Her attempt to play drama in The Misfits? How do you think she died? What actors would you recast in your favorite films? Is “Candle in the Wind” the best song that glamorizes death and im...
The Misfits: Car Wrecks, Heart Attacks, Marilyn Monroe, and One of Hollywood’s Most Cursed Films
November 01, 2023 07:04 - 40 minutesGlenn Danzig named his punk band after one of the most cursed Hollywood films of all time. The Misfits was where actor Montgomery Clift, permanently disfigured from a car accident, tried in vain to restart his stalled career. The director, John Huston, lost the film’s entire production budget at a craps table. The lead actor, Clark Gable, suffered a heart attack the day after shooting ended and died ten days later. But was there any truth to the rumor that Gable was driven to an early grave n...
Presenting Disgraceland - The Misfits: Robbing Graves, Night of the Living Dead and the Teenagers from Mars
October 31, 2023 07:04 - 51 minutesThe Misfits were truly unique. Scary. Violent. Angry. Nihilistic. These words can easily describe not only their music, but also the band as people, particularly frontman Glenn Danzig. Rumored to have been arrested for grave robbery, locked up abroad and inciting riots here in the States, the Misfits blazed a path of annihilation trading on fictional B-movie and scandal rag imagery to create one of the most enduring cult followings of all time and combating the very real sense of alienation t...
Bonus Episode: Firewalking, A Sam Spade Concept Record, and The Mystery of Dennis Farina
October 27, 2023 07:12 - 30 minutesIt's John Huston week in BADLANDS, and it's got Jake wondering about your favorite rags-to-riches -- or riches-to-rags -- stories from film history. What's your favorite John Huston movie? Any last-minute horror recommendations? What are your top five horror movies? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Huston: A Duel, a Fatal Car Crash, and Living Hand to Mouth
October 25, 2023 07:03 - 40 minutesDirector John Huston lived the adventurous life that was frequently depicted in his movies. As a young man, he was made an honorary lieutenant in the Mexican army. He was nearly shot during a poker game and challenged to a duel in the middle of the street. His thrill-seeking antics soon turned fatal, when he accidentally struck and killed a woman with his car while driving down Sunset Boulevard. He ran off to London to lay low, but soon found himself with no job, no money, no prospects–and no...
Bonus Episode: The Addiction, Ed Gein and Danny Rolling, and Improbable Career Transitions
October 20, 2023 07:11 - 37 minutesHalloween season continues as BADLANDS releases our episode on Alex Rocco, and Jake has gangsters and serial killers on the mind. Who are your favorite gangsters from Hollywood history? What's your favorite non-Godfather Alex Rocco performance? What's your favorite Moe Greene line? What horror movies are you watching? Plus, send dog pics. Get in touch at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Alex Rocco: A Mob Murder, a Boston Gang War, and Leaving Winter Hill for the Corleones
October 18, 2023 07:02 - 38 minutesOrganized crime. A brutal assault that kicked off a gang war. Car bombs. The brazen assassination of a mob boss in broad daylight. These things all happened in Francis Ford Coppola’s groundbreaking film The Godfather – but first they happened in the real life of Alex Rocco, one-time Boston gang member turned Hollywood character actor whose star turn as Moe Greene in the classic mobster epic is one of the most improbable career shifts in movie history. To see the complete list of contributors...
Bonus Episode: Musician David Lynch, a Young Jeffrey Lebowski, and Bob from the Black Lodge
October 13, 2023 07:10 - 38 minutesThis week in BADLANDS brings an episode on David Lynch, and Jake is getting into the Halloween mood by wondering what other true crimes inspired movies and series? What is your favorite Lynch movie? Your favorite Lynch villain? And who's the biggest creep in a film? Let him know at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod - and come join the Wrap Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
David Lynch: A Brutal Murder, a Corrupt Small Town, and the Secret Origins of Twin Peaks
October 11, 2023 07:01 - 41 minutesIn 1908, a girl was brutally murdered in a small town in upstate New York. The town was seemingly idyllic, but beneath the surface, it was crawling with prostitution, orgies, deceit, and corruption. It was fueled by a political machine so powerful it could cover up not just one but multiple murders. The truth behind the murder of Hazel Drew was meant to remain unsolvable. Just like the television show it inspired over 80 years later. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some...