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EPISODE 172 | Monster Mash: Mummies Mummies are a long-standing presence in pop culture, but what, exactly, are they, why did people make them, and can they really wander around strangling people?  You can also SUBSCRIBE to this podcast. Review us here or on IMDb! SECTIONS Pyramid Song - Mummy basics, the how and the why, natural mummies, Hedviga Golik  Walk Like an Egyptian - More mummies, Eva Perón, animals, mummy cheese, mummy lanaguge Night Boat to Cairo - Mummies in movies, in lit, mummy legends, not always successful, fakes Leysh Nat'Arak - The Persian Princess Mummy The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb - Curses, Egyptomania and mummy fads, the Unlucky Mummy Music by Fanette Ronjat

EPISODE 171 | A Thousand Universes: Public Transportation Weirdness Even in the urban transportation space, usually reserved for city dwellers, NUMTOTs, NUMTOAs, and other transit geeks, conspiracy and weirdness manage to infiltrate. There’s the GM Streetcar Conspiracy, which might explain why the US has crap public transport. There’s the story of the Tucker 48, an innovative car that got shut down before is could get up and running. There are early electric vehicle rumors and other ways we might have made cars better, but powerful people made other choices for us all. Dieselgate showed that even big companies lie for profit. And then there are the histories and mysteries of underground networks – subways, tubes, metros – filled with oddities, ghost stations, and even a few actual ghosts. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS 03:02 - L.A. State of Mind - The GM Streetcar Conspiracy 13:53 - Trouble's Braids - The Tucker 48 23:19 - Drive My Car - The GM EV1, Tom Ogle, Dieselgate 31:40 - Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - NYC Subway oddities, London Underground oddities and hauntings 45:50 - Give Up the Ghost - Ghost stations around the world, Berlin's Geisterbahnhöfe  Music by Fanette Ronjat More Info GM and the Red Cars Kennedy, 60 Minutes, and Roger Rabbit: Understanding Conspiracy-Theory Explanations of The Decline of Urban Mass Transit by Martha J. Bianco, Portland State University, 1998 Why do traffic reduction schemes attract so many conspiracy theories? in The Guardian What Caused the Tucker Automobile Corporation to Fail? paper Top 10 Automotive Conspiracies: Scandals, Myths, and Urban Legends in AutoGuide 10 Secrets of the New York City Subway on Atlas Obscura Ghost stations: abandoned subways around the world on Love Exploring The weird afterlife of the world's subterranean 'ghost stations' in The Guardian Full list of the London Underground's abandoned 'ghost stations' including one 50 miles from the city on My London Abandoned Tube Stations London Underground’s 7 Most Haunted Stations on The Serpent's Pen 7 of Paris’ Abandoned Metro Stations and Abandoned Tunnels with Vintage Trains on Untapped Cities Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter)

EPISODE 170 | Loose Screws: 9/11 Conspiracy Theories A little under two weeks ago was the 25th anniversary of the attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. So perhaps it is now time to take a quick look at some of the chatter that has gone on about those events. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS 01:16 - That Day - The events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 07:28 - Can't Get You Out of My Head - Jewsdidit, Larry Silverstein, famous near-misses, controlled explosions, the Pentagon, MIHOP, Marc Birnbach, LIHOP, a new Pearl Harbor, stock puts, NORAD, bomb-sniffing dogs, hijackers not dead, info silos 23:46 - The Face of the Earth - The schlockumentary  "Loose Change", "Unfastened Coins", The Onion, the 9/11 Truth movement supersizes, Iran liked 9/11 CTs 30:40 - Shadow Stabbing - WTC Building 7, asbestos, no planes at all, space lasers and dustification 38:13 - Smooth Criminal - Cui bono, Cold War clarity, repercussions of 9/11, resources for debunking conspiracy theories  Music by Fanette Ronjat More Info: Seven Resources Debunking 9/11 Conspiracy Theories From 9/11 to the 2016 Election: How Conspiracy Theories and the Collapse of Truth Fueled a Resurgence of Antisemitism Antisemitic Conspiracies About 9/11 Endure 20 Years Later “What about building 7?” A social psychological study of online discussion of 9/11 conspiracy theories Certainty 9 / 11 conspiracy theories and psychosis How 9/11 truthers planted the seeds for QAnon Unfastened Coins website Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter)

