Strange Country

In 1971, middling author Clifford Irving was able to convince a giant publisher that he landed the white whale—the autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. This was a guaranteed best seller. Problem was, Irving had made the whole thing up. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss this literary con and how it all came crashing down. Theme music: Big White Lie by  A Cast of Thous...

Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of America's most influential 20th century architects. While he built homes designed for family togetherness, he was blowing his own family apart. He and his mistress Mamah Borthwick squired away to Wisconsin where Wright built Taliesin. Newspapers referred to it as the Love Bungalow. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the horrific tragedy that o...

Dear Dash Hounds: Beth and Kelly realized we don't talk enough about animals. Sure there are many stories about strange 'Mericans, but what about the monkeys in this country? Get ready for a wild episode full of surprise monkey noises, and facts about two monkey colonies that are right in our backyard. Join us this week for as much fun as a barrel of … thanks always for listening it is an act of l...

Raymond Fernandez took advantage of widows and spinsters who sent their bios into the Lonely Hearts Club in the 1940s. Martha Beck was one such lonely heart who fell for Raymond and took part in his schemes where the two murdered three people for their money. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss this murderous duo, and the ridiculous amount of coverage devoted to Beck's body. Beck even a...

Welcome Readers to an episode surely to enlighten you or at least make you think: why didn't I know who this person was? You may find the the story of Osh-Tisch, a Crow Bode, who was born as male and lived as female in the turn of the century, to be important for a number of reasons including; 1. Osh-Tisch lived as they wanted without discrimination until "you know who" showed up. 2. "You know who...

William Penn Patrick founded Holiday Magic Cosmetics in 1964. The defunct company is mainly known by law students learning about pyramid schemes. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this company and its bizarre management style which could involve eating turds. Theme music: Big White Lie by  A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: "ABC's: the Ern Westmore Show 1953-1955." Westmores o...

It's summertime, Readers, and that means time to cautiously hit the road, head to the skies, climb aboard (that's what she said). No really. Kelly said that—be sure to laugh during the intro to today's episode. We do hope you are all catching some time to travel this summer, and we have a few tips to keep you worldly but stable. Mostly don't join a cult. You may not even know it is happening. We d...

In the concluding episode on Jeffrey MacDonald, Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly delve into the theory that maybe MacDonald didn't murder his wife and kids. Maybe he did, but Errol Morris outlines a case where it appears MacDonald was not given a fair shake at his criminal trial. Theme music: Big White Lie by  A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Anson, Robert Sam. "The Devil and Jeffrey...

Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted in 1979 of killing his pregnant wife Colette and two young daughters Kimberly and Kristen. These murders have been the subject of documentaries, books, tv series, and most importantly, Strange Country Podcast. In today's topic, cohosts Beth and Kelly's discuss the book that set the narrative, Joe McGinness's Fatal Vision. Theme music: Big White Lie by  A Cast of Tho...

The mystery surrounding Natalie Wood's death continues to captivate 40 years after the fact. The answer to the question, why was Natalie Wood in the Pacific Ocean on a late, cold drizzly night, has never been sufficiently answered. Theories abound though, and Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss these theories while performing possibly the best Christopher Walken impression in history....

Could we actually replicate the biomes of Earth on other planets? In September 1991, eight intrepid explorers entered Biosphere 2 in the Arizona desert to spend two years seeing if humans could sustain life in the same way biosphere 1, the Earth, does. And it wasn't so great, unless you're heavily into mites, cockroaches, Steve Bannon and pot-bellied pigs. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly di...

Where do you fall on the abortion debate? Some people like to believe that if you are pro choice, you must idolize Margaret Sanger. But wait. . . do you even know who that is? Listen today, dear Dash Hounds, as we hear who this outspoken woman was. A thumbs up or a thumbs down? Is Margaret worthy of her name being on the building or her name being taken down? Your call. We do our best to give you...

