Best Waterfield Podcasts (2025)

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Slipping Through The Cracks of Justice John Wayne Gacy: “The Clown Is Dead… But the Network Lived On” 1:36:10

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1d ago1:36:10

1:36:10

On May 10th, 1994, John Wayne Gacy was executed. But make no mistake — the real monster wasn’t buried with him. This episode uncovers the darker truth: Gacy wasn’t acting alone. Behind the clown was a network — a trafficking pipeline built by convicted pedophile John Norman, who ran child sex rings like corporate enterprises. Catalogs. Client lists…

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716 Icelandic Folk Legends (with Dagrun Osk Jonsdottir) | John le Carre at the Bodleian 1:01:28

1d ago1:01:28

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Since the first permanent settlers landed there more than a thousand years ago, Iceland has been perhaps the most unique and enchanting place in all of Europe. How fitting, then, for its people to have developed unique, enchanting, and captivating stories involving hidden people, trolls, ghosts, sea monsters, and more. In this episode, Jacke talks …

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715 How Did George Eliot and the Victorians Respond to Climate Collapse? (with Nathan Hensley) | People at Museums Are Losing Their Brains! | My Last Book with Stephen Browning and Simon Thomas 1:12:12

6d ago1:12:12

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What does it feel like to live helplessly in a world that is coming undone? If you're alive in 2025, you are probably very familiar with this feeling - and if you'd been alive in the age of Victorian literature, you might have felt that way too. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Nathan K. Hensley about his book Action without Hope: Victorian L…

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Season 7 – Slipping Through the Cracks of Justice Special Edition: Kenneth Bianchi’s Parole Hearing – The Hillside Strangler Wants Out 20:53

8d ago20:53

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Kenneth Bianchi—the Hillside Strangler—is up for parole. Yeah, you heard that right. The same sadistic predator who raped, tortured, and murdered teenage girls and children in one of the most horrific serial killing sprees in American history… is trying to walk free. In this Murder Phone Special Edition, Tony Ciaglia—The Serial Killer Whisperer—bri…

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714 The Real Charles Dickens (with Stephen Browning and Simon Thomas) | Dickens and the Theatre 1:25:00

9d ago1:25:00

1:25:00

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) led one of the most colorful and interesting lives of any author. But while many of us are familiar with his unforgettable characters and fantastically successful novels, we often don't know the details of his difficult early life, his success as a reporter, his troubled marriage and suspected relationship with another w…

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713 The Odyssey (with Daniel Mendelsohn) | The History of Literature Podcast Tour! 1:34:43

13d ago1:34:43

1:34:43

Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest surviving works of literature - and yet, somehow, it can also feel like one of the newest. The inventive narrative structure, complex hero, and surprisingly modern themes still feel fresh, thousands of years after the poem's genesis. In this episode, Jacke talks to author and translator Daniel Mendelsohn about h…

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Slipping Through The Cracks of Justice John Wayne Gacy Part 7 “Employees, Accomplices and JUSTICE” 1:03:08

15d ago1:03:08

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John Wayne Gacy was more than just a twisted killer in clown makeup—he was a predator hiding in plain sight. In this gut-wrenching episode of Murder Phone, Tony and Al go beyond the crawl space to shine a light on the survivors—the ones who got away, and the scars they carry. From attempted assaults to full-blown horrors, you’ll hear firsthand acco…

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62 Marcus Aurelius and the Kingdom of Gold w/ Judith Stove 41:35

15d ago41:35

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Marcus Aurelius became emperor of Rome in 161 AD and went on to win several wars against the northern barbarians. But it wasn't his military exploits that earned him everlasting fame. Rather, it was his philosophical mind and the writings he left behind. In this episode, we are joined by author and scholar Judith Stove to explore the character, wri…

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712 Shakespeare's Greatest Love (with David Medina) | New Play About Shakespeare's Collaboration with Marlowe 59:46

