Everything Is Awful Forever

When you decide to go on a road trip do you prioritise transportation, supplies, and company? If so, you're three steps ahead of Vilhjalmur Stefansson, an almost university drop-out on a dangerous expedition. This week, Jess and Philippa compare travel plans as they dive into the deep dark of the Arctic winter and the merry snow ball fights that you can get up to when you're trapped on the ice.

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This Wednesday, we're taking a break to explore the steamy realm of Victorian literature. Just what did the Queen's subjects find sultry enough to risk hairy palms and imminent death by consumption?

Join Jess and Philippa as they read from The Pearl, a magazine devoted to publishing erotic material towards the end of the 1800s before they were shut down by the authorities. For obvious reasons, these readings should not be considered safe for work or human decency.

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Too taboo to even refer to the act outright, the Victorians wrote reams on the solitary vice, using whatever euphemisms they had to hand. This week, Jess and Philippa exercise similar tact and sensitively explore the act of riding the mayonnaise surf as well as the steps that the Victorians took to stem the tide.

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Running with our theme of people who noped out of society: how does a colony of pilgrims just vanish off the face of the earth? Murder. Probably murder. This week, Jess and Philippa talk about the Roanoke colony and the possible reason behind their eerie disappearance (hint: we're still going with murder).

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Have you ever looked at something and known that you could have done better? Like: a well-known television series. Or a cake. Or society. This week, Jess and Philippa talk about some eccentric individuals who decided to go off the grid and live the dream. Let's tag along...what could possible go wrong? Just don't forget to pack your entire Nietzsche collection. Don't have room for your teeth? Leave them behind - you won't need 'em.

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This week, we wanted to try something a little different. Over the past couple of months, we've been asking our listeners for some awful stories from your lives and cultures. Death rituals and celebrations? Ghost belly buttons? State-wide eugenics programs? Maybe everything is awful forever...

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A fire. A string of mysterious coincidences. Five missing children. This week, Jess and Philippa look at an unsolved case of disappearance of five members of the Sodder family.

Music:
"Never Can Stop It" by Lobo Loco
From the Free Music Archive
CC BY NC
"Der Fruling: Chorus: Ewiger, Machtiger, Gutiger Gott!" by MIT Concert Choir
From the Free Music Archive
CC BY NC

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Jess and Philippa return to the medieval dancing epidemic that terrified Strasbourg in 1518. Having established what took place, they now look at a possible explanation for this baffling phenomenon.

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Are you ever seized with an unstoppable urge to dance? Are you friends routinely embarrassed by you cutting a jig day and night, waltzing your feet to the bone? If your answer was yes, then you need to listen to this episode and perhaps seek out your nearest Catholic shrine to Saint Vitus.

This week, Philippa and Jess talk about the dancing plague that took hold of Strasbourg in 1518, and the bizarre remedies that...actually worked?

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Leapfrogging over bowing dignitaries is one thing, but if you've ever wanted to release leopards amongst your dinner guests or rename everything according to its relation to you, then Roman emperors may have a thing or two to teach us.

This week, Jess and Philippa talk about the hilarious pranks available to Roman emperors and maybe...just maybe...learn the meaning of true friendship.

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