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PODCAST

Intrigue

Ben Lewis unravels the tangled story of a Christian billionaire family, stolen relics, fake treasures and the scholar turned sleuth who exposed the scandal of biblical proportions. Intrigue: "Jaw-dropping", "gripping", "bingeable," "thrilling" - dramatic true stories and investigations that reveal how the world really works.

true crime documentary

All Episodes

13:58

Word of God: Introducing The House at Number 48

Intrigue ·

2025/10/22

When Antony Easton's enigmatic father passes away, he begins sorting through a suitcase filled with cryptic family clues. Neatly stacked German money, a family tree stretching back generations, and books filled with sprawling notes. He also finds his father's birth certificate, but bearing a different name. Confronting his dad's double identity, Antony begins a ten-year quest to uncover the truth. Piece-by-piece he comes to understand his family's dark history. Large numbers of his relatives were

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12:41

Word of God: Introducing Invisible Hands from The...

Intrigue ·

2025/04/23

From The History Podcast, this is Invisible Hands. This is the story of a hidden force that changed Britain forever — free market capitalism — and the invisible hands that shaped it.David Dimbleby traces the history of an idea that charts his lifespan. It started in a fighter plane in the Battle of Britain, gained traction in shadowy post-war London backrooms and rose to heights of excess in the new champagne bars of the City. Now it's 2025 and it has come to define every aspect of life in Britain

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28:55

Word of God: 6. Higher Powers

Intrigue ·

2025/03/19

A dark, cold morning in February 2025. Hundreds are filing into the Museum of the Bible - evangelical leaders, gospel singers, and over 30 members of Congress including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. They've gathered just three blocks from the US Capitol for an annual event of fervent prayer about what they see as America's most pressing problems. Meanwhile, journalist Ben Lewis explores how an institution that once dreamed of becoming a centre for biblical scholarship has transformed after

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28:35

Word of God: 5. Revelations

Intrigue ·

2025/03/12

In April 2019, Dr Roberta Mazza receives an email from an academic in charge of Research at the Museum of the Bible which leads to the exposure of one of the most extraordinary breaches of trust in biblical scholarship. Through exclusive interviews, Ben Lewis reveals how the Museum of the Bible discovered that precious gospel fragments they had purchased for hundreds of thousands of dollars may have been stolen from a collection at Oxford University.The episode follows the museum's quest to verify

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28:45

Word of God: 4. You've Got Mail

Intrigue ·

2025/03/05

Federal investigators uncover a shadowy scheme to smuggle ancient clay tablets into America.When customs officers in Memphis inspect a package labelled "tile samples" in January 2011, they discover something far more precious - delicate clay tablets covered in cuneiform, one of humanity's earliest forms of writing. Through exclusive interviews with former US prosecutor Karin Orenstein and special agent Brenton Easter, Lewis reveals how this discovery led to one of the largest antiquities

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28:54

Word of God: 3. Holy Grail

Intrigue ·

2025/02/26

A biblical scholar's dramatic last-minute announcement at a packed debate hints at a fragment that could rewrite history.On a winter's night in 2012, an extraordinary claim electrifies a university auditorium in North Carolina - the discovery of what could be the earliest known Christian text, written within decades of Jesus's life. Through exclusive interviews, investigative journalist Ben Lewis reveals how this announcement connects to a meeting one night in an Oxford professor's chambers, where

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28:53

Word of God: 2. Roberta Investigates

Intrigue ·

2025/02/19

A threatening message leads a papyrologist into the shadowy world of online antiquities trading.On a September morning in 2017, Dr Roberta Mazza opens her WhatsApp to find menacing messages and warnings to "watch her back". How did a respected academic specialising in ancient texts find herself at the crossroads of biblical scholarship and antiquities looting?Through exclusive interviews, investigative journalist Ben Lewis reveals how Dr Mazza's chance discovery at a Vatican exhibition three years

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28:58

Word of God: 1. In the Beginning Was the Word

Intrigue ·

2025/02/12

It’s a nightmare of a first day.In July 2017, Dr Jeff Kloha is preparing to start his dream job as Director of Collections at Washington DC's new Museum of the Bible when he discovers his new employer’s biggest donor has been caught up in a government investigation.The donor, Hobby Lobby, has been ordered to return 3,500 artefacts and pay a $3 million settlement.Through exclusive interviews with museum officials and evangelical scholars, investigative journalist Ben Lewis pieces together the

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3:11

Introducing... Word of God

Intrigue ·

2025/02/06

A billionaire family's mission to amass ancient biblical treasures leads to them getting caught up in an international web of looted artefacts, forgeries and criminal networks.Art sleuth Ben Lewis uncovers how the Green family - owners of America's Hobby Lobby craft stores - spent millions racing to gather biblical manuscripts and artefacts. Their unprecedented collecting spree - 40,000 items in just three years - triggers a government investigation and alarms biblical scholars worldwide.When

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4:49

Introducing Extreme: Peak Danger

Intrigue ·

2025/01/27

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela introduces Extreme: Peak Danger.A mountain of trouble. In August 2008, around 30 climbers took on K2. Over 2 disastrous days, 11 of those people would lose their lives. This is the story of what really happened.Sitting on the border between China and Pakistan, K2 is a perfect pyramid that pierces through the clouds. It looks like a kid’s drawing of a mountain…but this terrifying peak is anything but child’s play.Newlyweds Cecilie Skog and her husband Rolf Bae loved climbing

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7:06

The Reith Lectures 2024: Four Questions About Violence

Intrigue ·

2024/12/20

Anita Anand invites you to listen to forensic psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead’s Reith Lectures about violence. In the series, Dr Adshead addresses the most pertinent questions she has faced in her work with violence perpetrators in secure psychiatric units and prisons.

