Malice in the Mitten

Lake Superior is massive, freezing, unpredictable—and according to more than a century of strange stories, something enormous may be moving beneath its surface. On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy dives into the legend of Pressie, the Presque Isle Monster, a serpent-like creature reportedly seen across Lake Superior since the late 1800s. From steamship crews describing enormous humps rising fr...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina are clocking in for some of the strangest jobs on Earth—and nobody told Christine and Nina what those jobs actually are. Would you do them? How much would someone have to pay you? And if you absolutely HAD to choose one as your new career—which job are you taking? It's weird. It's fascinating. It's occasionally disgusting. And somehow... that's...

In the early morning hours of July 22, 1997, 26-year-old Steven Alexander Clark disappeared while walking home in Bay City, Michigan. Steven was a son, a brother, a best friend, and a musician who loved heavy metal and played guitar. He had disappeared for days at a time before, but he always eventually returned. This time, he didn't. Steven was never seen again. This story was brought to Malice i...

What if Michigan had a glitch in reality? On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, we explore the strange modern legend of Michigan Blue Hell — a mysterious place said to exist outside the boundaries of our world. Inspired by video-game glitches, abandoned buildings, underground tunnels, the Great Lakes, internet folklore, and stories of people disappearing into places they were never meant to find.  Blu...

We celebrate National Lazy Day and National S'mores Day before tackling the $10 Million Challenge: would you take the money if it meant leaving home behind? Then we're heading back to the days of classic Nintendo after a remarkable discovery of old video games raises the possibility of a massive collector payday. What would it take for you to pack up your life and move away forever — $10 million? ...

When 52-year-old Michigan mother, grandmother, farmer, and businesswoman Dee Warner missed Sunday breakfast with her daughter in April 2021, her family immediately knew something was wrong. Dee's vehicles remained behind. Her young daughter was waiting for her. And as days became months and then years, those closest to Dee refused to accept the suggestion that she had simply walked away. What foll...

Every small town has secrets—but some monsters do not hide in forests, cemeteries, or abandoned buildings. On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, Tracy Preston introduces the UH-vintling, a green-eyed creature born from envy, jealousy, and resentment. Disguised as an ordinary, helpful member of the community, she gathers information, plants suspicion, spreads half-truths, and convinces good people to c...

Come aboard—we’re expecting you! This week, Round Robin continues its nostalgic television voyage with a trip aboard The Love Boat. Tracy, Christine, Nina, Angela and Todd revisit Captain Stubing, Julie, Isaac, Doc and Gopher; the unforgettable theme song; the weekly parade of celebrity passengers; and the wonderfully fast-moving romances of the Pacific Princess. Pack your bags, grab a seat by the...

In this episode of Malice in the Mitten, Tracy and Christine return to 1920s Lansing to investigate the violence hidden behind an ordinary fruit stand, carefully separating verified court history from the mythology surrounding La Cosa Nostra and Michigan’s produce trade. Most importantly, they remember the people nearly erased beneath the legend: John Ciardullo, who lost his life, and the unnamed...

A lonely stretch of Gratiot Road. A violent rainstorm. And a young woman in a faded yellow raincoat standing motionless on the shoulder. For generations, drivers have shared stories of the Northbound Girl—a mysterious hitchhiker who appears along Gratiot Road when the weather turns dark. Some say she silently accepts a ride before vanishing from the vehicle. Others describe fogged windows, the sme...

This week on Round Robin, we are traveling back to one of television’s most unforgettable destinations—the original Fantasy Island. Tracy, Christine and Nina revisit the mysterious Mr. Roarke, the lovable Tattoo, the glamorous guest-star arrivals and the fantasies that rarely unfolded the way anyone expected. We remember the magic of Saturday-night appointment television, explore the hidden life l...

Christian Longo appeared to have everything—a devoted wife, three beautiful children, faith, and the promise of a successful future. But behind the carefully crafted image was a lifetime of deception, financial fraud, infidelity, and a desperate need to reinvent himself whenever reality caught up. Malice in the Mitten follows Longo's journey from his years living in Michigan through the collapse o...

