E23: Caligula - Madness, Monarchy, and a Mare

E27: Typhoid Mary - Mary, Miasma, and Misery

There are some dangers you can see coming. A dark alley. A loaded gun. A locked room. And then there are the dangers that arrive warm from the kitchen. This week on The House of Syx, Jenn and Jared dig into the story of Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary, an Irish immigrant cook whose name became shorthand for contagion, denial, public health panic, and one very uncomfortable question: What do you do when one person’s freedom becomes everyone else’s risk? Mary Mallon was a skilled cook in early 1900s New York. She worked in wealthy homes, fed wealthy families, and appeared perfectly healthy. But household after household seemed to get sick after she arrived. Eventually, investigators began to trace the outbreaks back to one common denominator: Mary. This episode gets into the kitchen, literally and historically. We talk domestic service, class, immigrant labor, germ theory, miasma, typhoid fever, poop, handwashing, George Soper, North Brother Island, public health ethics, and the very bold decision to use an alias and go work in a maternity hospital kitchen after being told, very clearly, not to cook. Was Mary a villain? A victim? A public health threat? A woman failed by the system and also making terrible choices? Yes. Probably. It’s messy. Also, wash your hands. Seriously. In This Episode Jenn and Jared discuss: * Mary Mallon before she became “Typhoid Mary” * Domestic service and immigrant women in early 1900s New York * Why typhoid showing up in a wealthy summer home caused panic * How typhoid spreads, yes, we have to talk about poop * Miasma theory, germ theory, and the rise of modern public health * George Soper’s investigation, also known here as Georgie Poo’s poop trail * Mary’s forced quarantine on North Brother Island * The legal and ethical question of detaining someone without a criminal conviction * Why Mary returned to cooking under an assumed name * The Sloane Maternity Hospital outbreak * Whether Mary was a villain, a victim, or a deeply complicated historical headache Chapters 00:00 - Mary, Miasma, and Misery A creepy cold open introduces the idea that danger does not always look dangerous. Sometimes it looks like dinner. 01:21 - Behind the Kitchen Door Jenn and Jared set the stage in turn-of-the-century New York, where wealthy families depended on immigrant domestic workers while rarely seeing them as full people. 10:52 - Mary Mallon Enters the Kitchen Mary’s early life, her work as a domestic servant, her rise to skilled cook, and the first signs of the pattern that would make her infamous. 16:55 - Typhoid, Poop, and Panic What typhoid fever actually is, how it spreads, why healthy-looking people can still be dangerous, and why everyone should wash their hands before Jenn loses her mind. 24:21 - Bad Air to Germ Theory A side quest through miasma theory, germ theory, sanitation, and the moment public health starts asking better, grosser, more useful questions. 31:41 - Georgie Poo Follows the Trail George Soper investigates the outbreaks, connects Mary to multiple sick households, asks for samples in the least charming way possible, and meets Mary’s carving fork energy. 42:24 - Quarantine, Consequences, and Mary’s Legacy Mary is forcibly isolated, fights her confinement, gets released under conditions, returns to cooking under an alias, and spends the rest of her life on North Brother Island after a deadly hospital outbreak. Research and Further Reading CDC, About Typhoid Fever and Paratyphoid Fever https://www.cdc.gov/typhoid-fever/about/index.html [https://www.cdc.gov/typhoid-fever/about/index.html] CDC Yellow Book, Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/travel-associated-infections-diseases/typhoid-and-paratyphoid-fever.html [https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/travel-associated-infections-diseases/typhoid-and-paratyphoid-fever.html] CDC, Symptoms of Typhoid Fever and Paratyphoid Fever https://www.cdc.gov/typhoid-fever/signs-symptoms/index.html [https://www.cdc.gov/typhoid-fever/signs-symptoms/index.html] WHO, Typhoid Fact Sheet https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/typhoid [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/typhoid] NCBI Bookshelf, Typhoid Fever https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557513/ [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557513/] National Library of Medicine / PMC, Mary Mallon and the History of Typhoid Fever https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3959940/ [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3959940/] PubMed, Mary Mallon and the History of Typhoid Fever https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24714738/ [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24714738/] National Museum of Health and Medicine, Typhoid Mary / Mary Mallon https://medicalmuseum.health.mil/micrograph/index.cfm/posts/2020/typhoid_mary_mary_mallon_salmonella [https://medicalmuseum.health.mil/micrograph/index.cfm/posts/2020/typhoid_mary_mary_mallon_salmonella] The New Yorker, North Brother https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1938/10/29/north-brother [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1938/10/29/north-brother] Vanity Fair, See the Abandoned and Inaccessible Island Where Typhoid Mary Died https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/06/north-brother-island-photos-typhoid-mary [https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/06/north-brother-island-photos-typhoid-mary] Credits Hosted by: Jenn and Jared Written and researched by: Jenn Produced by: Jenn Podcast: The House of Syx Follow The House of Syx Follow The House of Syx for strange history, weird cases, dark humor, public health nightmares, and the occasional domestic dispute about handwashing. New episodes drop every other Tuesday, assuming life, technology, and basic human stamina allow. Sharing is caring. Unless it’s typhoid.

