What a Creep Season 18, Episode 2: Diamond Annie and the 40 Elephants

Peaky Blinders is a popular show on Netflix about a group of thieves and gangsters in 1920s London. Many people do not know that there were gangs of women considered the best shoplifters and thieves of the wealthy that ran from the mid-19th century up into the 1950s. The most notorious of these was the “Forty Thieves/FortyElephants” gang, run by tough women who master criminals.

Diamond Annie (born Anne Diamond) was labeled as such for her ferocious punch with fingers crammed with diamond rings. At 5’9”, she was a formidable woman who ran a gang of shoplifters, seducers, and blackmailers, which made the police and media baffled by their brazenness. With the invention of the automobile, women soon took off for all parts of England with their thieving. This story is wild!

Sources for this episode:
The History Girls
Ranker
Forty Elephants Wikipedia
The Sun UK
St. Mary’s University
Danny Dutch.com
The Guardian
Alice Diamond and the Forty Elephants by Brian McDonald
Lessons from History on Medium
Bitch Media
Wondrium Daily
The Human Exception
The Culture Trip
Grunge
The Daily Mail

Trigger warnings: Thieving and my attempt at a British accent

What a Creep Season 18, Episode 1: James Dobson and Focus on the Family

James Dobson is an evangelical Christian author and founder of Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, ​​which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as a hate group.

 

In the 1980s, Time Magazine ranked him as one of the most influential spokesmen for conservative social positions in American public life. He’s written more than 30 books on family issues, specifically parenting and marriage. Dobson frequently appears as a guest on the Fox News Channel.

James Dobson and his organizations are sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and racist.

Sources for this episode: 

Trigger warnings: Racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. 

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 10: Lana Turner and the murder of Johnny Stompanato

Lana Turner was one of Hollywood’s most alluring (and controversial) actors in movie history, with star turns in the original The Postman Always Rings Twice, Imitation of Life, and Peyton Place. She was blonde, sexy, and a supposed “maneater” with eight marriages and several lovers. In 1958 she dated the former war hero and current mob hooligan Johnny Stompanato who supposedly treated her terribly.

Her only child, Cheryl Crane, at 14, stabbed Johnny to death after her mother tried to break off their relationship. Cheryl was acquitted of any wrongdoing (Johnny was a BAD dude) but spent years dealing with her childhood trauma and being the daughter of a movie queen.

But did Cheryl really kill Johnny, or was she covering up for her mother?

Trigger warnings: Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, & Murder

Sources:
Vanity Fair April 1999 The Gangster and the Goddess
Lana Turner Wikipedia
Biography.com
Johnny Stompanato Wikipedia
Cheryl Crane Wiki
People Magazine
All That is Interesting
History 101.com
Los Angeles Times
The Daily Beast
E Mysteries & Scandals March 9, 1998
Cinema Scholars

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 9: Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly wasn’t just one of the beautiful blond talk show hosts at Fox News. She was THE beautiful blond talk show host at Fox News. Her show “The Kelly File” was one of the network’s highest-rated shows, even beating The O’Reilly Factor.”

She left Fox News for a short-lived stint at NBC, where she was fired for defending blackface. Now she hosts a talk show and podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show, that airs live daily on SiriusXM. 

“Give me any opinion, and I can argue it,” she once said. I’m not sure that Megyn Kelly really believes the ignorant crap she spews, and it doesn’t matter. She does it for the money, and that’s gross.

She’s an opportunistic pick-me girl and a racist. What a creep.

Trigger warnings: Racism, sexism, sexual harassment, and debating the race of Santa 

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 6: The Murder of Betty Gore by Candy Montgomery

What a Creep

Season 17, Episode 6

The Murder of Betty Gore by Candy Montgomery

Candy Montgomery was just another bored 70s suburban Texas housewife when she was tried for committing a crime so heinous people still have difficulty making sense of it. The murder of Betty Gore was the subject of a TV series starring Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey on HULU called Candy. It will also be adapted into an HBO series starring Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemmons next spring.

What is so unusual about a murder in 1980 (which was also adapted into a 1990 TV movie starring our forever “old man crush” Brian Dennehy, A Killing in a Small Town) that captures our imagination? Let’s see if we can figure that out today.

Sources:

Trigger warning: Murder

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 5: Jimmy Savile

What a Creep

Season 17, Episode 5

Jimmy Savile

Trigger warnings: Sexual assault and sexual abuse

Jimmy Savile was a British DJ, and television and radio personality who hosted a bunch of BBC shows, including Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It for decades, making him a household name. He was known for his platinum-dyed hair and later his tacky tracksuits and cigars. He was also a well-known good samaritan, raising millions for charities all over the country.

