Wicked Words - A True Crime Talk Show with Kate Winkler Dawson cover image

Wicked Words - Deborah Blum: Poison as an Accomplice

Wicked Words - A True Crime Talk Show with Kate Winkler Dawson

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The Death Penalty and the Wood Alcohol

Prohibition was a really moral crusade by a small group of people who believed that they could make society like them. The 19 twenties is the most anarchistic decade, i think, at least up to this point in American history. In new york city alone there were 14 thousand illegal bars called speakeases. And so if you're having bars and the sale of alcohol is illegal, where do you get the alcohol? People put stills in their houses. They would distil whatever organic material they could get their hands on,. Sometimes it was furniture. It tastes like an axe like, just like grain alcohol in the early stages, except that it's poisonous.

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