Richard Vandentillaart / Nick Vardon
The Unorganized Township of Bootstuck
The Unorganized Township of Bootstuck is a documentary-style audio descent into a place that shouldn't exist—but very much insists that it does. Once a forgotten military outpost in the depths of Northern Ontario, Bootstuck has taken on a life of its own. Discovered only through a pile of mislabeled cassette tapes at a Sudbury garage sale, the story of Bootstuck slowly unravels through scattered interviews, cryptic clues, and increasingly bizarre residents. The deeper you listen, the more you realize — this isn't just a town. It's a puzzle. And somewhere in that puzzle? A plane crash that cha...
Author
Richard Vandentillaart / Nick Vardon
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Jul 9, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
TAPE 77 - Drunk David Suzuki and The Magic Mushrooms 09.07.2026 4:20
Another supply drop arrives in Bootstuck, bringing what should have been a dream shipment of Suzuki motorcycles... until the residents discover the crate also included a very drunk David Suzuki himself. Suzuki attempts to warn everyone about climate change, but nobody is interested in hearing the end of the sentence. Unsure what to do with an unexpected environmentalist, the town quickly holds an...
TAPE 76 - The Bon Scott Bonfire with the Flintstones 18.06.2026 4:20
The chair shortage continues in Bootstuck as Caleb stays busy chopping wood for a community bonfire meant to welcome the heavenly arrival of "Von Scott." Along the way, the conversation wanders into zoology, where giraffes, salamanders, and several questionable species are discussed with complete confidence and very little science. Things get even stranger when the topic turns to medicat...
TAPE 75 - Bootstuck Meets Schwarzenegger 11.06.2026 4:20
Bootstuck prepares for a very special visitor when the residents become convinced that "Mr. Universe" himself—better known as Arnold Schwarzenegger—is coming to town. What starts as a discussion about closing doors and keeping Jonathan Frakes out quickly spirals into megaphone-based celebrity invitations, secret Californian knowledge, and a mysterious figure apparently falling from the s...
TAPE 74 - 5 Kilos of Cement Gravy 30.05.2026 4:20
A simple trip to pick up supplies turns into another classic Bootstuck adventure as directions become optional, shopping lists become negotiable, and nobody seems entirely sure where they're going. While attempting to gather essentials like butter and eggs, the conversation quickly drifts into gravy inventories, mysterious ingredients, and the discovery that someone may have accidentally mixe...
TAPE 73 - Going Down a One Way Black Hole 13.05.2026 4:20
What begins with a loud bang and fears of the apocalypse quickly turns into another perfectly normal day in Bootstuck: old ladies crashing into buildings, philosophical discussions about black holes, and a town-wide effort to secretly redistribute excess snow under cover of darkness. Between warnings about being stretched apart in space, debates over the ideal Christmas color palette, and deeply c...
TAPE 72 - "Nonprofits, No Profits, and the Quick Witch” 01.05.2026 4:20
A simple attempt to discuss “ideas that make sense” quickly collapses into a Bootstuck philosophy: if it doesn’t make money, why bother making sense at all? This sparks a wildly misguided dive into nonprofits (or “no profits”), leading to a charity built entirely around collecting scrap metal… somehow resulting in wheelchairs, though no one is quite sure how—or for whom. As logic continues to unra...
TAPE 71 - The Disappearance of Pornography Shed 14 23.04.2026 4:20
A strange noise sparks a deeply confusing (and possibly supernatural?) discussion about Philip—a long-missing Bootstuck resident who may or may not still be wandering around carrying random objects and smelling up the back-back-back woods. As the hosts try to piece together Philip’s timeline (pre-plane, pre-everyone, possibly pre-logic), they uncover a bigger mystery: Shed #14 has vanished… along...
TAPE 70 - Mr. Peanut Sold Him a Car 17.04.2026 4:20
A bizarre car commercial leads into a discussion about Bootstuck’s newest vehicle: a peanut-shaped car supposedly bought from Mr. Peanut and powered by decidedly non-almond fuel. Elsewhere, credit cards are applied for via the “social media flyer” and mailed off as paper airplanes, while a new town fitness initiative is led by someone named Jim… or possibly the concept of a gym itself. With an amu...
TAPE 69 - The Yellow Toilet Rug: A Formerly White Problem 19.03.2026 4:20
A discussion about proper plumbing quickly unravels into a full-blown Bootstuck renovation crisis, as the town debates the future of its deeply questionable bathroom setup — including a permanently yellow “formerly white” toilet rug and a carpeted seat that may or may not be worth saving for winter. With no real oversight beyond the self-appointed Arts and Craft Council (comprised entirely of the...
TAPE 68 - Health and Safety in Bootstuck 12.03.2026 4:20
This week’s call to Bootstuck begins with a surprisingly large audience gathered to listen in — though most of them quietly leave through the back door before being counted. Conversation turns to local cuisine, including a house mustard recipe featuring red dirt, pine clover, and enough mystery spice to apparently represent half of Asia. Plans are also underway for the next big Bootstuck reunion,...
TAPE 67 The Bootstuck Art Scene 05.03.2026 4:20
A routine call to Bootstuck quickly turns into a tour of the town’s rapidly expanding art scene . With Caleb busy hanging pictures “upside down but sideways,” it’s revealed that Bootstuck has recently welcomed an artist — and the results are… unconventional. Caleb’s latest project involves painting the outside view on the inside walls of the house and the inside of the house on the outside, creati...
TAPE 66 - The Whoop Ban and Seatless Bicycle Racing 26.02.2026 4:20
A noticeable drop in “whoops” leads to the revelation that Dave’s bout of whooping cough forced a temporary ban on celebratory noises — and some very questionable problem-solving methods. Bootstuck turns its attention to spring entertainment, including a seatless bicycle race through the forest and ongoing recruitment efforts to lure visitors north using a maze of travel instructions and social me...
