Bizarre with Mick Molloy and Titus O’Reily

There have been times when NASCAR has not wanted people to know their early history.  That’s because the people who built NASCAR, drove the cars, built the cars and financed it, were deeply involved in one illegal industry. Moonshine. To avoid law enforcement and tax collectors, moonshiner makers employed bootleggers, young men who could outrun those trying to stop them. Soon, a thought...

Mick and Titus discuss their favourite river systems, and marvel at the fact Octopuses punch fish for no reason. Titus has live shows in Melbourne on 7 and 21 June. You can get tickets here. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plus. Click here to join today As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Access to all past episodes Exclusive behind-the-scenes access A for...

Titus interviews Chloë McCardel, the Queen of the Channel, to cap off our English Channel series. Chloë has swam the channel a record 44 times, as well as holding the record for the longest uninterrupted, unassisted ocean swim ever. They talk about the pain of jellyfish stings, the terror of swimming at night and how Chloe came to marathon swimming in the first place. Titus has two more live shows...

Mick and Titus discuss the cat born with no anus and the tale of an Alaskan woman attacked by a black bear while sitting on the toilet. Plus, they marvel at the unathletic alligator who escaped and a plan hatched by ibises on the Gold Coast to evade animal control. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the Channel finally crossed, the arms race for who could cross it the fastest kicked off, and in a shock for the media at the time, it would be the woman who would set the standard. Gertrude Ederle would set the pace, although her coach worked work against her. As time went on, the records became harder to set, until an eleven-year-old stepped up to the plate. Titus has a live show in Melbour...

A lot is happening in this week's episode, from a Walrus who ruined New Year's Eve, lobsters getting high and animals getting revenge on humans. Titus has a live show in Melbourne on 7 June. You can get tickets here. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plus. Click here to join today As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Access to all past episodes Exclusive behi...

On 12 August 1872, Captain Matthew Webb stood on the English shore and covered himself with porpoise oil before setting off to attempt to be the first person to swim the English Channel. Webb swam breaststroke as no Englishman would be caught dead swimming the new 'freestyle' stroke. It was considered “violent and grotesque.” When Webb was just over halfway, a storm hit the Channel. It appeared on...

Titus and Mick cross the animal kingdom in this episode from a two-foot-tall cow to raccoons who ruin a gender reveal party. They then pay a classy tribute to Mr Gox, the crypto-trading hamster who passed away unexpectedly.  Titus has a live show in Melbourne on 7 June. You can get tickets here. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plus. Click here to join today As a membe...

One of the most challenging athletic feats in human history is to swim the English Channel. It’s 34 kilometres of open sea between England and France, which also happens to be the busiest sea lane in the world, with water temperatures hovering between 14 to 18 degrees Celsius in summer. For your swim to be officially recognised, wet suits or any thermal protection are not allowed. It’s just you ag...

Mick and Titus pay their respects to Magawa the rat who dedicated his life to detecting landmines. Plus, they discuss the Bahraini seagulls that are too fat to fly; loud cicada sex parties and the monotreme with four penises. Titus has three live shows coming up in May in Melbourne. You can get tickets here. If you’d like more Animal Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plus. Click here to join tod...

By the 1930s, SP bookies were everywhere, with investigations discovering that every pub had an SP bookie, and the rare one that didn’t wasn’t economically viable. After the radio had changed everything, the next bit of technology was about to change the life of the SP bookie in ways they couldn’t begin to imagine, the telephone. Titus has three live shows coming up in May in Melbourne. You can ge...

In their first episode of Animal Bizarre, Mick and Titus discuss a bear that invaded a Japanese military base, penguins that get too cold and a woman breastfeeding a cat on an aeroplane.  They then cover a man who while fleeing a swarm of bees jumps into a lake, only to be eaten by piranhas. Titus has three live shows coming up in May in Melbourne. You can get tickets here. If you’d like more Spor...

