Strange Country

Strange Country

Welcome to Strange Country, a podcast devoted to bizarre, surreal and extraordinary stories that make America the weird place it is. Co-hosts Kelly and Beth are former newspaper reporters turned school librarians who have always had a soft spot for a good story--the stranger the better. Discover the first woman to survive a barrel ride over Niagara Falls and the man who invented “complex marriage” in one of the most successful utopian experiments. Things get weird pretty quickly around here. read less
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Episodes

Strange Country Ep. 288: Talking Dolphins
12-09-2024
Strange Country Ep. 288: Talking Dolphins
The mid-20th century was heady times full of LSD, and a NASA flush with cash, which is how we get to today’s story about a scientist trying to get dolphins to speak English. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about Dr. John C. Lilly, inventor of the sensory deprivation tank and dolphin whisperer, whose plans for dolphin communication veered off in a strange direction when one volunteer started giving Peter the dolphin a helping hand, if you catch our meaning. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: GRECO, JOANN, and Benjamin Franklin. “The Psychonaut You Never Heard Of – The Pennsylvania Gazette.” The Pennsylvania Gazette, 20 June 2017, https://thepenngazette.com/the-psychonaut-you-never-heard-of/. Accessed 12 August 2024.   Greenwood, Arin. “What It Means To Say A Dolphin Committed Suicide.” HuffPost, 13 June 2014, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dolphin-commits-suicide_n_5491513. Accessed 14 August 2024.   Houghton, Gerard A. “John Lilly.” The Guardian, 5 October 2001, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/oct/05/guardianobituaries.highereducation. Accessed 14 August 2024.   Jones, Tom, et al. “The Ketamine Secrets of 'Ecco the Dolphin.'” VICE, 16 March 2015, https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-ketamine-secrets-of-segas-ecco-the-dolphin-347/. Accessed 14 August 2024.   Kabil, Ahmed. “Meet the psychedelics-obsessed scientist who wanted to learn dolphins' language.” Medium, 28 November 2016, https://medium.com/timeline/neuroscience-doctor-drugs-lsd-c17d5e84c653. Accessed 14 August 2024.   Rapp, Joshua. “Just How Intelligent Are Dolphins?” Discover Magazine, 26 March 2021, https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/just-how-intelligent-are-dolphins. Accessed 13 August 2024.   Riley, Christopher. “The dolphin who loved me: the Nasa-funded project that went wrong.” The Guardian, 8 June 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/08/the-dolphin-who-loved-me. Accessed 14 August 2024.   Schreiber, Dan. “Will We Ever Speak Dolphinese?” The Theory of Everything Else: A Voyage Into the World of the Weird, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023, pp. 161-173.
Strange Country Ep. 287: Free Town Project
08-08-2024
Strange Country Ep. 287: Free Town Project
New Hampshire seemed like the perfect state to start a libertarian utopia. No sales or income tax, aversion to governmental interference and the motto “Live free or die.” But for residents of Grafton, it soon became un-BEAR-able. Do you see what I did there because I don’t. Join Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly as they share this remarkable tale of libertarian hijinks from the book A Libertarian Walks into a Bear by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Austin, Elizabeth. “Libertarians Took Control of This Small Town. It Didn't End Well.” Washington Monthly, 30 August 2020, https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/08/30/libertarians-took-control-of-this-small-town-it-didnt-end-well/. Accessed 27 July 2024.   Barry, Dan. “What Is the Free State Project?” The New York Times, 15 July 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/us/politics/nh-free-state-project.html. Accessed 30 July 2024.   Bookman, Todd. “Libertarian activist sentenced to 8 years in prison for role in cryptocurrency money laundering scheme.” NHPR, 2 October 2023, https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-10-02/libertarian-activist-sentenced-to-8-years-in-prison-for-role-in-cryptocurrency-money-laundering-scheme. Accessed 30 July 2024.   Hongoltz-Hetling, Matthew. A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears). PublicAffairs, 2020.   Malone, Clare. “What Does Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Actually Want.” The New Yorker, 5 August 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/12/robert-f-kennedy-jr-profile-presidential-campaign.   “Pastor Killed in Fire at 200-Year-Old Grafton Church.” nhpr, 14 January 2016, https://www.nhpr.org/post/pastor-killed-fire-200-year-old-grafton-church.   Sullivan, Adam. “Judge settles dispute over fire-ravaged church in New Hampshire.” WCAX 3, 2 May 2019, https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Judge-settles-dispute-over-fire-ravaged-church-in-New-Hampshire-509395891.html.   Sullivan, Adam. “New life for New Hampshire church destroyed by fire.” WCAX 3, 21 August 2019, https://www.wcax.com/content/news/New-life-for-New-Hampshire-church-destroyed-by-fire-557778101.html.
