Next up on You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy" out now on Netflix. The lives of an emerging superstar and filmmaker intertwine in this intense and intimate three-part documentary following Kanye West's career. The documentary event showcases both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist. In our next episode, host Rebecca Lavoie interviews the directors, producers, and writers of "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy," Chike & Coodie. We can't wait for you to hear what they share about their experience capturing the footage that spans over two decades. If you haven't watched the trilogy yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before our next episode that releases next week. Stay Tuned!

New to this podcast? We tend to talk about some pretty heavy stuff, from stories about true crime, scandals, and swindles... to documentaries ranging from socially conscious to emotionally gripping and suspenseful. BUT TODAY on You Can't Make This Up, we are adding a little bit of spice and Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness! You better believe that on this episode, our host Rebecca Lavoie speaks with the most fabulous guest, Jonathan Van Ness himself! Jonathan Van Ness (a.k.a JVN) is known as one of the stars of Netflix's Queer Eye and has been exhibiting his curiosity for years on his podcast Getting Curious. Now, JVN is bringing his own brand to his new unscripted series, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, out now on Netflix. In the show, Jonathan goes on location and talks with experts about topics that he wants to know more about (and we mean a wide variety of topics). We learn about all things Hair, Ice skating, Snack Foods, Non-Binary Gender Identity, and more! If you like You Can’t Make This Up, please rate and review this show, and share it with friends. Thank you so much for listening!

Years before he was pretending to be a millionaire playboy, Simon Leviev was Shimon Hayut, the son of an Orthodox rabbi from a small town near Tel Aviv. In this final episode we take a deep dive into Shimon’s younger years. We’ll hear the true tale of his upbringing, his earliest crimes, and a chilling story that shines a new light on the making of a Swindler. The Making of a Swindler is a companion to the documentary, The Tinder Swindler, now on Netflix.

It’s clear that Simon is a criminal mastermind. But that level of skill requires practice, and a certain amount of pathology. In this episode, Felicity and Bernadette try to understand the mind – and methods – of the Swindler. We hear from an old friend - patient zero if you like - who knew Simon before he was The Prince of Diamonds. The Making of a Swindler is a companion to the documentary, The Tinder Swindler, now on Netflix.

Wherever he went, Simon Leviev’s entourage would follow. A carefully curated supporting cast – his business partner, his driver, his security guard and more – created an air of glamour and legitimacy. But who were these people? Were they in on the scam? Or were they victims of his lies, as much as the women Simon swindled? In this first special episode, we look into the theater of Simon. The Making of a Swindler is a companion to the documentary, The Tinder Swindler, now on Netflix.

SPOILERS AHEAD! Today Rebecca talks with the director and producer of the hit documentary, The Tinder Swindler. Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins talk about how they wanted to focus on the women behind this story and the sophisticated nature of the con. They also explain why it can be so hard to prosecute swindlers like Simon. Plus, they introduce the upcoming You Can't Make This Up series, The Making of a Swindler. Stay tuned as we go even deeper behind this unbelievable story in a special 3 part series running over the next two weeks.

In this week's episode we take a closer look at a Netflix documentary podcast, 'The Last Movie Ever Made.' This podcast is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Netflix film 'Don't Look Up.' Today we have the film's Co-Producer and Podcast contributor, Staci Roberts-Steele speaking with our host, Rebecca Lavoie. The production of the film's fictional global emergency was upended by a real-life global emergency that we all are very familiar with. 'The Last Movie Ever Made' podcast takes us inside the bubble as filmmakers invent a new way of shooting a motion picture during the global pandemic, COVID-19. After the interview, you will hear a full podcast episode of 'The Last Movie Ever Made.' Much of the audio in the podcast is recorded guerilla-style on phones by the crew, with commentary from the film's many stars on how life imitated art. If you like You Can’t Make This Up, please rate and review our show. Thanks for listening!

