Strange Country
Welcome to Strange Country, a podcast devoted to bizarre, surreal and extraordinary stories that make America the weird place it is. Co-hosts Kelly and Beth are former newspaper reporters turned school librarians who have always had a soft spot for a good story--the stranger the better. Discover the first woman to survive a barrel ride over Niagara Falls and the man who invented “complex marriage” in one of the most successful utopian experiments. Things get weird pretty quickly around here.
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Strange Country Ep. 230: Biosphere 2
06/16/2022
Strange Country Ep. 230: Biosphere 2
Could we actually replicate the biomes of Earth on other planets? In September 1991, eight intrepid explorers entered Biosphere 2 in the Arizona desert to spend two years seeing if humans could sustain life in the same way biosphere 1, the Earth, does. And it wasn’t so great, unless you’re heavily into mites, cockroaches, Steve Bannon and pot-bellied pigs. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss this failed experiment and why it might more sense to fix this planet than try to ruin other ones. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Bruck, C. (2017, May 1). How Hollywood remembers Steve Bannon. The New Yorker. Cooper, M. (1991, April 2). Take this terrarium and shove it. Village Voice. Dewdney, A. Kee. Yes, We Have No Neutrons: An Eye-opening Tour through the Twists and Turns of Bad Science. New York City, Wiley, 1997. Reider, Rebecca. Dreaming the Biosphere: The Theater of All Possibilities, Albuquerque, U of New Mexico P, 2010 Report Urges Biosphere 2 to Spend More Time on Science to Succeed. (1992, July 26). New York Times. . Rose, Steve. "Eight go mad in Arizona: How a lockdown experiment went horribly wrong." Guardian. The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/13/spaceship-earth-arizona-biosphere-2-lockdown. Accessed 13 June 2022. Science beyond reproach. (2001, September 26). Arizona Daily Star [Tucson, AZ], B1. Spaceship Earth, directed by Matt Wolf, Neon, 2020. Stern, E. (1996, May 30) Project had a ‘secret’ cult. Tucson Citizen. Wylie, I. (2001, May 5). Play your part in the Big Brother house: Win four months at the Biosphere 2 project. Guardian [London, England], 8. Zimmer, Carl. "The Lost History of One of the World's Strangest Science Experiment." The New York Times, 29 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/sunday-review/biosphere-2-climate-change.html. Accessed 13 June 2022.
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Strange Country Ep. 229: Margaret Sanger
06/02/2022
Strange Country Ep. 229: Margaret Sanger
Where do you fall on the abortion debate? Some people like to believe that if you are pro choice, you must idolize Margaret Sanger. But wait. . . do you even know who that is? Listen today, dear Dash Hounds, as we hear who this outspoken woman was. A thumbs up or a thumbs down? Is Margaret worthy of her name being on the building or her name being taken down? Your call. We do our best to give you some info. As we seem to keep learning on Strange Country, people are complicated, the world is complex, and hang on, we are about to experience everything all over again. $10 please for your fortune. Much love and thanks always for listening, it is an act of love. Theme music: Big White Lie by Works Cited:
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Strange Country Ep. 228: Gordon Kahl
05/26/2022
Strange Country Ep. 228: Gordon Kahl
Nothing is certain but death and Strange Country’s guarantee of exquisitely-designed mousepads. Oh, and taxes. But some people really don’t like paying taxes and take their ire too far. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss Gordon Kahl, an avid anti-government pro-Posse Comitatus fan who took his anger to the extreme when he killed two US Marshalls in 1983. Luckily, we’ve seemed to address domestic terrorism now…oh wait. And sorry about the little audio glitch midstream. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Cameron, L. (2019, May 28). During the 1980s farm crisis, Minnesota lost more than 10,000 farms. MinnPost. https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2019/05/during-the-1980s-farm-crisis-minnesota-lost-more-than-10000-farms/ Corcoran, J. (1990). Bitter Harvest: Gordon Kahl and the Rise of the Posse Comitatus in the Heartland. Penguin Publishing Group. Dyer, J. (1997). Harvest of rage: Why Oklahoma City is only the beginning. Basic Books. King W. (1990, Aug. 21). Books of the Times; A farmer’s fatal obsession with Jews and taxes. New York Times. Levitas, D. (2002). The terrorist next door: The Militia Movement and the radical right. St. Martin’s Press
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Strange Country Ep. 227: Recovered Memory Therapy
05/19/2022
Strange Country Ep. 227: Recovered Memory Therapy
Our memories are fallible and malleable. In the 1980s and 1990s, recovered memory therapists convinced patients they had been sexually abused in some cases by satanic cults and repressed all memory of it. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss the trial of George Franklin who was convicted of murder based solely on the testimony of his daughter who “recovered” memories of witnessing him kill her childhood friend. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Carpentier, M. (2021, Oct. 8) Where Is Eileen Franklin, Whose Recovered Memories Convicted Her Father, Now? Guendelman, Y. and Pines, A. (2021). Buried. Showtime. Ofshe, R. and Watters, E. (1994) Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy and Sexual Hysteria. Diane Pub. Co. Romanova, N. (2021, Oct. 21) Eileen Franklin-Lipsker Now: what is she doing today? Blurred Reality. .
