Strange Country Ep. 296: The Apprentice
Strange Country
With the on-again, off-again tariffs and total economic sh*tstorm, one wonders why anyone ever thought Donald Trump had any economic sense. That’s because Mark Burnett transformed the six-time bankruptcy declaring tabloid star into a successful businessman character on the “reality” show The Apprentice. On today’s episode of Strange Country, cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the ultimate deception that led over 70 million Americans to give the keys to a chaos agent for a second time. Theme music: Big White Lie by Works Cited Buettner, Russ, and Susanne Craig. Lucky Loser: How...
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Strange Country Ep. 295: Alice Duer Miller
Strange Country
Hey Readers! Alice Duer Miller was a women of her time and ours! Who was she? Why don’t you know? Because she is a woman, and that’s a dangerous word these days. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite Your Sources Dude “Alice Duer Miller.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/alice-duer-miller#tab-related. Dresner, Zita. “Heterodite Humor: Alice Duer Miller and Florence Guy Seabury.” Journal of American Culture, 07 June 2004, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1542-734X.1987.1003_33.x. Accessed 27 03 2025. Miller, Alice D. Are Women People....
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Strange Country Ep. 294: The Real World
Strange Country
This is a true story. Of two strange podcasters picked to podcast in an attic about a strange country. Find out what happens when Beth and Kelly stop being polite and start getting real about The Real World, the reality show that created the blueprint for all other reality shows. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Arthur, Kate. “Looking Back At "The Real World: San Francisco," The Show That Changed The World.” Buzzfeed, 7 January 2014, https://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/real-world-san-francisco-pedro-zamora-rachel-campos. Chaney, Jen. “Every White...
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Strange Country Ep. 293: Candid Camera
Strange Country
Smile, you’re listening to a podcast about Candid Camera. Created by Allen Funt, Candid Camera was America’s first prank reality show. A case could be made that this show is responsible for the reality television trend that led to a con man being packaged as a “successful businessman” and is now pranking America as prez. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about this pioneering show whilst smiling through their tears. Theme music: Big White Lie by . Cite your sources: “Candid Camera | Television Academy Interviews.” Television Academy Interviews |, 1997,...
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Strange Country Ep. 292: Plants Know What You Think About This Podcast
Strange Country
Well Dash Hounds, if you are still out there listening and tuning in, we are thankful. Listening is an act of love. Love brings joy, and joy is a form of resistance. So sit back this week and learn how Kelly and Beth are getting through the hard times naturally. Of course with everything that seems good, be cautious. Nature is such a healer until it isn’t. And it’s just you and your houseplant whose picking up on your negative vibes and blaming you for everything. Confused? So are we. Theme music: Big White Lie by . Cite your sources, dude Eells, Josh. “He Talked to Plants and They...
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Strange Country Ep. 291: David Starr Jordan
Strange Country
Since we heard America was “being made great again” or something, we decided it was time for Strange Country to return. This time, cohosts Beth and Kelly tackle the story of David Starr Jordan, noted ichthyologist and first president of Stanford University, who definitely was a eugenicst but not certain a murderer. He did cover up Jane Stanford’s murder by poison so there’s that. That’s not good, right? We don’t know because it seems laws are meaningless now. Yay, America!?! Theme music: Big White Lie by . Cite your sources, or not, who cares nothing has meaning Flores,...
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Strange Country Ep. 290: Ed Gein
Strange Country
It’s the spooky season, and this episode is a doozy and an oozy, as in the oozing of decomposing bodies. Ed Gein, the inspiration behind characters Norman Bates, Leatherface and Buffalo Bill, is the topic of today’s Strange Country. Cohosts Beth and Kelly have an especially important PSA before you press play: Don’t eat while listening. Theme music: Big White Lie by . Cite your sources: Bloom, John. “They Came. They Sawed. – Texas Monthly.” Texas Monthly, November 2004, https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/they-came-they-sawed/. Accessed 11 October 2024. ...
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Strange Country Ep. 289: Night of Terror
Strange Country
Hey Dashhounds, it's our favorite month for creepy tales at Strange Country! October brings warmish temperatures at night, hot sunny days, hurricanes with power that you have never seen before, and the uncomfortable feeling of politics gone wrong--rarely landing with a woman in charge. Today Beth and Kelly bring you the story of the Night of Terror. Enjoy! Theme music: Big White Lie by . Cite your sources, dude: Deuel, Nathan. “Book Prize winner Stephanie Jones-Rogers on women slave owners.” Los Angeles Times, 17 April 2020,...
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Strange Country Ep. 288: Talking Dolphins
Strange Country
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 . Cite your sources: GRECO, JOANN, and Benjamin Franklin. “The Psychonaut You Never...
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Strange Country Ep. 287: Free Town Project
Strange Country
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 . Cite your sources: Austin, Elizabeth. “Libertarians Took Control of This Small Town. It...
info_outlineDear 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.