EPISODE 169 | Harping on about HAARP, 5G & More Radio waves are invisible and yet somehow carry sound and signal. They are used for transmitting messages, codes, news, and music. They enable us to speak to one another using small portable devices, and even access the internet. They are used to help us know our position on the ground with pretty darn good accuracy, and they allow us to study the depths of space. So, surely they can be used for other things as well? Like controlling the weather, brainwashing humans, activating viruses, and much more. Because, when you don’t know how anything works, then everything is a conspiracy. Or could be, right? Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS Video Killed the Radio Star - HAARP, CTs about it Radio Silence - Radio waves, scalar fields, zero point energy, pseudomedicine On My Radio - The Free Energy Suppression conspiracy theory Radio Ga Ga - Radiophobia, electromagnetic hypersensitivity Music by Fanette Ronjat Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter)

EPISODE 168 | Eating the Onion: War of the Worlds & Other Scares In an environment of experimental fiction, metanarratives, postmodern satire, disinformation, deep fakes, and fake news, a sizeable portion of the content gobbling audience takes things that are not true as being actually true. Online, this happens with alarming regularity with articles published by satirical news site The Onion; so often, in fact, that there’s a term for this phenomenon – it’s called Eating the Onion. The subjects of intentional disinformation, deep fakes, and fake news are one thing, but what we’re looking at here at times when something that was never intended to be taken seriously (though it used real world tropes and structures for narrative effect), were accidentally thought to be base din reality. And people quite rather lost their shit. Like the 1938 Orson Welles broadcast of The War of the Worlds. But there are other instances as well. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS Here Come the Martian Martians - War of the Worlds Life on Mars? - Alternative 3, Special Bulletin, The War Game & The Day After Happy Phantom - Ghostwatch, Without Warning Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer - April Fool's gone awry Part of Your World - Mermaids, dragons, megalodon Music by Fanette Ronjat Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter)

EPISODE 167 | American Trickster: The Cults of Carlos Castaneda Guest: Ru Marshall, American writer and artist Carlos Castaneda made a big splash with his books about the Yaqui shaman Don Juan, but there was a lot more happening than just those increasingly fantastical tales. A LOT more. Author and artist Ru Marshall spent more than 20 years looking into what was really going on with the man who was, at one time, the most famous anthropologist in the world.  And yeah - it gets weird. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  Music by Fanette Ronjat More Info: American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda by Ru Marshall on Amazon American Trickster at OR Books Ru Marshall website Review on Publisher's Weekly Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter)

EPISODE 166 | Sassy Squatches: Chupacabra, Bigfoot & Yeti Some of the most famous cryptids are the bloodsucking Chupacabra (which is of fairly recent invention) and the always popular Bigfoot and their higher latitude cousins, the Abominable Snowman. Is there any truth at all to stories of these creatures, or is it all misunderstandings, misapprehensions, misidentifications, and tomfoolery? There’s only one way to find out: listen to this episode. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) - Chupacabra, the Ozark Howler, the sigbin of the Philippines The Amazing Bigfoot Diet - Sasquatch, Bigfoot, big hoaxes with Rant Mullens and Ray Wallace Remember (Walking in the Sand) - The 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film, "Capturing Bigfoot" Abominable Snowman in the Market - Yeti reports, smuggling, theories Music by Fanette Ronjat Further Listening: EPISODE 156 | The Shape of Water: Loch Ness and Other Lake Monsters Black Hills Weirdness section of EPISODE 49 | ’Merican Monuments (Travelogue 2) Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter)

EPISODE 165 | MAHA Mia: The Misconceptions of RFK Jr Guest: Evan Nadler, pediatric surgeon and researcher, pioneer in childhood obesity The conspirasphere has been weaponized so much that actual conspiracy theorists now hold important and influential positions in the US government. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. What does an actual doctor think about some of his nuttiness? Listen and find out.  Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  Music by Fanette Ronjat More Info: Obesity Explained (Dr. Nadler's website) Evan Nadler's YouTube Channel EPISODE 02 | A Cavalcade of COVID-19 Crackpottery EPISODE 26 | Come On Vaccine! Vaccine Hesitancy & You EPISDOE 38 | The Dirty Dozen: Medical Misinformation Miscreants (RFK Jr section is the 2nd one) EPISODE 60 | Under My Skin: Morgellons Disease Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a 2022 Gold Quill Award, the 2021 AVA Digital Award Gold, 2021 Silver Davey Award & 2020 Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER.