Strange Country Ep. 286: Hidden History of White Southern Women and Those They Enslaved
25-07-2024
Strange Country Ep. 286: Hidden History of White Southern Women and Those They Enslaved
Things are changing in ‘Merica, we can feel it. Join Beth and Kelly today as we tell the tale of white women in the south who played a very major role in the trading of enslaved people during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is a story that has only recently been uncovered and exposed thanks to the research work of Stephanie Jones-Rogers and her book They Were Her Property. Now after years of historians painting pictures of the delicate flowers known as white Southern Belles married to men who owned enslaved people, do we learn that the women—these wives—were some of the worst, most evil and violent part of the entire slave economy. And maybe this explains why we have women today supporting the most racist and misogynist former president we have ever seen. Because old habits die hard. Thank you for listening; it’s an act of love. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources, dude: Deuel, Nathan. “Book Prize winner Stephanie Jones-Rogers on women slave owners.” Los Angeles Times, 17 April 2020, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-04-17/female-slave-owners-independent-brutal-stephanie-jones-rogers. Accessed 22 July 2024. Jones Rogers, Stephanie. They Were Her Property. https://archive.org/details/they-were-her-property-white-women-as-slave-owners-in-the-american-south-pdfdrive/page/205/mode/2up. Kell, Gretchen. “Unmasked: Many white women were Southern slave owners, too.” Berkeley News, 25 October 2019, https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/10/25/white-women-slaveholders-q-a/. Accessed 22 July 2024. “Madame LaLaurie | The story of Delphine LaLaurie, of New Orleans.” Ghost City Tours, https://ghostcitytours.com/new-orleans/haunted-places/lalaurie-mansion/madame-lalaurie/. Accessed 22 July 2024.
Strange Country Ep. 285: Project 2025, Part 2
11-07-2024
Strange Country Ep. 285: Project 2025, Part 2
In today’s episode Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly slog through the remaining 4,567,324 pages of Project 2025, a manifesto to turn America into Dante’s 8th circle of hell. If you don’t want to face this, the basic gist is anything good and just is gone and is replaced by bad. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. So many citations, so little time: Borosage, Robert L. “Why Trump's Second Victory Would Be Worse.” The Nation, 4 June 2024, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/project-2025-trump-heritage-foundation-maga/. Accessed 13 June 2024. Dans, Paul, and Steven Groves, editors. Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership. The Heritage Foundation, 2023, https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf. Folkenflik, David. “Trump CEO over Voice of America repeatedly abused power, investigation finds.” NPR, 21 May 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/05/21/1177208862/usagm-michael-pack-voa-voice-of-america-investigation-trump-abuse-of-power. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Garcia, Lulu. “Inside the Heritage Foundation's Plans for 'Institutionalizing Trumpism.'” The New York Times, 21 January 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/magazine/heritage-foundation-kevin-roberts.html. Accessed 19 June 2024.   Goldman, Adam. “The Director of National Intelligence Serves Trump Agenda Amid Promises to Stay Apolitical.” The New York Times, 23 November 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/us/politics/john-ratcliffe-intelligence.html?searchResultPosition=6. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Hakala, Kate. “Here's the Absurd Advice 70s Cosmo Gave Women to Land a Man With Sex.” MIC, 21 April 2015, https://www.mic.com/articles/116000/here-are-the-super-easy-steps-a-woman-should-take-before-sex-according-to-1971-cosmo.   Leingang, Rachel. “What is Project 2025 and what does it have to do with a second Trump term?” The Guardian, 26 May 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/26/what-is-project-2025-trump. Accessed 9 June 2024.   Lewis, Chris. “Ken Cuccinelli and the Persuasive, Pervasive Politics of Cruelty.” The American Prospect, 29 February 2024, https://prospect.org/politics/2024-02-28-ken-cuccinelli-persuasive-pervasive-politics-cruelty/. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Maass, Peter. “Christopher Miller, Trump's Defense Secretary, Fights for Reputation.” The Intercept, 11 March 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/03/11/trump-defense-secretary-christopher-miller/. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Marantz, Andrew. “Does Hungary Offer a Glimpse of Our Authoritarian Future?” The New Yorker, 27 June 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/04/does-hungary-offer-a-glimpse-of-our-authoritarian-future. Accessed 19 June 2024.   Michel, Casey. “How Viktor Orbán Conquered the Heritage Foundation.” The New Republic, 15 March 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/179776/heritage-foundation-viktor-orban-trump. Accessed 19 June 2024.   Nichols, John. “Project 2025's Guide to Subverting Democracy.” The Nation, 4 June 2024, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/project-2025-democracy-fcc-fec/. Accessed 9 June 2024.   Pengelly, Martin. “Revealed: 'extremist' Trump economist plots rightwing overhaul of US treasury.” The Guardian, 29 February 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/29/trump-economist-stephen-moore-us-treasury-project-2025. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Pilkington, Ed. “Mass deportations, detention camps, troops on the street: Trump spells out migrant plan.” The Guardian, 3 May 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/03/trump-mass-deportations-detention-camps-military-migrants. Accessed 13 June 2024.   Prokop, Andrew. “Trump second term agenda: Would guardrails of democracy hold him back?” Vox, 20 May 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/24159069/trump-guardrails-authoritarian-democracy-second-term. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Reinhard, Beth. “Trump loyalist pushes ‘post-constitutional’ vision for second term.” The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/08/russ-vought-trump-second-term-radical-constitutional/. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Sanger, Margot. “How Insurers Exploited Medicare Advantage for Billions.” The New York Times, 8 October 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/upshot/medicare-advantage-fraud-allegations.html. Accessed 12 June 2024.   Savage, Charlie, et al. “The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started.” The New York Times, 16 June 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/16/us/politics/trump-2025-democratic-resistance.html. Accessed 16 June 2024.   Smith, David. “Trump’s Project 2025 plot would take ‘wrecking ball’ to US institutions, key Democrat warns.” The Guardian, 11 June 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/11/trump-project-2025-wrecking-ball. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Summers, Juana, et al. “Emails show Carson family fingerprints at HUD.” CNN, 2 February 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/02/politics/ben-carson-family-hud/index.html. Accessed 13 June 2024.   Thrush, Glenn. “Ben Carson's HUD Spends $31000 on Dining Set for His Office (Published 2018).” The New York Times, 27 February 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/us/ben-carson-hud-furniture.html. Accessed 13 June 2024.   Weiland, Noah. “Trump Administration Erases Transgender Civil Rights Protections in Health Care (Published 2020).” The New York Times, 28 September 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/us/politics/trump-transgender-rights.html?searchResultPosition=9. Accessed 8 June 2024.
