Strange stories, mostly murders, with plenty of tangents.
Mystified is a two-voice show from Tasha and Steven, whose odd stories are, as one opening admits, mostly murders. The facts come wrapped in wisecracks, so a broken gang truce 'had a date with a Chicago typewriter,' and the Texas summer heat is a frequent opening gripe.
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Mystified is Tasha and Steven trading strange stories, which one opening admits are mostly murders. Episodes start with the same line, 'My name is Tasha. This is Steven,' and then wander before any case appears. The warm-up is part of the draw. Out in the country, fireworks and gunfire sound alike, so the pair plan to spend the next couple of days playing a guessing game about which is which, and remember a neighbor who fired a cannon on holidays. During one introduction a Superman figure topples over in the corner; Batman, they decide, has the better base. A power outage on a sunny day pushes another recording back and earns a dry line about the Texas grid. Summer heat comes up again and again. Then a case begins, and the banter keeps running alongside it. One of them carries the facts while the other guesses ahead, cuts in, or deadpans 'cool cool cool.' The cases cover a long span of time. In 'A Joke To Die For- The Murder of Elvira,' an 1847 marriage between a dressmaker who wanted balls, parties and the theater and a man who preferred drinking and nine pins gets blunt running commentary. 'Blood and Booze: The St Valentine's Day Massacre' reaches the day three of Capone's gunmen walked into O'Banion's North Side flower shop, and pauses to observe that fighting over territory is not just a mob thing but a human one. 'When The Remedy Is Worse Than The Disease: Medicine, Love, And Murder' recounts, in old-fashioned phrasing, a confrontation over a marriage certificate issued under false names, with a man named Harris explaining he wanted an easy way out. 'La Dama Del Silencio: Not Good Lucha Things' includes a woman held in custody who, by the account given, was left bleeding and had her family threatened, yet kept maintaining her innocence while more murders followed. The jokes do not stop the pair from taking a side. 'James Scott: When The Levee Broke' moves from volunteers handed tape to patch ripping tarps on the levees to a closing argument that a man is serving life for something no one could have done, a situation they tie to a story kept hush-hush. 'Mystified PRIDE: Jackie Shane' is openly sincere, admiring anyone brave enough to get dressed and go out to a queer Black nightclub in the 1950s when a raid was a real risk, with a detour into one of them remembering the Copa, a club in their town with drag queens and music by The Smiths. Its sign-off is just as direct: anyone who did not enjoy it is told the next episode will hold the same views. Swearing is frequent, and several episodes open with a warning about sexual content and violence.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants murder cases and strange history told as a loose, joking conversation between two people, tangents and swearing included, and who does not mind some talk about the Texas weather before the facts start.
What sets it apart: Mystified runs cases generations apart, an 1847 marriage, Capone's gunmen and a disputed levee conviction, through the same banter full of interruptions. It also drops the jokes when it matters, arguing that a man was imprisoned for something no one could have done and praising the nerve of 1950s queer Black nightlife.
A podcast exploring strange and unusual stories that are sure to make your brain tingle. From aliens to crime scenes, we bring you some interesting tales. We don't take ourselves too seriously, and we hope you will grab a drink and join us for a laugh or maybe a scare or two
A toppled Superman figure, then a mob feud: Tasha and Steven let you laugh before Chicago gets bloody.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A loose Pride conversation finds its weight in the courage behind queer Black nightlife.
Tasha and Steven frame a Pride-adjacent conversation around queer Black nightlife, using the subject to press on mid-century assumptions without turning the episode into a lecture.
A routine offer of help becomes a grim reminder of how badly an investigation can misread a suspect.
A murder investigation turns on a reveal that unsettles both the case and the assumptions behind it: the suspect police had been searching for as a man or trans woman is identified as 48-year-old Juana Barrasa, a cis woman.
False names, a marriage certificate, and medical allegations turn romance into a paper trail of trouble.
A marriage built on false names gives this Mystified episode its sharpest hook. The story turns on a certificate naming Charles Harris and Helen Nielsen, while an affidavit says Harris was really Carlisle and Helen was Helen Nielsen Potts.
A missed levee warning sits at the center of James Scott's wrongful-conviction story.
James Scott's story begins on the West Quincy levee, where volunteer work turns into a missed warning, and ends with a man described as serving 30 years to life for something he did not do.
Elvira's marriage to Milton Streeter turns jealousy into a public joke.
Elvira's marriage to Milton Streeter starts with a plain mismatch. She wants fashionable clothes, balls, parties, and theater; he would rather drink and play nine pins with the men of Southbridge.
Two cohosts, two strange stories, plenty of detours.
ABC Audio's Theranos fraud series that also introduces its other true-crime podcasts.
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard traces con man John Meehan's fraud, abuse, and its Bravo TV adaptation.
Mystified's Pride episode traces Jackie Shane, a Tennessee R&B singer who performed on television in the 1960s and was also a Black trans woman.
Mystified's 'La Dama Del Silencio: Not Good Lucha Things' tracks elderly women killed in Mexico City, a case that drew attention only after the murders had stretched across years and at least 30 victims.
Mystified traces Helen Potts and Carlisle W.
Mystified's Tasha and Steven tell the story of James Scott, a Quincy, Illinois man serving life for the West Quincy levee failure during the Great Flood of 1993.
Mystified examines the 1847 Southbridge, Massachusetts case of dressmaker Elvira Houghton and her husband Milton Streeter, whose marriage was targeted by repeated jokes about infidelity.
Mystified hosts Tasha and Steven recount the 1929 St.
Hosts Tasha and Steven introduce their podcast about strange and unusual stories with humorous banter and pop culture references.
A podcast exploring strange and unusual stories, from aliens to crime scenes, with a casual and humorous tone.
A married couple hosts a podcast exploring strange and unusual stories, blending true crime, paranormal, and horror with humor and casual banter.
The hosts promote Buzzsprout and introduce their podcast about strange and unusual stories with a lighthearted, self-deprecating tone.
The hosts discuss a sponsor's true crime podcast and then introduce their show about strange and unusual stories, mentioning the weather and spooky season.
The episode begins with a sponsor ad for a true crime podcast, then introduces the show's theme of exploring strange and unusual stories, with a brief discussion of current weather events.
The hosts thank their sponsor Podcorn and introduce their podcast about strange and unusual stories with a lighthearted tone.
The hosts introduce their podcast about strange and unusual stories, joking about fireworks and potential murders before teasing their first alien abduction episode.