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2:45

Introducing The Lucan Obsession

Intrigue ·

2024/10/29

Alex von Tunzelmann introduces a new series for The History Podcast

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29:20

Worse than Murder: 7. The Grand Finale

Intrigue ·

2024/09/02

More than half a century after Muriel McKay's abduction and murder, her body has never been found. This final episode explores the various theories about Muriel's fate - from a beach burial to a gruesome disposal on the farm. New information emerges, including a shocking claim from Arthur Hosein about Muriel's burial site. The McKay family continues their desperate search for answers, while grappling with the media's relentless interest in the case. Jane MacSorley reflects on the role of the press

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28:48

Worse Than Murder: 6. Death Plus

Intrigue ·

2024/08/26

The trial of Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein for Muriel McKay's murder begins in September 1970. Despite the lack of a body, prosecutors build a strong case using forensic evidence. Nizamodeen makes limited admissions, while Arthur spins wild tales. The brothers are found guilty, but the verdict brings little comfort to the McKay family. For decades, they struggle with unresolved grief and unanswered questions about Muriel's fate. Then, in 2021, Nizamodeen resurfaces in Trinidad, seemingly ready to

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28:17

Worse Than Murder: 5. A Sense of Evil

Intrigue ·

2024/08/19

After weeks of dead ends, police finally have a breakthrough in Muriel McKay's kidnapping case. A suspicious blue Volvo leads them to Rooks Farm in rural Hertfordshire. As they raid the property, they find mounting evidence implicating brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein. But there's still no sign of Muriel herself. As detectives interrogate the brothers, a disturbing picture emerges of their backgrounds and possible motives. Meanwhile, the search of the sprawling farmland intensifies. Police are

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28:42

Worse Than Murder: 4. Paper Flowers

Intrigue ·

2024/08/12

After weeks of agonising negotiations, Muriel McKay's kidnapper finally agrees to collect a ransom. The police see their chance to catch M3 and rescue Muriel. They devise an elaborate plan, with undercover officers posing as Muriel's family members, to make the drop. Have they finally out-manoeuvred the elusive M3? Worse Than Murder - A tragic case of mistaken identity that shook Britain and launched a tabloid war. One winter's night in 1969, kidnappers targeting Rupert Murdoch's wife abducted

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28:34

Worse Than Murder: 3. The Waiting Game

Intrigue ·

2024/08/05

Muriel McKay’s kidnapper – who calls himself M3 – has stopped calling, and the McKay family are desperate. They use Alick’s media contacts to keep the story at the forefront of the tabloid press, placing rumours designed to make the kidnappers panic, even getting in touch with a clairvoyant via a family friend. But what the press don’t know is that Muriel McKay was kidnapped by mistake. M3’s real target, he says, was Rupert Murdoch’s wife.Worse Than Murder - A tragic case of mistaken identity that

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28:52

Worse Than Murder: 2. Alick, Darling

Intrigue ·

2024/07/29

The day after Muriel McKay is snatched from her home, the police gather all the physical evidence they can, and tabloid reporters crowd the pavements outside the house, trying to get a piece of the action. Muriel’s family are desperately trying to make sense of calls by a mysterious man, M3, who claims he has Muriel, and that he’ll return her if the family delivers him a £1 million ransom. It’s only when he sends them a letter, in Muriel’s own handwriting, that they know for sure he’s the most

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28:41

Worse Than Murder: 1. Muriel Is Missing

Intrigue ·

2024/07/15

In December 1969, Alick McKay, an executive at Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, arrives home to find his wife, Muriel, had vanished without a trace. He calls the police to report her missing, and soon places another call too – this time to the editor of The Sun newspaper, Larry Lamb, a colleague. Lamb’s presence only raises police suspicions - has Muriel really disappeared, or is this just a press set-up, an effort to boost circulation? Then the phone rings. A mysterious man calling himself M3 says

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4:38

Introducing - Worse Than Murder

Intrigue ·

2024/07/12

Worse Than Murder - A tragic case of mistaken identity that shook Britain and launched a tabloid war.One winter’s night in 1969, kidnappers targeting Rupert Murdoch’s wife abducted Muriel McKay by mistake. She was never seen again. Jane MacSorley investigates this shocking crime which baffled police and, more than 50 years on, remains unresolved.Presented by Jane MacSorley with Simon Farquhar Produced by Nadia Mehdi, with extra production from Paul Russell and Megan Oyinka Sound design and mixing by

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