SPOILERS AHEAD! Today on You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the highly anticipated season 2 of Cheer on Netflix. If you haven't watched it yet, Cheer season 1 followed all the ups and downs (literally) of Navarro College's competitive cheer squad as they worked to win a coveted national title. In season 2, we reconnect with the Navarro College Cheer Squad, meet some new and incredibly talented Trinity Valley College Cheerleaders, experience the hardships they all endured over the past two years, and see the teams battle it out at the Daytona Cheer Competition of 2021! In this episode, our host Rebecca Lavoie speaks with special guest, Director Greg Whiteley of seasons 1 & 2 of Cheer. If you like You Can’t Make This Up, please rate, and review this show (and of course share it with friends). Thanks for listening!

SPOILERS AHEAD! Today on You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the highly anticipated season 2 of Cheer on Netflix. If you haven't watched it yet, Cheer season 1 followed all the ups and downs (literally) of Navarro College's competitive cheer squad as they worked to win a coveted national title. Now season 2 is picking up right where the first season left off, and it's as binge-able as ever. Today our host Rebecca Lavoie speaks with a VERY special guest from the series, Head Coach Vontae Johnson of Trinity Valley Community College Cheerleading squad! If you like You Can’t Make This Up, please rate, and review this show (and of course share it with friends). Thanks for listening!

It's a New Year with new & exciting content coming your way! Next up on You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the highly anticipated Cheer Season 2, coming to Netflix on January 12th. If you haven't watched yet, Cheer Season 1 followed all the ups and downs (literally) of Navarro College's competitive cheer squad as they worked to win a coveted national title. Now season 2 is picking up right where the first season left off, and it's as binge-able as ever. Our host Rebecca Lavoie will be interviewing some VERY special guests from the series next week, and we want to hear from you before then! If you have thoughts or questions to share about Cheer, tweet Rebecca, @reblavoie, and she might just ask your question to one of our guests on the next episode! Stay tuned!

We are looking back on one of your favorite You Can't Make This Up episodes of the year. In February of 2021, the docu-series 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' was released on Netflix. Our host Rebecca Lavoie interviewed director and executive producer, Joe Berlinger, about the anthology series 'Crime Scene', the disappearance of college student Elisa Lam, and the notorious Cecil Hotel located in downtown Los Angeles. The second season of the acclaimed documentary series 'Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer' is out now on Netflix. The anthology series 'Crime Scene' unpacks the ways in which certain locations can become accomplices to the crimes that take place in them, with each season tackling a new location tied to a dark past. In December 1979, firemen responded to a blaze at a disreputable hotel in Times Square. What they found in the room sparked a manhunt for Richard Cottingham, a prolific serial killer who hid in plain sight among the people of Times Square. The series takes viewers deep into the investigation, laying out the social and systemic forces in a near-lawless area that allowed Cottingham’s horrific crimes to go unnoticed for far too long. If you have a favorite documentary from 2021 or a favorite You Can't Make This Up podcast episode, tweet our host @reblavoie your thoughts. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode & all this past year. 2021 wouldn't have been the same without you. We can't wait to share more about your favorite real-life stories shown on Netflix in 2022!

This week, we are looking back on some of your favorite 'You Can't Make This Up' episodes of 2021. Today we are throwing it back to our interview with the editor, writer, and producer of Operation Varsity Blues, Jon Karmen, and the film's director and producer, Chris Smith. You may have heard a lot about the 2019 college admission scandal, but you haven’t heard everything yet. Operation Varsity Blues goes beyond the celebrity-driven headlines with real conversations from FBI wiretaps. The film offers a rare glimpse of the man at the center of the scandal, Rick Singer, and the methods he used to help his wealthy clients cheat a system already designed to benefit the privileged. If you have a favorite documentary from 2021 or a favorite You Can't Make This Up podcast episode, tweet our host @Reblavoie your thoughts. Thanks for listening!

