Join Mo Rocca for an often funny, always fascinating, investigation into the lives of people and, in a few cases, things that have long intrigued him. In Season 1, you'll learn about the greatest entertainer of the 20th century, a Founding Father with terrible PR game, neanderthals, sitcom characters who went upstairs and never came down and so much more.
The poisoning of Auburn University’s famed oak trees by University of Alabama fan Harvey Updyke made national news. Mo explores the legendary rivalry between these two college football powerhouses and the line between fandom and fanaticism – and talks with the man whose loyalty pushed him over the edge.
Many of us have seen pictures of the original “Siamese Twins” Chang and Eng. But their story is so much more than a medical case study. Mo travels to Mount Airy, North Carolina – the inspiration for Andy Griffith’s Mayberry and the real life home of these conjoined twins – to join the many descendants of Chang and Eng for their annual family reunion.
Mo welcomes his friend Michael Ian Black – comedian, author, podcaster, and, as it turns out, Neanderthal (we’ll explain). Mo talks to Michael and the world’s leading researchers about why our extinct human cousins have gotten such a bad rap for so many many years, and how we’re learning more about how close we really were. Oh, Mo also talks to the guy who played Cha-ka on the 70s kids show Land of the Lost.
From the age of three Sammy Davis, Jr. did it all better than anyone else – singing, dancing, acting, even gun spinning. Mo talks to friends and family about what drove him to keep performing, even after the horrific accident that nearly ended his life. Featuring Carol Burnett, Chita Rivera, Kim Novak, Dionne Warwick and more.
There were other stars as big as Audrey Hepburn, some even bigger.(Ahem, Katharine Hepburn?) So why is it that more than 25 years after her death her image still captivates us and her name trends regularly on social media? Mo explores why the attachment to Audrey is still so personal for so many people.
Mo tells the stories of three remarkable people who changed history – but whose names you’ve probably never heard. They are the pioneers before the pioneers: Before Rosa Parks, there was Elizabeth Jennings. Before Jackie Robinson, there was Moses Fleetwood Walker. And then there’s Lois Weber, the woman who ruled Hollywood 100 years ago.
Characters on sitcoms aren’t supposed to die. So when they do, it’s never less than
weird. Mo examines some of the most infamous sitcom deaths and disappearances
with Henry Winkler, Sandy Duncan and Alan Sepinwall.
Between late 1962 and late 1963, an American comedian found himself in a brief and rapturous period of astounding fame. Across the country, thousands tuned into their radio and television sets to hear his iconic impersonation, and roared with laughter when they played his hit album. The man was Vaughn Meader, and the act was […]
Mo Rocca has always loved obituaries. With Mobituaries he introduces listeners to the people who have long intrigued him—from the 20th century’s greatest entertainer … to the Civil Rights pioneer who is completely forgotten … to sitcom characters gone all too soon. Even if you know the names, you’ve never understood why they matter…until now.