Sharon Tate’s entanglement with Charles Manson and her husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski, as well as her involvement in some of the long-rumored hedonistic events at her home on Cielo Drive put her at the center of a counter-narrative that explosively disrupts the supposed motive for the Manson family murders. Was Sharon Tate blissfully ignorant of the darkness that had been bubbling beneath Hollywood’s shiny veneer for years? Or is there more to this story than we’ve been told in the past?

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes from season 4 each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 new episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Sharon Tate was a sophisticated beauty who literally stopped traffic when she walked down the street. She began her movie career when America was becoming sexually liberated, and despite the ease with which she was made a sex symbol, she aspired to be respected as a serious actress. Decades later, however, she is perhaps best-remembered as one of the victims found brutally murdered at her Cielo Drive home, the one she shared with her husband, director Roman Polanski. Sharon and Roman welcomed regular guests to that home, including Sharon’s friend, Mama Cass Elliot, who was at the center of the Manson murders and whose actions may be why the motive for the murders that America has come to accept as fact is actually false.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault and suicide. If you're thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Acting came easy to Mickey Rourke. He was admitted to the prestigious Actors Studio after one audition, which is nuts when you consider that it took Jack Nicholson five auditions and six for Dustin Hoffman. But just because something came easy to Mickey Rourke didn’t mean he did things the easy way. His relationships with organizations like the Gambino crime family and the IRA became more talked about than the promising acting career he was busy tanking. He seriously considered carrying out a bloody revenge/suicide plot. And then he turned his back on the silver screen for a new life in the boxing ring. When he returned to Hollywood, his face was so pulverized and surgically altered that he was unrecognizable. So unrecognizable that he had to begin his journey all over again. And at the end of the line was either one of two things waiting for him: redemption or purgatory.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence, suicide, and graphic descriptions of violence. If you're thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes from season 4 each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 new episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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One of Hollywood’s most eclectic and unpredictable actors, Woody Harrelson has played a hayseed barback, a streetball hustler, a natural born killer, a true detective, and so many more. But his most profound and difficult role might be his real-life role: the son of an infamous contract killer. Woody’s father, Charles Harrelson, was sent to prison for the assassination of a federal judge, only after he had been the subject of one of the largest federal manhunts in U.S. history – a manhunt that ended with a six-hour standoff with authorities during which he confessed to the assassination of JFK.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes from season 4 each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 new episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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With a few clicks of their ruby slippers, MGM made 16-year-old Judy Garland a box office giant, but their strict rules nearly killed the budding starlet in the process. The studio’s strict diet of chicken soup, uppers, and downers set up teenage Judy for a life fraught with addiction, malnutrition, extreme health complications, and regular visits to rehab. Even years after Judy severed ties with the MGM, the effects of her highly-regulated adolescence creeped into her career, literally poisoning her life — and her liver. A star was born when Judy filmed The Wizard of Oz, but by her late forties, that same star was in rapid decline.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including child abuse and eating disorders.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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In the summer of 1985, Sean Penn’s marriage to preeminent material girl Madonna was an epochal moment for ‘80s-era Hollywood. The bad boy from Bad Boys and the boy-toy pop superstar blissfully brought together the worlds of movies and music on a Malibu bluff overlooking the Pacific. But their subsequent attempt to make a movie together was anything but blissful. A wild film shoot in China would lead to even wilder things, like the time Sean dangled a photographer upside-down from a ninth-story balcony. Or the time he escaped a prison in Macau and had to have a pardon from the government negotiated by a former member of the Beatles. Or the time he spent in an American prison, where he found himself passing notes with a fellow inmate down the hall…one who happened to be one of the most notorious serial killers in history.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and sexual assault.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes from season 4 each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 new episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Between 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 two stories unexpectedly intertwine.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including kidnapping and child abuse.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes from season 4 each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 new episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Lindsay Lohan’s arrest record is overcrowded with charges involving theft, cocaine, and the transportation of narcotics. The one-time Disney queen bee shattered her Mercedes and her good girl reputation with back-to-back DUIs when her career was at its peak. After appearing in court 20 times in the span of five years, Lindsay’s acting opportunities downgraded from Mean Girls-level blockbusters to meager microbudget art films, including a career-low role that paid her $100 a day to perform alongside porn stars.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes from Season 4 each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 new episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Which 1980's bad boy made a daring escape from prison and later had his freedom negotiated by a former Beatle? Why did the father of a Hollywood A-lister confess to the assassination of JFK? And just how did a serial killer manage to find his own 15 minutes of fame on national television while in the middle of a killing spree?

Hear the wild but true stories behind these questions as the fame, fortune, and felonies of tinseltown come alive in BADLANDS Season 4: HOLLYWOODLAND.

