Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

The Shire? Hogwarts? Atlantis? Which would be in your top 5? Tell us in Discord ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Rep the show! Grab a tee or mug at the MIDNIGHT MERCH store and spread the word. ~ Follow us on INSTAGRAM ~ Send Shane and Duncan a message at midnightfactsforinsomniacs@gmail.com ~  

Ghostly lights on the horizon. Thousands of fireflies pulsing in tandem. A lakeshore strewn with petrified figures. A storm that never seems to end. This week, Shane and Duncan take a closer look at some of nature’s strangest spectacles and the weird science hiding behind the myths. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content...

Alfred is back! Longtime friend of the show Alfred Banks returned to the livestream to help the guys tackle one important question: What were the biggest lies we were told as kids? From “If you make a funny face, it’ll stay that way” to “Hard work always pays off,” Alfred and the Insomniacs sorted through decades of parental propaganda to assemble a definitive list of childhood nonsense. Which wou...

History remembers the great inventors, leaders, and visionaries. This episode is about the other guys. Join Shane and Duncan for a celebration of daredevils, showmen, thrill-seekers, and the professional idiots who turned bad ideas into a spectator sport. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus content. ~ Join the community, chat...

Some celebrity deaths become legends. Others become conspiracy theories. A few become both. From an OG Superman found dead under mysterious circumstances to a legendary actress who vanished into the dark waters off Catalina Island, Shane and Duncan explore the evidence, the rumors, and the tabloid chaos that turns real events into cultural mythology. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses...

Power, ego, and one of the most legendary media grudges in Hollywood history. This week, Shane and Duncan dive into the explosive feud between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst, from the making of Citizen Kane to the full-court press to destroy it. Newspapers, blacklists, threats, and enough spite to power a small city. Hollywood has always loved a drama queen. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join t...

Long-term grudges and carefully planned revenge. This week, Shane and Duncan unpack the iconic true story of the Forty-seven rōnin, a tale of honor, loyalty, and one of history’s most meticulously executed acts of vengeance. Swords are drawn, patience is tested, and justice takes its time. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join the Midnight Masses by supporting the show on PATREON and unlock exclusive bonus...

A knife. A trial. A story that made the entire country cross its legs. In the early morning hours of June 23, 1993, Lorena Bobbitt swung an 8-inch kitchen knife and launched a thousand news stories, millions of terrible punchlines, and at least two of the weirdest porn films ever made. Join Shane and Duncan for a sordid tale of abuse, retaliation, courtroom chaos, and a sentence you never thought...

Cave art, ancient smut, scandalous engravings, and the long, slow march toward moving pictures. In this host swap episode, Duncan takes the reins and walks Shane through the early history of pornography, stopping right as things are about to start… moving. Along the way, they hit ancient civilizations, moral crackdowns, and the surprisingly classy origins of something that absolutely refused to st...

The internet will tell you Easter was stolen from a pagan goddess. The internet is wrong. Join Shane and Duncan as they crack open the strange, surprisingly contentious history of Easter. What starts with a 2nd-century church dispute over calendar math spirals into centuries of tradition, myth, and misinformation, touching on ancient lunar formulas, Roman torture devices, Lenten food rules that ac...

Pirates. Snakes. Shamrocks. And the stomach-turning truth behind those green rivers... Saint Patrick’s Day is one of the world’s most recognizable holidays, but the real story is even stranger than the legends. Join Shane and Duncan as they dig into the bizarre history behind Saint Patrick’s Day, separating fact from fiction and uncovering how one man’s dubious autobiography somehow turned into a...

Hollywood promised spectacle. Audiences stayed home. In this fiscally irresponsible episode, Shane and Duncan return to the financial wreckage of modern blockbuster filmmaking, breaking down the numbers, the behind-the-scenes chaos, and the very modern phenomenon of studios insisting everything is fine while hundreds of millions of dollars evaporate. Prepare for a snarky, data-driven look at how b...

They say lightning never strikes twice, but Hollywood keeps proving otherwise. In this budget-busting pair of episodes, Shane and Duncan return to the cinematic graveyard for a fresh look at some of Hollywood’s most spectacular recent failures: the tangled mess of Megalopolis, the glossy fizzle of Tron: Ares, and a few other high-budget disasters that left studios scrambling. It’s a behind-the-sce...

In part two of their irreverent jaunt through the solar system, Shane and Duncan venture beyond the inner planets into the vast outer reaches, where storms rage for centuries and icy moons hide oceans beneath their crusts. From Saturn’s sweeping rings to Neptune’s frigid winds, it’s a dramatic  tour through the awe-inspiring outer reaches of our celestial neighborhood. ~ Become an Insomniac! Join...

The Sun is an unrelenting nuclear inferno. Mercury is a dense little rock with zero atmosphere and the worst sunburn in the system. Venus is a cautionary tale wrapped in sulfuric acid clouds, spinning in the wrong direction just to be difficult. And Mars is a frozen desert haunted by the ghost of ancient oceans. In this episode, Shane and Duncan dig into the bizarre and extreme nature of the inner...

This week, plunge with Shane and Duncan into the most maddening mental puzzles ever devised, from ancient identity crises and time travel nightmares to philosophical traps that refuse to be solved. If you replace every part of a ship, is it still technically the same boat? Should you always switch doors and trust the guy in the blazer with the game show smile, or trust your own instincts? And what...

-Merry Christmas, insomniacs! Here's a blast from the past. We hope you're having an amazing holiday season- How is Santa Claus connected to cannibalism? Which Christmastide holiday commemorates the slaughter of children? How should you decode the cryptic numerology message 20+C+M+B+22? And what's with all of those airborne reindeer? Welcome to Ghosts of Christmases Past, in which Shane and Duncan...

In this special live-streamed double-retrospective, Shane and Duncan trace the evolution of podcasting from its humble beginnings in the shadow of radio and RSS feeds to its rise as a billion-dollar media juggernaut. Along the way, they peel back the curtain on the origin of Midnight Facts for Insomniacs, from the first chaotic and unpolished episodes recorded in a parked car to the latest chaotic...

Alfred Nobel made a fortune inventing things that go boom, earning the nickname “merchant of death.” But with his own death approaching, he set out to salvage his legacy by creating a prize meant to celebrate peace, science, and human progress. The history of that prize, however, is anything but peaceful. This week, Shane and Duncan explore the strange evolution of the Nobel Prize, from its explos...

In the first full-episode MFFI livestream, Duncan opens the spellbook on the roots of witchcraft and the modern movements keeping the magic alive. So grab your crystals (or your skepticism) and settle in for a tale of treacherous ale-wives, black cats, pointed hats, and centuries of persecution. From sacred symbols to sanitized stereotypes, this episode unpacks how witchcraft was vilified, commodi...

In this chilling, thrilling, and revealing episode, MFFI explores the internet’s favorite collection of anonymous nightmares. From message boards to movie screens, the crowdsourced horror stories known as “creepypasta” have created legends, fueled obsessions, and, in one notorious case, inspired a real-life murder attempt. Follow along as Shane and Duncan unearth Slender Man, explore Candle Cove,...

Back by popular demand (and dark ritual), this Halloween classic rises once more from the archives. Join Shane and Duncan for a deep dive into the strange, spooky origins of everyone’s favorite night of costumes, candy, and cultural confusion.    Lock the doors, light the jack-o’-lantern, and celebrate the season with this fan-favorite episode… now officially an annual tradition. ~ Become an Insom...

Some objects are built with purpose. Others are built with ego, ambition…and a total disregard for scale. In this gargantuan episode, Shane and Duncan dive deep into the most colossal creations humans have ever unleashed on land, sea, and sky. Prepare to meet the Seawise Giant, a ship so long it could cast shade on a city block. Marvel at Bagger 293, the German earth-eater that looks like it escap...

It began with a shotgun, a missed shot, and a very nerdy debate. In this record-breaking episode, Shane and Duncan track the origins of the Guinness Book of World Records, uncover the publishing quirks that made it a global phenomenon, and spotlight some of the most astonishing, hilarious, and downright unhinged feats ever committed to paper. From competitive juggling to tattooed seniors and flami...

Some people collect coins. Others collect vomit bags, ventriloquist dummies, and an unsettling number of preserved penises. In this bizarrely specific episode, Shane and Duncan dig into some of the strangest collections ever assembled, from thousands of bras to a lifelong bunny obsession. Follow along as the guys attempt to answer the age-old question: at what point does a hobby become a cry for h...