Welcome to Her Strange Hour, where we explore strange history, unsolved stories, infamous women, true crime, and mysterious lives. Browse the episodes below to discover each story, then follow the link to listen to the full episodes on Spotify or YouTube,
Her Strange Hour: Season 2
Season 2 features a new collection of mysterious disappearances, strange historical cases, infamous women, cults, and other stories worth remembering.
Looking for earlier stories? [Browse all Season 1 episodes here.]
Episode 1: The Mysterious Disappearance of Dorothy Forstein
In October 1949, Philadelphia mother Dorothy Forstein vanished from her home under circumstances that still feel almost impossible to explain. When her husband returned home that night, Dorothy was gone, and two of their children were frightened and waiting upstairs.
According to Dorothy’s nine-year-old daughter, Marcy, she had seen an unfamiliar man carrying her unconscious mother downstairs and out of the house. Stranger still, Dorothy had survived a brutal, unexplained attack inside the same home several years earlier. Investigators searched widely for her, but Dorothy was never found, and no one was ever charged in connection with her disappearance.
In this episode:
- When & where: October 1949 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- The mystery: Who was the man Marcy said carried Dorothy from the house—and was her disappearance connected to the earlier attack?
- Listen if you enjoy: baffling historical disappearances, decades-old cold cases, and mysteries involving unsettling eyewitness accounts.
[Watch or listen to the Dorothy Forstein episode.]
Episode 2: What Happened to Theodosia Burr Alston?
Theodosia Burr Alston was the highly educated and accomplished daughter of former Vice President Aaron Burr. In late 1812, she boarded the schooner Patriot in South Carolina, planning to travel to New York to reunite with her father after a devastating year marked by the death of her young son.
The ship never reached its destination. Somewhere along the Atlantic coast, Theodosia, the crew, and everyone aboard disappeared without a confirmed trace. Over the years, theories have ranged from a violent storm and shipwreck to piracy, robbery, and even murder. Stories supposedly connected to Theodosia surfaced for decades afterward, but none provided a definitive answer to what happened aboard the Patriot.
In this episode:
- Listen if you enjoy: early American history, mysterious disappearances at sea, and historical cases surrounded by legend and unanswered questions.
- When & where: The Patriot left South Carolina in December 1812 and disappeared while traveling north toward New York.
- The mystery: Was the ship destroyed by a storm, attacked by pirates, or lost under some other circumstances?
[Listen to the Theodosia Burr Alston episode on Spotify.]
Episode 3: Three Bizarre Asylum Cases From the 1800s
This episode explores the experiences of three women who were confined inside 19th-century asylums: Mary Frances Heaton, Hersilie Rouy, and Clarissa Caldwell Lathrop. Their stories reveal how easily women could lose their freedom—and how hard they fought to prove they deserved to be heard.
[Listen to Three Bizarre Asylum Cases From the 1800s on Spotify]
Episode 4: Tillie Klimek—The Chicago Poisoner
Tillie Klimek claimed she could predict when the people around her would die. But after several husbands, relatives, and neighbors became mysteriously ill, investigators began to suspect that her predictions were not predictions at all.
[Listen to the Tillie Klimek episode Spotify.]
Episode 5: Linda Hazzard — The Starvation Doctor
Linda Hazzard had no medical degree, yet she was legally allowed to practice medicine and convinced patients that extreme fasting could cure disease. Inside her Washington sanitarium, patients survived on tiny amounts of broth and juice while enduring harsh treatments — and some never made it home.
[Listen to the Linda Hazzard episode on Spotify.]
Episode 6: The Disappearance of Ruth Cruger
In 1917, 18-year-old Ruth Cruger disappeared after leaving her New York City home to have her ice skates sharpened. Police searched the place where she was last seen but found nothing. It took the determination of attorney and investigator Grace Humiston to uncover what investigators had missed—and finally reveal what happened to Ruth.
[Listen to the Ruth Cruger episode on Spotify.]
Episode 7: Bonnie Nettles and the Woman Behind Heaven’s Gate
Long before Heaven’s Gate became known for the 1997 mass suicide that shocked the world, Bonnie Nettles helped shape the beliefs that would define the group. Known as “Ti,” she became the spiritual partner and guiding influence of Marshall Applewhite, helping develop ideas about leaving the human body behind and reaching what they called the “Next Level.” Her role is often overshadowed by Applewhite, but the story of Heaven’s Gate cannot really be understood without her.