BADLANDS is a true-crime anthology podcast from Jake Brennan, creator and host of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND.

This season of BADLANDS features all of these crazy-but-true tales plus the almost-too-crazy-to-be-true stories of Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Judy Garland, Robin Williams, Winona Ryder, Lindsay Lohan, Sharon Tate, Mickey Rourke, and Rodney Alcala, AKA The Dating Game Killer.

Listen to all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 4: HOLLYWOODLAND on-demand, beginning May 11 at amazon.com/badlands.

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The man who would be Iron Man was once an uninsurable, unreliable actor who lived many years at the bottom in a haze of drugs and alcohol. His transformation into the highest-paid actor in Hollywood is truly one of the most remarkable stories in the City of Angels.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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In January 1947, the mutilated body of 22-year old Elizabeth Short was found, literally cut in half, in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. Even though hundreds of suspects were investigated and dozens of confessions were made, her murder remains unsolved to this day. In the years since, the case has gotten warm and cold again. Speculation into motive and method has been endless. And the deeper you look, the murkier the case becomes. It’s a case populated by drunks and junkies, syphilitic ex-cons and petty thieves, kingpins of organized crime, and the most corrupt police officers to ever wear a badge – and it still continues to this day.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including graphic descriptions of violence.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Robert 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.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Before 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.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including discussions about suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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The only thing more shocking than Brittany Murphy’s untimely death at the age of 32 was what happened next: more unexpected deaths, rumors of poisoning, and even murder.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Four 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?

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including descriptions of domestic violence and graphic descriptions of violence.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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James 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.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Gianni Versace was a runway iconoclast who outfitted the likes of Madonna, Demi Moore, Prince, Sylvester Stallone, and Don Johnson. He lived like Louis XIV and counted Princess Di and Elton John among his friends. He was plagued by rumors of ties to the Calabrian mafia and a secret health diagnosis. Those rumors continued to persist long after he was gunned down by a serial killer who had been on the lam after murdering four other men in three states.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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In some of Hollywood’s best-loved movies, Jack Nicholson played jokers, sailors, inmates – even the Devil himself. But he never played by the rules. He allegedly mooned a crowd of thousands at a basketball game. His bedroom kinks were laid bare in the papers. He fought the MPAA and the LAPD. And in 1994, he attempted to establish his own set of rules when he attacked an idling Mercedes-Benz with a two-iron.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault and child sexual abuse.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Heath Ledger’s preparation for and disappearance into his movie roles is legendary, and it’s what helped him play repressed cowboys, junkies, and maniacal clowns equally well. His research led him to junkies who taught him how to properly shoot up using a stolen prosthetic arm and fake blood, and to a personal diary full of cut-and-paste madness. The paparazzi, however, mocked Heath’s method, and took their public quarrel with him to duplicitous lengths.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS S3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Which silver screen superstar honed his comedic chops behind bars while doing time for slinging cocaine? Which movie mogul's home in the Hollywood hills played host to one of the most heinous and notorious crimes of the 1970's? And how did ONE movie franchise supposedly curse FOUR different actors, leading them each to an early grave?

Hear the unbelievable but true stories behind these questions and more in BADLANDS Season 3: HOLLYWOODLAND.

BADLANDS is a true-crime anthology podcast from Jake Brennan, creator and host of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND.

BADLANDS Season 3: HOLLYWOODLAND is all about the dirty deeds of Tinseltown A-listers whose crimes and career lows were as unbelievable as some of their films' plot twists. Beginning February 16th, listen each week for wild stories about Robert Downey Jr., Gianni Versace, Sal Mineo, Tim Allen, Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, Brittany Murphy, the Poltergeist Curse, Robert Mitchum, and Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 3: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes on-demand at amazon.com/badlands.

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Jake reveals the full list of subjects for the new season of Hollywoodland by picking their best roles and movies, and righting the historical mistakes we all know the Academy makes every year.

This episode was captured live on Twitch on 1/20/22, catch all streams by following https://twitch.tv/disgracelandtalks.

Chat with us about the episode by joining our Discord server at https://discord.gg/7WtPB92SVz

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Jake kicks off the coming season of more Hollywood true crime tales by looking back at all the stars of Hollywoodland Season 1, picking their best roles and movies, and righting the mistakes we all know the Academy makes every year by giving out our own honorary awards.

This episode was captured live on Twitch on January 20th, 2022. Catch all streams by following https://twitch.tv/disgracelandtalks

Chat with us about the episode by joining our Discord server at https://discord.gg/7WtPB92SVz

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Relive the episode that started it all for Badlands – Marilyn Monroe. Spend New Year's bingeing the whole season and get hyped for Hollywoodland 2 coming your way in the New Year... more on that soon.