In today’s special episode, we take a look back at some of our favorite 2021 documentaries, unscripted series, and more from Netflix. We are talking about a large variety of titles so come with your ears open; from “Cocaine Cowboys'' and “Britney vs Spears” all the way to "Tick, Tick... Boom!" and even "Selling Sunset." This is not your average, You Can't Make This Up episode. Today our host, Rebecca Lavoie speaks to some friends from some of your other favorite Netflix podcasts and asks them what titles they couldn’t get enough of this year. We’ll hear from Krista Smith from the podcast “Present Company" and Scottie Beam and Sylvia Obell from the “Okay, Now Listen” podcast. But first, we’re off to London for our favorite Netflix UK watchers, as we welcome Tolani Shoneye & Gena-Mour Barrett from the "10/10 Would Recommend" podcast. If you like “You Can’t Make This Up,” please rate, and review this show (and of course share it with friends)! Thanks for listening & See you in 2022!

“Catching Killers” retells the stories of some of America’s most notorious serial killers from the point-of-view of the people who caught them. Each film in this series recounts the investigation into one notorious killer. One of the more terrifying cases is covered in the two-episode arc in “True Lies.” After a body is discovered in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge, a grandmother accuses her alcoholic boyfriend of being the killer. Laverne Pavlinac even provides more details, fabricated evidence, anything to get John Sosnovske arrested. She eventually talks herself into a confession which lands the two of them in prison. Soon after, police and reporters get letters from someone else confessing to the crime. Because of the peculiar doodles on the letters, the media dubs him “The Happy Face” killer Today our host, Rebecca Lavoie is talking to one of the directors of the series, Alex Emslie. What did YOU think of Catching Killers? If you have thoughts and reactions to share, tweet @reblavoie. If you like “You Can’t Make This Up,” please rate, and review this show - and share it with friends!

Next up on You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about Catching Killers. This series retells the stories of some of America’s most notorious serial killers from the point of view of the people who caught them. Each film in this series recounts the investigation into one infamous case. Next week, our host Rebecca Lavoie will be interviewing one of the series directors, Alex Emslie. Make sure to watch Catching Killers before then, and especially the two-episode arc "True Lies, Part 1 & Part 2: The Happy Face Killer" to follow along with Alex Emslie's insight into the case. We want to know what story shocked you the most on Catching Killers. If you have thoughts to share about this series, tweet Rebecca @reblavoie and she might just read your tweet on our next episode! Stay tuned!

Spoiler Alert! If you haven't watched the wild ride that is Tiger King 2, go watch it on Netflix now. Today, our host Rebecca Lavoie is talking to directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin about all things Tiger King 2. When we last heard from America’s most notorious big cat owners, Joe Exotic was behind bars. He had been convicted of animal abuse and planning the murder of an animal activist & CEO of a non-profit animal sanctuary, Carole Baskin. Jeff Lowe and Tim Stark formed an uneasy partnership to construct a new roadside zoo from Joe’s animals. And the unexpected fame of the documentary series, and unwanted attention from the authorities, now unearths some stunning revelations.

Tiger King is back and Season 2 is out on Netflix now. As you get ready to binge-watch away, today's You Can't Make This Up episode is a reminder of all the wild events that ensued in season 1. We will also share some snippets from our first interview about season 1 with the directors, Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin. When we last heard from America’s most notorious big cat owners, Joe Exotic was behind bars. He had been convicted of animal abuse and planning the murder of an animal activist & CEO of a non-profit animal sanctuary, Carole Baskin. Jeff Lowe and Tim Stark formed an uneasy partnership to construct a new roadside zoo from Joe’s animals. And the unexpected fame of the documentary series, and unwanted attention from the authorities, now unearths some stunning revelations. Stayed tuned for next week's episode where Rebecca Lavoie catches up with directors Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin again, but this time they'll be diving into all things Tiger King 2.