But, after his death in 2011, he was revealed to be one of Britain’s most serious sexual predators. Over several decades he abused almost 600 boys and girls some as young as 2 years old. He did this in the BBC’s broadcasting studios, 14 hospitals, and 20 children’s hospitals across England.

Sources for this episode:

 

 

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 4: The Murder of Stanford White

What a Creep

Season 17, Episode 4

The Murder of Stanford White

Architect Stanford White was one of New York’s most revered architects who built the second Madison Square Garden & the Washington Square Arch, which stand today. In public, he was a bon vivant who moved with old school wealthy and the nouveau riche. He was also a creep who participated in the sexual assault of several young women as part of a group of entitled men in New York’s high society. A Creep, Harry Thaw, killed him on June 25, 1906, because of one such assault on actress Evelyn Nesbit who was 16.

The trials of Harry Thaw caught the nation’s interest and are a part of NYC lore. In this episode, we will discuss the major players and what happened to Evelyn after she outlived the Creeps.

Trigger warning: Sexual assault and abuse

Sources for this episode: 

And for our non-creep: One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States and Cuba this week. And last week Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Fionia. Here’s a list of organizations accepting donations for those impacted by hurricanes Ian and Fiona.

  • Red Cross
  • Caring for Others, an Atlanta-based nonprofit aimed at addressing poverty caused by natural disasters, is coordinating its “Caring Convoy” to transport relief supplies to Florida.
  • Americares is working with 148 local clinics and community health centers in Florida.
  • Global Giving is accepting donations to provide food, emergency supplies, and more throughout Cuba and Florida.
  • Roots of Hope, a nonprofit Cuban youth organization, is collecting donations to help Cuban families.
  • Convoy of Hope is providing relief supplies in Florida and Puerto Rico.
  • Puerto Rican Civic Club is raising funds for solar lights and gas generators for Puerto Rico
  • Global health and humanitarian Project HOPE is mobilizing emergency responders in both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Donate to their Fiona relief fund here.
  • Animal Lighthouse Rescue is raising money to repair its sister shelter in Puerto Rico, El Faro de Los Animales, which was damaged in the hurricane.

 

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 3: Tony Robbins

What a Creep

Season 17, Episode 3

Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins is a motivational coach, speaker, and author. He’s famous for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books. 

He has worked with four U.S. presidents and top entertainers (Oprah Winfrey, Aerosmith, Green Day, Usher, Pitbull, Hugh Jackman, Kim Kardashian), and athletes and sports teams, including Serena Williams, and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. He’s worked with Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff, Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber, and real estate developer and creep Steve Wynn.  He currently boasts an estimated net worth of $500 million.

He’s also a creep who berates abuse victims and sexually harasses female fans and employees.

Sources for this episode:

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 2: Rock Creeps

What a Creep

Season 17, Episode 2

“Quartet of Creeps”

Ryan Adams, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, Ike Turner, & Morrissey

Margo and Sonia talk about a quartet of Rock Creeps in this episode celebrating our 17th season. From the early days of rock to modern rock, we talk about four Creeps who may have lit the music world on fire, but personally–they have some Creepy behavior to answer for.

Trigger warning: Domestic violence, sexual assault, and racism

Sources for this episode:

Ryan Adams

Arcade Fire’s Win Butler:

Ike Turner

Morrissey

 

What a Creep Season 17, Episode 1: The Port Chicago Disaster

What a Creep

Season 17, Episode 1

The Port Chicago Disaster July 1944

On Monday, July 17, 1944, at just after 10 pm, the Northern California town of Port Chicago had an explosion of two ships that took the lives of over 320 sailors and injured almost 400 others. For two years, the US Navy shipped munitions around the clock at the naval base that consisted of a segregated outfit (the entire military, with FDR as its Commander in Chief, was segregated.)  Everything from bullets to bombs weighing thousands of pounds was brought in and shipped in 24-hour shifts with white officers in charge of black recruits with no chance of advancement. No one received proper training in handling munitions or was given safety precautions like gloves, glasses, or any gear to protect the crew.

The man who ran the shifts knew there was so much demand for product and not so much worry about safety that they bet on who could produce the most in the shortest amount of time. The black officers were not only treated poorly on the base, but they also experienced segregation in the communities where they trained and worked.

After the Port Chicago disaster, 50 men refused to continue working under these dangerous conditions and were tried and convicted of treason. In one way, they helped jump-start the military’s civil rights movement, but they have yet to receive proper recognition for what they went through. Maybe our little show can help?

Sources