The News Junkie: Interviews

David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 school shooting database and a man with a deep insight on how school shooters take shape. Riedman joins the show to talk about all of the surprising things he has discovered in this trove of data about an admittedly macabre topic. He will make you question some of the ideas you may have on why and how these school shootings happen. Most importantly, he has...

A researcher wanted to find out what life was like in the sewer system and his results have been featured in newspapers around the world, including the New York Times. What kind of animals live in and travel through the sewers? What is life actually like down there? Ph. D. student Alan Ivory takes the plunge and tells us his sewer secrets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're a fan of the Insidious horror movie series, you might have been excited to hear they launched a stage show and a national tour. People who bought tickets were promised '90 minutes of immersive horror' but they got one of the worst stage shows of all time. Here's how it all went wrong. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Devin Perkins was driving down the road with a carful of friends when Thomas Petry purposefully swerved into oncoming traffic to hit his vehicle, causing a fatal accident. Three of his friends died in the crash and Devin was severely injured. The State Attorney decided to file charges against Devin Perkins because he was speeding at the time of the crash. He now faces life in prison. Is Devin Perk...

Nathan Tape is the director of a new movie called Off Ramp that centers around a pair of Juggalos attempting to make their way to The Gathering. All sorts of hijinks get in the way in this really well written indie movie and the two lead characters pull off the herculean task of making Juggalos seem just like the rest of us. How much did it cost to make Off Ramp? What tricks did Nathan use to save...

Daniel Sharkey is a hard-working 17 year-old who was busy mowing lawns for his summer business when he was struck by lightning. He joins us live from the hospital to tell his story. What does it feel like to get struck by lightning? How far did the strike make him fly up into the air? Did he gain any super powers? All your 'struck by lightning' questions are answered in this chat. See omnystudio.c...

Jackass legend Steve-O joins the show to show off his insane new tattoo and talk about a very special show he's working on right now. He's shirtless on his tour bus and he's chatting it up with Shawn, Sabrina and C-Lane about all the strange things happening in his life right now. Was it easier to get famous before YouTube? Is he going to get a boob job? We learn a lot about a very interesting and...

Joey Rosati answered a phone call while shopping at Costco and quickly got wrapped up in one of the most involved phone scams of all time. The best way to avoid being scammed for 10's of thousands of dollars is to learn from other people's mistakes. Joey is tech savvy and skeptical yet he was moments away from sending $10,000 to a man who claimed to the the Sheriff. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Delian Asparouhov calls himself the 'world's first space drugs and arms dealer' and we're here to find out why. We talk about lab grown meat, drugs in space, crazy new tech projects and a prank he pulled at MIT that ended in his arrest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joe DiMeo was just a teenager when he crashed his Dodge Challenger in New Jersey. He woke up four months later and underwent dozens of surgeries including a face transplant and two hand transplants. What is it like to look in the mirror and see yourself in a brand new face? What are the things he struggles with after the procedure? We ask all the questions you've been dying to ask to a man who sta...

Andre Pitre is Jesus Christ, or at least sometimes he is. What is it like to be Jesus Christ at Holyland for Easter? Do people often confuse you for the real thing? How much does Jesus make to be crucified over and over and over? Today we answer all of these questions and more! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flash Shelton is a man who hunts squatters. When the police can't do anything and politicians have their hands tied, Flash uses his mind and weapons to get squatters out of homes. Find out how he squats the squatters and what kind of weapons he brings along for the ride. Also, what drove Flash Shelton to start the Squatter Hunters in the first place? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Jonathan McDowell is an astrophysicist and astronomer for Harvard and we finally get to ask someone of his caliber all of the big space questions we've been saving up. Why are we headed back to the moon? What does failure mean? And is Shawn right about Space photos? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge is a huge hit that has divided audiences. Were the players tortured and treated poorly? Is it wrong to put them through these games only for them to lose the money? Roger Van Sluis was one of the 456 contestants vying for $4.5 million and he's joining us to spill all the behind-the-scenes secrets from the set of Squid Game: The Challenge. See omnystudio.com/list...

Erin Heard is a NSF Station Manager who is currently at McMurdo station in Antarctica. We talk about everything from daily life in Antartica, food, the jail situation and the type of research they are working on at McMurdo. One thing is for sure, the logistics it takes to run in entire city in the most remote location on the planet are absolutely fascinating. See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

The psychopath is back. Jane Doe joins us once more with updates on her situation. Has her husband found out she's a psychopath? Did mass murder suspect Bryan Kohberger respond to her letter? Wait until you hear what makes her laugh uncontrollably during the chat. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five adventure-seeking people, including a billionaire and a son who was terrified to go but didn't want to upset his father, died on a sub tour to the Titanic wreckage. How did the rescue attempt go down? What's it like in one of these subs? Stephen Wood is a professor and chair of the Ocean Engineering Department at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne and a man with some answers. Se...

Hollywood has grinded to a halt as another writers' strike starts to have an impact. We talk to a striking writer to see what it's like to writer for King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead, Just Shoot Me (and tons more) during the strike. Also, what is the life of a writer like in general? What's it like to work on these shows that so many people watch? Michael Jamin fills us in on everything. See...

Nearly 7 years ago, one of the worst mass shootings in the history of the United States of America was inflicted on Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In those 7 years, millions has been donated to an organization called onePULSE but now questions are surfacing about where that money went and some wonder if the owner of Pulse Nightclub is chasing after a big payday. See omnystudio.com/listener f...

An anonymous caller joins the show to explain how they fell in love with Bryan Christopher Kohberger, the man suspected of killing 4 University of Idaho students. Jane Doe says she's the most qualified lover to be with the murder suspect and explains her attraction to him. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MrBeast's video '1,000 Blind People See For The First Time' is a mega hit, racking up tens of millions of views and becoming the most popular video on YouTube. Jeff Levenson is the Jacksonville, Florida surgeon that helped pull the stunt off. What was it like working with MrBeast? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jimmy Gadomski is an experienced underwater explorer and deep sea treasure hunter. While trying so solve one of history's mysteries he ended up finding a piece of the space shuttle Challenger. But will he give us one of his coins? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Kevin Debiparshad makes dreams come true. That is, if your dream is to be 3 to 6 inches taller. But how does it work? How much does it cost to be a tall person? And what question can Shawn ask him to make things very uncomfortable? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We go live to Black Rock City in the middle of the Desert in Nevada. Once per year this place fills up with 80,000 'Burners' who are there to celebrate Burning Man. We talk to our friend Johnny Diggz to see how it all works and how things have changed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martin Cooper invented the cell phone and change the entire world while doing so. He talks about the first ever phone call, promotional stunts, whether or not he's rich and so much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.