E26: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - Flames, Fabric, and the Factory

On March 25, 1911, a small fire broke out inside the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Manhattan. Less than 30 minutes later, 146 workers were dead. Most were young immigrant women and teenage girls. Some burned. Some suffocated. Some jumped from the windows while crowds watched from the streets below. And the worst part? Almost every part of this disaster was preventable. This week, Jenn drags Jared through one of the deadliest industrial disasters in American history: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Together they unravel: * brutal factory conditions in 1911 * locked exit doors * overcrowded work floors * failed fire escapes * the factory owners who walked free * and how this tragedy changed labor laws forever Also discussed: * shirtwaists (the fashion, not the waistline) * why sewing machines are apparently witchcraft * corporate greed * early labor movements * and how “fireproof” absolutely did not mean what people thought it meant Because sometimes the scariest stories aren’t mysteries. Sometimes everybody already knows exactly what caused the deaths. 🎙️ EPISODE CREDITS Hosted By: Jenn & Jared Written & Researched By: Jenn Produced By: The House of Syx (but we know it's Jenn) Editing & Post Production: Also Jenn Artwork & Visual Design: Obviously Jenn 📚 EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00:55 — Welcome Back to the House of Syx 00:03:01 — Factory Life in 1911 00:09:48 — Locked Doors and Fire Hazards 00:13:21 — The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory 00:22:40 — The Fire Begins 00:27:02 — Trapped on the Ninth Floor 00:33:02 — 146 Dead in Less Than 30 Minutes 00:35:15 — The Trial and Public Outrage 00:40:16 — Negligence, Laws, and Corporate Greed 🔎 RESEARCH & SOURCES HISTORICAL & PRIMARY SOURCES * Cornell University Triangle Fire Archive [https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/index.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com] * Cornell ILR School – Story of the Fire [https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/story/fire.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com] * OSHA – Triangle Factory Fire Account [https://www.osha.gov/aboutosha/40-years/trianglefactoryfireaccount?utm_source=chatgpt.com] * AFL-CIO Labor History: Triangle Fire [https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/triangle-shirtwaist-fire?utm_source=chatgpt.com] * Jewish Women’s Archive – Triangle Fire [https://jwa.org/thisweek/mar/25/1911/triangle-fire?utm_source=chatgpt.com] * William Shepherd Eyewitness Account [https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/primary/testimonials/ootss_WilliamShepherd.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com] * History.com – Triangle Shirtwaist Fire [https://www.history.com/articles/triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire-labor-safety-laws?utm_source=chatgpt.com] * PBS NewsHour – Labor Laws and the Triangle Fire [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-the-triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire-transformed-labor-laws-and-protected-workers-health?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 📖 RECOMMENDED BOOK * David Von Drehle, * Triangle: The Fire That Changed America [https://groveatlantic.com/book/triangle/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 🎥 RECOMMENDED DOCUMENTARY * Triangle Fire Documentary (PBS / American Experience) [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/triangle/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, leave a review, and tell your friends that apparently “fireproof” used to mean “the building survives, good luck to everyone inside.”

E25: John List - Suburbia, Secrets, and Sin

What looks like a perfect suburban life… isn’t always what it seems. In 1971, a quiet New Jersey neighborhood went undisturbed while something unthinkable sat inside a beautiful home. No movement. No noise. No answers. Inside were five people… and for nearly a month, no one checked. This episode tells the story of John List — a man who appeared completely ordinary: * a husband * a father * a churchgoing accountant Until everything fell apart. But this isn’t just about what happened. It’s about control. Image. Belief. And the choices people make when they can’t face failure. Because people lose everything every day. And almost none of them do this. 🎬 EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 — The House That Waited 00:55 — Chaos, Cats, and a Killer Intro 02:19 — The “Perfect” Life 07:11 — The Secret He Never Told 10:39 — The Day It Happened 11:58 — He Took a Break 13:40 — A Month of Silence 19:16 — The Letter 22:43 — Gone for 18 Years 27:48 — Found… and the Truth Doesn’t Land 41:34 — The House, The Window, The End 🧠 IN THIS EPISODE * The timeline of the John List case * How someone maintained a double life * The role of control and routine * Religion as justification vs. belief * How he disappeared for 18 years * Why this case still feels unsettling today 🎙️ ABOUT THE SHOW The House of Syx explores true crime through a different lens—focusing not just on what happened, but why. ⚠️ CONTENT WARNING This episode contains discussion of violence and may not be suitable for all listeners. 📩 CONTACT Have a case suggestion or something you want us to cover? houseofsyx@gmail.com 🔚 FINAL THOUGHT People lose their jobs. Their money. Their homes. They don’t lose their humanity.