16d ago59:46

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He might be the greatest writer about love that the world has ever known. But as is so often the case with Shakespeare, the biographical record raises as many questions as it answers. How often did Shakespeare fall in love, and with whom, and what happened? Who was Shakespeare's greatest love? In this episode, Jacke talks to David Medina about his …

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711 How Does Literature Handle Atrocities? (with Bruce Robbins) | My Last Book with Hemingway Expert Alex Vernon | Who Will Come to Jacke and Emma's Party? 1:13:28

20d ago1:13:28

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For millennia, literature has represented humanity at its finest. Over the same period of time, human beings have been committing the worst acts of mass violence imaginable. How have authors addressed these atrocities? Have they shown an ability to look at their own nation with the critical eyes of a stranger? And if so, have works of imagination p…

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710 Weird and Wonderful Stories from Ancient Greece and Rome (with Paul Chrystal) | A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT | Two Listeners Follow Their Dream (And Create Something Amazing) 1:00:09

23d ago1:00:09

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It's another action-packed episode! First, Jacke relays the story of a long-time listener who worked some mundane jobs before becoming an artistic bookmaker. Then Jacke talks to author Paul Chrystal about his work diving into lesser-known ancient texts for his book Miracula: Weird and Wonderful Stories of Ancient Greece and Rome. And in between, Ja…

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Slipping Through The Cracks of Justice John Wayne Gacy Part 6 “Echos From The Crawl Space” 1:18:53

29d ago1:18:53

1:18:53

Tony and Al break down the Gacy arrest in Murder Phone style. How does a man diagnosed as a dangerous sociopath in 1968, sentenced to ten years for sodomizing a teenage boy, walk free after just 18 months… and then go on to torture, rape, and murder over 30 young men and boys? In this explosive episode, Tony and Al rip the mask off the system that …

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709 Black American Humor (with Damon Young) | The Greatest American Joke Ever Told? 1:31:52

30d ago1:31:52

1:31:52

DAMON YOUNG (⁠What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays⁠) is a Pittsburgh writer and humorist. In this episode, Jacke talks to Damon about his work editing and writing an introduction for That's How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor, which emphasizes how and why Black American humor is uniquely transfixing.…

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708 Science Fact and Science Fiction (with Keith Cooper) | AI Discovers a Work of Ancient Philosophy and Dreams Up a Reading List 1:11:01

1M ago1:11:01

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For decades, writers and filmmakers have imagined worlds where characters can do things like watch a double sunset (on Tatooine, of course), or stand among the sand dunes of Arrakis, or gaze at the gas-giant planet Polyphemus from the moon Pandora. But even as works like Star Wars, Dune, and Avatar have enticed us with their fictional renditions of…

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707 Emile Zola (with Robert Lethbridge) | Graham Greene's Only Ghost Story | My Last Book with Irina Mashinski 1:00:42

1M ago1:00:42

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For years, listeners have been requesting an episode devoted to the French novelist, journalist, playwright, and public intellectual Émile Zola (1840-1902). In this episode, Jacke talks to author Robert Lethbridge, whose new book Émile Zola: A Determined Life presents a comprehensive exploration of the life, work, and times of the celebrated French…

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Season 7 Slipping Through The Cracks of Justice John Wayne Gacy Part 5 “The Horror Unfolds” 1:25:57

1M ago1:25:57

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In this harrowing episode, Tony Ciaglia and his father Al peel back the bloodstained layers of John Wayne Gacy’s final killing spree—when the bodies no longer fit beneath the floorboards and the monster behind the clown makeup grew more careless, arrogant, and vicious. From the chilling murder of 15-year-old Robert Piest to the river-dumped remains…

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706 Living with Jane Austen (with Janet Todd) | A Listener Changes His Life | Bored Parents 1:12:23

