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Episode 123 - Snuff Films with Erik Kristopher Myers

Squaring the Strange

Release Date: 06/12/2020

Episode 241 - Wildfire Conspiracies with Gail de Vos show art Episode 241 - Wildfire Conspiracies with Gail de Vos

Squaring the Strange

This week Pascual is back, talking to Celestia about the Onion's purchase of Info Wars, shady testosterone offers, and a list of things we maybe should be worried about as Trump rounds out cabinet picks. Then Ben welcomes Gail de Vos, author of the just-released Watkins Book of Urban Legends, to talk about wildfire conspiracy theories in Canada. The politically charged stories that spring up in her home of Alberta, Canada resemble conspiracies that have followed wildfires everywhere -- Texas, California, Hawaii, and even ancient Rome! Why does fire often make people think something more...

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Episode 240 - A second Trump term has skeptics worried show art Episode 240 - A second Trump term has skeptics worried

Squaring the Strange

This is sort of a rush episode, in the wake of this week's election results. While we don't like mixing our skepticism with partisan politics, Trump has been such a unique outlier in the realm of science denial, conspiracy theories, folklore, panics and rumor-mongering that it warrants an episode. Early indications that Robert Kennedy Jr. might be in charge of public health could mean an unthinkable turn against vaccinations and other clearly proven, routine measures. Ben and Celestia give their immediate thoughts and reactions, and Ben reminds us that Trump is more a hollow man than a...

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Episode 239: Halloween sadists with Joel Best & zombie evolution with Mikel Koven show art Episode 239: Halloween sadists with Joel Best & zombie evolution with Mikel Koven

Squaring the Strange

Happy Halloween! If we sound like we're on a submarine, apologies--we recorded part of this on a submarine. I mean a small hotel room. After a recap of Skeptoid's Death Valley adventure and CSI Con 2024, Ben and Celestia discuss "pink slime journalism" and phony Catholic newspapers. Then sociologist Joel Best discusses the Halloween sadism urban legend and how the idea that children are being poisoned with candy has stuck around through the ages. Folklorist and film buff Mikel Koven takes us on a tour of zombie films, from "White Zombie" to "Get Out," and all points in between. Zombies have...

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Episode 238 - Electric vehicle mayhem with Brian Dunning show art Episode 238 - Electric vehicle mayhem with Brian Dunning

Squaring the Strange

Fair warning: this episode contains too much Elon Musk, as Ben and Celestia discuss the Optimus mechanical Turk -- er, autonomous robot -- as well as the awesome chop-stick catch performed by SpaceX this past week. Ben also ruminates on eye-witness testimony and a wacky, weedy case being decided by the Supreme Court right now. Then Brian Dunning of Skeptoid fame joins us to talk electric vehicle myths and reality. Have you heard that EVs are bad for the environment, or that they will crash the grid? There are facts to discuss as well as rumors, disinformation, anecdotes and opinions, and we...

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Episode 237 - Watery Weirdness show art Episode 237 - Watery Weirdness

Squaring the Strange

First a few current events involving a Taylor Swift guitar (or not), the Nazca Lines, a giant naked Trump art piece, and banning solar geoengineering. Then we talk water. Is blood thicker than water -- and what does that even mean? Does water have memory (as homeopaths insist) or feelings (as Masaru Emoto stated)? From alkali water to Black Water to Smart Water, what are all these expensive designer bottled waters available, and are any worth it? Let's, well, dive in!

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Episode 236 - Pet Rumors and Catching Up with Kenny Biddle show art Episode 236 - Pet Rumors and Catching Up with Kenny Biddle

Squaring the Strange

We cannot let this week go by without talking about the xenophobic rumors that splashed across the national political stage this week about Haitians in Ohio allegedly eating cats and dogs. Folklorists definitely paid attention to this, and Ben also has vaccine rumor concerns from the Middle East. Then, on a lighter note, Kenny joins us and shares some of his recent adventures at a Bigfoot convention, his trip with Ben to the Spiritualist hamlet of Lily Dale, and recent CFI testing of a Canadian dowser. We also get geared up for CSI Con in Las Vegas, Oct. 24-27.

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Episode 235 - Black Dog Folklore with Mark Norman show art Episode 235 - Black Dog Folklore with Mark Norman

Squaring the Strange

First, Celestia recounts the Skeptic Track at Dragon Con, and Ben discusses a rabbit hole he went down after receiving a press release on some alleged new Champ footage. Then we welcome back folklorist Mark Norman, who discusses black dog folklore (also the title of one of his books), specifically the Barguest or Shuck. Spectral canines can be hellhounds, guardians or neutral entities, and have a surprisingly long history -- as long as humans have been in the company of dogs, one might suppose. Norman discusses the difference between a typical ghost and a "folk ghost," and goes into the very...

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Episode 234 - Hoofed Beasts: Pegasus, Unicorns, and Centaurs! show art Episode 234 - Hoofed Beasts: Pegasus, Unicorns, and Centaurs!

Squaring the Strange

First we discuss RFK Jr.'s role in a decade-old cryptid mystery. Then Ben and Celestia recount the gory origin story of Pegasus, along with some other differences between Greek myth and My Little Pony. Ben goes into the economies of the very real trade in unicorn horns, which were a longtime pharmacist’s staple (despite being nonexistent). We look at mentions of unicorns from the Bible to Shakespeare, as well as “real” ones including modified goats, arctic narwhals and the mighty rhinoceros. Moving onto centaurs, Celestia can’t decide how to pronounce the name of the most famous...

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Episode 233 - Sensed Presence Effect: Imaginary Friends When You Need Them Most show art Episode 233 - Sensed Presence Effect: Imaginary Friends When You Need Them Most

Squaring the Strange

Ben and Celestia have a lot of current events to discuss, from Olympic rumors about Satan and pregnant gymnasts to the real gender identity of an Algerian boxer and Hello Kitty. Then we dive into the "sensed presence" effect. This strange phenomenon can explain many things -- ghost encounters, mountain-top revelations, and hallucinations people experience during isolation in prisons, at sea or while lost in the wilderness. As social creatures, we simply aren't built for prolonged loneliness. Not only does it impact our physical health, it utterly unravels our sense of self.

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Episode 232 - Brace yourselves. We talk politics. show art Episode 232 - Brace yourselves. We talk politics.

Squaring the Strange

Need I even write a summary here? Maybe for listeners who have been in a coma for the past two weeks? Trump was shot at, and conspiracy theories surfaced faster than he could put on his shoes. What are Project 2025 and Agenda 47? What is Trump's appeal, really, and why is it so misunderstood by his opponents? And, with late-breaking news on Biden dropping out of the race, what have we seen on the memescape about Kamala Harris? There are media literacy lessons to review, and many opportunities to apply skepticism in this election cycle. 

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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?