Kyle Risi

Author Archive

Kyle Risi

Host and writer for The Compendium podcast.

106 total103 episodes3 blogs

Artwork for Nellie Bly: 10 days in a mad house to 72 days around the world

10 March 2026

Episode 154

Nellie Bly: 10 days in a mad house to 72 days around the world

A young reporter goes undercover inside an asylum to expose what happens when society hides cruelty behind the language of care. Then, after changing journalism forever, she turns reporting into a global spectacle by rac...

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Artwork for The 2019 eBay Stalking Scandal: When Tech Giants Become Stalkers

3 March 2026

Episode 153

The 2019 eBay Stalking Scandal: When Tech Giants Become Stalkers

In 2019, eBay went full villain in one of Silicon Valley’s biggest cyberstalking scandals. Today we’re diving into the fragile ego at the top, and the lengths the CEO went to in a harassment campaign against a wholesome...

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Artwork for West Memphis Three: Paradise Lost, Justice Lost, Innocence Lost

24 February 2026

Episode 152

West Memphis Three: Paradise Lost, Justice Lost, Innocence Lost

The West Memphis Three story is a nightmare of panic, pressure, and vanished evidence, where a confession mattered more than truth. In 1993, three eight-year-old boys vanished in West Memphis, Arkansas, then turned up mu...

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Artwork for McMillions: When America’s Biggest Game Stopped Being a Game

17 February 2026

Episode 151

McMillions: When America’s Biggest Game Stopped Being a Game

McMillions exposed how McDonald’s Monopoly was quietly hijacked, turning “random” winners into a pattern the FBI could not ignore. It started with a tip that sounded like sour grapes, but then the FBI noticed something o...

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Artwork for Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping: The Day a School Bus Vanished

10 February 2026

Episode 150

Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping: The Day a School Bus Vanished

The Chowchilla bus kidnapping began like any school run, then veered into a buried alive ordeal no one could have imagined. One moment a group of kids are arguing about snacks, the next they are being marched off a bus b...

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Artwork for Elizabeth Smart: Kidnapped by a Prophet

27 January 2026

Episode 148

Elizabeth Smart: Kidnapped by a Prophet

In June 2002, a Federal Heights neighbourhood wakes to panic as the investigation stalls and fractures. With suspicion falling on handyman Richard Ricci, the Smart family turns to the spotlight and America’s Most Wanted....

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Artwork for Hillside Strangler: Murder in the Shadows of Los Angeles

20 January 2026

Episode 147

Hillside Strangler: Murder in the Shadows of Los Angeles

Two men stalk Los Angeles at night, dumping bodies across the hills as police scramble to understand a pattern of terror unfolding in plain sight. This episode examines the Hillside Stranglers case, following Kenneth Bia...

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Artwork for Bobby Dunbar: The Missing Child Case Solved by a Century-Late DNA Test

13 January 2026

Episode 146

Bobby Dunbar: The Missing Child Case Solved by a Century-Late DNA Test

A missing child returns under suspiciously perfect circumstances, sparking a decades-long battle over identity and truth. This episode traces the disappearance and reappearance of four-year-old Bobby Dunbar, the contradi...

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Artwork for Lucy Letby: Did She Really Kill These Babies?

6 January 2026

Episode 145

Lucy Letby: Did She Really Kill These Babies?

A neonatal unit descends into crisis as accusations of murder, medical error, and systemic failure collide around nurse Lucy Letby. This episode examines the events inside the Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit, where u...

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Artwork for Bone Wars: The Rivalry That Rewrote Dinosaur History

30 December 2025

Episode 144

Bone Wars: The Rivalry That Rewrote Dinosaur History

A bitter rivalry spirals out of control as two palaeontologists race to outdo each other and rewrite the story of the dinosaurs. This episode explores the Bone Wars, the feud between Edward Cope and Othniel Marsh that pu...

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Artwork for The Millionaire Cough: Britain’s Biggest Game Show Scandal

16 December 2025

Episode 142

The Millionaire Cough: Britain’s Biggest Game Show Scandal

A quiz show champion reaches the million-pound question, only for suspicious coughs to spark a scandal that grips the nation. This episode revisits the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire coughing scandal, tracing how Charles...

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Artwork for Guy Fawkes: Treason, Torture, and the Birth of Bonfire Night

9 December 2025

Episode 141

Guy Fawkes: Treason, Torture, and the Birth of Bonfire Night

A failed explosion beneath Parliament ignites a chain of treason, torture, and myth-making that still echoes every Bonfire Night. This episode traces the real story of Guy Fawkes, from Robert Catesby’s radical plot to th...

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