July 21, 2017 in Modern Worthies “Uncle” Olive Yang Royal turned opium warlord So here's a wild story: lesbian (possibly trans) Burmese princess becomes opium-trading warlord to escape arranged marriage.
June 24, 2016 in Modern Worthies “Marm” Mandelbaum The Queen of Fences Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum ran an operation fencing millions of dollars worth of stolen goods in New York. To increase her client base, she opened a school to teach aspiring criminals skills such as pickpocketing, graduating up to safe-cracking and blackmail.
January 14, 2016 in Modern Worthies Fernande Grudet Madame Claude In the 1960s she was known as the world’s most exclusive madam, whose clients were said to include John Kennedy, de Gaulle, Onassis, and multiple Rothschilds.
January 2, 2015 in Modern Worthies Linda Taylor Outrageous con artist When journalist Josh Levin began investigating an infamous welfare cheat, his story spiraled into an expose of one of the most outrageous female criminals in modern history.
October 20, 2014 in Modern Worthies Bibi Ayisha Afghanistan's Only Female Warlord My Night With Afghanistan’s Only Female Warlord, Commander Pigeon | New Republic “She killed for hours and stole weapons from corpses. There were bodies everywhere. No man questioned her.” Holy shit. Be forewarned: this article is a walk on the dark side. Lot of grim stuff described therein. (thanks to Laurie Scott for sending this... Read more »