Don't Look Now

We discuss the American folklore icon Johnny Appleseed.  What is the real story of the real man?  How did he bring boozy apples to the west?  Come check out the podcast and find out!

We discuss the origins of American Thanksgiving.  What was the First Thanksgiving like?  What was actually eaten?  How did the modern holiday become a national tradition?  Join us and make a wish on a wishbone.

Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece is often considered one of the world's most important paintings due to it being the first great oil painting and the forerunner of artistic realism in the Renaissance.  It also has a very exciting history, escaping destruction from angry reformation crowds and being stolen multiple times throughout its lifetime.  One panel, stolen in 1934, is still missing.  Come listen and learn about questionable restorations, Nazi art thievery, and a very disturbing looking lamb. 

Time to learn about Doris Payne, one of the most prolific jewel thieves in history with a career spanning into her 80s (if it is indeed over at age 90).

We discuss the life and times of Grigori Rasputin, Russian peasant, holy man, womanizer, and official royal hanger on.  In the lyrics of Boney M:

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear
He could preach the Bible like a preacher
Full of ecstasy and fire
But he also was the kind of teacher
Women would desire 

Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia's greatest love machine
It was a shame how he carried on

We all know about Halloween, but what do you know about Devil's Night, aka Halloween Eve?  We discuss the history and less than rosy history of the night before Halloween, from kids turning over water basins to Detroit dumpster fires.

We discuss the Kensington Runestone, a stone of debated authenticity that is purported to be of 14th century Viking origin and found on a farm near Kensington, Minnesota.  Does this stone prove that Vikings explored much of northeastern North America and reached Minnesota, or is it all just a hoax?

We discuss the history and (believe it or not) science behind the Ouija Board, America's favorite portal to the other side/board game.

Travel back to the Wild West with the story of the Dalton Gang, a band of outlaws primarily run by the Dalton brothers that terrorized Oklahoma and Kansas and most famously participated in a bloody shootout following a double bank robbery in Coffeyville, Kansas.

We discuss the famous case of Tylenol tampering from 1982 Chicago, when seven people were killed by cyanide that was introduced into their Tylenol.  The random poisoning terrified the nation and remains unsolved to this day.