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Strange Country Ep. 226: Dismantling of Roe v. Wade
05/05/2022
Strange Country Ep. 226: Dismantling of Roe v. Wade
On this episode of Strange Country, Ofterry and Ofbryan talk about the U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion dismantling women’s reproductive freedoms. Forced birth advocates are rejoicing. The rest of us, not so much. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Campoamoar, D. (2022, March 18). New tennessee bill would allow rapists' families, friends to sue if victims have an abortion. Today. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.today.com/parents/pregnancy/Tennessee-bill-rapists-sue-abortion-rcna20581 Chamie, J. (2021, March 3). America's single-parent families. The Hill. https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/543941-americas-single-parent-families/ Columbus Daily Enquirer, 13 Jan. 1956, p. 13. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-K12&docref=image/v2%3A1126A744DB722B38%40EANX-K12-16A327FFA6234DD0%402435486-16A30E62DDBE96DF%4012-16A30E62DDBE96DF%40. Accessed 3 May 2022. Frank, G. (2015, December 22). The death of Jacqueline Smith. Slate. from https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/12/Jacqueline-smiths-1955-death-and-the-lessons-we-havent-yet-learned-from-it.html Hartig, H. (2021, May 6). About six-in-ten americans say abortion should belegal in all or most cases. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/06/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases/ Kitchener, C. (2022, May 2). The next frontier for the antiabortion movement: A nationwide ban. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/02/abortion-ban-roe-supreme-court-mississippi/ Levin, B. (2022, March 3). GOP senator Mike Braun claims he didn't mean to say states should be able to ban interracial marriage, despite saying it multiple times. Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/03/mike-braun-supreme-court-interracial-marriage Plain Dealer, 22 May 1956, p. 5. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-K12&docref=image/v2%3A122AFBBA107AC9E4%40EANX-K12-12AC90D16DF657D6%402435616-12AC5404A0306B0C%404-12AC5404A0306B0C%40. Accessed 3 May 2022. Plain Dealer, 24 May 1956, p. 6. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-K12&docref=image/v2%3A122AFBBA107AC9E4%40EANX-K12-12AC90D42B600569%402435618-1278F359D4F878E9%405-1278F359D4F878E9%40. Accessed 3 May 2022. Stracqualursi, V. (2021, November 16). Majority of Americans support Roe v. Wade being upheld, new poll shows. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/16/politics/americans-abortion-roe-v-wade-poll/ index.html Supreme Court Live Updates: Calls For an Investigation and Possible Charges After Supreme Court Draft Leaked. (2022, May 3). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/03/us/roe-wade-abortion-supreme-court
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Strange Country Ep. 225: Mildred Fish Harnack
04/28/2022
Strange Country Ep. 225: Mildred Fish Harnack
In a time when democracy ruled, women had all the freedoms, people went to college and news sources were plentiful and trustworthy Wisconsin native Mildred Fish Harnack and her husband, Arvid, chose to begin their newlywed lives in the fun city of Berlin. Have you heard of it? Beth may have mentioned she has been there. That was Berlin in the 1920’s. Things were about to change. Laws were passed to keep certain people down, the rich and poor gap was widening, Mildred got let go from her professorship, and two men, Hitler and Goebbels, were really making a name for themselves talking about the ills of democracy. And Mildred from Wisconsin saw the whole city and country unravel. But instead of hightailing it back to the midwest, Mildred and her sweetheart stayed in Berlin and headed the resistance efforts. Listen as Beth and Kelly discuss the similarities of Hitler’s efforts and those of the current opposition parties trying to undermine America today. Fun times on Strange Country. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Commonwealth Club of California. Mildred Harnack/American Grad Student/Berlin Resistance Leader. Sept. 17, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRGtZb7N6bg Donner, Rebecca. All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days. Little Brown and Company, New York. 2021. Wisconsin Women Making History. Mildred Fish-Harnack.