1M ago1:12:23

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Jane Austen's novels make us wish she was our friend. She wouldn't be just any old friend: she'd be the sharpest and wisest, the one we turn to in a crisis, the one who understands our flaws and helps us see our blind spots. As we navigate the perils of love and life, she'd be the friend who gently point…

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705 Runaway Poets - How the Brownings Fell in Love (And Why It Matters) 59:34

2M ago59:34

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Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) was one of the most prolific and accomplished poets of the Victorian age, an inspiration to Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, and countless others. And yet, her life was full of cloistered misery, as her father insisted that she should never marry. And then, the clouds lifted, and a letter arrived. It was …

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704 Butterflies Regained 1:26:31

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Poetry, butterflies, and original music oh my! With some help from poets Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, and John Keats, along with original music by composer Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal, Jacke tackles the topic of butterflies. Yes, yes, we all know that butterflies are symbols of beauty and transformation - but can great poets get beyon…

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Announcements: Next Tour, Seeking Video Editor, Connect on Social Media, Patreon update 3:52

2M ago3:52

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Some announcements for those of you who care about what's happening at AGD behind the scenes...

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61 Who is Lantern Jack? (Doug Interviews Me) 1:04:24

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I chat with friend and fellow podcaster Doug Metzger about how I first became fascinated with the ancient world and share some of the adventures I had on the way to getting a PhD in Classical Philosophy. ------------------ Support AGD on Patreon: patreon.com/greecepodcast ------------------ Timestamps [01:25] Why I started AGD [05:15] Why Stoicism …

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Season 7 Slipping Through The Cracks Of Justice John Wayne Gacy Part 4 “Handcuffs and Horror” 1:14:31

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Step inside the twisted world of John Wayne Gacy—a suburban home that looked ordinary on the outside but hid unimaginable horrors within. In this episode, Tony and Al dive into Gacy’s chilling methods: his Tiki Bar of terror, the “magic trick” handcuffs that became instruments of torture, and his monstrous transformation from jovial host to sadisti…

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703 D.H. Lawrence (with David Ellis) | My Last Book with Dorian Lynskey 1:09:35

2M ago1:09:35

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D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) is one of the most famous novelists of his era - and one of the most difficult to pin down. Was he a tasteless, avant-garde pornographer? Or the greatest imaginative novelist of his generation (as E.M. Forster once said)? What should we know about his hard-luck childhood and turbulent adult life? In this episode, Jacke tal…

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702 Writing in the World of Jane Austen (with D.G. Rampton) | Disaster at the Book Festival! 52:01

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Jacke talks to D.G. Rampton, Australia's Queen of the Regency Romance, about her love for the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer - and what it's like for a twenty-first-century novelist to set her novels in the early-nineteenth-century world of intelligent heroines, dashing men, and sparkling banter. Find PLUS Jacke dives into the story of a…

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Understanding IVF w/ Jessica Manns 36:14

2M ago36:14

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In this episode, Charlie is joined by embryologist Jessica Manns, who practices out of Radiance Fertility Clinic, Western Pennsylvania's only private fertility practice. She is also a massive advocate for wanting to help people further understand IVF and everything surrounding it. They discuss the complications that both men and women face when sta…

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701 Emerson's Struggle with Slavery (with Kenneth Sacks) | My Last Book with Victoria Namkung | We Had Sex Inside Moby-Dick! 1:11:31

2M ago1:11:31

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For several decades, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was perhaps the most prominent writer and intellectual in America. As an advocate of personal freedom living in Massachusetts, surrounded by passionate abolitionists, one might expect that his positions regarding slavery would be obvious and uncomplicated. And yet, Emerson struggled with the issu…

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Season 7 Slipping Through the Cracks of Justice,John Wayne Gacy Part 3 “Screams on Summerdale” 1:06:05

2M ago1:06:05

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In this harrowing third installment of the Gacy series, Tony Ciaglia and his no-bullshit co-host and dad Al—take listeners deep into the heart of darkness at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue. With chilling precision and raw emotion, Screams on Summerdale exposes how John Wayne Gacy’s monstrous acts escalated under the noses of neighbors, law enforcement…