Strange Country Ep. 284: Project 2025, Part 1
27-06-2024
Strange Country Ep. 284: Project 2025, Part 1
Project 2025 is a 920-page bloated opus about taking our fragile democracy and turning into Christian Nationalist nightmare if Trump gets back into the oval office. And Beth read it!! Well, skimmed some portions because oh my god was this bureaucratic gibberish. But that’s the point; onslaught us with so much information, we’re too numb to fight back. Listen to part one on Strange Country where Beth and Kelly detail how the Project 2025 authors, an assortment of Garbage Pail kids, pin all of society’s ills on “wokeness,” abortion, and gay people having rights. The plan is to get rid of all those things. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Lord in heaven, look at all these citations: Ainsley, Julia. “DHS says Border Patrol agents used force on Haitians, but didn't whip them.” NBC News, 8 July 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/dhs-report-says-border-patrol-agents-used-unnecessary-force-haitians-t-rcna36992. Accessed 15 June 2024.   Bedekovics, Greta. “The Far Right’s Invitation for Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections.” The Center of American Progress, 6 June 2024, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-far-rights-invitation-for-foreign-interference-in-u-s-elections/. Accessed 9 June 2024.   Berkowitz, Bill. “'Cultural Marxism' Catches On.” Southern Poverty Law Center, 15 August 2003, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2003/cultural-marxism-catching. Accessed 2 June 2024.   Blitzer, Jonathan. “A Trump Official Behind the End of DACA Explains Himself.” The New Yorker, 10 November 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-official-behind-the-end-of-daca-explains-himself?_sp=effc46a3-4cfc-4ce5-8e5b-2d14e76847e5.1718279776181.   Borosage, Robert L. “Why Trump's Second Victory Would Be Worse.” The Nation, 4 June 2024, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/project-2025-trump-heritage-foundation-maga/. Accessed 13 June 2024.   Bowman, Emma. “The upside-down American flag becomes a pro-Trump protest.” NPR, 3 June 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/06/03/nx-s1-4987590/upside-down-american-flag-protest-symbol-history. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Chait, Jonathan. “John Durham Admits He Knows Little About Russia Scandal.” New York Magazine, 21 June 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/john-durham-admits-he-knows-little-about-russia-scandal.html. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Dans, Paul, and Steven Groves, editors. Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership. The Heritage Foundation, 2023, https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf.   Davis, Julie Hirschfeld. “Shoot Migrants' Legs, Build Alligator Moat: Behind Trump's Ideas for Border (Published 2019).” The New York Times, 2 October 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/trump-border-wars.html. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Folkenflik, David. “Trump CEO over Voice of America repeatedly abused power, investigation finds.” NPR, 21 May 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/05/21/1177208862/usagm-michael-pack-voa-voice-of-america-investigation-trump-abuse-of-power. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Goldman, Adam. “The Director of National Intelligence Serves Trump Agenda Amid Promises to Stay Apolitical.” The New York Times, 23 November 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/us/politics/john-ratcliffe-intelligence.html?searchResultPosition=6. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Grim, Ryan. “Trump Administration Allows Appointees to Apportion Federal Funds.” The Intercept, 20 August 2020, https://theintercept.com/2020/08/20/federal-funds-omb-apportionment-trump/. Accessed 9 June 2024.   Jackson, Harold. “Joseph Coors.” The Guardian, 18 March 2003, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/mar/19/guardianobituaries.usa. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Joselow, Maxine. “Ex-EPA official on rollbacks, snowballs and selling Trump.” E&E News by Politico, 22 February 2019, https://www.eenews.net/articles/ex-epa-official-on-rollbacks-snowballs-and-selling-trump/. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Kelly, Caroline, et al. “Ken Cuccinelli blames drowned man in border photograph for own, daughter’s deaths.” CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/ken-cuccinelli-drowned-father-daughter-fault/index.html. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Leingang, Rachel. “What is Project 2025 and what does it have to do with a second Trump term?” The Guardian, 26 May 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/26/what-is-project-2025-trump. Accessed 9 June 2024.   Lewis, Chris. “Ken Cuccinelli and the Persuasive, Pervasive Politics of Cruelty.” The American Prospect, 29 February 2024, https://prospect.org/politics/2024-02-28-ken-cuccinelli-persuasive-pervasive-politics-cruelty/. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Maass, Peter. “Christopher Miller, Trump's Defense Secretary, Fights for Reputation.” The Intercept, 11 March 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/03/11/trump-defense-secretary-christopher-miller/. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Nichols, John. “Project 2025's Guide to Subverting Democracy.” The Nation, 4 June 2024, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/project-2025-democracy-fcc-fec/. Accessed 9 June 2024.   Nichols, John. “Project 2025's Guide to Subverting Democracy.” The Nation, 4 June 2024, https://www.thenation.com/article/society/project-2025-democracy-fcc-fec/. Accessed 13 June 2024.   Pengelly, Martin. “Revealed: 'extremist' Trump economist plots rightwing overhaul of US treasury.” The Guardian, 29 February 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/29/trump-economist-stephen-moore-us-treasury-project-2025. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Pilkington, Ed. “Mass deportations, detention camps, troops on the street: Trump spells out migrant plan.” The Guardian, 3 May 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/03/trump-mass-deportations-detention-camps-military-migrants. Accessed 13 June 2024.   Prokop, Andrew. “Trump second term agenda: Would guardrails of democracy hold him back?” Vox, 20 May 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/24159069/trump-guardrails-authoritarian-democracy-second-term. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Reinhard, Beth. “Trump loyalist pushes ‘post-constitutional’ vision for second term.” The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/08/russ-vought-trump-second-term-radical-constitutional/. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Sanger, Margot. “How Insurers Exploited Medicare Advantage for Billions.” The New York Times, 8 October 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/upshot/medicare-advantage-fraud-allegations.html. Accessed 12 June 2024.   Savage, Charlie, et al. “The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started.” The New York Times, 16 June 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/16/us/politics/trump-2025-democratic-resistance.html. Accessed 16 June 2024.   Smith, David. “Trump’s Project 2025 plot would take ‘wrecking ball’ to US institutions, key Democrat warns.” The Guardian, 11 June 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/11/trump-project-2025-wrecking-ball. Accessed 11 June 2024.   Summers, Juana, et al. “Emails show Carson family fingerprints at HUD.” CNN, 2 February 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/02/politics/ben-carson-family-hud/index.html. Accessed 13 June 2024.   SUPERVILLE, DARLENE. “Jill Biden will lead new initiative to boost federal government research into women's health.” AP News, 13 November 2023, https://apnews.com/article/jill-biden-research-womens-health-gender-policy-dbe0eec03767cacbbccd07cc83ee15df. Accessed 9 June 2024.   Swaine, Jon. “Stephen Moore: Trump's Federal Reserve pick withdraws nomination.” The Guardian, 2 May 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/02/stephen-moore-trump-federal-reserve-nominee-withdraws-latest. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Thrush, Glenn. “Ben Carson's HUD Spends $31000 on Dining Set for His Office (Published 2018).” The New York Times, 27 February 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/us/ben-carson-hud-furniture.html. Accessed 13 June 2024.   Weiland, Noah. “Trump Administration Erases Transgender Civil Rights Protections in Health Care (Published 2020).” The New York Times, 28 September 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/us/politics/trump-transgender-rights.html?searchResultPosition=9. Accessed 8 June 2024.   Yachnin, Jennifer. “Trump BLM chief: Let's do away with Antiquities Act.” E&E News, 6 February 2024, https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-blm-chief-lets-do-away-with-antiquities-act/. Accessed 8 June 2024.
Strange Country Ep. 283: Play Time
13-06-2024
Strange Country Ep. 283: Play Time
Hey Dash Hounds, you clever playful listeners. Why do we play? Are we even allowed to play as adults without judgment. Not if Beth is around. In this episode, Kelly and Beth discuss the science of play—specifically animal play. Of course we have watched our cats indulge in “playful” ankle biting, but other animals also incorporate play in their daily lives. But why? Listen and find out. Thank you always for listening; it’s an act of love. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Works cited, dude: Wikipedia, https://www.watchmojo.com/articles/top-5-freaky-facts-about-dolphin-sex/dolphins-are-sexually-aggressive-and-violent. Accessed 9 June 2024. Gigliotti, Carol. The Creative Lives of Animals. NYU Press, 2022. “Information and stories about San Francisco coyotes: behavior & personality, coexistence & outreach, by Janet Kessler: Unveiling first-hand just how savvy, social, sentient and singular coyotes really are! | Page 3.” Coyote Yipps, 10 November 2023, https://coyoteyipps.com/page/3/. Accessed 9 June 2024. Norris, Courtney. “Group of orcas attack and sink vessels off Iberian Peninsula.” PBS, 14 June 2023, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/group-of-orcas-attack-and-sink-vessels-off-iberian-peninsula. Accessed 9 June 2024. Smith, Ellie. “Why playing games is good for you.” BBC, 3 February 2022, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220127-why-adults-should-embrace-their-playfulness. Accessed 9 June 2024. Toomey, David. Kingdom of Play: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself. Scribner, 2024. Accessed 9 June 2024.
