Squaring the Strange

After some chatting about the recent election and alleged voter fraud, we dive into the Ghost Army, a tactical unit of hoaxers in WW2 that saved thousands of lives by pulling off elaborate frauds complete with sound, improvisational theater, props, and set design. Joining us is Col. Francis Park, Ph. D., a military historian who has a few stories about tactical deception from other eras.

Ben and Celestia go through a timeline of the different ways people have tried (or pretended) to chat with dead people and get meaningful information back. Join us as we go from rap-tap-tapping to mysterious music to written words, then books, then actual recordings of a ghost's voice! Or so the theory goes. Spiritualism was of course a major development in the "technology" of dead communications,...

In this episode Pascual takes the helm and brings us some audio goodies to puzzle over. Several lawsuits have resulted over pop songs that are too similar to each other, and while some are cut and dry, others tread into that weird, philosophical territory of "what is originality, anyway?" Are we all a necessary, determinate product of our creative influences? Are notes but simple ingredients that...

Ben brings in two guests, Scott Mardis and Darren Naish, to discuss two different instances of alleged "baby" versions of lake monsters and sea serpents. These cryptozoological cuties have made waves a few times in the history of monster lore. Whether it's pipefish in pails, pickled puppies, or plesiosaur progeny, there's some strange things afoot with these tall tales of terrifying tadpoles.

After some chatting about current and upcoming events, we dive into a mysterious entity in a women's toilet in Bangladesh. Ben brings his love of ghosts and mass hysterias to the party, as we examine all the cultural and folkloric factors that play into why female factory workers are experiencing ghostly (or djinny?) encounters in the loo.

Who would fake their own abduction? It turns out, plenty of people. Whether it's the "runaway bride," who says the stress of wedding planning made her snap, or the McDonald's worker who claimed a maniacal clown kept her from getting to work, hoaxed kidnapping cases end up taking time away from legitimate crimes as well as creating fodder for news and social media. Why do people do it? Some crave a...

First, Ben, Pascual, and Celestia discuss the recurring social media uproar about why something isn't being covered by the media, as well as the recent public concern over disappearing mailboxes. Then for our main segment, Ben celebrates the 25th anniversary of his favorite cryptid beastie, the chupacabra, and we examine it's past, present, and future as a legend. Ben digs into his original notes...

Susan Gerbic, of Guerilla Skepticism on Wikipedia, joins Celestia and Ben to bring us up to date on her recent psychic research and writings, as well as her team's ongoing efforts in shoring up the information on various Wikipedia pages in response to pandemic misinformation. Ben shares his thoughts on one of the last public theatrical events he attended before Covid-19: the Theresa Caputo Experie...

This is a bonus episode (free to all, as I'm not clicking the box that says "charge patrons for this creation"), wedged between episodes 126 and 127, in which we chat about recent rumors floating around the interwebs--often intersecting with Covid-19 fears and the ever-present existential threat of "stranger danger," where people see nefarious rings of child-trafficking in otherwise mundane happen...

With statues being front and center in the news earlier this month, we decided to take a few tours of the stranger side of statues. From graveyard statues that take strolls when you're not looking to spooky statues that allegedly can't be photographed. Myths involving statues coming to life, or live people being turned to stone, is a rich vein of folklore that reaches forward even to our most rece...

Heard about the college parties where kids are intentionally trying to infect themselves with Covid--even betting money on who can catch it first? We sure have, and there will likely be many more tales popping up as the pandemic continues. And it provides an intersection of folklore, moral panic, media literacy, and helpful versus harmful "public awareness" that we (meaning Ben) love to dissect an...

After some discussion on a few current events that resulted in quick debunkings, Ben, Pascual, and Celestia take a close look at what could be real-time formation of a social panic. Antifa has all the hallmarks of a propped-up paper tiger used by some as a political tool, and by others as a social boogeyman. We look at the coverage, the rumors, the Trump tweets, the implications, and the real stat...

