The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder, Bootleg Alcohol, and the Birth of Forensic Science

In the glittering, lawless speakeasies of Prohibition-era New York, the deadliest weapon wasn't a Tommy gun—it was a chemist’s bottle. What if the very alcohol you drank to escape was deliberately poisoned, and the only people who could solve the crime were scientists who had to invent the rules as they went? This episode descends into the toxic underworld of the 1920s, where bootleggers laced bathtub gin with industrial chemicals to increase their profits, creating a wave of mysterious murders. As bodies piled up, a pioneering group of forensic toxicologists in a Manhattan lab, including Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler, raced against time. They became detectives, developing groundbreaking methods to detect arsenic, cyanide, and radium in a victim's remains, turning chemistry into a tool for justice. You’ll discover how an era of constitutional failure spawned a new breed of killer and, in response, the brilliant birth of modern forensic science that forever changed how murders are investigated and solved. #Prohibition #ForensicScience #Toxicology #BootlegAlcohol #Poisoners #RoaringTwenties #TrueCrimeHistory #GettlerAndNorris Hosted by Ibnul Jaif Farabi. Produced by Light Knot Studios (lightknotstudios.com).