Best Hemlock Creatives Podcasts (2025)

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259. The Big Four | Margaret “Peg” Carry 29:42

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43m ago29:42

29:42

In a departure from Newport this week, we are taking a detour to Lake Forest, Illinois to discover The Big Four. The Big Four was a Girl Gang unlike any other. These daughters of privilege are Margaret Carry, Courtney Letts, Edith Cummings, and Ginevra King, and each has her own special story. Today, we explore the origins of this quartet of lifelo…

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S30E18: The Bachelorette's Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo 35:05

1d ago35:05

35:05

The promise of ABC's The Bachelor is the dream of happily ever after, but as we all know, well-lit reality TV filmed in romantic locations doesn't reflect the reality most of us live in. And so it was for Rachel Lindsay, lawyer and the season 13 lead of The Bachelorette, who chose chiropractor Bryan Abasolo for her final rose, and married him a cou…

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147. The Mysterious Murder of Sir Harry Oakes 48:51

1h ago48:51

48:51

It was a dark and stormy night in The Bahamas back on July 8, 1943, when a Canadian gold magnate who'd relocated years before for tax reasons was brutally murdered in his home. But don't worry, friends: this was during the period when David, Duke of Windsor, and the former King Edward VIII, was governor of the territory, and he made it his mission …

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S30E17: The Disappearance of Agatha Christie, ft. Archie Christie 1:01:59

5d ago1:01:59

1:01:59

This week, Alicia is celebrating the 135th birthday of the mother of the modern mystery genre: Agatha Christie. And while Agatha Christie's novels held the public's attention, her disappearance in December 1926 galvanized the public and brought various personal scandals - namely, her husband Archie's infidelity - to light, in a way that nothing els…

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258. Touring Bellevue Avenue | Miramar 35:10

7d ago35:10

35:10

In this episode we continue our tour through Newport, Rhode Island, looking at the last block of Bellevue Avenue with Miramar as our focus today. Completed in 1914, Eleanor Elkins Widener finished this grand Gilded Age home to honor her husband George Widener, lost on the R.M.S. Titanic in 1912. The Widener family is a big deal in high society, spe…

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S30E16: Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler 53:35

2d ago53:35

53:35

It's always exciting when celebrity worlds collide. In this case, it's reality TV star Kristin Cavallari and NFL pro Jay Cutler, and when they settled into matrimonial bliss early in the last decade, it sure seemed like things were great. In no time, the couple had three kids and were living it up in a Nashville mansion with camera crews documentin…

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S30E15: Prince Albert's Parents | Ernst I and Princess Louise 58:02

12d ago58:02

58:02

In the 18th century, modern Germany continued to be a patchwork of various duchies, which kept German nobles in the marriage rotation throughout Europe. So it was that two brothers - Ernst and Leopold - came into the world in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1784 and 1790. One would become the King of Belgium, and one would be the legal father …

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146. Prince Albert's Parents | Ernst I and Princess Louise 58:17

6d ago58:17

58:17

In the 18th century, modern Germany continued to be a patchwork of various duchies, which kept German nobles in the marriage rotation throughout Europe. So it was that two brothers - Ernst and Leopold - came into the world in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in 1784 and 1790. One would become the King of Belgium, and one would be the legal father …

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257. Edith Wharton and Her Gilded Age 1:08:38

14d ago1:08:38

1:08:38

Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Edith Wharton came by her subject matter the old-fashioned way: she was born into a prominent New York City family, and was subjected to the mores of the city's high society circle from birth. This did not suit the plain, brainy young Edith even a little bit, much to her mother's horror, but Edith did eventually subm…

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S30E14: The Trashy Breakup of Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas 45:40

15d ago45:40

45:40

Once upon a time, pop megastar Taylor Swift was an assuming teenager transitioning from a country music past into an unknowable future. Along the way, she met a Jonas brother, Joe, and for a few gossipy months in 2008, the pair were an item. And then... well, then a decade and a half of history and diss tracks would begin to slowly unspool. Want ea…

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145. Meddlesome Millie | Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland 49:08

6d ago49:08

49:08

Oh my, this lady is one to remember, and Alicia does her level best to bring Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland to the forefront in this week’s episode. Milicent was mentioned in Episode 5 of the Wallis Series, as she is the mother of Rosemary Levenson-Gower, one of Edward’s early loves. Millicent lived quite a life – from aristocratic hostess to ref…

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S30E13: The Unrequited $3 Billion Divorce | Sheika Dena al Fassi and Sheik Mohammed al Fassi 35:38

19d ago35:38

35:38

Back in the early 80s, divorce lawyer to the stars (and Trashy Divorces alum) Marvin Mitchelson took on the biggest case of his career - and one that seems to have gotten away from him a bit. Sheika Dena al Fassi, the wife of Saudi businessman (and Saudi royal family member) Mohammed al Fassi, was filing for divorce, and estimates of Mohammed's for…

