Strange Country
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...
info_outline Strange Country Ep. 280: Gimme Some CreditStrange Country
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...
info_outline Strange Country Ep. 279: Robbers Cave ExperimentStrange Country
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 . Cite your sources: Higgins, Nick, and Maria Konnikova....
info_outline Strange Country Ep. 278: Emma GoldmanStrange Country
Hey Dash Hounds, are you still there? Beth and Kelly are. Or are we? Has ChatGPT taken over? Can it? We are just women after all. What is our worth? In this episode, we will talk about women’s worth and Emma Goldman, a woman who fought for many things and has been forgotten like so many others. But Strange Country is doing its best to keep women’s work alive before AI eats us up? Thanks always for listening. Theme music: Big White Lie by . Works Cited Goldman, Emma. Living My Life. New York, Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1931,...
info_outline Strange Country Ep. 277: The Sullivan InstituteStrange Country
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 . 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,...
info_outline Strange Country Ep. 276: OneTasteStrange Country
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 . Cite your sources: Brown, Mick. “Inside Hollywood's Orgasm Cult - LAmag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles.” Los Angeles Magazine, 26 May 2022,...
info_outline Strange Country Ep. 275: Henry DargerStrange Country
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...
info_outline ENCORE: Strange Country Ep. 274: Bohemian GroveStrange Country
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 . Sources: Flock, Elizabeth. “Bohemian Grove: Where the Rich and Powerful Go to Misbehave.” The Washington Post, 15 June 2011, . 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, ....
info_outline Strange Country Ep. 273: Kary MullisStrange Country
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 Cite...
info_outline ENCORE: Strange Country Ep. 272: Killers of the Flower MoonStrange Country
Welcome to a blast from the past. This is a re-release of ep. 59 The Osage Murders, repackaged as Killers of the Flower Moon to coincide with the new film by Martin Scorsese. Thanks for all your support, dash hounds. We’ll be back with a new episode soon. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Grann, David. Killers of the Flower Moon.
info_outlineThe current spate of book banning is nothing new in America. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly take readers back to Kanawha County in 1974 when protestors firebombed schools and shot at school buses to protest the adoption of a new textbooks. The books, they said, were obscene and would hurt children so what better way to save them but by throwing sticks of dynamites into their classrooms, right?
Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands
Cite your sources:
Bloch, E. (2021, May 18). Florida Education commissioner says he made sure Amy Donofrio was fired; now her legal team's responding. The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/education/2021/05/17/florida-education-commissioner-richard-corcoran-says-fired-duval-county-teacher-supporting-blm/5134544001/
Foerstel, H. N. (2002). Banned in the U.S.A.: A reference guide to book censorship in Schoolsand Public Libraries. revised and expanded edition. Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Franklin, B. A. (1975, April 15). Bomber testifies that minister blessed dynamiting of schools in book dispute. The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/15/archives/bomber-testifies-that-minister-blessed-dynamiting-of-schools-in.html
Harris, E. A., & Alter, A. (2022, January 30). Book ban efforts spread across the U.S. The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/books/book-ban-us-schools.html
Martin, W. (1982, November 1). The guardians who slumbereth not. Texas Monthly. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/the-guardians-who-slumbereth-not/
Mason, C. (2009). Reading appalachia from left to right conservatives and the 1974 kanawha county textbook controversy. Cornell University Press.
Mechem, B. (2022, January 20). Parents protest after black lives matter video shown to Sarasota students: Sarasota. Your Observer. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.yourobserver.com/article/parents-protest-after-black-lives-matter-video-shown-to-students
Meckler, L., & Natanson, H. (2022, February 15). New Critical Race Theory Laws Have Teachers Scared, confused and self-censoring. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/02/14/critical-race-theory-teachers-fear-laws/
NBCUniversal News Group. (2021, December 8). Texas School District pulls 400 books from library shelves for review after legislator's inquiry. NBCNews.com. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-school-district-pulls-400-books-library-shelves-review-lawmakers-rcna7891
Posner, Sarah. "Debate over teaching books by Black authors has roots in violent 1974 clash in West Virginia." Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2021, p. NA. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680608885/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=36a235ac. Accessed 12 Feb. 2022.
Schwartz, S., & Pendharkar, E. (2022, February 22). Here's the long list of topics Republicans want banned from the classroom. Education Week. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/heres-the-long-list-of-topics-republicans-want-banned-from-the-classroom/2022/02
Vass, Kyle ”West Virginia textbook battle shows how GOP turned its image from 'blue blood to blue collar'; Before conservatives weaponized critical race theory, a violent 1974 clash over school books helped Republicans rebrand to appeal to white workers." Guardian [London, England], 25 Nov. 2021, p. NA. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A683847032/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=06158f7f. Accessed 12 Feb. 2022.
Whiteleather, M. (2022, February 10). Bill could require posting a year's worth of lesson plans. teachers aren't happy. Education Week. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/bill-could-require-posting-a-years-worth-of-lesson-plans-teachers-arent-happy/2022/02