Strange Country Ep. 307: Huey Long
Strange Country
While he may have been called a demagogue and a counterfeit Mussolini, Huey Long had some darn tootin’ good ideas—mainly taxing the rich into oblivion. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about Long’s rise to populist power in the 1930s and the corruption in its wake, but also how much a 65% tax increase on the rich makes a whole lotta sense. Like Long said “We only propose that, when one man gets more than he and his children and children’s children can spend or use in their lifetimes, that then we shall say that such person has his share. That means that a few million...
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Strange Country Ep. 306: ELIZA
Strange Country
In 1964, MIT researcher Joseph Weizenbaum created the first therapy chatbot ELIZA and realized soon after that it sucked and humanity was worse for it. Sixty years later, our new tech gods are like “sex porn bots for all!” Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly emulate the AI versions of themselves as they tell the tale of a computer scientist realizing Frankenstein’s monster is a pile of generic platitudes that soaks up more energy than is sustainable. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Huet, Ellen and Rachel Metz. "The Chatbot Delusions." Bloomberg...
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Strange Country Ep. 305: The Page Act
Strange Country
Hey Dash Hounds! Remember when that famous person said the thing that the other famous person put on a coffee mug? “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history?” Well it’s true. And if you want another reminder, listen to Beth and Kelly this week as the Strange Country cohosts tell you about the time when Chinese women were wrongfully taken off the streets under The Page Act of 1875, the very first official legislation allowing some guy in charge to unkindly remove people from the country. This story is getting old but we keep it fresh. Thanks for...
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Strange Country Ep. 304: Villisca Axe Murders
Strange Country
Tis Pumpkin Spice time and Strange Country has a spooky story to listen to as you drink a pumpkin spice-flavored whatever gets you through this America 2025. Co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss the unsolved ax murders plaguing railroad towns in the early 1900s and how people trampled crime scenes for entertainment. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Dash, Mike. “The Ax Murderer Who Got Away.” Smithsonian Magazine, 8 June 2012, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ax-murderer-who-got-away-117037374/. Accessed 7 October 2025. “An Entire Family...
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Strange Country Ep. 303: It's Britney, Bitch
Strange Country
It’s Strange Country, bitch. Yes, we’re back. Has anything happened? Likely no. In today’s episode cohosts Beth and Kelly tackle the conservatorship saga of pop icon Britney Spears and how gross people were to her much of her life. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Aswad, Jem. “Britney Spears: Full Court Transcript Against Conservatorship.” Variety, 23 June 2021, https://variety.com/2021/music/news/britney-spears-full-statement-conservatorship-1235003940/. Accessed 11 August 2025. Austin, Sophie. “After #FreeBritney, California to Limit...
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Strange Country Ep. 302: Candy Darling
Strange Country
We all know that women and men are monoliths, right? Women like shoes and the government controlling their bodies; men like muscled-up NFTs of Donald Trump and bench-pressing bitcoin. But what if people aren’t on this straight black-and-white binary? Candy Darling, born James Slattery, defied societal expectations and chose to live her life as a superstar along the lines of her favorite actor Kim Novak. Darling was one of Andy Warhol’s last “superstars,” until her untimely death from cancer at the age of 29 in 1974. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss how Darling straddled...
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Strange Country Ep. 301: Dr. Feelgood
Strange Country
What do you do when you need a little pick-me-up? Exercise? Drink some coffee? Laugh uproariously at Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly? For some, like politicians and celebs that didn’t cut it so instead they went to Dr. Max Jacobson to get a concoction of vitamins, monkey gonads and amphetamines injected into their necks and arms. Jacobson, known as Dr. Feelgood, had the ability to cure any ailment merely by making you so high you couldn’t feel anything. Until he got his medical license revoked in the 1970s and the party was over. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your...
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Strange Country Ep. 300: Streaking
Strange Country
Dear Dashhounds, have you lost the ability to handle all the things? Enough that you are thinking about bringing back the streaking fad of the 70s? Before you get all hot and bothered and start taking off your clothes in front of strangers, listen to this Strange Country episode #300 about where streaking in ‘Merica originated. If you thought it was something free and fun, you are a little right, but only for a chosen few. Thanks always for listening, it is an act of love that you can do with your clothes on. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: “CRUMP, George...
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Strange Country Ep. 299: Charlotte Osgood Mason
Strange Country
Charlotte Osborne Mason was one of the biggest benefactors of the Harlem Renaissance but her patronage came with a cost. While she gave noted luminaries Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston monthly stipends to make art, she wanted a say in what the art would be in order to realize her vision: a flaming bridge to connect America to Africa. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about this strange rich white lady who believed she knew more about being Black than the artists she supported with strings. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Boyd, Valerie. “About Zora...
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Strange Country Ep. 298: Rhinelander v. Rhinelander
Strange Country
We love our trials of the century here at Strange Country and this one is a doozy. It’s likely one you’ve never heard of: Rhinelander v Rhinelander. See a young aristocrat married a domestic worker and everyone went all “heavens to betsy” about it, but what made it bring out the worst in people was that the working class bride was biracial. This was in 1924 before the country accepted interracial marriage and the KKK was on the resurgence—or what we could now call the present time. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Greene, Bryan. “How an Interracial Marriage...
info_outlineThings seems super chill around education these days. Wait—do they? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the current state legislation being passed to ban the instruction of Critical Race Theory in K-12 schools, something that isn’t happening. So since it’s not happening, what is happening instead is banning the instruction of anything associated with race or racism. As the Brooklyn 99 folks like to say, cool cool cool cool cool.
Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands
Cite your sources:
ABC4 Utah. (2021, May 4). What you need to know about Idaho's new critical race theory law. ABC4 Utah. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/what-you-need-to-know-about-idahos-critical-race-theory-law/
Barakat, M. (2022, February 15). Youngkin looks to root out critical race theory in Virginia. AP NEWS. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/education-richmond-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-virginia-8ad5da65b9cb05265f2b8081c41827cd
Bella, T. (2022, February 4). Black history month is not critical race theory, Alabama educator says in response to complaints. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/02/04/alabama-black-history-month-crt-schools/
Bittle, J., Pareene, A., Tomasky, M., Noah, T., & Shephard, A. (2022, March 20). The Fox News guest behind the Republican Frenzy over Critical Race Theory. The New Republic. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://newrepublic.com/article/162617/christopher-rufo-critical-race-theory-interview
Cobb, J. (2021, September 20). The man behind critical race theory. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/20/the-man-behind-critical-race-theory
Craig, T. (2022, March 11). Florida legislature passes bill that limits how schools and workplaces teach about race and identity. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/10/florida-legislature-passes-anti-woke-bill/
Dixon, K. (2022, March 14). Bill Banning 'divisive concepts' in schools passes Georgia Senate. Axios. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2022/03/14/bill-banning-divisive-concepts-schools-passes-georgia-senate
Donahue, A. R. (2022, January 12). State Education Board passes measure countering GOP's 'critical race theory' bills ⋆ Michigan Advance. Michigan Advance. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://michiganadvance.com/2022/01/12/state-education-board-passes-measure-countering-gops-critical-race-theory-bills/
Guynn, J. (2022, March 15). Florida law will restrict how race is discussed. USA TODAY (USA), p. A5. Available from NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/188BEDD20BC605D8.
Herron, A. (2022, March 1). Indiana Senate kills CRT-inspired legislation that created outrage among educators, Black Hoosiers. The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2022/02/28/hb-1134-indiana-senate-kills-crt-critical-race-theory-inspired-legislation/9323738002/
Jones, Z. C. (2022, March 10). Florida legislature passes "stop woke act," Second controversial education bill this week. CBS News. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-critical-race-theory-education-stop-woke-act/
Jones, S. (2021, July 11). How to manufacture a moral panic. Intelligencer. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/christopher-rufo-and-the-critical-race-theory-moral-panic.html
Kiersz, A., & Gal, S. (2020, July 8). 26 simple charts to show friends and family who aren't convinced racism is still a problem in America. Business Insider. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/us-systemic-racism-in-charts-graphs-data-2020-6
Matzen, M. (2022, February 10). Education Committee votes to limit critical race theory instruction in South Dakota's public schools. Argus Leader. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/education/2022/02/09/critical-race-theory-crt-south-dakota-public-schools-legislature-limited/6728586001/
McGee, K. (2021, June 15). Texas "critical race theory" bill limiting teaching of current events signed into law. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/15/abbott-critical-race-theory-law/
Meckler, L., & Dawsey, J. (2021, June 21). Republicans, spurred by an unlikely figure, see political promise in targeting critical race theory. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/06/19/critical-race-theory-rufo-republicans/
Messer-Kruse, T. (2022, February 16). How to sink anti-CRT bills. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-sink-anti-crt-bills?bc_nonce=jwfrpc6h01bmnrbftplf8&cid=reg_wall_signup
Napsha, J. (2022, March 16). Norwin debate continues in regards to systemic racism, critical race theory. TribLIVE. Retrieved March 20 2022, from https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-debate-continues-in-regards-to-systemic-racism-critical-race-theory/
Ramjug, P. (2021, December 21). Seven out of 10 people don’t know what critical race theory is, US poll finds. News@Northeastern. https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/12/23/critical-race-theory-survey/
Randall Kennedy on why critical race theory is important ❧ current affairs. Current Affairs. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/03/randall-kennedy-on-why-critical-race-theory-is-important
Ray, R., & Gibbons, A. (2022, March 9). Why are states banning critical race theory? Brookings. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/
Rufo, C. F. (2021, June 23). Washington Post tried to smear me for criticizing race theory - and failed spectacularly. New York Post. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://nypost.com/2021/06/22/washington-post-tried-to-smear-me-for-criticizing-race-theory-and-failed/
Wallace-Wells, B. (2021, June 18). How a conservative activist invented the conflict over critical race theory. The New Yorker. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory
Sound effects:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCR8pZ2C7to - Brooklyn 99
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sofJcByXE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4TAQF6ocLU - The Reid Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEtHS8Gp5zg - Gov. Tate Reeves
https://twitter.com/thegoodliars/status/1455243036795998212 - Good Liars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBh1MYyVO4 - Norwin BOE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxc6iqRC-n8 - I Have a Dream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXRdWflV7M - Tucker Carlson