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700 - Butterflies at Rest 28:08

2M ago28:08

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Returning to some devastating news after a trip to Paris, Jacke searches for lost time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Jacke Wilson / The Podglomerate

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699 Gatsby's Daisy (with Rachel Feder) | My Last Book with Francesca Peacock 1:12:12

3M ago1:12:12

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F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby might be one hundred years old, but it's still incredibly relevant: one list-of-lists site ranks it as the number-one book of all time. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Rachel Feder about this classic tale of reinvention - and the reinventing she did for her book Daisy, which retells the Gatsby sto…

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698 Dante in Love (with Ellen Nerenberg and Anthony Valerio) [Ad-Free Archive Edition] 1:05:26

3M ago1:05:26

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It's springtime! A great time to be in love - and if you're a poetic genius like Dante Alighieri, a great time to catch a glimpse of a girl named Beatrice on the streets of Florence, fall madly in love with her, and spend the rest of your life beatifying her in verse. In this episode, we present a conversation that first aired in February 2018, in …

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Season 7, Slipping Through the Cracks of Justice – Part 2: The Deadly Charade of John Wayne Gacy 1:24:37

3M ago1:24:37

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In this chilling second installment, host Tony Ciaglia—The Serial Killer Whisperer—is joined by his father Al and brother Joey as they plunge even deeper into the twisted descent of John Wayne Gacy. After serving a laughable eighteen months in prison for sexually assaulting a teenage boy, Gacy slithers his way back into society… and right under the…

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697 Race in European Fairy Tales (with Kimberly Lau) | My Last Book with Rolf Hellebust 1:21:03

3M ago1:21:03

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Anyone digging into fairy tales soon discovers that there's more to these stories of magic and wonder than meets the eye. Often thought of as stories for children, the narratives can be shockingly violent, and they sometimes deliver messages or "morals" at odds with modern sensibilities. In this episode, Jacke talks to Kimberly Lau about her book S…

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696 John Ruskin (with Sara Atwood) | My Last Book with Collin Jennings 1:00:25

3M ago1:00:25

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John Ruskin (1819-1900) was a powerhouse of a man: writer, lecturer, critic, social reformer - and much else besides. From his five-volume work Modern Painters through his late writings about literature in Fiction, Fair and Foul, he brought to his subjects an energy and integrity that few critical thinkers have matched. His wide-ranging influence r…

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695 Ten Indian Classics (with Sharmila Sen) | My Last Book with Adam Smyth 1:03:57

3M ago1:03:57

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For the past ten years, the Murty Classical Library of India (published by Harvard University Press) has sought to do for classic Indian works what the famous Loeb Classical Library has done for Ancient Greek and Roman texts. In this episode, Jacke talks to editorial director Sharmila Sen about the joys and challenges of sifting through thousands o…

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694 Apocalyptic Literature (with Dorian Lynskey) | My Last Book with Charles Baxter 1:07:02

3M ago1:07:02

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For some reason, human beings don't seem to be content just thinking about their own death: they insist on imagining the end of the entire world. In this episode, Jacke talks to author Dorian Lynskey (Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World), who immersed himself in apocalyptic films and literature to discover exactly wha…

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60 The Rise of Athens (Themistocles and the Persian Wars, Part 3) 1:06:40

3M ago1:06:40

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During the Persian Wars, the city of Athens was completely razed to the ground by the Persian army. And yet, from its ashes, a new Athens was born, more powerful and magnificent than any other city in the Mediterranean. How did the Athenians pull that off? In this finale to our Persian Wars saga, we explore the final battles of the conflict and the…

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Season 7 Slipping Through The Cracks of Justice John Wayne Gacy: Part 1 - "Gacy’s Dark Beginnings" 1:13:32

