In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life and legend of Billy the Kid, the outlaw born Henry McCarty and later known as William H. Bonney. The episode begins with one of the most famous mistakes in frontier mythology: the belief that Billy was left-handed. That idea came from the only authenticated photograph of him, a ferrotype that reversed the image like a mirror, making his gun appear on the wrong side. The mistake became so accepted that it shaped books, films, and popular memory. But like the photograph itself, much of Billy the Kid’s legend is a reversed image: a myth built from distortion, dime novels, public relations, and the need to turn a traumatized young fugitive into either a monster or a romantic rebel.

The episode also follows the harsh reality behind the legend. Billy was born Henry McCarty to Irish Catholic parents i ...