Deep within the marshlands of Grosse Ile, Michigan, locals have whispered for generations about something lurking beneath the reeds. Is the mysterious Mud-Walker simply another cryptid born from fear and folklore—or could there be something far stranger hiding in the wetlands? Whether you believe in cryptids or not, one thing is certain... The marsh remembers. If you enjoy Michigan folklore, crypt...

What did we all used to do that would seem completely unbelievable today? What inventions did we expect to have by 2026? Which decade would you visit if time travel were possible? This week on Round Robin, Tracy, Christine, and Nina take a hilarious trip through the past, present, and future. From riding in the back of pickup trucks and recording songs off the radio to debating flying cars, robot...

Jordan Wheeler did everything experts tell victims of domestic violence to do. She left the relationship.  She filed for divorce.  She answered her frightened son's phone call.  She called 911.  She got her children to safety. Yet on that October night in Clinton Township, Michigan, Jordan Wheeler was murdered inside the home she once shared with her husband, Steven Bryce Wheeler. This is not a st...

Deep in the forests surrounding White Cloud, Michigan, something is said to walk upright between the trees. Witnesses and local storytellers describe a towering creature with the body of a man, the head of a wild boar, and dark, intelligent eyes that watch from beyond the reach of the firelight. Known as the Pig Man of White Cloud, this obscure Michigan cryptid has haunted the campfire stories of...

What did people use before shampoo? Long before modern bottles filled our bathrooms, civilizations around the world developed ingenious ways to clean and care for their hair using nature. In this episode of Round Robin, we travel from India to Ancient Egypt, Indigenous North America, Japan, and beyond to discover the fascinating history of hair care. Learn how soapberries, shikakai, yucca root, ri...

In January 1974, 27-year-old Robert A. Woods left his Bay City home to wash his new car before reporting to work at General Motors in Saginaw. He never made it to his shift. His car was later found near City Auto Parts on Broadway, parked in a place his wife said did not fit the man she knew. Robert left behind his wife, Carol, two young daughters, Shelly and Kristy, unanswered questions, and a fa...

On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, we travel to Old Scio Cemetery in Dexter, Michigan, where an eerie local legend has survived for generations: the story of Warlock Willie. Hidden among weathered stones, tangled branches, and two thorn trees said to have grown around a lonely grave, the legend claims Willie was buried in a way meant to keep something trapped beneath the earth. But who was he reall...

What did history actually smell like? In this episode of Round Robin, Tracy and the panel take a strange, funny, and surprisingly emotional trip through history using one forgotten sense: smell. From the ancient Olympics and the signing of the Declaration of Independence to Waterloo, Queen Victoria’s wedding, the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Woodstock, old malls, carnivals, and childhood memorie...

In April 1943, America was at war. Headlines were filled with Allied advances, Nazi atrocities, rationing, rubber shortages, war bonds, casualty lists, and young men being called into service. But inside one Bay City, Michigan home, the pressure of the outside world reportedly became part of a family argument with devastating consequences. Special thank you to our anonymous listener in Bay City, M...

On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, we travel into one of the oldest and strangest pieces of Great Lakes folklore tied to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula: the Talking Head of Sault Ste. Marie. Along the Saint Marys River, where fog settles low over the water and sound can lose all direction, stories once told of a severed head that continued to speak after death. Some versions connect the legend to Frenc...

This week on Round Robin, Tracy recaps an unforgettable day at Frankenfest — from the Malice in the Mitten booth and the people who stopped by, to meeting fellow podcasters, festival vendors, spooky creators, and listeners who made the day deeply meaningful. #RoundRobinPodcast #Frankenfest #MaliceInTheMitten #SpookyCommunity #FestivalSeason Hosted and Produced by Tracy Preston, featuring Christine...

In 1978, six-year-old Sally Ann Chesebro died in a bathtub inside her Battle Creek, Michigan home. At first, her death was described as a tragic accident. But for years, investigators suspected there was more to the story. More than two decades later, Calhoun County’s cold-case team reopened Sally’s case. What followed would bring arrests, courtroom testimony, an acquittal, and a second-degree mur...

On this episode of F-Bomb Friday, we step into Michigan’s unsettling psychiatric history through the lens of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. From the massive institutional city of Eloise Psychiatric Hospital, to the carefully designed Kirkbride architecture of Traverse City State Hospital, to the long-term confinement and haunted folklore surrounding Northville Psychiatric Hospital, this episode expl...