Strange Country Ep. 281: Quest for Immortality
25-04-2024
Strange Country Ep. 281: Quest for Immortality
Charles Lindbergh wasn’t only known for that flight, his weird reverence for Nazis and being the public face of America First, he was also interested in literal immortality. In the 1930s, he collaborated with Dr. Alexis Carrel to devise ways to regenerate organs so people could possibly live forever, but not just any people. It’s the 1930s and these two white guys are mainly interested in elongating the lives of other white western dudes. Join Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly as they share another Lindbergh story and discuss whether they would want to live forever. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Dodes, Rachel. “The One-Body Problem.” Vanity Fair, no. 755, February 2024, 62-67, 97-99.   Friedman, David M. The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever. HarperCollins, 2008.   Harding, Luke. “DNA backs Lindbergh family claim | World news.” The Guardian, 28 November 2003, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/29/germany.usa?CMP=gu_com. Accessed 29 March 2024.   Jehangir, Waqas. “Evolution of Artificial Hearts: An Overview and History.” NCBI, 6 October 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5358116/. Accessed 16 March 2024.   Mark, Joshua J. “Gilgamesh.” World History Encyclopedia, 15 December 2022, https://www.worldhistory.org/gilgamesh/. Accessed 3 March 2024.   Stein, Rob. “First human transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney performed.” NPR, 21 March 2024, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/21/1239790816/first-pig-kidney-human-transplant. Accessed 23 March 2024.   Tully, Tracey. “The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping: A Grisly Theory and a Renewed Debate.” The New York Times, 6 March 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/05/nyregion/charles-lindbergh-baby.html. Accessed 24 March 2024.   Velie, Marissa Sertich. “What's the Difference Between Dutch Process and Natural Cocoa Powder?” Serious Eats, https://www.seriouseats.com/difference-dutch-process-natural-cocoa-powder-substitute. Accessed 3 March 2024.
Strange Country Ep. 280: Gimme Some Credit
21-03-2024
Strange Country Ep. 280: Gimme Some Credit
Dear Dash Hounds, join Beth and Kelly as we try to pull the curtain open on the Wonderful Wizard of credit scores. Do you know your credit score? Do you care? Has it ruined your life? We talk about many things on Strange Country from periods to sex to murder and now, the most secretive of things–money. ‘Mericans don’t talk openly about their money issues, and surprise! That is not good practice. We are stressed and worried and in debt, and there’s a reason why. Find out today on Strange Country. Thanks for listening. It is an act of love, and sometimes all you need is love. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Works Cited Campisi, Natalie. “From Inherent Racial Bias to Incorrect Data—The Problems With Current Credit Scoring Models.” Forbes, 26 February 2021, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/from-inherent-racial-bias-to-incorrect-data-the-problems-with-current-credit-scoring-models/. Accessed 18 March 2024. “Fair Credit Reporting Act.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Credit_Reporting_Act. Accessed 18 March 2024. Fiano, Liane. “Common errors people find on their credit report - and how to get them fixed.” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 5 February 2019, https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/common-errors-credit-report-and-how-get-them-fixed/. Accessed 18 March 2024. Frazier, Mya. “The High Cost of Bad Credit.” The New York Times, 7 June 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/07/magazine/bad-credit-repair.html. Accessed 18 March 2024. Furletti, Mark. “Secret History Of The Credit Card - More To Explore | FRONTLINE.” Secret History Of The Credit Card - More To Explore | FRONTLINE | PBS, 23 November 2004, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/more/scores.html. Accessed 18 March 2024. Johnson, Holly. “8 Ways You're Hurting Your Credit Score Without Knowing It.” Forbes, 28 June 2021, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-score/8-ways-youre-hurting-your-credit-score-without-knowing-it/. Accessed 18 March 2024. Nova, Annie. YouTube: Home, 3 June 2009, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/25/bernie-sanders-wants-to-overhaul-the-countrys-credit-reporting-system.html. Accessed 18 March 2024. Trainor, Sean. “Your Credit Score's Long History, From Espionage to Algorithms.” Time, 22 July 2015, https://time.com/3961676/history-credit-scores/. Accessed 18 March 2024. White, Alexandria. “90% of Americans Stress About Money, According to Study Results.” CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/select/why-americans-are-stressed-about-money/. Accessed 18 March 2024. Wilbers, Pippin. “How Inflation Affects Car Loan Rates.” Bankrate, 31 January 2024, https://www.bankrate.com/loans/auto-loans/how-inflation-affects-auto-loan-rates/#why. Accessed 18 March 2024.
Strange Country Ep. 279: Robbers Cave Experiment
29-02-2024
Strange Country Ep. 279: Robbers Cave Experiment
The mid-20th century was the heyday of figuring out why humans were the worst through the use of social psychological experiments. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about one such experiment, Muzafer Sherif’s Robbers Cave Experiment where Sherif gathered a group of 12 year old boys to see if he could pit the boys against one another. Sherif’s experiment is included in Psych 101 books about group dynamics, but did this hostility occur organically or was it more manufactured by the adults? Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Higgins, Nick, and Maria Konnikova. “Revisiting Robbers Cave: The easy spontaneity of intergroup conflict.” Scientific American Blog Network, 5 September 2012, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/literally-psyched/revisiting-the-robbers-cave-the-easy-spontaneity-of-intergroup-conflict/. Accessed 15 January 2024.   Mcleod, Saul. “Robbers Cave Experiment | Realistic Conflict Theory.” Simply Psychology, 27 September 2023, https://www.simplypsychology.org/robbers-cave.html. Accessed 27 February 2024.   Perry, Gina. The Lost Boys: Inside Muzafer Sherif's Robbers Cave Experiment. Scribe Publications, 2019.   Perry, Gina. “Robbers Cave Experiment.” Practical Psychology, 26 September 2022, https://practicalpie.com/robbers-cave-experiment/. Accessed 27 February 2024.   Shariatmadari, David, and Gina Perry. “A real-life Lord of the Flies: the troubling legacy of the Robbers Cave experiment.” The Guardian, 16 April 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/apr/16/a-real-life-lord-of-the-flies-the-troubling-legacy-of-the-robbers-cave-experiment. Accessed 27 February 2024.