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Strange Country Ep. 224: Jeane Dixon
04/21/2022
Strange Country Ep. 224: Jeane Dixon
Do you believe psychics can predict the future? in the later half of the 20th century, Jeane Dixon was one of the best known psychics. Her astrological star rose when she “predicted” the assassination of JFK. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly, in what is predicted to be the greatest podcast episode according to a Snapple bottle cap Beth found on the sidewalk, talk about Dixon and the Jeane Dixon Effect. Also includes a recipe! Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Christy, M. (1970, March 11). Greensboro Daily News , p. 5. Available from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: . Dixon, J. (1976). Jeane Dixon’s Astrololgical Cookbook. Morrow Dixon, J. (1998). Do Cats Have ESP? Courage Books. Horowitz, M. (2015, November 21). The last JFK assassination myth: Debunking the eerie prediction that won't go away. Salon. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.salon.com/2015/11/21/the_last_jfk_assassination_myth_debunking_the_eerie_prediction_that_wont_go_away/ Jeane Dixon & the Jeane Dixon effect. Jeane Dixon and the Jeane Dixon effect - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from http://www.skepdic.com/dixon.html Jeane Dixon releases her predictions for 1984. (1984, January 9). Dallas Morning News, p. 5C. Available from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: . Katz, H. (1971, July 25). Washington Magazine, p. 240. Available from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: . Kay Crosby Ellis, B. (1972, November 3). Jeane Dixon Predicts Future. Dallas Morning News, p. 5. Available from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: . Martinez-Conde, S. and Macknik, S.L. (2018, September 20). Two neuroscientists walk into a psychic fair... Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/two-neuroscientists-walk-into-a-psychic-fair/ Montgomery, R. (1965). A Gift of Prophecy: the phenomenal Jeane Dixon. Morrow. Ruby Clayton McKee, B. (1966, April 12). Jeane Dixon Predicts Flying Objects Not from Outer Space. Dallas Morning News, p. 4. Available from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: San Antonio Express. (1976, March 7). San Antonio Express, p. 153. Available from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: . San Antonio Express. (1976, March 28). San Antonio Express, p. 150. Available from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: . Tampa Bay Times. (2019, December 15). Museum provides a vision of astrologer Jeane Dixon. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2002/06/09/museum-provides-a-vision-of-astrologer-jeane-dixon/ WP Company. (1997, January 27). Celebrity astrologer Jeane Dixon dies. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/01/27/celebrity-astrologer-jeane-dixon-dies/3481042f-019a-4214-8df2-07d1df359000/ Sound Clips Psychic Friends Network Commercial: Ms. Cleo: Jeane Dixon Hotline: Jeane Dixon Spirit Speak:
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Strange Country Ep. 223: Left-handedness
04/14/2022
Strange Country Ep. 223: Left-handedness
One hundred years ago, there were fewer left handed Americans than there are now. Why the change? Obviously the indoctrination of public schools…or maybe it became more accepting to be left handed and so more people feel comfortable using their dominant hand. Weird how that works. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the stigma once attached to left-handedness and relate it to today’s anti-trans legislation being pushed by trash people. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Adeleke, Y. (2021, September 20). Left-handers once experienced severe stigmatization and discrimination. Medium. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://historyofyesterday.com/left-handers-once-experienced-severe-stigmatization-and-discrimination-f172c2fde6ef Eveleth R. (2013, May 17). Two-thirds of the world still hates lefties. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-thirds-of-the-world-still-hates-lefties-64727388/#:~:text=In%20many%20Muslim%20parts%20of,including%20those%20of%20the%20West . Gallagher, J. (2019, September 5). Left-handed DNA found - and it changes brain structure. BBC News. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49579810 Gannon, M. (2019, November 10). Why are people left- (or right-) handed? LiveScience. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.livescience.com/what-causes-left-handedness.html Gould, M. (2021, February 12). GOP rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene 'cheated on husband with men at gym'. Daily Mail Online. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9246917/Marjorie-Taylor-Green-openly-cheated-husband-men-gym.html Katz, B. (2017, May 31). A lonely snail with an unusual shell strikes out in Love. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/jeremy-lonely-snail-unusual-shell-strikes-out-love-180963429/ Lutz, E., & Ecarma, C. (2022, April 8). "Children as collateral damage": GOP's latest culture war targets Trans Kids. Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/alabama-anti-trans-bill Pinsker, J. (2014, December 11). Why lefties make less. The Atlantic. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/why-lefties-make-less/383635/ Praderio, C., & Lakritz, T. (2021, August 13). 17 little ways that the world is designed for right-handed people. Insider. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.insider.com/things-that-are-hard-for-left-handed-people-2016-11 Restak, R. M. (1988, December 11). Do we want a left-handed president? The Washington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1988/12/11/do-we-want-a-left-handed-president/1a6c49dc-0e40-4ea3-ab4b-e3956dc04208/ Roth, M. (2005). The Left Stuff: How the Left Handed Have Survived and Thrived in a Right-Handed World. M. Evans & Company. Rothman, L. (2015, August 13). Left-handed history: When lefties were first accepted. Time. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://time.com/3978951/lefties-history/ Valdez, A. (2021, April 15). Alabama ranks second in the nation for Worst Places to Live. WDHN. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.wdhn.com/news/alabama-ranks-second-in-the-nation-for-worst-places-to-live/ Valentin, N. (2020, May 29). The long history of left-handed persecution. Medium. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-long-history-of-left-handed-persecution-7e1f493266f2 Sound Clips: Marjorie Taylor Greene Spews Hateful Garbage: https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1511504578423963655 The Backward Snail Just Wants to Find Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX2YQDPRZyM
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Strange Country Ep. 222: Melvil Dewey
03/31/2022
Strange Country Ep. 222: Melvil Dewey
Dear Dashhounds, are you one of the 75% (15% according to Beth) who know the term, Dewey Decimal System? Do you care? You will today as Strange Country hosts Beth and Kelly discuss the life and times of Melvil Dewey, which really encompassed a lot of misogyny, racism and antisemitism. Yet still he was lauded as a library great. How do we handle these people of the past, and how should we handle them now? The answer lies within a sweet song that you won’t be able to get out of your head. Always, thanks for listening it is an act of love which is the opposite of fear. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Albanese, Andrew. ALA 2019: ALA Votes to Strip Melvil Dewey's Name from its Top Honor. Publisher's Weekly. June 24, 2019. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/80557-ala-votes-to-strip-melvil-dewey-s-name-from-its-top-honor.html Albright, Madeliene. An Undiplomatic Moment. New York Times, Feb. 3, 2016 Beck, Clare. The New Woman as Librarian. The Career of Adelaide Hasse. Scarecrow Press. 2006. Ford, Anne. Bringing Harassment out of the History Books. American Libraries. June 1, 2018. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2018/06/01/melvil-dewey-bringing-harassment-out-of-the-history-books/ Gambino, Megan. Madeliene Albright and Her Life in Pins. Smithsonian Magazine. June 10. Mann, Bryan. Re-Evaluating Lake Placid Notable Melville Dewey's Legacy in the "me too" era. July 17, 2019. NCPR. "Melville Dewey." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. March 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvil_Dewey Nunes, Christina Zita. Cataloging Black Knowledge. Perspectives on History. Nov. 20, 2018. Weeks, Linton. The Undimmed Light. The Washington Post. Nov. 15, 1995. Hasse, Adelaide. Sound effects: The Dewey Decimal Rap: Royalty-free Benny Hill: Royalty-free the most amazing Benny Hill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7hitxP-070
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Strange Country Ep. 221: Critical Race Theory
03/24/2022
Strange Country Ep. 221: Critical Race Theory
Things 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 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 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. 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. [email protected] 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: - Brooklyn 99 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sofJcByXE - The Reid Out - Gov. Tate Reeves - Good Liars - Norwin BOE - I Have a Dream - Tucker Carlson
