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In a country obsessed with gossip, the great and the good fear one thing more than any other - scandal.British scandals change the course of history. They bring down governments, overthrow the rich and cause the mighty to fall. Some are about sex, others about money. In the end, they’re all about power. But often at the heart of a scandal, there are ordinary human stories. Stories of those caught up in the swirl of outrage. Who was really to blame for what happened? Why did they do it? And when all is said and done, did anything really...
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Dramatized scenes and dry host banter make British scandals legible as collisions between private conduct, investigation and public power.
British Scandal turns notorious cases into scene-led narrative history, with Alice Levine and Matt Ford moving between dramatized action and sharply timed studio banter.
A pathologist named Dr Pepper walks into a dissection room; you know the hosts cannot resist.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Inspector Dew follows a toxicology report toward the poison behind Mrs Crippen's death.
British Scandal tracks Inspector Dew as the Dr Crippen case narrows around the toxicology report into Mrs Crippen's death. Dew moves from a St Mary's Hospital lecture theatre, where Dr Pepper is dissecting an elderly man's cadaver, to the finding of hyacine hydrobromide, known…
A 1910 manhunt pivots on a newspaper sketch, a cover story, and a little-used wireless mast.
British Scandal shapes a 1910 encounter off Canada into a tight scene of recognition at sea. John Robinson presents the supposed George as his son, but the captain sees that the boy is a girl and notices Robinson's likeness to a newspaper sketch of Dr. Hawley Crippen.
A darkly comic historical drama where wedding pressure and domestic evasions close in on Hawley Crippen.
British Scandal begins Hawley Crippen's story at the 1910 Brussels World Fair, with a nervous 48-year-old delaying a wedding date as his fiancee Ethel, dressed as a boy, presses for an answer.
A pressured London manhunt turns on uncertain evidence, personal cost, and sharp red-string satire.
British Scandal tracks a search that moves from a woman struggling through violent memories to Neil Bazoo's evidence board in London, where grainy petrol-station CCTV and two persons of interest still leave the case short of certainty. The pressure is not abstract.
A tense, wry account of the Skripal affair, moving from airline-seat dread to political fury.
British Scandal treats the Skripal poisoning story as a test of nerve, secrecy, and political memory. It begins with Alexander Mishkin fixed on the overhead locker during an Aeroflot flight at Gatwick, then widens to Vladimir Putin being questioned on returned agents and Sergei…
Sharp political debate with policy detail and real disagreement.
Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson debate Canadian politics, from Alberta separatism to Ottawa's bureaucracy.
Robert Evans, Katie Stoll, and Cody Johnston build fake conspiracies and mock right-wing media.
Steve Hayes and Dispatch panelists argue through the week's Iran, DOJ, and Supreme Court news.
Jonah Goldberg's solo political rants and author interviews on conservatism, courts, and current events.
John Donvan moderates two-sided debates on AI, bioethics, feminism, and film's future.
Dr Pepper's toxicology report names hyacine hydrobromide, or 'devil's breath,' and gives Inspector Dew a poison theory for Belle Crippen's disappearance.
British Scandal's "The Notorious Dr Crippen | Operation Handcuffs" follows Inspector Dew across the Atlantic as he closes in on Hawley Crippen after Belle Crippen's body is found in a cellar.
British Scandal opens with Hawley Crippen on a Brussels World Fair roller coaster, staring at a newspaper photo and realizing his face is on the front page.
The hosts tease upcoming episodes about British scandals, including royal feuds and bizarre crimes.
This episode of British Scandal explores the historical scandal of Anne Boleyn, focusing on the public outrage and power dynamics that led to her downfall in 1532.
The hosts discuss a desperate plan to finance the podcast by seducing Elon Musk, leading to ethical conflict and a humorous resolution.
This episode of British Scandal explores the Salisbury poisonings, focusing on the human cost of the nerve agent attack and its absurd political elements.
["British Scandal's \"Manhunt\" traces the 2018 Salisbury poisonings from Muggleton Road in Amesbury to Theresa May's statement in Westminster.", "Alice Levine and Matt Ford narrate the case as Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal, Neil Bazoo, and Vladimir Putin become the main names in the investigation.", "The episode tracks Dawn Sturgess's collapse from a Nina Ricci bottle, the Metropolitan Police search led by the National Counter-Terrorism Security Office, and the identification of Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Shapiga.", "It also covers the Russia Today interview, the social-media response, and the 2024 Salisbury Guildhall inquiry where Caroline Sturgis pushes back on the drug-user narrative."]
["British Scandal's \"Early Bird\" follows Sergei Skripal from an IK5 prison van in Mordovia to the Salisbury poisonings.", "Alice Levine and Matt Ford narrate the story around Alexander Mishkin, Anatoly Chepiga, Vladimir Putin, Ross Cassidy, and Yulia.", "The episode tracks the 2010 spy swap, Sergei's quiet life on Christie Miller Road, and Putin's televised warning to Russian traitors.", "It ends by connecting the March 2018 nerve-agent attack at ZZ's and Porton Down's liquid Novichok finding to Theresa May's late-night briefing at 10 Downing Street."]
This episode examines the effectiveness of Nazi propagandist Lord Haw Haw and the broader impact of propaganda during WWII.
A podcast exploring British scandals that changed history, with this episode introducing a 1963 newspaper exposé.
This episode dramatizes suffragette Christabel Pankhurst's imprisonment and hunger strike in 1914.
The episode discusses the suffragette movement and Emmeline Pankhurst's activities in 1913 East London.
This episode explores the life and scandals of a tennis champion, focusing on the pressures of elite sports and personal turmoil.