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256. Teardown in The Platinum Triangle 44:39

21d ago44:39

44:39

For this holiday episode, we take a diversion from The Gilded Age in Newport to visit the Fabulous Late 1980s in Hollywood, specifically The Platinum Triangle, the area in Los Angeles that encompasses Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills and Bel Air. Dominick Dunne’s writing is terrific here from the spring of 1989, coming back to California and revisiting …

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S30E12: Halle Bailey and DDG 37:15

9d ago37:15

37:15

For the more casual observers of popular culture, Halle Bailey may only register as Ariel in the 2023 The Little Mermaid remake, but the more discerning know that this young artist has been doing the hard work, alongside her sister Chloe, since she was barely out of diapers. She excels in music - she and her sister have garnered five Grammy nominat…

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144. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck: Fat Mary, Part Two 56:00

23d ago56:00

56:00

In this second half of the story of Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, Alicia takes us through the family's financial exile to Italy - Queen Vic thought living in Florence would restrain the lavish spending the Tecks were known for - and the circuitous, flu-induced path that took Fat Mary's daughter from shy noblewoman to future Queen of England. Oh -…

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S30E11: The Trashy Breakup of Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall 59:33

26d ago59:33

59:33

America swooned for Sex and the City, HBO's glamorous dive into the lives of four women in New York City at the bleeding edge of the 21st century. But early in the series run, there were already rumors of cast disputes, factions, and trouble on set. Had the show been less singular, and less beloved, the actresses likely would have emerged unscathed…

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255. Touring Bellevue Avenue | Belcourt 40:01

28d ago40:01

40:01

Oliver Belmont becomes quite the talk of the town when the entire first floor of this grand home is comprised of stables for his prized horses. Oliver will not stay single for long, marrying the recently divorced Alva Vanderbilt in a move that shocks society. And that is only one of the shocking moves. This home and the people who inhabited it are …

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S30E10: Dumpster Dive | Brandon Blackstock, Apollonia, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Kyle Massey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lee Radziwill, Offset {hearts} Sabrina Carpenter 44:51

29d ago44:51

44:51

In the Dumpster this week: We note the passing of Kelly Clarson's ex Brandon Blackstock at just 48. Please keep his four children in your thoughts. Actress, singer, Prince confidant, and other multi-hyphenate Apollonia (Patricia Apollonia Kotero), at the young age of 66, finds herself embroiled in a legal battle with Prince's estate over her name. …

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143. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck: Fat Mary, Part One 39:16

19d ago39:16

39:16

This episode is brought to you by Incogni! In the tangle of British royals to come out of the Hanoverian period, most aren't memorable. This is probably partly due to Queen Victoria's long reign, but there was a cousin of the Queen that she was quite partial to: Fat Mary. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge was 14 years the Queen's junior, but she …

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S30E9: Dumpster Dive | Burt Reynolds, Hall and Oates, Laura Prepon and Ben Foster, The Beckhams, and Halle Berry is Living Her Best Life 51:23

1M ago51:23

51:23

Today's Dumpster Dive is sponsored by Incogni! Today in the Dumpster, we're diving right into: The midcentury fabulous Highlands, North Carolina, home that Burt Reynolds owned for a decade or so back in the 80s and 90s. It's on the market, so if you need a two-story monolith, a fire-warmed groove pit, or a stone shower, it can be yours for the low,…

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254. Touring Bellevue Avenue | Champ Soliel 23:24

1M ago23:24

23:24

In today’s episode, we continue our tour of Bellevue Avenue to explore Champs Soliel, the last great home built in Newport in 1929, truly shitting down the Gilded Age. We get to know its owner, Lucy Wharton Drexel Dahlgren, who led quite an interesting life, with a real twist on a trashy divorce too. Other notable owners include Russell and Annie L…

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S30E8: Linda Lavin (TV's Alice) 32:45

23d ago32:45

32:45

The character of Alice Hyatt - a widowed mother who takes a job at a roadside diner on her way to a singing career - made a lot of sense to actress Linda Lavin. After all, her mother had been an opera singer whose aspirations were derailed by marriage and children, and by the time Alice premiered in 1976, Linda was living and thriving in a very dif…

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142. Lord Bertrand Dawson, Royal Doctor Death 36:13

26d ago36:13

36:13

While it may be true that the only certainties in this world are death and taxes, we do bumble through our lives with the expectation that our physicians will not knowingly prematurely end us. At least, most of us do. But for British royals in the 1930s, the royal physician, Lord Bertrand Dawson, was making decisions he arguably had no right to mak…

