The Anxiety Encyclopedia

Lorien and Jane Goodall tentatively believe in Bigfoot. Katharine definitively believes in bears. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2026/03/09/bigfoot-sightings-reported-in-mantua-ohio-bigfoot-society/89063150007/ https://www.wdtv.com/2026/08/29/bigfoot-or-human-skinny-dipping-photos-mysterious-creature-dubbed-syracuse-figure-spark-debate/ ht...

Katharine takes Lorien on a virtual tour of places she does not want to go. Sources: Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/30/extreme-haunted-house-masochists-mckamey-manor https://www.cracked.com/article_44002_5-actual-deaths-in-haunted-houses.html https://www.ranker.com/list/people-died-halloween-attractions/harrison-tenpas https://www.grunge.com/245113/disturbing-things-tha...

Okay, but what if Walt Disney's head IS frozen under Pirates of the Caribbean?! (It's not.) Sources: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-a-strange-rumor-of-walt-disneys-death-became-legend https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/suspended-animation/ https://cryonics.org/cryonics-library/the-prospect-of-immortality/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryoprot...

You CAN sit with us while Katharine talks about groups you can't sit with. Sources: https://www.wired.com/story/leak-exposes-members-of-peter-thiels-secretive-dialog-society/   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialog_(organization)   https://www.history.com/articles/the-knights-templar   https://www.history.com/articles/secret-societies-freemasons-knights-templar   https://beafreemason.org/   htt...

Lorien shares an anxiety that could keep people up at night. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_insomnia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmissible_spongiform_encephalopathy https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/brain-spinal-cord-and-nerve-disorders/prion-diseases/fatal-insomnia#Diagnosis_v8549039 https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/fatal-familial-insomnia/ https://neuroscientificallycha...

Katharine is also inspired by John Green but maybe a little more meaningfully than Lorien was. Also, Katharine just took a vacation to Japan and a lot of things about that made her anxious and joyful. Sources: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tuberculosis https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351250 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculo...

A tale of three (?) AirTags Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/25/tracking-device-domestic-violence-offenders-stalking-apple-find-my-friends https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address https://9to5mac.com/2025/09/29/tile-security-flaws-can-let-both-the-company-and-stalkers-track-your-location/ https://www.wired.com/story/tile-tracking-tags-can-be-exploited-by-tech-savvy-stal...

Katharine takes Lorien along for the ride, coming for another fun summer activity. Sources: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafting - https://www.whitewaterrafting.com/rafting-info/history - https://www.whitewatervoyages.com/intro-to-whitewater-rafting - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sixth-grader-dies-annual-school-rafting-trip-poconos-rcna347380 - https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adve...

Diseases, aggression, and bird strike, oh my! Sources: https://www.ncwildlife.gov/species/canada-goose https://www.audubon.org/magazine/10-fun-facts-about-canada-goose https://www.audubon.org/news/learn-tell-cackling-goose-canada-goose https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/waterfowl/canada-geese/ https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-minnesota-towns-love-hate-relationship-with-giant-...

Katharine tells Lorien about those big, dangerous, goofy, majestic (?) river horse. Sources: https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/animals/general-animals/ten-hippo-facts/ https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/hippo https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/hippopotamus   https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7416829/   https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c869jj5dy4qo   https://thewildsource.c...

Lorien learned a lot of rodent-related facts she doesn't like. She shares them with Katharine. Sources: Sources https://www.instagram.com/p/DYPeDuARj29/ https://www.instagram.com/laurel__bristow/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthohantavirus https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/hantavirus-pulmonary-syndrome/symptoms-diagnosis https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/l...

A Katharine classic! Sources: -        https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/manosphere -     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manosphere#:~:text=The%20manosphere%20is%20a%20varied%20collection%20of,that%20feminists%20promote%20misandry%20(hatred%20of%20men) .  -        https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/03/world/expose-rape-assault-online-vis-intl/index.html -        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Lorien tells Katharine about mystery mushrooms, magic mushrooms, and mushroom foraging (and reveals that the hunter/gatherer gene skipped her). Sources https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a70698051/mushroom-bizarre-hallucination/ https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260121-the-mysterious-mushroom-that-makes-you-see-tiny-people https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Psilocybin-2020.pd...

