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 Ingram, his wife Diana, and Tecwen Whittock became the centre of a media storm and courtroom battle. We explore the evidence, the trial, the role of Chris Tarrant, and the twists that inspired ITV’s Quiz, all while asking whether the Coughing Major was truly guilty.

Topics include

• The night of the alleged coughing
• Charles and Diana Ingram’s involvement
• Tecwen Whittock and studio dynamics
• Key trial evidence and testimony
• The cultural legacy of ITV’s Quiz

Resources and Further Reading

• Charles Ingram Fraud Scandal Footage - YouTube
• Charles Ingram - Wikipedia
• Quiz Miniseries 2020 – by ITV/AMC
• Bad Show: The Quiz, The Cough, The Millionaire Major – by Bob Woffinden & James Plaskett
• Reasonable doubt: was ‘the Coughing Major’ innocent? – James Plaskett

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

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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 the brutal aftermath that shaped Britain’s most famous annual ritual. We explore whether Fawkes was the mastermind or the perfect scapegoat, and how a botched act of rebellion became a national night of fire, memory, and political symbolism.

Topics include

• The Gunpowder Plot’s origins
• Guy Fawkes’s role and interrogation
• Robert Catesby’s leadership
• King James I’s response
• The making of Bonfire Night tradition

Resources and Further Reading

• The Gunpowder Plot - Wikipedia
• The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 – by Antonia Fraser
• Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot – Tower of London
• Guy Fawkes night - Wikipedia

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favourite takeaway.

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A young artist survives unimaginable pain and transforms it into paintings so bold and intimate they redefine what art can be.

This episode explores Frida Kahlo’s turbulent life, from the accident that reshaped her body to the politics, passion, and creative defiance that fuelled her work. We trace her self-portraits, her fractured relationship with Diego Rivera, and the way she turned personal suffering into a visual language that made her an icon of rebellion and self-expression.

Topics include

• Frida Kahlo’s life-changing accident
• Her most influential self-portraits
• Politics, identity, and artistic rebellion
• The complexities of her relationship with Diego Rivera
• Her legacy from La Casa Azul to global recognition

Resources and Further Reading

• Frida (2002) – Directed by Julie Taymor
• Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo – by Hayden Herrera
• Complete Works – Frida Kahlo – Frida Kahlo Foundation
• Frida: The Making of an Icon – Exhibition at Tate Modern

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Topic Suggested by: Samantha Bingley
• Intro Music: Alice in dark Wonderland by Aleksey Chistilin
• Trailer Music: Stealy Move by Soundroll

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on: Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Follow us on Instagram: @theCompendiumPodcast
• Visit us at: TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• ️ Early access episodes: Patreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favorite takeaway.

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favourite takeaway.

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A luxury music festival in the Bahamas collapses into chaos, leaving celebrity hype, empty promises, and bewildered guests in its wake.

This episode unpacks the rise and ruin of Fyre Festival, from Billy McFarland’s glossy vision of a VIP paradise to the cascading failures that exposed a web of lies. We follow the influencers, the investors, the infamous cheese sandwich, and the fallout that turned a marketing fantasy into a modern lesson in greed and delusion.

Topics include

• Billy McFarland’s festival concept
• Celebrity influencer promotion
• Logistics failures in the Bahamas
• Financial misconduct and Ponzi scheme tactics
• The aftermath and McFarland’s consequences

Resources and Further Reading

• Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019) – by Chris Smith
• Fyre Festival – Wikipedia
• Hype: Inside the Fyre Festival and the Golden Age of Grift – by Gabrielle Bluestone
• Billy McFarland – Wikipedia

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favourite takeaway.

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In this episode of The Compendium, we hand over the mic to our friends at Horrifying History for a crossover episode. Its a tale so bizarre, it sounds made up, but absolutely isn’t.

In 1876, a woman in rural Kentucky stepped outside to find chunks of raw meat falling from the sky. Yes, actual meat! What followed was a media frenzy, scientific confusion, and some truly stomach-churning theories — including one involving vulture vomit.

Horrifying History explores this forgotten slice of weird America and why it’s exactly the kind of story we love: unsettling, unexplained, and just plausible enough to make you question everything.
We give you just The Compendium, but if you want more, here are our resources:

And find more episodes of Horrifying History wherever you get your podcasts.

Host & Show Info

• Host: Brenda Ganske
• Listen on: Spotify
• Listen on: Apple
• Visit at: https://bleav.com/shows/horrifying-history

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favourite takeaway.

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A family lunch ends in three deaths, one near miss, and a swirl of suspicion as police uncover a tale stranger than fiction.

This episode examines the Mushroom Murders, where Erin Patterson’s Beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms triggered one of Australia’s most sensational criminal cases. We trace the shifting stories, the courtroom revelations, and the web of deception that turned a family meal into an international headline.

Topics include

• The fatal lunch and death cap poisoning
• Erin Patterson’s conflicting accounts
• Key forensic and medical details
• Courtroom twists and revelations
• Australia’s most infamous mushroom murder trial

Resources and Further Reading

• Inside the Family Lunch That Killed Three (2025) — Youtube
• Leongatha Mushroom Murders — Wikipedia
• Key Facts in Australia’s Mushroom Murder Trial — Reuters

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favourite takeaway.

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A reality show convinces its contestants they’ve been launched into space, creating one of the strangest deceptions in British television history.

This episode revisits Space Cadets, the 2005 Channel 4 hoax that used fake cosmonaut training, a shuttle simulator, and an entire “Russian base” built in Ipswich to sell an impossible illusion. We explore how the production pulled it off, why the contestants believed it, and how this bizarre stunt still stands as reality TV’s most audacious experiment.

Topics include

• The setup behind the Space Cadets hoax
• Fake cosmonaut training and shuttle simulation
• The Ipswich “Russian base”
• Contestant reactions and belief
• The legacy of TV’s strangest reality stunt

Resources and Further Reading

• Space Cadets (2005) – Wikipedia
• Space Cadets TV Series - Youtube
• Ipswich, we have a problem - The Guardian
• Capricorn One (1978) – by Peter Hyams

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favourite takeaway.

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A troubled drifter becomes one of America’s most notorious female serial killers, leaving behind a trail of violence and a life shaped by cruelty.

This episode explores the tragic and brutal story of Aileen Wuornos, from her abusive childhood to the murders that later inspired the film Monster. We look at the forces that shaped her, the rage and trauma that defined her choices, and the unsettling debate over whether she was a cold-blooded killer or a woman pushed past the edge by a lifetime of suffering.

Topics include

• Aileen Wuornos’s childhood and early trauma
• Her life as a sex worker in Florida
• The sequence of murders
• Psychological and emotional breakdowns
• The lasting legacy of her case and its portrayal in Monster

Resources and Further Reading

• Aileen Wuornos – Wikipedia
• Monster (2003) – directed by Patty Jenkins
• Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) – directed by Nick Broomfield & Joan Churchill
• Monster: My True Story - by Aileen Wuornos & Christopher Berry-Dee

Host & Show Info

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro Music:Alice in dark Wonderland

Community & Calls to Action

• Review & follow on:Spotify & Apple Podcasts
• Instagram:@theCompendiumPodcast
• Website:TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• Support usPatreon

Share this episode with a friend! If you enjoyed it, tag us on social media and let us know your favourite takeaway.

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