Marilyn Monroe is one of the greatest Hollywood stars of all time. She rose from orphan to icon by creating an on screen character America could not peel their eyes away from. And she did it all while battling anxiety, depression, and addiction. Along the way she bedded, married, and otherwise conquered America's most impressive men--Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, Frank Siantra and President John F. Kennedy to name a few. And her relationship with JFK and his younger brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, would prove disastrous and result in long-running rumors and conspiracy theories about her death that are as hard to debunk as they are to dismiss.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault and suicide. If you're thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

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What are your favorite holiday movies? Traditional? Modern? Dark? Funny? Jake, Zeth, and Taylor sound off with their picks to fill out your December viewing lists.

Join the conversation live on Twitch at DisgracelandTalks.

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This is not the O.J. Simpson story you were expecting. This is the story of what happened after the former running back was acquitted for the murder of his ex-wife and her friend. It’s an insane story that involves missing sports memorabilia, ex-cons, a supposedly simple plan, and one of the most unbelievable armed robberies in Las Vegas’ sordid history.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and graphic descriptions of violence.

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Ty Cobb was one of the smartest baseball players of all time. He could stretch a single into a double. He could steal second, third, and home base all in the same at-bat. He used the threat of violence to intimidate other players and get what he wanted. He had a short fuse, so violence wasn’t reserved for the basepaths. He fought with teammates, with fans, and with normal people just going about their business. He beat up hecklers with his bare hands. He pointed loaded guns at grocers. Some said he even killed a man who tried to rob him. Some of Ty Cobb’s legend was fact, and some of it was fiction—but it was all part of the mythology that made him larger than life.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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In 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 Claudine Longet, held the smoking gun.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence.

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Pete 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.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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The attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan that fellow US Olympian Tonya Harding organized is so well-known that nearly 30 years later, it remains one of the most shocking and infamous events in modern sports. But that attack is only part of the story. The whole story is full of nefarious plots, arrests for assault, drunk car crashes, and sobering realities that are predestined and never, ever subject to change.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands or on your Echo device.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence.

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Sonny 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.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

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Evel 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 even believe them.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence.

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In April 2015, Aaron Hernandez, a former tight end for the New England Patriots, was found guilty of the cold-blooded murder of a semi-pro footballer and sentenced to life in prison. But there’s more to this story than the tragic death of Odin Lloyd. The story of the most disgraced player in NFL history involves strip clubs, a botched execution, a disgruntled drug dealer, a busted eardrum, ex-con bodyguards, and an unsolved double homicide in the heart of Boston that was on the verge of going cold.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

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Oscar Pistorius’s rise from double-amputee sprinter to unprecedented Olympic athlete gave South Africa a feel-good face as the country hoped to heal from a half century of apartheid. But Oscar’s inevitable fall turned that feel-good face into a brave face. It didn’t take long for his athletic accomplishments to be overshadowed by near-death accidents, arrests, guns, confessed murderers, prison gangs, mob bosses, and a Valentine’s Day murder that shook South Africa, and the world, to its core.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence.

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Mike Tyson’s arrival as a prodigious 18-year-old professional boxer in the 1980s represented a major paradigm shift in the sport. But just as quickly as he rose, Mike Tyson began to fall. Tortured by feelings of loss, abandonment, and self-loathing, and manipulated by a promoter who only paid attention to the bottom line, Mike spiraled into violence, drugs, and increasingly bizarre behavior. When he was released from prison on parole for a rape conviction in 1995, Mike Tyson faced a crossroads: continue on a path to redemption, or be tempted back into the dark abyss of self-destruction.

Follow BADLANDS wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: SPORTSLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of SPORTSLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and sexual assault.

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A sneak peek into BADLANDS Season 2: Sportsland, featuring Jake’s conversation with sportscasting legend Dan Patrick about Pete Rose’s gambling woes, O.J. Simpson, and Dan’s Hollywood turns with Adam Sandler.

New episodes of BADLANDS: SPORTSLAND dropping September 22nd.

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What was a retired running back looking for when he led an armed posse into a Las Vegas hotel? Why did violence outside the ring follow the heavyweight champion of the world all the way up to a small city in Maine? And did the first player ever elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame really kill a man?

Hear the unbelievable but true stories behind these questions and many more in BADLANDS Season 2: Sportsland.

BADLANDS is a true-crime anthology podcast from Jake Brennan, creator and host of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND.

BADLANDS Season 2: Sportsland is all about the shocking rise and fall of sports legends. Beginning September 22nd, listen each week for wild stories about Mike Tyson, Oscar Pistorius, Aaron Hernandez, Evel Knievel, Tonya Harding, Pete Rose, Sonny Liston, Spider Sabich, Ty Cobb, and, of course, O.J. Simpson.