Strange Country Ep. 277: The Sullivan Institute
18-01-2024
Strange Country Ep. 277: The Sullivan Institute
Happy 2024! And Beth and Kelly are back with another tale of another cult on another year of Strange Country. What’s to say? It starts off with plans for communal living and burns out in abuse, financial malfeasance and weird sex awfulness. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Hoban, Phoebe. “Psycho Drama: The Chilling Story of How the Sullivanian Cult Turned a Utopian Dream into a Nightmare.” New York Magazine [New York], 19 June 1989, pp. 41-53, https://books.google.com/books?id=XOcCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=sullivanians+1989+New+York+Magazine+article&source=bl&ots=IFdQMBb5im&sig=9gTIMcGzzHJpDx8Bz-pESJDkFZA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUo7SF3KDPAhVGWh4KHbTMDhwQ6AEIODAE#v=onepage&q=sullivanians%201989.   Murray, Stephanie H., and Adam Serwer. “Why Parents Struggle So Much in the World's Richest Country.” The Atlantic, 5 January 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/01/america-failed-parents-rich-countries-raising-kids/677023/. Accessed 6 January 2024.   Offenhartz, Jake, and Kerry Shaw. “Inside the Rise & Fall Of A 1970s Upper West Side Cult.” Gothamist, 21 September 2016, https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/inside-the-rise-fall-of-a-1970s-upper-west-side-cult. Accessed 30 December 2023.   Stille, Alexander. The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023.   Winter, Jessica. “The Upper West Side Cult That Hid in Plain Sight.” The New Yorker, 14 June 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/the-upper-west-side-cult-that-hid-in-plain-sight. Accessed 30 December 2023.
Strange Country Ep. 276: OneTaste
28-12-2023
Strange Country Ep. 276: OneTaste
You’ve heard of six-minute abs, but how about the 15-minute orgasm? That’s what Nicole Daedone of OneTaste was touting; female empowerment through clitoris stimulation. Then like most high-demand groups, things go south pretty quickly. In this Strange Country episode, co hosts Beth and very uncomfortable Kelly talk about the rise and fall of OneTaste. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Brown, Mick. “Inside Hollywood's Orgasm Cult - LAmag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles.” Los Angeles Magazine, 26 May 2022, https://lamag.com/news/inside-hollywoods-orgasm-cult. Accessed 10 December 2023.   Canner, Liz, director. Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste. First Run Features, 2022. Netflix.   Cohen, Luc. “US founder of 'orgasmic meditation' company charged with forced labor conspiracy.” Reuters, 6 June 2023, https://www.reuters.com/business/onetaste-sexual-wellness-executives-charged-by-us-with-forced-labor-2023-06-06/. Accessed 10 December 2023.   Ferriss, Timothy. The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman. Harmony/Rodale, 2010.   Gross, Rachel E. Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage. WW Norton, 2022.   Huet, Ellen, et al. “The Dark Side of the Orgasmic Meditation Company.” Bloomberg.com, 18 June 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-18/the-dark-side-of-onetaste-the-orgasmic-meditation-company. Accessed 10 December 2023.   James, Emma. “'Orgasmic meditation cult' OneTaste SUES Netflix for defamation.” Daily Mail, 28 November 2023, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12781527/Orgasmic-meditation-cult-OneTaste-SUES-Netflix-defamation.html. Accessed 10 December 2023.   Meko, Hurubie. “Founder of Sexual Wellness Company Indicted on Forced Labor Charges.” The New York Times, 6 June 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/nyregion/one-taste-commune-nicole-daedone-indicted.html. Accessed 10 December 2023.   Meyer, Robinson, and Ashley Fetters. “Victorian Doctors Didn't Treat Women With Orgasms, Say Historians.” The Atlantic, 6 September 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/09/victorian-vibrators-orgasms-doctors/569446/. Accessed 2 December 2023.   Morin, Roc. “Inside the Implosion of OneTaste, San Francisco's Orgasmic Meditation Cult,.” Playboy, 9 October 2018, https://www.playboy.com/read/one-taste-orgasmic-meditation. Accessed 12 December 2023.   “OneTaste Founder and Former Head of Sales Indicted for Forced Labor Conspiracy.” Department of Justice, 6 June 2023, https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/onetaste-founder-and-former-head-sales-indicted-forced-labor-conspiracy. Accessed 10 December 2023.   Peltz, Jennifer. “OneTaste founder pleads not guilty in forced labor case.” Fortune, 14 June 2023, https://fortune.com/2023/06/14/nicole-daedone-onetaste-entrepreneur-promoted-orgasmic-meditation-route-woman-health-pleads-not-guilty-forced-labor-case/. Accessed 10 December 2023.   Pogash, Carol. “In San Francisco, a Coed Retreat Dedicated to Female Sexuality.” The New York Times, 13 March 2009, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/fashion/15commune.html?searchResultPosition=2. Accessed 11 December 2023.   Tiku, Nitasha. “My life with the thrill-clit cult.” Cult Education Institute, Originally published to Gawker, 16 October 2013, https://www.culteducation.com/group/1373-onetaste/26847-my-life-with-the-thrill-clit-cult.html. Accessed 10 December 2023.   “View Exhibit.” N I N E S - View Exhibit, https://nines.org/exhibits/Victorian_Anxiety_Over_Female_?page=2. Accessed 2 December 2023.