At the beginning of the 20th century, Australia decided to do something against its nature, ban gambling. The result was the rise of the SP Bookie, illegal bookmakers based in pubs, barber shops, pool halls and anywhere people wanted them. The result was a cat-and-mouse game between the police and the bookies; if the cats weren’t interested in capturing the mice and were willing to take bribes. Ti...

Mick and Titus are thrilled to announce a new show, Animal Bizarre, which will be released each Wednesday, starting next week. Sports Bizarre will remain the same, out every Monday. “From seagulls who are too fat to fly, drunk echidnas, a crypto-investing hamster, racoons hell-bent on disrupting a ‘gender reveal party’, and a bear who invaded a military base, every week we will be looking at the m...

With their first season at the top level in the bag, the Crazy Gang set their eyes higher, but not before a key member announces he is leaving. Before the season is over, the team will achieve something special, but it will also contain the seeds of their destruction. Titus has three live shows coming up in May in Melbourne. You can get tickets here. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become...

Unfortunately Mick was unwell last week, so we bring you one of our most popular episodes. Wimbledon will be back next week. On 4 June 1974, the Cleveland Indians decided to host a ten-cent beer night to attract fans; beer at the stadium normally cost 65 cents, so ten cents was a real incentive.  The Indians were in a 30-year slump at the time, as was the city, their river would catch fire with al...

In part two, Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang unlock their on field persona, tough, hard, and hated by opponents. As they push up the Football League divisions, a new young player joins the team, named Vinnie Jones, and the club begins their assault on the top division. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plus. Click here to join today As a member, you’ll get: A w...

In the mid-1970s, Wimbledon FC were an amateur football side that couldn't afford training cones, so they stole them from the nearby highway. But the club was going about to go on one of the greatest runs of any team in sport, rising from the bottom to the top, and they did it with a crazy owner, manager and a bunch of players who would become known simply as ‘the crazy gang’. If you&r...

Albert Belle could hit a baseball. He could also hit a range of other objects when he got frustrated, from sinks to buffet tables. Joining the hapless Cleveland Indians, he was a big part of turning them around, but he also lost it at fans, teammates, and trick-or-treaters. Belle’s personality of being a jerk, even affected his chances of entering the Hall of Fame, because most journalists who vot...

In part two, Babe Didrikson turns to golf as her next sport to conquer, becoming one of the greatest of all time. She also meets her husband George Zaharias, a professional wrestler, known as the 'Crying Greek from Cripple Creek.' Together, they propel Babe to great heights, help form the LPGA, before Babe faces her toughest battle. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plu...

Babe Didrikson might very well be the greatest athlete of the 20th century. As a teenager she led her team to the National Basketball Championship, before moving on to the Olympics and became a two-time gold medallist. Baseball was next, playing against the men in the Major Leagues, and that was just the half of it. To make money, she turned to the stage, becoming a star, before deciding to conque...

In 1977, the movie Slap Shot starring Paul Newman was released about the crazy exploits of a fictional minor league ice hockey team. The plot was so unbelievable the movie flopped but later became a sports classic, partly because all the crazy stories in it were based on a real team, the Johnstown Jets. All the characters in the movie were based on real people, like the three Hanson Brothers, (not...

In 2002, none other than Michael Jackson came to Exeter City's stadium to deliver a speech to the 7,000 fans in attendance.  What followed was a rambling speech about curing AIDS, stopping poverty, and for good measure, ending racism. What made this even stranger was that Exeter City were at the bottom of Division Three at the time. Within weeks of his visit, Jackson would be appointed to their bo...

With Taylor Swift in Australia, we look at her impact on the NFL and examine other sport/entertainment relationships, like Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, Posh and Becks, and Denis Rodman and Madonna. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plus. Click here to join today As a member, you’ll get: A weekly bonus podcast Access to all past episodes Exclusive behind-the-scenes a...

After a few legal checks, we can now bring you part two of Fine Cotton, and we didn't even have to change it! When we left you, the horse was bright red, the race was imminent and it all looked like this slow-moving disaster was going ahead.   Find out what happens next in this extraordinary tale. If you’d like more Sports Bizarre, become a member of Bizarre Plus. Click here to joi...