The Netflix documentary, 'Found' is an extraordinary tale of three teenagers who were born in China and adopted by American families. Though these girls live in different parts of the country, they discover through DNA tests that they are cousins and quickly become very close. They then decide to take a journey back to China together to find out more about where they come from. In this episode, our host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Amanda Lipitz and producer Anita Gou about this heartfelt film about self-discovery. Have you learned anything about your family because of DNA testing? What part of this documentary moved you the most? If you have thoughts about this film, or you just can't believe how much you cried while watching Found, tweet Rebecca @reblavoie on Twitter and she might just read your tweets on the next show!

The Netflix documentary, 'Found' is an extraordinary tale of three teenagers who were born in China and adopted by American families. Though these girls live in different parts of the country, they discover through DNA tests that they are cousins and quickly become very close. They then decide to take a journey back to China together to find out more about where they come from. In this episode, our host Rebecca Lavoie gives you a sneak peek into one of the most heartfelt and moving films she has ever seen. Make sure to watch 'Found' on Netflix before next week's episode where Rebecca interviews director Amanda Lipitz and producer Anita Gou. Have you learned anything about your family because of DNA testing? What part of this documentary moved you the most? If you have thoughts about this film, or you just can't believe how much you cried while watching it, tweet Rebecca @reblavoie on Twitter and she might just read your tweets on the next show!

The world of sports and true crime collide in the new Netflix series, "Bad Sport." The show examines the misdeeds of athletes, coaches, officials... and even nations. Episodes include a point-shaving scandal in basketball, a match-fixing case in soccer, an Indycar drug smuggling operation, and an insurance fraud involving the assassination of... a racehorse. But today we focus on the episode set in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. For decades, the Russians had dominated the sport of pairs figure skating. But that year, the underdog Canadian pair turned in a flawless performance, while their Russian competitors stumbled. To the shock of the sporting world, the judges denied the Canadians their gold medal. Then the Olympics was thrown into confusion when the French judge said she was forced to give the gold to Russia. “Gold War” recalls the score-fixing scandal and looks at the two couples caught in the middle of an international incident. In today’s episode, we speak to Lizzie Kempton, the episode director of "Gold War." This is You Can’t Make This Up — where we uncover the true stories behind your favorite Netflix documentaries and films.

For as long as we've had competitive sports, there's been scandal. In the new docuseries, Bad Sport, true crime and sports intersect, with firsthand accounts of some of the most shocking scandals you won't soon forget. Rebecca gives you a sneak peak into the series ahead of next week's episode, when she sits down with Lizzie Kempton, director of Bad Sport: Gold War.

In today's episode, we take a closer look at the documentary, Britney vs. Spears and speak with the film's director, Erin Lee Carr. Britney Spears was a mega-superstar and favorite of the paparazzi. Then Britney suffered a few very public meltdowns, the singer's parents and management team went to court to secure control of her vast fortune and life. The conservatorship allowed others to manage Britney's personal life and career. A process designed to protect the elderly and infirm was being used to control a celebrity who continued to make millions for the people holding the reins.

In the 1970s police at Ohio State University arrested a man for a string of campus rapes. When examined by a doctor, it was determined that Billy Milligan had what was called multiple personality disorder. His personas were of different ages, genders, and temperaments. Milligan's case fascinated the public, law enforcement, and medical experts alike. Join us this week as our host, Rebecca Lavoie sits down with Billy Milligan's sister and veteran teacher, Kathy Preston. This episode contains spoilers, so make sure to watch all four episodes of “Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan” before listening on.

The Guilty takes place over the course of a single morning in a 911 dispatch call center. Call operator Joe Baylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) tries to save a caller in grave danger—but he soon discovers that nothing is as it seems, and facing the truth is the only way out. Watch The Guilty on Netflix October 1.

Bob Ross brought joy to millions as the world's most famous art instructor on the TV series “The Joy of Painting.” But beyond the iconic hair, soothing voice, and nostalgic paintings, lies a mystery involving the artist’s personal life and business empire. This week we take a closer look at his legacy with Joshua Rofé, the producer and director of “Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed”.