Follow BADLANDS on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Wondery+, or wherever you get your podcasts. BADLANDS Season 2: Sportsland premieres September 22nd with new episodes available every Wednesday. Or, beginning September 22nd, you can binge the whole season of 10 episodes on Amazon Music.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a bonus episode of BADLANDS. Before the launch of BADLANDS Season 2: Sportsland, we take a look back at BADLANDS Season 1: Hollywoodland. BADLANDS host Jake Brennan talks with Zeth Lundy, Editorial Director at Double Elvis, about the time Sean Connery punched a real gangster, the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe, and suspicions surrounding Bruce Lee shortly after the Manson murders.

Binge BADLANDS Season 1: Hollywoodland in its entirety now. Beginning September 22, you can hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 2: Sportsland every Wednesday wherever you get podcasts, or binge all 10 episodes exclusively on Amazon Music.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As 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.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and child sexual assault.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Natalie Wood was one of the most loved child stars of the silver screen in the mid-20th century, and the rare celebrity who was able to transition gracefully into grown-up roles all while maintaining an air of dignity and grace. She acted alongside Orson Welles, James Dean, Warren Beatty, and Bette Davis, and many of her roles remain iconic decades later. But beneath her unprecedented professional success was a life unseen by the public – a life full of fears, paranoias, pills, gypsy curses, and secrets. And when she drowned at the age of 43, more secrets would come floating to the surface.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault and suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dennis 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-wives – all part of a lifelong search to save his career, and his life.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Superman 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?

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bruce Lee got into so much trouble as a kid in Hong Kong that his parents banished him to the place of his birth: America. There he found all kinds of new trouble to get into. He upset kung fu traditionalists with his revolutionary style of fighting. He challenged long-held perceptions in racist Hollywood. He was an outsider determined to change the system the hard way – but did bringing about change cost Bruce Lee his life?

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Holmes unexpectedly found fame in the 1970s with a freakishly large appendage that proved a gateway into the burgeoning adult entertainment industry. He appeared in over 2,000 porn films and is alleged to have slept with over 14,000 women. But a severe drug habit put him in close contact with some strange bedfellows in the Los Angeles underworld, including a ragtag gang of junkies and dealers, and Eddie Nash, a dangerous criminal mastermind. Drugs, desperation, and double-crossing would eventually lead to the infamous murders at 8763 Wonderland Avenue on July 1, 1981.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and sex with minors.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A century ago, at the birth of movie superstardom, silent film star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was at the center of a scandal that rocked Hollywood to its core. He was accused of a murderous sex crime so depraved that it turned the nation not only against him but against Hollywood itself. It led to the trial of the century, and a test of whether America’s elite veil of privilege could be pierced by the long arm of justice. The tide of public opinion that followed was so strong that it made Hollywood change the way Hollywood did business – at least on the surface.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

River 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 L.A.’s drug underworld.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including child sexual abuse and sex trafficking.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The conspiracy theories surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s death in 1962 continue to entertain the imaginations of those obsessed with celebrity and scandal. The stories, many of them fantastical and one of them true, feature cameos by the likes of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford. Somewhere in the pile of countless rumors, innuendos, and crackpot theories is a closer understanding of exactly what happened and why the world lost its most iconic American actress at the young age of 36.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault and suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marilyn Monroe is one of the greatest Hollywood stars of all time. She rose from orphan to icon by creating an on screen character America could not peel their eyes away from. And she did it all while battling anxiety, depression and addiction. Along the way she bedded, married, and otherwise conquered America’s most impressive men — Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, Frank Sinatra and President John F. Kennedy to name a few. And her relationship with JFK and his younger brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, would prove disastrous and result in long-running rumors and conspiracy theories about her death that are as hard to debunk as they are to dismiss.

Follow Badlands wherever you get your podcasts to hear new episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND each Wednesday. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on demand right now at amazon.com/badlands.

This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault and suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

BADLANDS is a new true-crime anthology podcast from Jake Brennan, creator and host of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 

Season 1 of BADLANDS, entitled “HOLLYWOODLAND,” explores the true crimes and scandalous careers of Hollywood’s most infamous stars. Listen each week for new stories on the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Lee’s relationship with Hong Kong street fighters, John Holmes’ role in the bloody Wonderland Murders, and a cocaine and acid fueled Dennis Hopper, plus stories about River Phoenix, original Superman George Reeves, disgraced silent film star Fatty Arbuckle, Natalie Wood, and Lana Turner.

Follow BADLANDS on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Media, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a bonus, Amazon Music listeners can hear all 10 episodes of BADLANDS Season 1: HOLLYWOODLAND on-demand right now at amazon.com/badlands, or by saying, “Alexa, play the Badlands podcast.”

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.