Like much of the country of late, Katharine has space on the brain. Sources: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-an-asteroid-caused-extinction-of-dinosaurs.html https://today.ucsd.edu/story/an-asteroid-doesnt-have-to-hit-earth-to-cause-catastrophe   https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/the-powerful-new-rubin-observatory-just-found-11-000-new-asteroids-and-measured-tens-of-thousands-more https:...

Lorien has discovered another reason not to go hiking. Also, Lorien says she's not going to give away the ending to a 130-year-old short story and then immediately does, so spoiler alert, we guess.

Join us on the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe as Katharine tells Lorien about trains. Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clye22ljxw4o https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/train-crashes-against-crane-southeastern-spain-tve-reports-2026-01-22/   https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/safest-places-sit-traveling-train-044500726.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xl...

Lorien tells Katharine about a group that dares to ask the question: what if the only laws that count are the ones I like? Sources  ​ https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/sovereign-citizens-movement/ ​ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudolaw ​ https://web.archive.org/web/20141102010820/http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/sovereign_citizens_plaster_courts_with_bogus_legal_fili...

This episode is more filling and less toxic than a Tide pod. Sources: Sources: https://www.npr.org/2022/09/22/1124252556/nyquil-chicken-challenge-fda-warning https://www.healthline.com/health/dont-eat-tiktoks-nyquil-chicken#talking-safe-use https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/09/07/paquis-one-chip-challenge-removed-from-shelves-following-teens-death/ https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/n...

Lorien gives Katharine a quick and dirty history lesson on the largest island in the world for...absolutely no specific reason at all... Sources: Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/trump-administration-mulls-payments-sway-greenlanders-join-us-2026-01-08/ https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-advisers-discussing-options-acquiring-greenland-us-military-is-always-an-2026-01-06/ https://www.r...

Katharine tells Lorien about types of flooding; Lorien (kind of) tells Katharine the plot of the 2006 movie Flushed Away. Sources: https://www.weather.gov/phi/FlashFloodingDefinition   https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-two-types-floods   https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/the-dangers-of-floodwater   https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/many-effects-flooding/   https://www.history.com/...

Like a raccoon stealing shiny trash or a squirrel collecting nuts for the winter, Lorien has been collecting small anxieties to sustain her through the winter months. Sources:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksand https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/09/29/1471116.htm https://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/08/terra_infirma.ht...

Katharine tells Lorien a story all about how important it is to stay on schedule and have a supply list. Sources https://www.history.com/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-donner-party   https://www.nps.gov/cali/learn/historyculture/donner-reed-party.htm   https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-party   https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/donner-party-cannibalism-nation-we...

Lorien, too tired for anything truly terrible, tells Katharine about a mysterious, anonymous, unsolvable set of puzzles. Sources:  ​⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_3301⁠⁠ ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography⁠⁠ ​https://www.npr.org/2014/01/05/259959632/the-internets-cicada-a-mystery-without-an-answer⁠⁠ ​https://web.archive.org/web/20131125232546/ ​http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology...

Katharine teaches Lorien all about cracking and packing, monstrous political cartoons, and shapes. That's right, it's that sexiest of topics: Gerrymandering! Sources : https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/gerrymandering-explained   https://www.history.com/articles/gerrymandering-origins-voting   https://www.npr.org/2025/10/21/nx-s1-5577000/north-carolina-redistricting-tr...

Lorien tells Katharine about a tragedy of gigantic proportions. Sources: The Story of the Titanic: As Told by Its Survivors, Lawrence Beesley, Archibald Gracie, Commander Lightoller, Harold Bride, ed. Jack Winocour. https://www.history.com/articles/titanic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/titanic-tragedy-caused-by-fire-not-iceberg-claims-j...