Strange Country Ep. 275: Henry Darger
14-12-2023
Strange Country Ep. 275: Henry Darger
Henry Darger is one of the most profitable outsider artists out there. Unfortunately he didn’t reap the benefit of that while he was alive, spending much of it in abject poverty. He was compelled to make and write art during the time he was not working as a janitor or dishwasher. His artwork dealt with themes of child abuse and violence, subjects very familiar with Darger when he was put in an asylum at the age of 12. Strange Country cohost Beth with special pinch (or pitch) hitter Terry discuss this artist and why work gets recognition after they’re gone. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Sources: Andrey V. “Henry Darger.” Widewalls, 16 January 2017, https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/henry-darger. Accessed 13 December 2023.   Bouchard, Sara. “Phyllis Bramson on Henry Darger.” Painters on Paintings, 9 November 2015, https://paintersonpaintings.com/phyllis-bramson-on-henry-darger/. Accessed 13 December 2023.   Boxer, Sarah. “He Was Crazy Like a . . . Genius?; For Henry Darger, Everything Began and Ended With Little Girls (Published 2000).” The New York Times, 16 September 2000, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/16/arts/he-was-crazy-like-genius-for-henry-darger-everything-began-ended-with-little.html?searchResultPosition=3. Accessed 13 December 2023.   Coleman, Megan. “Influences.” Henry Darger, http://officialhenrydarger.com/about/influences.html. Accessed 13 December 2023.   Elledge, Jim. Henry Darger, Throwaway Boy: The Tragic Life of an Outsider Artist. Harry N. Abrams, 2013.   “Henry Darger.” MoMA, https://www.moma.org/artists/28600. Accessed 13 December 2023.   Holst, Amber. “The Lost World.” Chicago Magazine, 2005, https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/november-2005/the-lost-world/. Accessed 13 December 2023.   Lerner, Nathan. “On Henry Darger.” Nathan Lerner, http://www.nathanlerner.com/articles/henry-darger.html. Accessed 13 December 2023.   McNett, Gavin. “"Henry Darger: In the Realms of the Unreal" by John M. MacGregor.” Salon.com, 23 July 2002, https://www.salon.com/2002/07/23/darger/. Accessed 13 December 2023.   Pogrebin, Robin. “A Henry Darger Dispute: Who Inherits the Rights to a Loner's Genius? (Published 2022).” The New York Times, 8 February 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/arts/design/henry-darger-estate.html. Accessed 13 December 2023.
ENCORE: Strange Country Ep. 274: Bohemian Grove
30-11-2023
ENCORE: Strange Country Ep. 274: Bohemian Grove
Welcome dash hounds to an old episode from the pre-covid days when men could be rich men and spend the weekend urinating on trees and ruminating on how they could make life miserable for the rest of us. Strange Country will be back soon with a brand spanking new episode. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Sources: Flock, Elizabeth. “Bohemian Grove: Where the Rich and Powerful Go to Misbehave.” The Washington Post, 15 June 2011, www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/bohemian-grove-where-the-rich-and-powerful-go-to-misbehave/2011/06/15/AGPV1sVH_blog.html?utm_term=.3196c5a24d65. Guy, Peter. “The Fatuous Folly of the Super Rich and Their Plans to Escape the Apocalypse in New Zealand.” South China Morning Post, 18 Feb. 2018, www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2133724/fatuous-folly-super-rich-and-their-plans-escape-apocalypse. Ingraham, Christopher. “The Richest 1 Percent Now Owns More of the Country’s Wealth than at Any Time in the Past 50 Years.” The Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/06/the-richest-1-percent-now-owns-more-of-the-countrys-wealth-than-at-any-time-in-the-past-50-years/?utm_term=.2ebb43e94b48. Loudenback, Tanza. “The World's Richest People Spend $234 Billion a Year on Luxury Goods - Here's How Much They Spend on Yachts, Private Jets, Wine, and Clothes.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 1 Mar. 2018, www.businessinsider.com/rich-people-spending-on-travel-private-jets-clothes-cars-2018-2. MacLellan, Lila. “Science Proves Rich People Don't Really Notice You-or Your Problems.” Quartz, Quartz, 23 Oct. 2016, qz.com/816188/science-shows-the-richer-you-get-the-less-you-pay-attention-to-other-people/. Mearhoff, Jeff. “Mississippi close to having most-Restrictive abortion law.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 8 Mar. 2018, abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/mississippi-test-state-restrict-abortion-53601798 Santos, Danny F. “15 Weird Habits Of The Super Rich And/Or Famous.” Theclever, Theclever, 6 Apr. 2017, www.theclever.com/15-weird-habits-of-the-super-rich-andor-famous/. Saunders, Debra J. “Bohemian Grove: Men Only.” San Francsico Chronicle, 10 July 2011, www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/Bohemian-Grove-men-only-2355089.php. “State Facts About Abortion: Georgia.” Guttmacher Institute, 5 Jan. 2018, www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/state-facts-about-abortion-georgia. Weiner, Sophie. “My Summer Job at the Bohemian Grove, Serving Milkshakes to the Shitfaced Global Elite.” Gawker, gawker.com/my-summer-job-at-the-bohemian-grove-serving-milkshakes-1763551409. Weiss, Philip. “Masters of the Universe Go to Camp: Inside Bohemian Grove.” Spy, Nov. 1989, pp. 59–76, whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/bohemian_grove_spy.html. Williamson, Elizabeth. “Truth in a Post-Truth Era: Sandy Hook Families Sue Alex Jones, Conspiracy Theorist.” The New York Times, 23 May 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/us/politics/alex-jones-trump-sandy-hook.html.