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Strange Country Ep. 220: Victor Lustig
03/10/2022
Strange Country Ep. 220: Victor Lustig
We all the run risk of falling for a con and we all believe we are immune to it. For the low, low cost of $9.99 a month, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly can teach you how to avoid scams as soon as they free a Nigerian Prince. Today’s episode explores the cons of Victor Lustig who sold the Eiffel Tower twice. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Demain, B. (2020, Aug. 21). Smooth operator: How con man “count” Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower—Twice. Mentalfloss. Hutson, M. (2016, Jan. 12). Why we all fall for con artists. The Cut. King, G. (2012, Aug. 22). The smoothest con man that ever lived. Smithsonian Magazine. Konnikova, M. (2016). The Confidence Game: Why we fall for it every time. Penguin Books. Maysh, J. (2016). Handsome devil. Kindle single. Sound effects: - French music - Melania’s christmas - Don Jr - Kimberly G - Les Miz
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Strange Country Ep. 219: The Seekers
03/03/2022
Strange Country Ep. 219: The Seekers
On Dec. 21, 1954, the world was supposed to be flooded, and true believers taken aboard flying saucers to safety. When that didn’t happen, the Seekers tried to excuse away the no-show aliens, and thus cognitive dissonance entered the American psyche. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss how Leon Festinger put his theory to the test by pretending to be a true believer to study how followers managed their cognitive dissonance when the world kept spinning. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Adventures by A Himitsu https://soundcloud.com/a-himitsu Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2Pj0MtT Music released by Argofox https://youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 Barnes, J. E. (2021, November 24). Pentagon forms a group to examine unexplained aerial sightings. The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/24/us/politics/pentagon-ufos.html?searchResultPosition=1 Beck, J. (2016, January 4). The christmas the aliens didn't come. The Atlantic. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/12/the-christmas-the-aliens-didnt-come/421122/ Festinger, L. (1966) When prophecy fails : a social and psychological study of a modern group that predicted the destruction of the world. Harper. Gabbat, A. (2022, February 5). 'something's coming': Is America finally ready to take ufos seriously? The Guardian. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/05/ufos-america-aliens-government-report Liddell, E. (n.d.). Apocalypse Oak Park: Dorothy Martin, the Chicagoan who predicted the end of the world and inspired the theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Chicago Magazine. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/may-2011/dorothy-martin-the-chicagoan-who-predicted-the-end-of-the-world-and-inspired-the-theory-of-cognitive-dissonance/
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Strange Country Ep. 218: Kanawha County Textbook Wars
02/24/2022
Strange Country Ep. 218: Kanawha County Textbook Wars
The 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 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
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Strange Country Ep. 217: Queen for a Day
02/17/2022
Strange Country Ep. 217: Queen for a Day
What would you want if you were named Queen for a Day? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this strange game show that awarded one woman with the saddest story with blenders and washing machines rather than actual policies or help that would take her out of her awful situation. Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite Sources: Buck, Stephanie. This 1950's Game Show Profited From the Poverty of a New Woman Everyday. Medium. March 24, 2017. O'Geiblin, Megan. Are There HIdden Advantages to Pain and Suffering? Nov.8, 2021, The New Yorker. MIchael Wortsman Hollywood Laundromat. 2022. Website: http://queenforaday.com/classic.php
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Strange Country Ep. 216: Miss America
02/10/2022
Strange Country Ep. 216: Miss America
