The Stories We Tell in the Dark

Is an advanced race of tall, albino-like extraterrestrials from Arcturus living on the Nevada test range? Has our government struck a deal with the aliens to obtain advanced military technology? Take a deep dive with us as we chronicle this fascinating, seemingly implausible story from one man who claims it's all true!  

We discuss several recent "documentaries" occupying the twilight zone between fantasy and reality. Are these films omens? Augurs of a dark future? Are we moving into a new dark age of superstition? Is the consensus reality of post-enlightenment reason vanishing in a post-modern haze of news and subjective reality? And why are the French f*cking with us? Oh, and John gets a visit from an owl.  

Is it real - or not? It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction. We live in a time of "fake news" and "deepfakes", under a constant barrage of disinformation and propaganda. It's only natural that artists would reflect this blurring of the lines in their work. And there's no better place to practice this craft than in the conspiracy and paranormal genres.  Join us...

We return to our roots and do a feature-length takedown - er, review - of the new(ish) documentary BOB LAZAR: AREA 51 & FLYING SAUCERS.  Do we think there's life on other worlds? Almost definitely. Intelligent? Probably. That they've visited earth? Possibly. The they've visited earth sometime in the last century? Unlikely, but who knows? That Bob Lazar actually participated in a government effort...

We review the fascinating and disturbing documentary, HOLY HELL. The film chronicles the 22-year journey of former members who were trapped in the bizarre Buddhafield cult.   Through personal archive footage and interviews, the film chronicles the rise and fall, not only of the cult itself, but of its strangely charismatic leader, Michel Rostand (aka Andreas). This is one of those "cautionary tale...

In tonight's podcast, we discuss a fascinating documentary on Netflix called  JIM & ANDY: The Great Beyond , which chronicles the behind-the-scene antics of Jim Carrey playing Andy Kaufman - and his alter-ego Tony Clifton - on the set of Man on the Moon. At first glance this might not seem very paranormal, but the questions this documentary raises about the notion of the self, the other, etc., are...

We discuss DISCOVERING BIGFOOT, the new documentary by Todd Standing, a controversial figure in cryptid circles. Is Standing nuts? Is he sincere? Is he lying? Is he the target of an incredibly long and unlikely con? The movie is available on NETFLIX. Give it a watch. Let us know what you think.  

"The mainstream media's agenda is clear. They want you to believe that conspiracies don't exist, the world is exactly like they say it is, and anyone who disagrees is to be marginalized, mocked and shamed." Filmmaker Adam Green compiles an effective archive of cases proving an orchestrated effort to weaponize the term "conspiracy theory." From JFK to Iraq to 9/11... to Iraq... somewhere along the...

We interview writer and historian Francis Richard Conolly, the filmmaker behind the explosive documentary and viral sensation, JFK to 9/11: Everything Is a Rich Man's Trick . Released in 2014, it has garnered rave reviews since its release and, probably more than a little consternation from the, "powers that be", as it explains and synthesizes a tremendous amount of information that the elite don'...

CURSE OF THE MAN WHO SEES UFOS (2016) is the profile of a man who, well, sees UFOs. More than that, it's a human story about the things we cling to to give our lives meaning. Are the aerial lights Christo has followed since he was a child actually trying to communicate with him? Is he a tragic dreamer with a desperate need to seek reason in a seemingly random universe? Is he simply a man with eyes...

ZEITGEIST (2007) is a phenomenon. It is a meandering, globe-spanning, time-trotting epic of free association and paranoia. Here we have the "real truth" behind Jesus Christ, Pearl Harbor, Viet Nam, 9/11, the military-industrial complex, the banking industry... Pretty much everything. Join us as we discuss Peter Joseph's oversuffed opus ZEIGEIST.  