Strange Country Ep. 273: Kary Mullis
16-11-2023
Strange Country Ep. 273: Kary Mullis
We’re sure you’ve heard of the Nobel Prize although it’s hard to make the case Beth has since she mispronounces it quite a bit in this episode. But have you heard of Nobel Disease? It’s when people are labeled geniuses and go on to embrace some whackadoodle pseudoscience. In today’s Strange Country episode, Beth and Kelly discuss Kary Mullis, the only Nobel winner to be referred to as “generally barking mad.” He discovered the polymerase chain reaction, which we all regularly employed when we wanted to make dang certain it wasn’t covid. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: “First DNA Exoneration, Center on Wrongful Convictions: Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.” Northwestern Law, https://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/il/gary-dotson.html. Accessed 9 October 2023.   Guo, Jerry. “A Little Off the Top for History.” The New York Times, 13 July 2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/fashion/13hair.html. Accessed 9 October 2023.   Jarry, Jonathan. “The Man Who Photocopied DNA and Also Saw a Talking Fluorescent Raccoon.” McGill University, 15 August 2019, https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/technology-history/man-who-photocopied-dna-and-also-saw-talking-fluorescent-raccoon. Accessed 9 October 2023.   Joseph, Pat. “Intolerable Genius: Berkeley's Most Controversial Nobel Laureate.” Cal Alumni Association, 12 December 2019, https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/winter-2019/intolerable-genius-berkeleys-most-controversial-nobel-laureate/. Accessed 8 October 2023.   Loeb, Dylan. “Kary B. Mullis, 74, Dies; Found a Way to Analyze DNA and Won Nobel (Published 2019).” The New York Times, 15 August 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/science/kary-b-mullis-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1. Accessed 9 October 2023.   Markel, Howard. “How the talented Oscar Levant broke taboos by talking about mental health.” PBS, 14 August 2021, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-the-talented-oscar-levant-broke-taboos-by-talking-about-mental-health. Accessed 9 October 2023.   “Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Fact Sheet.” National Human Genome Research Institute, 17 August 2020, https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Polymerase-Chain-Reaction-Fact-Sheet. Accessed 9 October 2023.   Schreiber, Dan. The Theory of Everything Else: A Voyage Into the World of the Weird. HarperCollins Publishers, 2023.   Thielking, Megan. “How Linus Pauling duped America into believing vitamin C cures colds.” Vox, 27 February 2015, https://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7547741/vitamin-c-myth-pauling. Accessed 9 October 2023.   Warden, Rob. “Kary B. Mullis: A lament for the loss of a life that saved many.” Injustice Watch, 18 August 2019, https://www.injusticewatch.org/commentary/2019/requiem-for-kary-b-mullis-a-lament-for-a-life-that-saved-many/. Accessed 9 October 2023.
Strange Country Ep. 270: The Man Who Killed Halloween
05-10-2023
Strange Country Ep. 270: The Man Who Killed Halloween
Halloween is the time of year of ghouls, goblins and moral panic about candy. Could some neighbor be handing out candy full of pins? Or even worse, plain boxes of raisins? Where did this all come from? Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the origin of poisoned candy, stemming from one father who poisoned his own kid to collect insurance money. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: “DEA Warns of Brightly-Colored Fentanyl Used to Target Young Americans.” DEA.gov, 30 August 2022, https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2022/08/30/dea-warns-brightly-colored-fentanyl-used-target-young-americans. Accessed 1 October 2023. "Halloween execution date sought for man who killed son." UPI (USA), sec. News, 2 Sept. 1983. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/1567BF11158C5F68. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023. "Joe Rogan and Dr Phil push Halloween candy fentanyl story before producer says it could be fake; 'That was always the fear right, when we were kids, is that someone's gonna sneak in a razor blade into an apple,' Rogan says." Independent [Online], 31 Oct. 2022, p. NA. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A724680900/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=4905dace. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023 "RHODE ISLAND MAN SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR ROLE IN NATIONWIDE CONSPIRACY THAT TRAFFICKED DRUGS HIDDEN IN TOY TRUCKS, DISNEY ITEMS AND HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS." States News Service, 20 Sept. 2023, p. NA. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A766621939/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=1a1aa97e. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.. "Should reports of candy-colored fentanyl spook you?" Daily Herald [Arlington Heights, IL], 28 Oct. 2022, p. 1. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A724348841/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=8b7c1e70. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023. Ortega, Nicolás. “Wife Takes Stand At Husband's Trial In Son's Poisoning (Published 1975).” The New York Times, 29 May 1975, https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/29/archives/wife-a-takes-stand-at-husbands-trial-in-sons-poisoning.html?searchResultPosition=5. Accessed 1 October 2023. Ponti, Crystal. “The Haunting Legacy of Ronald Clark O'Bryan, the Man Who Killed Halloween.” A&E, 22 October 2020, https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-man-who-killed-halloween. Accessed 1 October 2023. Skal, David J. Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween. Bloomsbury USA, 2002. TALLEY, OLIVE. "Ronald Clark O'Bryan, who killed his 8-year-old son with...." UPI (USA), sec. News, 30 Mar. 1984. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/1568797363D91408. Accessed 1 Oct. 2023.