There she is . . . the Strange Country Podcast is back after its brief Covid hiatus to talk about a 100-year-old scholarship beauty pageant that crowns an annual queen in a country that overthrew the British government to escape a king. It was a chance for young women to show their talents wearing a swimsuit and answering questions like “Was the Jan. 6 insurrection an example of legitimate political discourse?” Theme music: Big White Lie by Cite your sources: Argetsinger, A. (2021, December 16). 100 years ago, the first miss america pageant was as messy as today's. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/12/16/first-miss-america-margaret-gorman/ Argetsinger, A. (2021). There she was: The secret history of Miss America. Atria. Bernstein, A. (2016, February 25). Yolande Betbeze Fox, a miss america who rebelled, dies at 87. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/yolande-betbeze-fox-a-miss-america-who-rebelled-dies-at-87/2016/02/25/32374126-dbda-11e5-81ae-7491b9b9e7df_story.html Braver, R. (2018, September 30). Remembering 1968: When miss america met Women's Liberation. CBS News. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/remembering-1968-when-miss-america-met-womens-liberation/ Haigh, S. (2021, December 14). Miss america turns 100. will she last another 100 years? AP NEWS. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/miss-america-turns-100-bf3837c87e003b3025b91700cb4e9bd8 Lenz, L. (2019, May 14). The heavy crown of Gretchen Carlson. Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/gretchen-carlson-fox-miss-america.php Mifflin, M. (2021). Looking for miss america: A pageant's 100-year quest to define womanhood. Counterpoint.
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Strange Country Ep. 215: Moonies 3 in 3-D
12/16/2021
Strange Country Ep. 215: Moonies 3 in 3-D
In the final installment in the Moonies’ trilogy, Strange Country looks at Sun Myung Moon’s influence in American politics, and how his money helped the New Right gain power. There’s also sound effects that you can hear, which is a Christmas miracle.
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Strange Country Ep. 214: Moonies 2, Electric Boogaloo
12/09/2021
Strange Country Ep. 214: Moonies 2, Electric Boogaloo
In the second installment of the Moonies, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about mass marriage, rituals and how Sun Myung Moon began to cement his relationship with the New Right in America. You’ll never look at indemnity sticks and handkerchiefs the same.
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Strange Country Ep. 213: Moonies, Part I
12/02/2021
Strange Country Ep. 213: Moonies, Part I
Sun Myung Moon claimed to be the Messiah who would bring about the kingdom of heaven. See God visited him and told him it was his turn to pick up where Jesus left off. And apparently that was convincing lonely college kids to peddle candy and flowers at street corners and airports. In this multi-episode show, cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the Unification Church, the True Parents, and ways they could possibly convince loyal dashounds to peddle Strange Country merch to the masses.
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Strange Country Ep. 212: Belle Gunness
11/18/2021
Strange Country Ep. 212: Belle Gunness
Dashounds and Readers! Ever wonder what to do if your husband dies and you have a farm to keep up? If you’re Belle Gunness, you are glad for the extra hog food, and excited to hop onto the 1900’s version of Tinder—the newspaper want ads! If only her suitors had FB; they may have been a little more cautious. But alas it was that er-ah when times were tough and a woman could quite literally get away with murder.
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Strange Country Ep. 211: Room 1046/Yuba Country Five
11/04/2021
Strange Country Ep. 211: Room 1046/Yuba Country Five
On this episode, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly delve into two unsolved mysteries, one in 1935 and one in 1978. In 1935, Roland T. Owen checked into The President Hotel and was murdered by those unknown. In February 1978, five men took a wrong turn when leaving a basketball game and never made it home.
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Strange Country Ep. 210: The Sodder Family
10/21/2021
Strange Country Ep. 210: The Sodder Family
A forever mystery will haunt your ears this week, Dash Hounds. Join Kelly and Beth as we discuss the missing Sodder children, who quite literally went up in smoke one terrible Christmas night in West Virginia, never to be seen again. A warning: if you don’t like women or cats, you probably shouldn’t listen. But if you do, then you should listen because as you well know, it is an act of love.
