Squaring The Strange

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 happenings. In addition to all the other issues the current pandemic is shining a spotlight on, our societal tendency to form and spread rumors is certainly in high gear during this time of uncertainty and unease.

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 recent pop culture. Ben recounts some cases he personally investigated of miraculous "weeping" statues, and then we cover statues as guerilla art pieces that appear mysteriously overnight as publicity stunts and political statements.

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 and learn from. Why has this rumor taken off, and is there anything to it? We also take a look at other types of disease urban legends and the alleged HIV "bug chasers" that Rolling Stone (mis)reported on in the early 2000s.

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 statistics. How has the reputation of this nebulous non-organization caused harm? Plus we look into the price of bricks versus hippie crystals and the best state to register a converted schoolbus.

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 called Cannibal Holocaust. Have any real snuff films ever been uncovered, or any black market snuff rings investigated? What are the factors that play into our belief in, and fear of, these monstrous commodifications of our mortality? And how have moviemakers and underground video producers capitalized on the idea?

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 safely dig up a mandrake root, and whether or not houseplants purify the air.

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 and the clown/trickster figure, and the co-opting of native traditions in cryptid pseudohistories. Native lore is an ever-present theme in skeptical topics; the varied nature of these legends, coupled with their existence mainly as oral tradition and reluctance to discuss taboo subjects, makes native culture an easily misinterpreted, commodified, and exploited landscape. From herbal remedies to horror films to Skinwalker Ranch (tm), we look at examples and see what we can learn.

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 crafted a documentary called Science Friction, revealing the myriad ways experts have been manipulated, maligned, and misrepresented by producers of questionable documentaries. 

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 bad reporting on polls and surveys that relate to much more important topics like Native American discrimination or the Holocaust, and we see how a bit of media literacy on how polls can be twisted around is a vital part of anyone's skeptical toolbox.

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 quizzes Pascual about the finer points of air guitar. Enjoy the podcast--it's almost as fun as other people!

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 disturbing to some listeners. With these three case studies, it becomes clear how well-meaning (and sometimes not-so-well-meaning) psychics gum up the works at police departments and cause distress to the families as tragedies occur. With social media, this effect is increased with the second-wave effect as followers on social media send and resend a psychic's prediction to authorities. 

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 Celestia and Kenny, with some discussion of why checking and debunking this type of psychic activity necessarily falls to grassroots skeptical activists. Content warning: missing child cases, as well as psychic pronouncements on what happened to these victims, are discussed in detail.

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 shipwreck sleuthing have to do with the legend? The one thing the Bermuda Triangle does seem to suck in like a vortex is a kitchen sink of very weird theories, from Atlantis and UFOs to rogue tidal waves and magnetic time-space anomalies.

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 like an impressively long con. We are joined by Dr. Ron Pine, who was a curator at the Smithsonian back when the Bigfoot phenomenon was starting to take off. Dr. Pine tells us about what it was like to see the Patterson-Gimlin footage as well as the Minnesota Iceman for the first time, from the point of view of a scientist reviewing "evidence" from hopeful Bigfoot enthusiasts.

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 over some of the nuances of viruses and how we treat them. Influenza and HIV provide useful models to how infectious disease doctors can disarm and contain viral outbreaks. There's a lot we don't yet know about COVID-19, but the quarantines and other public health measures should be making us feel safer, not create more panic.

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 tales of promiscuous bat-people on the moon, a nineteenth-century newspaper hoax, and we break down the cultural factors that contribute to the popularity and believability of any hoax. Ben ends with the heart-wrenching story of a literary version of Munchausen by proxy and the puzzling search for a very popular boy with a harrowing tale of abuse and terminal illnesses, one that moved both Oprah and Mr. Rogers.

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 conspiracies to Native American curses. And what do Point Pleasant residents think of their peculiar neighborhood monster, who brings with it a fully stocked museum and annual festival? From its glowing red eyes to its comic book abs and (by some accounts) grey feathery wings, we examine what makes Mothman tick.

This is a long one, and be advised that this episode contains some grisly details. Ben and Celestia go on a sometimes quirky, sometimes bone-shivering tour of heads (or lack thereof). We have headless or multi-headed creatures in folklore, conjoined twinning, Miracle Mike the headless chicken, experiments on heads fresh from the guillotine, the Frozen head of Walt Disney, and shrunken heads. No matter how you slice it, that's a lot of heads.

This week Ben and Celestia are joined by Erik Kristopher Myers to discuss a short history of a particular sort of easter egg: the dreaded "hidden subversive element" stuck into a kids' show or game, either by a perverse animator or a much more sinister coalition bent on corrupting the youth of America. Disney has made a cottage industry of hiding adult content in cartoons--whether real or simply rumored. And the rumors of subversive dangers in D&D both plagued and popularized the once-obscure RPG. From pareidolia to pranks to the people who wring hands over such dangers, we break down a long list of memorable legends.

We are joined by Kenny Biddle, our east coast paranormal investigator and skeptic, to discuss the darker side of ghost hunting. Not a demonic dark side, but rather real-world consequences. Things like trespassing dangers, costs to historical sites and organizations, loss of life and limb, and even the mangling of personal histories and reputations. Ben and Kenny both bring some examples from their previous investigations, and Kenny shares some background info he dug up on the reputed witch behind the Conjuring house hauntings, that staple of the Ed and Lorraine Warrenverse.