Nothing is certain but death and Strange Country's guarantee of exquisitely-designed mousepads. Oh, and taxes. But some people really don't like paying taxes and take their ire too far. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss Gordon Kahl, an avid anti-government pro-Posse Comitatus fan who took his anger to the extreme when he killed two US Marshalls in 1983. Luckily, we've seemed to addre...

Our memories are fallible and malleable. In the 1980s and 1990s, recovered memory therapists convinced patients they had been sexually abused in some cases by satanic cults and repressed all memory of it. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss the trial of George Franklin who was convicted of murder based solely on the testimony of his daughter who "recovered" memories of witnessing him ki...

On this episode of Strange Country, Ofterry and Ofbryan talk about the U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion dismantling women's reproductive freedoms. Forced birth advocates are rejoicing. The rest of us, not so much. Theme music: Big White Lie by  A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Campoamoar, D. (2022, March 18). New tennessee bill would allow rapists' families, friends to sue if victims have an...

In a time when democracy ruled, women had all the freedoms, people went to college and news sources were plentiful and trustworthy Wisconsin native Mildred Fish Harnack and her husband, Arvid, chose to begin their newlywed lives in the fun city of Berlin. Have you heard of it? Beth may have mentioned she has been there. That was Berlin in the 1920's. Things were about to change. Laws were passed t...

Do you believe psychics can predict the future? in the later half of the 20th century, Jeane Dixon was one of the best known psychics. Her astrological star rose when she "predicted" the assassination of JFK. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly, in what is predicted to be the greatest podcast episode according to a Snapple bottle cap Beth found on the sidewalk, talk about Dixon and the Jeane D...

One hundred years ago, there were fewer left handed Americans than there are now. Why the change? Obviously the indoctrination of public schools…or maybe it became more accepting to be left handed and so more people feel comfortable using their dominant hand. Weird how that works. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the stigma once attached to left-handedness and relate it to today's...

Dear Dashhounds, are you one of the 75% (15% according to Beth) who know the term, Dewey Decimal System? Do you care? You will today as Strange Country hosts Beth and Kelly discuss the life and times of Melvil Dewey, which really encompassed a lot of misogyny, racism and antisemitism. Yet still he was lauded as a library great. How do we handle these people of the past, and how should we handle th...

Things seems super chill around education these days. Wait—do they? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the current state legislation being passed to ban the instruction of Critical Race Theory in K-12 schools, something that isn't happening. So since it's not happening, what is happening instead is banning the instruction of anything associated with race or racism. As the Brooklyn...

We all the run risk of falling for a con and we all believe we are immune to it. For the low, low cost of $9.99 a month, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly can teach you how to avoid scams as soon as they free a Nigerian Prince. Today's episode explores the cons of Victor Lustig who sold the Eiffel Tower twice. Theme music: Big White Lie by  A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources:  Demain, B. (...

On Dec. 21, 1954, the world was supposed to be flooded, and true believers taken aboard flying saucers to safety. When that didn't happen, the Seekers tried to excuse away the no-show aliens, and thus cognitive dissonance entered the American psyche. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss how Leon Festinger put his theory to the test by pretending to be a true believer to study how follow...

The current spate of book banning is nothing new in America. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly take readers back to Kanawha County in 1974 when protestors firebombed schools and shot at school buses to protest the adoption of a new textbooks. The books, they said, were obscene and would hurt children so what better way to save them but by throwing sticks of dynamites into their classrooms, ri...

What would you want if you were named Queen for a Day? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this strange game show that awarded one woman with the saddest story with blenders and washing machines rather than actual policies or help that would take her out of her awful situation. Theme music: Big White Lie by  A Cast of Thousands Cite Sources: Buck, Stephanie. This 1950's Game Show Pr...

There she is . . . the Strange Country Podcast is back after its brief Covid hiatus to talk about a 100-year-old scholarship beauty pageant that crowns an annual queen in a country that overthrew the British government to escape a king. It was a chance for young women to show their talents wearing a swimsuit and answering questions like "Was the Jan. 6 insurrection an example of legitimate politic...