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Strange Country Ep, 209: Scary Smorgasborg
10/14/2021
Strange Country Ep, 209: Scary Smorgasborg
It’s the time of year when pumpkin spice permeates everything including Strange Country, and people are in the mood to sit in front of a pumpkin-spice scented fire to hear some scary stories. Join Beth and Kelly as they darn socks or stories about the Congelier Mansion, the White Lady, and the haunting of the H house.
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Strange Country Ep. 208: James Hogue
10/07/2021
Strange Country Ep. 208: James Hogue
James Hogue claimed to be many things. A high school student, an orphan, a ranch-hand, a carpenter, a ski instructor, a ski stuntman, a bioengineer, an ivy leaguer. He has lived a lifetime of deception using false credentials to earn a spot in the 1993 graduating class at Princeton University. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk adults passing as teenagers and how sometimes it works and sometimes It’s Never Been Kissed.
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Strange Country Ep. 207: Elizabeth Packard
09/23/2021
Strange Country Ep. 207: Elizabeth Packard
In the 19th century, men could commit women to asylums for such stellar reasons as excessive thinking or novel reading. Elizabeth Packard was married to a real prince who committed her because she was smarter than him. Strange Country cohosts share her heroic tale, and Beth reveals an alarming secret about her cat.
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Strange Country Ep. 206: Victorian Tapeworm Diet
09/09/2021
Strange Country Ep. 206: Victorian Tapeworm Diet
One constant--besides death and taxes--is the notion that women need to work to attain that ever-morphing ideal body that doesn't actually exist. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about diet plans like ingesting tapeworms to obtain the consumption look in Victorian times. There's also asides on the many ways humans choose to destroy themselves. Fun!
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Strange Country Ep. 205: Mountain Meadows Massacre
09/02/2021
Strange Country Ep. 205: Mountain Meadows Massacre
America's home-spun religion of Mormonism has a bloody past. The founder Joseph Smith was murdered, and the Saints run out of various places they settled. This us-versus-them mentality really fermented in the Great Salt Valley where Brigham Young whipped his flock into a frenzy about interlopers and outsiders. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about how that volatile mx led to some Mormons murdering approximately 120 adults and children.
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Strange Country Ep. 204: Exorcism
08/26/2021
Strange Country Ep. 204: Exorcism
Dear Dash Hounds: Has worry from Covid taken over your life? Are you behaving in ways that seem rather devilish, as your rage powers on? Might you be possessed? If you are, Beth and Kelly know who to call and you will too after listening to this episode of Strange Country. We discuss the original muse/ inspiration for the movie The Exorcist. We hope you enjoy this brief escape from reality…or is it? Thanks always for listening, it is an act of love.
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Strange Country Ep. 203: Weigh Down Workshop
08/19/2021
Strange Country Ep. 203: Weigh Down Workshop
Maybe you've tried Keto or Atkins or the blood type diet, but have you thought about maybe trying God? The Weigh Down Workshop was founded by Gwen Shamblin in 1986. She didn't believe in dieting, exercising or counting calories. Shamblin instead told followers to rely on God and pray that He will slap the Doritos out of your hand. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about this program turned church and how some cult experts see it as a cult.
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Strange Country Ep. 202: The Goat Castle
08/12/2021
Strange Country Ep. 202: The Goat Castle
Today's Strange Country tale involves murder, racism and goats. The big three, as we like to say. In 1932, Jennie Merrill was murdered in Natchez, Miss. Her neighbors who lived in a dilapidated estate nicknamed The Goat Castle likely had something to do with it, but it was a black laundress named Emily Burns who was convicted of the crime. Because everything is garbage.
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Strange Country Ep. 201: Cahokia
08/05/2021
Strange Country Ep. 201: Cahokia
You know Beth and Kelly have issues with numbers, and anything prior to or around BC, AD and CE is hard for us to comprehend. So please bear with us this episode as we go back 1,000 years to the hopping city of …Cahokia. Have you ever heard of it? We didn’t think so (but if you have, please tell us!) It is real and it is part of the important but ignored history of North America. And who can we blame for the fact that thousands of earthen mounds with rich and deep history have been plowed under?
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