Forget everything you thought you knew about cosmology. This film posits that our world actually IS the center of the universe, and that everything we've been taught these last 500 years is flat wrong.  Yes, there is actual evidence for this theory. Is it conclusive? Of course not! But it does make for some interesting speculation... [aka Magical Mystery Radio]

CONTACT (1978) is the earliest documentary we could find about Swiss contactee Billy Meier. It's full of great 70s footage of earnest researchers investigating the enigma that is Billy Meier. Was he in fact visited by gorgeous blondes from space? Could this have been yet another case of clandestine Nazi UFO technology? Is there really hard evidence for alien visitation?  

What if the bogeyman turns out to be real? That's the premise of 2009 documentary CROPSEY, written and directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio.  The filmmakers explore the origins of the urban legend they heard about as children, only to discover that there may, in fact, be some truth behind the tale. And the truth, as they say, is…  terrifying.  

Hostage to the Devil chronicles Malachi Martin's life in America as an exile priest.   Disillusioned with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he broke from the Jesuit order and moved to New York City. There, he embarked on a second career as a writer and exorcist. This film - now on Netflix - presents a portrait of a complex man who struggled with his own demons as he battled the dark force...

Hypernormalisation is a nearly three-hour epic that leaps from subject to subject in a circuitous journey toward revelation. The film paints a vivid portrait of corporate control and increasing social insularity as it tries to make sense of our modern world's pervasive anxiety and uncertainty. In filmmaker Adam Curtis's world, we are minds in the matrix, doomed to feed the machine with our bodies...

CITIZENFOUR documents two journalists' secret encounters with Edward Snowden as he hands over classified documents that provide evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the NSA.  

"Two friends step into a crop circle. One emerges unaffected. The other decides to build a UFO with the help of an eccentric transsexual inventor." If that's not the greatest pitch ever we don't know what is. Adam and John discuss the 2014 documentary A FIELD FULL OF SECRETS. 

In 1966, hundreds of students, teachers, and local residents witnessed a flying saucer hover overhead, land, and take off again at incredible speed. What was it? Extraterrestrial visitation? Top secret experimental aircraft? Weather balloon? ALSO, John discusses his own grade school encounter with a flying disc.  

Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING is: a) a confession of his participation in the hoaxed Apollo moon mission; b) a treatise on the genocide of the Native Americans; c) a meditation on the holocaust; d) all of the above; e) a frickin' horror movie. New favorite word: apophenia. 

The story that inspired STRANGER THINGS. Government conspiracy, kidnapped children, time travel, raging id monsters, aliens, drug-induced journeys to other worlds. This one's got it all! John and Adam discuss Christopher Garetano's indie documentary THE MONTAUK CHRONICLES.

Will the 2016 election be stolen? Is voter fraud a real problem? THE BEST DEMOCRACY MONEY CAN BUY is Greg Palast's infuriating expose of actual, confirmed, widespread voter suppression. If you're not angry you're not paying attention. Or you're on the wrong side.  [aka Magical Mystery Radio]

THE NIGHTMARE is a 2015 film documenting the testimonies of several people suffering from chronic sleep paralysis. It's a real-life NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET as otherworldly beings appear to taunt and terrorize these individuals, threatening to consume their very souls. John shares his personal experiences with sleep paralysis, offering a unique perspective on the film's portrayal of this horrifying...

TOYNBEE IDEA / IN KUBRICK'S 2001 / RESURRECT DEAD / ON PLANET JUPITER // For over 25 years, mysterious tiles have appeared on busy streets from New York to Brazil. These tiles hint at an outrageous plan to resurrect everyone who's ever lived - on the surface of the gas giant Jupiter. What does the message mean? Who placed these tiles? Secret society? Reclusive genius? And what does all of this hav...

Is the federal income tax unconstitutional? Is it a fraud perpetrated by a cabal of sneaky elites pushing their self-serving agenda through nefarious means? That would be nice, wouldn't it? I mean, who loves paying taxes? Aaron Russo's  America: Freedom to Fascism was a passion project for him. He put this thing together in the last years of his life as he struggled under a $2 million tax debt. He...