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Crimes of the Centuries

S5 Ep35: The Saint and the Survivors: The Story of Junípero Serra

Crimes of the Centuries

Amber Hunt and Audioboom

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.63.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

He gave up comfort for a calling, left Spain for the wilds of California, and walked thousands of miles to bring the Gospel to Indigenous people. Father Junípero Serra is revered by some as a saintly hero — the man who brought Catholicism to the West Coast. But to others, he represents something far darker: a symbol of colonization, forced assimilation, and cultural destruction.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)!

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

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Transcript

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0:00.8

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There's no better feeling than waking up surrounded by comfort.

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Layer up in loveliness with our soft brushed cotton bedding and textured throws and pillows.

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0:57.7

The home of your kind of cozy, Dunelm.

0:59.7

The home of homes.

1:08.8

Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking.

1:12.7

They change laws, change society, or even earn the label, Crime of the Century.

1:15.9

But the stories that made headlines and decades past aren't necessarily remembered today.

1:22.3

I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author, and in each episode of this show, I'll examine a case that's

1:28.5

maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened.

1:33.8

This is Crimes of the Centuries. In early July of 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

1:56.2

By then, we were already a year into the Revolutionary War, the first shots having been fired in April of

2:02.7

1775 at Lexington and Concord, Paul Revere, and all that. You know this, thanks to American

2:10.5

schooling. But what most of us don't know is that simultaneous with all that eastern seaboard ruckus,

...

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