3M ago1:13:32

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Murder Phone is back, and this season, we’re exposing killers who slipped through the cracks of justice. These monsters walked free when they should have been stopped !! And who better to start with than John Wayne Gacy—the monster who hid in plain sight. Gacy was more than a murderer—he was a grinning demon with an insatiable hunger for control. A…

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693 Understanding the Wonders of Nature (with Alan Lightman) | My Last Book with Alan Lightman 1:00:13

3M ago1:00:13

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In today's world of specialization, Alan Lightman is that rare individual who has accomplished remarkable things in two very different realms. As a physicist with a Ph.D. from Cal Tech, he's taught at Harvard and MIT and advised the United Nations. As a novelist, he's written award-winning bestsellers like Einstein's Dreams and The Diagnosis. In th…

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692 An Investigation in Chinatown (with Radha Vatsal) | The Five Books (with Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen) 1:02:57

3M ago1:02:57

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It's a two-for-one special! First, Jacke talks to novelist Radha Vatsal about her new book, No. 10 Doyers Street, which tells the gripping story of an Indian woman journalist investigating a bloody shooting in New York's Chinatown circa 1907. Then podcaster Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen stops by to discuss her experience hosting The Five Books, which asks …

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691 The Making of Sylvia Plath (with Carl Rollyson) | My Last Book with Cheryl Hopson 1:04:05

4M ago1:04:05

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Since her death, poet and novelist Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) has been an endless source of fascination for fans of her and her work. But while much attention has been paid to her tumultuous relationship with fellow poet Ted Hughes, we often overlook the influences that formed her, long before she traveled to England and met Hughes. What movies did s…

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690 Coleridge and the Person from Porlock [Ad-Free] 1:06:26

4M ago1:06:26

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[This episode originally ran on July 18, 2016. It is presented here without commercial interruption.] In 1797, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge took two grains of opium and fell into a stupor. When he awoke, he had in his head the remnants of a marvelous dream, a vivid train of images of the Chinese emperor Kubla Khan and his summer palace, Xanadu.…

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689 Thomas Kyd (with Brian Vickers) | My Last Book with Jonathan D.S. Schroeder 47:28

4M ago47:28

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For centuries, the playwright Thomas Kyd has been best known as the author of The Spanish Tragedy, a terrific story of revenge believed to have strongly influenced Shakespeare's Hamlet. And yet, a contemporary referred to Kyd as "industrious Kyd." What happened to the rest of his plays? In this episode, Jacke talks to scholar Brian Vickers about hi…

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688 Georges Simenon 1:05:36

4M ago1:05:36

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The Belgian-born French writer Georges Simenon (1903-1989) was astonishing for his literary ambition and output. The author of something like 400 novels, which he wrote in 7-10 day bursts (after checking with his physician beforehand to ensure that he could handle the strain), he's perhaps best known for his creation of Chief Inspector Jules Maigre…

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687 Gatsby Turns 100 (with James West) 53:29

4M ago53:29

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"I want to write something new," American author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in a letter to his editor, "something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." Months later, he presented the results: the novel that would eventually be titled The Great Gatsby. Published in 1925 to middling success, the book has since become a can…

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686 Russian Poetry After the Cold War (with Stephanie Sandler) 55:32

4M ago55:32

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For decades, the Soviet Union was unfriendly territory for poets and writers. But what happened when the wall fell? Emerging from the underground, the poets reacted with a creative outpouring that responded to a brave new world. In this episode, Jacke talks to Russian poetry scholar Stephanie Sandler about her new book The Freest Speech in Russia: …

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685 Charles Chesnutt (with Tess Chakkalakal) | My Last Book with John Goodby 1:01:41

4M ago1:01:41

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Complex and talented, Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was one of the first American authors to write for both Black and white readers. Born in Cleveland to "mixed race" parents, Chesnutt rejected the opportunity to "pass" as white, instead remaining in the Black community throughout his life. His life in the South during Reconstruction, and his kno…