Black Sheep and Bad Apples

Originally published Jun 15, 2022.

The boys get together to discuss the legend of the Fountain of Youth. They discuss it's origin and the rumors around it to discern fact from fiction? Did the Fountain of Youth actually exist? And why is it in Florida?

In this episode, we get together to explore the Twelve Tribes cult, with our guest Eunice! The religious organization, which has had many name changes, patrols college campuses, cafes, and has, surprisingly, also toured with and in the parking lots at Grateful Dead shows. They got their start by owning and operating welcoming and warm coffee shops and staffing them with free labor. The organization has grown from a small group in Tennessee to a worldwide organization with membership in the thousands. They still own cafes, delis, and even a yerba mate company, and are, as always, recruiting.

*Content Warning*: This episode contains descriptions of potential child abuse that some people may find upsetting.

Originally published August 6th, 2021;

In this episode, Loren starts off by saying the wrong season and episode number. Shawn and their guest, Alex, delve into some history of California to try to examine exactly how California banned open carry weapons. We look at the inception of California starting with the small town of San Francisco, back when it had 500 souls living there and look at the weapons laws as it expanded throughout the years. It's an examination of how  racism has played into a lot of weapons bans throughout California's history.

Tonight we discuss how the United States became possessive over the  Caribbean and Latin America during the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Those regions had a lot of shit, and corporations and bankers wanted it,  and wielded the United States military as their "Big Stick". Listen in  as we discuss the Banana Wars and how they may have almost helped try to  overthrow the US.

Loren explores the world of "the end is near!!!" With special guest Kevin Porter from The Podcast That No One Listens To! Loren runs down what the end actually looks like. Historically speaking, there's some pretty strong indicators of failing or failed civilizations. So tonight we explore what the traits of failing civilizations are. We take a look at the question "are we, as the global community, about to collapse?"

**Post-show correction: I fucked up and said that Temujin was born August  18th, 1227, that's the date he died. I was wrong, and his birthday is  still ambiguous. My apologies.

The guys get together to sort-of continue from out last episode. Tonight we're covering a brief history of Cuba and the various factors that came into their being a sovereign island-nation and how that sovereignty changed over the years.

A part of my exploration into Cuba has to do with a few questions I've had, such as; How did the US come to own a part of Cuba, our on-again-off-again enemy? What's the terms for the indefinite ownership of Guantanamo Bay? Why is Cuba pissed about the US not being willing to negotiate the "at-will" clause of their agreement?

Also, what happens at Guantanamo Bay, and why is it so important? We get together to try to nail down some of these answers.

Loren, Shawn and Sam start off with Sam introducing his new title of  Doctor-Mister, and quickly delve into the topic of apples! They're a  fascinating tiny little fruits that come in a variety of shapes, flavors  and sizes, and they've been present during many historical events. We  get together to look at some of the varieties of apple, the folklore  they're present in, and where apples actually came from. So, join us as we look at the apple, it has a vast history touching on a  little bit of everything from tyrannicide, Norse mythology, gigantic  mega-fauna, the silk road, big tech and the beginning steps of science.

Without a Sam, Loren and Shawn are again joined by singer songwriter  Matthew Wallace to discuss Russian Espionage and Maria Butina! They  start the episode discussing Joe Biden and the stimulus checks, however,  and meander back into discussing convicted Russian covert operative  Maria Butina, a gun rights activist in Russia who used her platform to  infiltrate the American National Rifle Association and establish  back-alley ties with powerful Republicans and conservative figures with  an attempt to make contact with then-President Donald Trump. The story  is like a slapstick comedy movie about an incompetent spy who, somehow,  got at least SOME work done.

Shawn and Sam listen as Loren discusses the 10 hikers that died under mysterious circumstances in the remote region of the Ural Mountains in Russia. Named after the leader of the hike Igor Dyatlov, the hikers' bodies were found in various states of dress, with strange, unexplained blunt force injuries.

Sam and Shawn wrack their brains to try to solve this mystery one piece at a time. With new research having been just published, there may be a theory that finally explains it all, or does it? You decide.

Below are the photos shown the Sam and Shawn during the podcast, if you'd like to see all of the hikers' photos, you can find them here; https://dyatlovpass.com/cameras .

-------Photos-------

Dyatlov Group Digging Out The Snow To Put The Tent Down: https://earthsky.org/upl/2021/02/Dyatlov-Pass-01.jpg

The Tent When It Was Found: https://media.wired.com/photos/6011c4b54774061ec087b7fb/master/w_2560%2Cc_limit/Science_avalanche_PTPG73.jpg

Alleged Photo Of The Yeti: https://news.files.bbci.co.uk/include/extra/shorthand/assets/news/SoLiOdJyCK/assets/6HtGN9jWmi/yeti-950x624.jpeg

Possible Cause of Blunt Force Trauma: https://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fs43247-020-00081-8/MediaObjects/43247_2020_81_Fig5_HTML.png?as=webp

Possibly How A Slab Avalanche Could've Formed: https://scitechdaily.com/images/Dyatlov-Group-Tent-Configuration-777x578.jpg