TAPE 65 - Thirty Hours From Anywhere 19.02.2026 4:20
Tape 65 kicks off with excitement over an incoming Dropbox delivery, triggered into action by a green flag that probably means “go.” Spring maintenance follows, including rotating the tires on Dave’s car — which hasn’t moved — with a confident “half quarter turn.” Bootstuck (now officially rebranded as “The Stuck”) also unveils its next big attraction: a travel show where visitors are blindfolded,...
TAPE 64 - Move The Shitter 5 feet 12.02.2026 4:20
When asked a simple question about rain, Bootstuck responds the only way it knows how: with large-scale tarp engineering and aggressively sticky-tacked grocery bags. Why spend $800 on a rain shell when you can fashion one from leftover Piggly Wiggly plastic and optimism? Spring has arrived, which means it’s time to string up old military tarps between trees, relocate the outhouse five feet to the...
TAPE 63 - If Pluto Were Your Girlfriend 29.01.2026 4:20
Tape 63 begins with an earnest attempt to advocate for dark matter, quickly pivoting into a passionate defense of Pluto, now rebranded as “Dwarfy,” a misunderstood ice dwarf traveling the wrong way and apparently deserving emotional support. A surprise interruption by Neil deGrasse Tyson does little to clarify matters, as Pluto’s size, temperature, and relationship to the sun are debated with mixe...
TAPE 62 - A Mapmaker Tries to Find Bootstuck 22.01.2026 4:20
Tape 62 opens with a discussion of silliness that quickly spirals into confusion over string, strength, and a much-anticipated “stripper” coming to town—revealed to be strictly for removing paint, not clothing. From there, spring preparations begin in earnest, including plans to repaint fallen leaves and reattach them to trees with Caleb’s help, sometime between now and mid-May. Seasonal activitie...
TAPE 61 - The Green Day Blueprint 16.01.2026 4:20
Tape 61 begins as a rambling voicemail about making a very urgent personal decision, before veering into a rescue operation involving a lost baby raccoon, an upside-down milk container, and Caleb acting as both lookout and chair. Along the way, concerns are raised about Caleb’s homemade cigarettes, soup sandwiches, and whether bagels are named for what they are or the bags they come in. The conver...
TAPE 60 - The Social Media Flyer 18.12.2025 4:20
In this episode, Bootstuck checks off another major cultural milestone after finally finishing Who’s the Boss —though it takes some time to determine whether the title refers to the vacuum man, the working woman, or the elderly authority figure who “likes a lot of sex and tells everybody what to do.” Confident they’ve solved it, the group prepares to move on to Perfect Strangers , pluralized for s...
TAPE 59 - The Day Bootstuck Thought Lorde Was Coming 11.12.2025 4:20
The episode opens with a chaotic voicemail and quickly spirals into a very Bootstuck conversation about frozen rivers, rubber-banding birds to make them quieter, and the town’s proudly nonsensical “fish maze.” As the caller tries (and fails) to get a coherent answer from Bootstuck’s resident rambler, the discussion veers into Valentine’s Day preparations, including a contest involving hearts hidde...
TAPE 58 - The Day Jonathan Frakes Wandered In 27.11.2025 4:20
This tape begins as an attempt to discuss traffic conditions in Bootstuck and immediately collapses into a strange meditation on Dave’s “back 40,” which turns out not to be land at all, but a graveyard of empty bottles and 14 immobile cars. Before the conversation can gain any structure, Jonathan Frakes drunkenly bursts into the recording , mutters something unintelligible, and disappears—an event...
TAPE 57 - Toilet Paper Shed 6A 20.11.2025 4:20
In this tape, two residents attempt to solve problems they clearly do not understand, beginning with the collapse of the township’s food supply and spiraling into Dave’s catastrophic “shed incident” involving a porcupine, several gallons of maple syrup, and far too much confidence. What follows is a wandering, deeply unhelpful conversation covering toilet paper hoarding, black licorice optimism, d...
TAPE 56 - Bowling for Stars and Purple Kush 30.10.2025 8:00
This tape opens with what sounds like a cheap local radio ad for World of Bowling — a chaotic pitch about “hard or soft balls” that fades into a conversation so derailed it feels like a hallucination in real time. The interviewer tries to talk about bowling, but in Bootstuck, “bowling” apparently involves rolling people down a hill and occasionally throwing Caleb at the problem. From there, the di...
TAPE 55 - The Mushroom Intelligence Test with Corn Juice 24.10.2025 4:20
The tape begins with a voicemail — a jumble of static, mumbling, and the distinct sound of someone explaining how to “fix” a cassette with a pencil and a wiggle. From there, the conversation slides straight into Bootstuck logic: juice made from pinecones, acorns, and possibly corn itself. Soon the townsfolk are preoccupied with a new community effort — putting up lost cat posters around town. The...
TAPE 54 - Screw the Violins Together 19.10.2025 4:20
Bootstuck receives another baffling shipment — one that somehow contains blank coins with holes, six violins (or possibly chair parts), an unidentified handled object, and an alarming number of beans. Between coughing up a real frog mid-conversation and debating how to “screw violins together,” the townsfolk attempt to make sense of their new supplies. They even claim to have a refrigerator — thou...
TAPE 53 - A Pocket Full of Slaps 16.10.2025 4:20
A confused caller accidentally goes live on the air and immediately loses his composure, setting the tone for another chaotic dispatch from Bootstuck. Between jam jars, smoke-filled air, and impromptu fire dances, the locals’ musical ambitions get derailed by missing spoons, homemade concerts, and a mysterious old man who may—or may not—have threatened someone’s life. When the tape recorder clicks...
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