E24: Kitty Genovese - Headlines, Horror, and Half-Truths

38 people heard her screams… and did nothing. That’s the story most of us have heard. For decades, the murder of Kitty Genovese has been used as the defining example of the bystander effect—a case that supposedly proved people will stand by and do nothing in the face of violence. But the truth is more complicated than that. In this episode, we take a closer look at what really happened on that night in 1964. We walk through the timeline, the witness accounts, and the investigation that led to the arrest of Winston Mosley. Along the way, we challenge the narrative that has defined this case for generations. Because the story most people know… isn’t the whole story. And at the center of it all is Kitty Genovese—a real person with a life, relationships, and a future that was taken from her. This isn’t just about what happened. It’s about how we remember it—and why that matters. 🕯️ EPISODE CHAPTERS * The Story We Were Told * America in 1964 * Who Kitty Was * That Night Begins * The Attack & Aftermath * What People Actually Saw * Truth, Justice, and Legacy 📌 CONNECT WITH US Follow and subscribe to The House of Syx wherever you listen to podcasts. 📺 YouTube 📱 TikTok, Facebook, Instagram 📩 thehouseofsyx@gmail.com New episodes drop every other Tuesday. 🔎 KEYWORDS Kitty Genovese, bystander effect, true crime podcast, true crime story, crime history, 1960s New York, Winston Mosley, real crime case, psychology, true crime discussion

E23: Caligula - Madness, Monarchy, and a Mare

What happens when a 24-year-old inherits absolute power over the most powerful empire in the ancient world? In this episode of The House of Syx, Jenn and Jared dive into the chaotic, bizarre, and often unbelievable reign of Caligula—a ruler remembered for excess, cruelty, and behavior so strange that historians are still debating whether he was truly insane… or just dangerously powerful. From declaring war on the ocean… to nearly making his horse a senator… to blurring the line between emperor and god… This is the story of Rome’s most infamous emperor. But was Caligula actually mad? Or has history exaggerated the truth? 🔍 CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro & Why Rome Still Matters 01:27 What Was Ancient Rome, Really? 05:11 From Republic to Empire 16:23 Power, Politics, and No Rules 20:07 Caligula’s Early Life & Family Tragedy 31:30 Rise to Power & Sudden Change 38:50 Madness, Excess, and Infamy 53:20 Assassination & Theories Explained 🧠 WHY THIS STORY MATTERS Caligula’s reign is more than just shocking history. It’s a case study in: * absolute power and its consequences * political instability and paranoia * how historical narratives are shaped And how quickly things can spiral when no one can say no. 🗣️ JOIN THE CONVERSATION Do you think Caligula was truly insane… or a product of unchecked power and political storytelling? Let us know your thoughts. 👍 SUPPORT THE SHOW If you enjoyed this episode: * Follow or subscribe to The House of Syx * Leave a rating and review * Share this episode with someone who loves strange history 📬 EPISODE SUGGESTIONS Have a story you want us to cover? Email: houseofsyx@gmail.com 🎧 ABOUT THE PODCAST The House of Syx is where true crime meets strange history—with a side of sarcastic marital commentary. Jenn does the research. Jared reacts in real time. Chaos usually follows. 🎬 PRODUCTION CREDITS * Researched and Written by Jenn * Hosted by Jenn & Jared * Edited by Jenn * What Are the Principal Sources of Emperor Caligula’s Reign? | TheCollector [https://www.thecollector.com/what-are-the-principal-sources-of-emperor-caligulas-reign/] * Caligula: A Biography - Aloys Winterling - Google Books [https://books.google.com/books/about/Caligula.html?id=nMskDQAAQBAJ&] * Roman Emperors - DIR Caligula [https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/gaius.htm] * Suetonius • Life of Caligula [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula%2A.html] * An historical commentary on Cassius Dio’s Roman history, Book 59 (Gaius Caligula) - UBC Library Open Collections [https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0093872] * Caligula - Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula] * History.com Caligula [https://www.history.com/articles/caligula] * Caligula: The First Mad Emperor of Rome - World History Encyclopedia [https://www.worldhistory.org/Caligula/]