We are joined today by filmmaker and encyclopedia of weird film knowledge Erik Kristopher Myers. The notion of a "snuff film" is a strange convergence of conspiracy thinking, urban legend, moral panic, and actual film trivia, and we tour the genre--or, rather, things that have been assumed part of this elusive genre--from the Manson family to Faces of Death to an early found-footage gore fest call...

We chat a bit about various news, including the passing of physicist Peter Brancazio, who explored popular sports illusions, and Ben's recent outreach project attempting to get answers from the "Plandemic" filmmaker. Then our main segment covers a veritable salad of plant-based folklore. From very old tales to modern misconceptions, we touch on the ancient Greek dryads and related myths, how to sa...

First, Ben and Celestia briefly discuss the roller coaster that was the rise and fall of "Plandemic," then we talk murder hornets with Heidi McMaster, an invasive species coordinator out of Washington. Our main guest is Noah Nez, a Native American critical thinker who blogs as the Native Skeptic. Noah helps us peel back misconceptions about the noble savage trope, native homogeneity, crown dancers...

First, Ben, Celestia, and Pascual discuss a few pandemic-related things that set off some skeptical alarms over social media this past week. Then we are joined by Southern California-based comedian and film editor Emery Emery to talk about his soon-to-be-released project with Brian Dunning. With the help of many science communicators and experts (Ben himself among them), Emery and Dunning have cra...

You know, Ben came up with the pun for this title and we are just so darned proud of him for coming over to the pun side of life. We chat about various Covid-related topics and then dive into a few examples of bad or misleading polls. First we go over a couple that don't really set off alarm bells, like whether beards are sexy or what determines people's beer-buying habits. Then Ben dissects some...

For anyone who has been craving an episode with far less research, facts, or formality, this is the episode for you! Ben, Pascual, and Celestia, reflect on their various circumstances during the coronavirus national emergency, and then we talk about this, our third year in podcasting. We dish on past guests and future guests we have in the works, answer a couple of listener questions, and Ben quiz...

This installment finishes our discussion on three missing persons cases that Ben, Celestia, and Kenny followed in real time and tracked with psychic detective predictions on how the cases would play out. Part 2 features Ben's examination of the Harley Dilly case, a teenager who went missing in December of 2019. The same content warning applies: we must discuss some details of the case that may be...

After some discussion on the recent pandemic declaration and unprecedented social distancing most of us now face, special guest Kenny Biddle joins Ben and Celestia (remotely!) to look at some current missing person cases as they unfold in real time, and how psychics have "helped" (or interfered) in the progress of each case. This turned into a rather long study, so this part has cases brought by C...

The Bermuda Triangle is a perennial favorite for seekers of the strange; Ben still gets calls regularly from students eager to ask him questions about this purported watery grave in the Caribbean. We look into the history of this mysterious place and a few factors that influenced its popularity. What does the Bermuda Triangle have to do with a college French class? And what does a new bit of 2020...

Ben and Celestia discuss one of the most memorable fakes in Bigfoot history. What began as a carnival side-show exhibit ended up the center of multiple origin stories, a tale about a reclusive California millionaire, and a possible homicide that attracted the attention of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. We learn about the showman with a block of ice who strung along two cryptid researchers for what seems l...

We made time to record a special bonus episode this month! Due to the late-breaking nature of the Wuhan/novel coronavirus (now officially named COVID-19), Ben has gathered the latest misinfo and disinfo in order to break it down in terms of recurring folklore, distrust of foreigners, and the psychology of why people grasp for simple memes over complex medical science. Then Doctor Dan Ketterer goes...

There is a rich field of literary hoaxes to pull from, and for this episode we pulled a few favorites. Ben brings a selection of "misery memoirs," stories of a victim triumphing over incredible hardships (which, in these examples, are fictional hardships or fictional victims). She Said Yes and Go Ask Alice are two prominent examples of teenage martyrdom that aren't what they seem. Celestia tells t...

This week, Ben recounts his recent investigation into the Mothman, a creature first spotted in the 1960s in rural West Virginia. Ben takes us on a tour of the area and discusses his trip there to help research the creature for a German television show. Like many cryptids, Mothman has gone through several incarnations and taken a few turns on its modern folkloric journey, from men-in-black conspira...