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S30E7: Gary Coleman 49:24

28d ago49:24

49:24

Child actor Gary Coleman made a big cultural mark on the 1980s in his role as Arnold Jackson on Diff'rent Strokes - "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" was his notable catchphrase on the show. But the young man who emerged from the series in 1986 had a hard road ahead of him. Because of health issues stemming from his earliest days, he retained his c…

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253. Touring Bellevue Avenue | Seaview Terrace, The Cloisters, Fairholme, and Anglesea 30:08

1M ago30:08

30:08

In the continuation of tour down Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Rhode Island, this week we take a little detour to one street, packed with a whole lot of history. Ruggles Avenue is this side street, and four homes were very important when it came to fancy folks and a whole lot of spiderwebs. Today's summer cottages include Seaview Terrace, The Cloiste…

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S30E6: Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds 29:01

1M ago29:01

29:01

With the passing of Loni Anderson this week, we pulled one of the trashiest divorces out of the vault for an encore this week. Oh, the 1980s were a weird time, and Loni Anderson and Burt Reynolds might have seemed like they could have gone the distance. However, it was not to be. It is a much bleaker portrait of a six-year long marriage, and a divo…

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252. Newport Mystery | David Marriott and Father Phillip Magaldi 22:07

2M ago22:07

22:07

We continue our sleuthing in Newport in today’s episode, focusing in on a little more reporting from our man Dominick Dunne. Dunne covered the second trial of Claus von Bulow, and in so doing, uncovered a few more shady characters. Today, we investigate the two guys coming to help out Claus - David Marriott and Father Phillip Magaldi, both proven t…

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251. Newport Mystery | Paul E. Molitor, Jr. 18:20

2M ago18:20

18:20

Alicia definitely falls into a rabbit hole in this episode from the Patreon Vault. Dominick Dunne writes just one little paragraph in his reporting on the von Bulow case that was definitely worth investigating. Dunne makes a mention about Paul E. Molitor, Jr., who was kind of a big deal in Newport for a little while, for his preservation efforts an…

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141. Stepmothers with Dr. Alicia King Anderson, Ph.D. 56:39

1M ago56:39

56:39

This week, Alicia is joined by Dr. Alicia King Anderson to deep dive into the topic of stepmothers. Included within this wide-ranging discussion are the economic realities of women through history, the reason we have these stories in our lore, and more intricate discussions about Jacob Grimm, witches, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Vasilisa and Bab…

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S30E5: Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen 40:36

1M ago40:36

40:36

When longtime tennis partners - kidding, they were married - Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen announced that they were putting their racquets down back in April 2024, they noted that they had jointly filed for divorce in 2023. Which raises a question about why they chose to announce their split at that particular moment. Turns out, it might have t…

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250. Touring Bellevue Avenue | Clarendon Court 41:39

2M ago41:39

41:39

We continue our tour of Bellevue Avenue in Newport today, focusing specifically on one grand home, Clarendon Court. This home and property had a whole lot of history before Sunny and Klaus von Bulow moved into it in the early 1970s. In this episode, we dig into Edward Collins Knight Sr. and his son, the neighboring property Reef Point, Harry S. Bla…

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S30E4: Julius Caesar and His Wives | Cossutia, Cornelia, Pompeia, and Calpurnia 50:08

2M ago50:08

50:08

In this Trashy Royals crossover, Alicia reveals all the dirt about the OG of dictators, Julius Ceasar and his four-ish wives. Each of his wives served a needed purpose for Ceasar in their own time, and these stories get trashy! From young love to power alliances, this is a whole Roman Times soap opera featuring our wives, Cossutia, Cornelia, Pompei…

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249. Touring Bellevue Avenue | Chateau-sur-Mer, The Breakers, Seaview Terrace, Rosecliff, Beechwood, Marble House and Beaulieu 30:02

2M ago30:02

30:02

This week we continue our tour of Newport’s Bellevue Avenue with seven more glorious homes including Chateau-sur-Mer, The Breakers, Seaview Terrace, Rosecliff, Beechwood, Marble House and Beaulieu. There are many Gilded Age high society folks who owned these homes at one time or another such as the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and the Whetmores. Also i…

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140. Arthurian Legends with Dr. Alicia King Anderson, Ph.D. 49:56

2M ago49:56

49:56

We are taking a very trashy tour back in time this week discussing the Arthurian legends with our resident mythology expert Dr. Alicia King Anderson. Alicia dives into all the classic stories, including the choosing of King Arthur, the magical man Merlin, the love-angst of Guinevere and Lancelot, the trickery of Morgan le Fay, and so much more! Lis…

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S30E3: Slash 58:42

1M ago58:42

58:42

Before he was conquering the music world with Guns N' Roses back in the late '80s and early '90s, guitarist Slash was Saul Hudson. London born and Los Angeles raised, his entertainment-industry parents did not provide the stability that a teen in the '70s and '80s would have benefited from. Consequently, young Slash found himself misusing a number …