EPISODE 164 | Walk Like a Panther: The Palantir 22-Point Manifesto A company many have heard mentioned but don’t know much about caused a stir in the interwebs when its CEO dropped a 22-point manifesto of sorts. Many felt the whole thing smacked of some sort of comic book supervillain’s shopping list, while others nodded their heads at the sage wisdom of the post of X (formerly Twitter). Palantir is the company and the poster was Alex Karp. But just what is Palantir and who is this Karp guy? Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS Five Guys - Nathan Gettings, Stephen Cohen, Alex Karp, Jon Lonsdale, Peter Thiel (the 130th richest country in the world) More Things in Heaven and Earth - Peter Thiel: a Randian Objectivist, a plutocratic reactionary, militarist techno-libertarian, or libertarian authoritarian; post-democracy, liquid democracy; Thiel's views and actions Know Your Product - What Palantir does and what they're worth, Gotham, Foundry, AIP, TITAN, MetaConstellation and MOSAIC, Skykits, Metropolis, ELITE; who uses this stuff, JP Morgan spies on employees  Manifesto - Alex Karp's 22-point summary of The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West Music by Fanette Ronjat Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 163 | Vanishing Point: Missing Scientists & the Erosion of Certainty Someone recently wrote that, these days, a conspiracy theory is sort of a political position. It sure does seem that way sometimes, and new conspiracy theories continue to evolve in this disinfo-rich soil we’ve scattered about the internet like so much incontinence. Plus, those in power seem to have figure out that they way to many a voter’s heart is by encouraging conspiracy thinking, tapping into whatever it is that drives people to invest so much in them.  In an attention economy, there’s no such thing as good or bad attention.  So, we look at a brand new conspiracy theory that showed up earlier this year, the Missing Scientists Conspiracy Theory, and then dabble in some of the ways conspiracy thinking has infected and infiltrated the highest levels of American government. Maybe this is a cautionary tale, but it also might be an alarm bell. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS Feeling Gravity's Pull - Monica Jacinto Reza and Amy Eskridge  Propulsion Overdrive - Michael Hicks, Frank Maiwald, Anthony Chavez, Melissa Casias, Steven Garcia, Jason Thomas, Nuno Loureiro, Carl Grillmair, William Neil McCasland, Joshua LeBlanc Supersonic Rocket Ship - A new conspiracy theory is born, parallels are drawn, Chinese scientists, the White House gets involved - Trump, Kash Patel, James Comer, Eric Burlison; Tim Burchett loves David Wilcox How Greene Was My Valley - Marjorie Taylor Greene Foggy Mountain Breakdown - J.D. Vance Music by Fanette Ronjat Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 162 | In Pursuit of D.B. Cooper One of the great unsolved cases in FBI history is the tale of D.B. Cooper, who hijacked a commercial jet and then jumped out the door with a parachute and a bag full of cash. The story has been written about, films have been made, numerous “Mysteries of…” shows have had episodes about it, and there even a few songs that reference the famous gentleman thief of the Pacific Northwest. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS 01:36 - Leaving on a Jet Plane - Dan Cooper hijacks a plane 10:38 - Jet Airliner - Notable hijackings, tracking Cooper (money, hair, fingerprints, sketches, DNA, Canadian comics and more) 25:19 - Come Fly with Me - Suspects: Duane Weber, Kenneth Christiansen, Paul Le Clair, Barbara Dayton, William Smith, Lyne Doyle Cooper,  36:41 - Fly Away - More suspects: Ted Braden, Robert Rackstraw, Bryant Coffelt, Richard McCoy Jr,  44:46 - Somewhere in the Sky - Ha Ha Ha, Cooper fans, "we know the middle", copycat Martin McNally, Raymond Sidney Russell, videos, cocktails and more Music by Fanette Ronjat Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 161 | Vroom Broom: Witches & Witch Hunts Hundreds, perhaps thousands, or women were burned alive in Salem, MA, at the end of the 17th century. Their crime? Being witches. That’s what many of us think, anyway. But just how much truth is there in all that? And what, exactly, is a witch? Are there any still around today?  This episode comes in time for this year’s Walpurgis Night, which happens in Central Europe on April 30. Bonfires are made, effigies of witches are burned or thrown into rivers, and there is much feasting and, well, a lot of drinking.  So, let’s talk witches, separating fact from fiction. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS 01:40 - Salem Is a Spooky Massachusetts Witch City - The Salem Witch Trials 18:13 - Burn the Witch - A history of witch hunting, the Hammer of Witches, the Great Hunt, notable witch trials, swimming a witch  27:27 - The Devils of Loudon 32:32 - The Spanish Inquisition 35:35 - Waking the Witch - Belief in witches, the witch-cult hypothesis, new Paganism and Wicca 43:47 - Miss Macbeth - Broomsticks, black cats, witches as marginalized people Music by Fanette Ronjat Related Episode Mass Hysteria & Shared Delusions (The World Is Weird 2) Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 160 | A Real Collusion Two political parties hardly seems sufficient for a nation of 342 million, and yet that's exactly the situation in the United States. How did that come to be, and why does it persist? Author Stu Strumwasser explores those ideas with his new novel A Real Collusion as well as in this conversation.  Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  Music by Fanette Ronjat Links A Real Collusion website Stu Strumwasser website   Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 159 | Maritime Mysteries It’s time to shiver yer timbers and batten down the hatches as we dive into a bucketful of mysteries at sea that have been hard to fathom in the past - the Flannan Isles Lighthouse, the Mary Celeste, and the Flying Dutchman.  Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS 01:20 - The Flannan Isles Lighthouse - Three men vanish and inspire lots of stories 06:31 - The Mary Celeste - The ship is found, speculations aplenty, Frederick Solly-Flood is a stubborn idiot, more theories, misinformation becomes legend, woo-woo enters the picture, 1968 disappearances, the ship is cursed, Gilman Parker hatches a scam, two recent theories 31:13 - The Flying Dutchman - The legend begins, the legend spreads, the Wandering Jew, Prince George of Wales sees it, Fata Morgana, looming, St. Elmo's Fire, other ghost ships Music by Fannete Ronjat Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER

EPISODE 158 | Nasty NASA: The Challenger and Other Spacespiracies At 11:38 am  on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on its 10th mission and 73 seconds later exploded, killing everyone on board. This was seen live on television by millions of people because a civilian teacher was one of the crew.  At first, it was thought an external fuel tank had exploded. But after a thorough investigation, the real culprit turned out to be a faulty O-ring. Over the years, more digging would uncover behind the scenes drama, some of which may have led to the disaster. And for some folks, conspiracy narratives started to circulate that the whole thing was fake, the crew was still alive, that it was aliens, that they slipped into a parallel dimension and so on. Plus, NASA is often the target of conspironauts who think they know what’s “really” going on. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it.  SECTIONS 01:54 - A Space Boy Dream - What happened with the Challenger explosion 17:07 - Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) - O-rings, organizational malfeasance, the CT that no one really died, a planned mass trauma, other CTs 32:18 - We Are All Made of Stars - The Untold Story of the Challenger Explosion: A Journey Through Time, Conspiracy, and Alternate Realities by David Moore, NASAHoax CTs: alien tech, Nibiru, Saturn Death Stars, the Mars Hoax, a hexagon on Saturn, straight lines in nature,  43:27 - Space Junk - Skylab comes back down, the Skylab astronaut strike, general belief in science, we aren't all that bright Music by Fanette Ronjat Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists.  PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it’s a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it’s going. It’s Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER