Interesting If True

Episode 77: A Wizarding thanksgiving...Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that has so many things to be thankful for, but most of all, it's you, dear listener!

I'm your host this week, Aaron, this week I learned that Varsity Blues was the name of the movie with the whipped cream bikini lady… but let’s be honest, Captain America wore it better.

I'm Shea, and this week I learned that if you want to preserve your vaccine virginity all you need to do is not move when they stick you with the needle and it doesn’t count, it’s called vaccine soaking.

Round table

This week’s show airs just after American Thanksgiving. For those unfamiliar, it's the special time of year where we gather friends and family over for a traditional meal of tortured birds, carbs, and Covid-19. The holiday commemorates the lies we tell school children about the peaceful nature of European pilgrims and what they actually did to the Wampanoag First Nation Peoples who helped them survive a particularly cold winter that, apparently, Christian god was not up to the task of sorting out.

Still, it’s not merely a display of food wealth designed to shove Euro-centric ideals of prosperity down the throats of the non-white Americans who, then as now, provide the food, means, and often recipes we enjoy. There’s also the bit where the privileged take a moment to thank themselves.

Hopefully, this is a slightly less gross display of thanks because we are, indeed, very thankful for you, our listeners, and all your support. And I don’t just mean financial! To everyone who listens, shares, likes, and yeah, supports us, we thank you! Your generosity over the years has meant a lot to us in the studio. It’s enabled fan equipment, meet-ups, our worldly beer knowledge, and most importantly, our continued ability to donate to WyoAIDS. Recently, at DQB 2021, we were able to straight-up donate a big, novelty, check's worth of cash and it is entirely thanks to the generosity of our patrons and donors. Thank you!

On a personal note, I’d like to thank my co-hosts Jenn, Jim, Shea, and Steve for putting up with my nonsense for going on a decade — and indeed a few of you longer ;)

Speaking of Jim, I’d like to thank him for all the wonderful help over the years with everything from homework to officiating my wedding. Specifically, today I’d like to say thanks for managing our Insta and FB pages. If you’ve enjoyed the factoids, memes, and funnies we’ve been sharing, a great way to say thanks is to like and subscribe to us of course, but also to the WyoAIDS Facebook page, where every like and share makes a life-saving cause more visible. Thanks, Jim!

And now that we’ve gone around the table and said thanks, let’s go ahead and take the piss out of the holiday eh!?

Thanksgiving

I won’t dwell on the “true” meaning of Thanksgiving. Far more intelligent, insightful, and connected people than I have done far better jobs and shared the true history of the holiday, its terrible impact on the Wampanoag and other First Nations peoples, and the nearly vegan-inducing levels of Turkeycide.

If you want more info on those things there are some links in the show notes to great articles. Also, I can wholeheartedly recommend episode four of Taste The Nation: Season Two, wherein Padma Lakshmi does a fantastic job of talking with Wampanoag leaders and historians. She covers everything from the National Day of Mourning to what they ate. It’s a fantastic watch that tells the truth but doesn’t make you want to go play in-between the train tracks after.

Instead,

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that shines so bright, you gotta wear shades!

I'm your host this week, Aaron, and with me is

I'm Shea, and this week I learned that the soup of the day implies another, possibly seductive, soup of the night.

Round Table

Starts with an apology for a late episode. We had some technical trouble and got it sorted out but I’m afraid it didn’t leave enough time for editing, so… late episode. Hopefully, it’s worth it.

A quick plug for some of the shows in our orbit, Scathing Atheist and Cognitive Dissonance has started Vulgarity for Charity 2021! You know the drill, donate $50 or more to Modest Needs — a fantastic charity that operates the same way WyoAIDS does — and email your receipt to [email protected] with a request for a hilarious and outrageous roast. The donor can request anyone or anything to be roasted and the podcast crew will select 200 roasts of all of the roasts! It’s a good charity and the roasts are hilarious!

Friday Night Lights

Get it, cause this comes out on Fridays and it’s about light!

Whatever, I’m funny.

So I was getting my beard trimmed and my barber asked if blue light filters were really a thing — presumably interested in anything that might dim the incandescent-cacasity of my visage.

We chatted briefly about low-light modes, red and blue filters, night-shift apps. The usual. Until she mentioned something I’ve never come across — the belief that blue light, indeed any blue light — is harmful to humans.

Now, I’ve heard of some woo. Jump back in the archive past Spooktober and you’ll find things like “soaking and breathing in Radon will prevent or cure any illness”, or “wearing pigeons as shoes will prevent or cure any illness”, or a personal favorite, “attempting to prevent or cure illness is pointless because it’s demons all the way down.” Not sure who to attribute that quote to, let’s just say anyone who’s woo is somewhere between “germ theory is wrong” and “lower fourth-dimensional alien lizards.”

So, intrigued I did the usual. I opened Chrome logged into the show’s Google account — the one I use to Google, subscribe, and interact with crazy — to see what the Google Bubble would generate. And I was not disappointed.

Before I get to the fun stuff, let’s get a new things out of the way. Blue light is just light in the 380 to 500 nm range. It’s also known as high-energy visible, or HEV, light. And if you know anything about energy, words like “high” are just hippy-science-jerk speak for “will probably give your soul cancer-aids.” Can’t trick me Big Visible Light Spectrum!

Aside from being a portion of the visible spectrum of light, we’re all exposed to, use, and kind of depend on all day, “blue light” is the boogieman of the electronics industry and, by proximity, the cause of innumerable, made-up, woo-woo illnesses like Electromagnetic Spectrum Disorder. You may be familiar with ESD from Better Call Saul, which the titular character believes himself to suffer from, much to the chagrin of the rest of the cast. To be clear, ESD is not a thing and has been thoroughly debunked. I’ll probably do a show on it when I need some low-hanging research fruit. Until then and for our purposes today, we simply need to know that some blue light woo’s use ESD-esque arguments to explain refusing to use some kinds of light bulbs, apply overly aggressive blue-light filters to their tech, or simply refuse to go outside during the day.

What we do know is that the cold-blue light of m...

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that walks you like an Egyptian right into a nearby hospital temple!

I'm your host this week, Aaron, and with me are:

I'm Jenn, did you know the human stomach can digest a razor blade in about two hours?

I'm Shea and this week I learned that the only part of your reflection you can lick is your tongue?

Oh yeah, you know what time it is… it’s time for some more WEIRD HISTORY...ree etc

* http://www.ancientpages.com/2014/11/19/mystery-lost-underground-city-grand-canyon/

* https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/02/the-mysterious-lost-underground-civilization-of-the-grand-canyon/

* https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/lost-civilization-in-grand-canyon-was-egyptian.htm

* https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4556

* https://io9.gizmodo.com/when-the-smithsonian-discovered-an-ancient-egyptian-col-5875252

* https://www.eyeofthepsychic.com/egyptiancanyon/

* http://www.reptoids.com/bio.htm

* https://wexclub.com/

I know I said no more hoaxes for a while, but it’s my segment and I do what I want.

April 9th of this year will be the 111th anniversary of a really exciting news article. Moon batpeople exciting? No, not quite, but pretty cool, and about as factual.

So yes, in the April 9th, 1909 edition of the Arizona Gazette ran a front-page story entitled ‘Explorations In the Grand Canyon’. Now, while that’s not exactly the most thrilling of front-page news, it doesn’t exactly throw up any red flags that the following information would be early 20th-century looney tooney, either. (The subheadings are pretty good though.)

The article covers the recent adventures of Smithsonian Institute explorer G.E. Kincaid on an expedition headed by anthropologist Prof. S.A. Jordan, as they...well, made explorations in the Grand Canyon. But this was no run-of-the-mill, rim-to-rim through hike with maybe some talk of mule deer and desert lizards. Nope. It was a ‘the Cardiff Giant is obviously a fossilized man’ and blue moonicorns kinda story. It also has a bit of local flair for us Wyomingites.

The main gist of the story is the archaeologists have just sent back word that they have discovered, at the base of a sheer 1500ft cliff inside the Canyon, the entrance to a ginormous hidden cave city.

From the article:

"The latest news of the progress of the explorations of what is now regarded by scientists as not only the oldest archaeological discovery in the United States, but one of the most valuable in the world, which was mentioned some time ago in the Gazette, was brought to the city yesterday by G.E. Kinkaid, the explorer who found the great underground citadel of the Grand Canyon during a trip from Green River, Wyoming, down the Colorado, in a wooden boat, to Yuma, several months ago.”

Cool, cool. This was still a time period when a lot of the big western states were largely unexplored, so they definitely could be on an adventure full of derring do and actual scientific discovery. And who knows, there could have been a civilization that DID create a city in the GC.

Things get a little more...suspect however the deeper into the article you dive. Or spelunk, if you will. Did this vast newly discovered city show examples of the craftwork and lives of ancient American indigenous people? Not exactly.

The majority of the article and report is told from the perspective of K...

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that scares because it cares.

I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me are:

I'm Aaron, and this week I learned that I’m really bad at bingo. C’est la vie, what’s one more sport I can’t play eh?

I’m Steve, and this week I learned,

I'm Jenn, and this week I learned that if Alexander Graham Bell had his way when we answer the phone we’d say “Ahoy”, Thomas Edison suggested “hello”

We settled on “Ah’hoy and Fuck Thomas Edison.”

This Week’s Beer

Blanche De Bruxelles - Lefebvre Belgium

Thanks to Steve-E!

* Steve: 5* Jenn: 5* Shea: 5* Aaron: 5

Round Table

This Round Table is a special one. Once upon a podcast, we did an annual Drag Queen Bingo wrap-up, but it’s been a few, what with that ol’Covid-19 thing and whatnot. But this year we got to have an event and it was a blast!

We’ll post some pics on the FBs and such soon, so make sure you like, subscribe, and all that jazz. So, bingo!

So yeah, it was fun. But we should get to the important stuff. By the end of the night, the Stilettos raised a fantastic $32,738! That will help a lot of people! Of that, and entirely thanks to your support, Interesting If True managed to buy a table, some fun bingo swag, and make a big-ass, novelty, check-worthy donation. All said and done, we donated a little under $1,500!

Seriously, though, if I can take a moment. We don’t pay ourselves out from the show. Initially, we solicited patrons to buy equipment to improve the show. Then to cover travel costs to meet fans and other podcasters at ReasonCon. To our humbled surprise, you were willing to help and we met those goals, and exceeded them, which meant that we could start our tradition of giving our profits to charity. With kit covered and travel… plagued… we were able to donate more than usual this year and we couldn’t be more grateful to you all. Everyone who has or is donating to the show, liking and sharing us, or helping us by listening to our nonsense is directly responsible for our ability to make this donation.

Truly, thank you all!

And with that sappiness out of the way, let’s hear about some weird-ass Halloween stuff!

Terrifying Trivia

Tonight’s terrifying trivia is all about horror movies through the ages, I found some awesome facts and trivia about some of our favorite classics and tonight we crown our horror Scream Queen, or, probably unlikely Killer King. I almost asked Jenn if she wanted to go up against Aaron and Steve as a team in order to give them a fighting chance. For those not in the know, one of Jenn’s favorite October activities is horror movies! I have a number of questions for the hosts tonight. We will go one at a time with a chance to steal with a steal worth ½ points. Without further ado, it’s trivia time!

This film was reportedly based on the real-life Lutz family’s abbreviated stint living at 112 Ocean Avenue, the site of a grisly mass murder in Long Island, New York, the horror film doesn’t have to be entirely accurate to scare the pants off its viewers with bleeding walls, the glow of a feral animal’s stare, and, of course, a previously doting-now possessed husband on a mission to murder his wife and children.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

3,200 animals were trained for this movie and one actor reported they were fed a mixture of grain and whiskey in order to ge...

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast of the hosts with the ghosts

I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me are:

I'm Aaron, and this week I learned graveyards are probably the least haunted areas because ghosts stick around where they died and I don’t think a lot of people die in the graveyard…

I'm Steve, and this week I learned that garages are basically blooming onions -- the more you clean them, the bigger they get.

Round Table

This is your last update before Drag Queen Bingo. Awkwardly this is future Aaron, so I don’t know for sure but bets are good the event is sold out. Hopefully, we’ll see you next year but there is still plenty of time to make a donation that counts towards this year's DQB! Visit WyoAIDS.org to find out more!

This Week’s “Beer”

Stiegl Radler (Grapefruit)

Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH

* Aaron: 9* Steve: 9+* Shea: 10

Haunted Haunts take too.

We have all heard of haunted houses and haunted hotels and now a haunted brewery but how about a haunted town, a literal ghostly ghost town. Frozen in time and coated with a layer of ochre desert sand, Al Jazirat Al Hamra is a hamlet of perfectly preserved Ras Al Khaimah history, in the UAE. And dust isn’t the only thing covering the town; it’s shrouded in mystery, surrounded by rumors, and possibly even haunted by ancient ghosts.

Jazirat al Hamra, which translates to Red Island, has a reputation for being haunted. Established sometime in the 14th century, the once-thriving fishing and pearl-diving village of over 300 houses and 13 mosques were suddenly abandoned in 1968. And since then, while the rest of the United Arab Emirates has marched to the drums of progress, this little corner of Ras al Khaimah has remained unchanged, protected from modernity, embalmed in myth and mystery.

If stories circulating on the local grapevine are to be believed, the village of Jazirat al Hamra is a hotbed of djinn activity. Tales of strange noises, chilling wails, and unexplained apparitions are shared in huddled whispers around majlises and campfires across the country. Maybe this is a reason why most Emiratis and ex-pats tend to stay away from the place. Especially at night. The seaside village established a reputation as a djinn hotspot after its abandonment in 1968.

The old village has long attracted nocturnal thrill-seekers to its 300 or so mud brick, concrete, and coral stone buildings, some of which are up to 100 years old and exemplify changing styles of pre-oil architecture. Djinn tourism is a popular UAE pastime, and Al Hamra is the region’s top destination. Djinn, of course, are shape-shifting spirits made of fire and air with origins in pre-Islamic Arabia. They are the inspiration for Aladdin’s genie and have held space in Arab culture for almost as long as Arab culture itself. And yet, having transcended both religion and the physical world, so little is understood about the spirits.

Residents insist Al Hamra is djinn free. They want the old village to be known for its dhow-building heritage or for its pearling fleets that roamed Gulf waters until the trade faded away in the 1950s. Djinn stories are denied to visitors, but witness accounts appear in everyday conversation.

“They’re afraid now of cars, of people,” said local Saif Rashed, who is about 75.

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that scares you with haunting facts, mostly.

I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me are:

I'm Aaron, and this week I learned that the downside of flipping houses is that nearly all hauntings take place in cheap, run-down, fixer-uppers… you’re probably gonna get slimed...

I'm Steve, and I’m not funny or prepared.  But he did bring breakfast and beer so...

I'm Jenn and learned that Nightmare on Elm Street saved Newline Cinema allowing a plucky New Zealand director to bring us Lord of the Rings.

This Week’s Beer

This week’s beer is from the back of Steve’s fridge. Though the back of his fridge is a magical land of stuff he won’t drink and I will.

Mountain Toucan - Horse & Dragon Brewing Company

Style:Sour - Berliner Weisse

ABV:5.3%

Rating- Not enough data

* Aaron- 7* Steve- 6* Shea- 8* Jenn- Is dying

Haunting Haunts

As it gets closer and closer to Halloween you can feel it get spookier and spookier, or maybe it's just because people are decorating. Either way, I love this time of year and I have been coming up with ideas for my Halloween costume this year, thinking of gluing a bunch of nickels to the back of an old shirt and going as nickel back, but I digress. This week as I was wading through the scarier side of the internet I found some lovely horrible stories on Haunted places that I thought I could bring to you today.

Because we normally start the show with a beer, I found it apt to start this story with a brewery. Savannah, Georgia is one of the most gorgeous cities in America. The Spanish moss drips off the live oaks and makes the whole city feel old and full of history, and probably ghosts. Even the streets and buildings seem like they have a story behind them, or ghosts hiding behind them. You see, Savannah is also one of the most haunted cities in America. Among the many ghost stories that fill the old buildings of Savannah, there are the ones that surround The Moon River Brewing Company.

The Moon River Brewery started pouring pints in 1999. Originally built in 1821 by Charleston native Elazer Early, the City Hotel was the town's first hotel and post office; it even housed a branch of the Bank of the United States. The City Hotel was an upscale establishment, however, the affluent clientele occasionally resorted to violence defending their Southern honor. Drawing in customers from the Yankee North, locals weren't always friendly to City Hotel customers. In 1851 a man named Peter Wiltberger would buy this property. He would renovate it and even had a lion and lioness on display. Keep in mind that this was a live lion for attraction. The City Hotel guests would check out for the last time in 1864. This was just before the City Hotel would close down.

By the time Gen. Sherman reached Savannah during the Civil war, the city was mostly deserted and buildings were spared typical Union destruction. The City Hotel survived the Civil War and sat largely unused until the 1990s when it was renovated into the Moon River Brewing Company.

During its tenure, many fun events took place like during the spring of 1832, a feud broke out between an undesirable local, James Stark, and the city physician, Dr. Phillip Minis. Things escalated that August at the City Hotel. Stark was drinking heavily and spewing disparaging remarks against the doctor. Dr. Minus walked into the bar, saw Stark, and shot him. Later, Dr. Minus said he saw Stark reach for his gun first,...

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that does a Halloween-based, month-long, thing… it’s a theme ya see… or… maybe you don’t! oooOOOoooOooo. Ghosts.

I'm your host this week, Aaron, and with me are:

I'm Shea, and this week I learned there are 27 bones in your hand, but 28 if you’re lonely.

I’m Steve,

This Week’s Beer

Bruz - Cabernet Grand Cru

* Aaron: 8* Shea: 7* Steve: 5

Round Table

I joined Dustin from Atheist Nomads this week for a headline or two or six. It was a good chat! I felt a little bad actually, we got to chatting and I think I kept him way past his bedtime… it was sure as hell past mine.

Look for that to come out… soon, probably. He said the episode number and I could do the math but you should be listening anyway.

We’ve also got a royal announcement!

No, Shea isn’t preggers, it’s Drag Queen Bingo!

This year’s theme is A Royal Affair, so dawn your fanciest crown and come have a beer with us! Tickets will go on sale on October first and usually sell out quickly! The event will be at the Laramie Hilton Garden Inn. Normally, we’d have a reservation block, but it’s already sold out. Still, if you’re going to be in the Laramie area and want to have a good time get a ticket… or send us an email! As is our tradition we’ve purchased a VIP table which seats 10, but… we don’t have 10 hosts so we’ll have a ticket or two to spare for the first handful of folks who reach out.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled nonsense.

Gun-Ghost Rides Again… Again: The Second Coming of a Sequel!

A few weeks back I told patrons the story about that time bored Australians pretended to be ghosts to everyone’s detriment. Especially that kid that got shot in the chest. He was not love’n it.

Continuing our Halloween quest for ghastly ghosts, ghouls, and a third thing, I bring to you the obligatorily-“curious” case of the Hammersmith Ghost!

The case of the Hammersmith Ghost murder is an intreguing tale of the supernatural, murder, and18th century British Paralmentray law.

But since I’m not one of the Andrews, we’ll mostly stick to the fun stuff.

So, the year is 1803. The place, Hammersmith, a district of west London. England. Earth. And the filler, was needed… 1803 began on a Saturday for Greg and a Thursday for Julian. The French sold Louisiana somehow. Ohio becomes a regret… er, state. And… that was kind of it, shortest year wiki page I’ve done so far. Lame 1803, I thought you were better than this.

Still, ghosts!

The people of Hammersmith were haunted by what they described as “a spectre [sic] clothed in a winding sheet,” though sometimes it was described as wearing “a calf skin with horns.” Fearing the apparition the locals found themselves in the throes of a particularly strong bout of mass hysteria.

Conventional wisdom at the time claimed the ghost was that of a man who had recently committed suicide. At the time, to bury a suicide on consecrated ground left the spirit to wander the Earth forever. As he was entombed at a church, he fit the bill and just as naturally, this pissed the ghost off and that explains, apparently, the attacks on the villagers.

Much of this is hearsay and rumor, but a few details persist in each telling of the story I found with sufficient evidence t...

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that is a basic bitch

I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me is Aaron!

I'm Aaron, and this week I learned that the natural enemy of Cryptozoologists and Ufologists alike are… moths. Moths that play tricks of light in their terrible, blurry, “evidence”...

Round Table

Aaron Guesting on Atheist Nomads. Because of production schedules, we don’t yet know when it’s airing, so I guess you’ll just have to start listening to Atheist Nomads.

Yes, we do! Listen to it now!

Aaron recently joined Dustin on episode 426 of Atheist Nomads. Thanks to Dustin for hosting an... Interesting... discussion! Again, check them out at AtheistNomads.com or subscribe directly to their show using the buttons in the player.

This Week's Beer

Baltimore Blond - Baltimore and Guinness.

* Aaron: 8* Shea: 8

Mysterious Monsters And More

October is finally here and with the fall leaves and apple cider come the monsters and mayhem of Halloween. This is my favorite time of year, sweatshirt weather and Ugg boots, heck yes! Might I add I look great in yoga pants, too? Well, to kick this scary season off, today I’m gonna introduce you to some mad monsters and paranormal predators you may have never heard of. This week I delve deep into ancient mythos and modern myths to bring you mysterious monsters and more…

While reading some weird Creepy comics this week I stumbled on a haunting creature called Vrykolakas. Vrykolakas, also called Vorvolakas or Vardoulakis, is a terrible, undead creature in Greek folklore. It shares similarities with numerous other legendary creatures but is generally equated with the vampire of the folklore of the neighbouring Slavic countries. While the two are very similar, vrykolakas eats flesh, particularly livers, rather than drink blood, which combined with other factors such as its appearance bring it more in line with the modern concept of a zombie.

A Vrykolakas

The word “Vrykolakas” isn’t strictly vampiric in and of itself, and is actually linked to wolves! It is Slavic in origin and comes from the root words meaning “wolf.” According to ByLightUnseen.net, “the etymological leap from werewolf to vampire is obscure.” The earliest uses of the word seem to be around the mid-1600s. In 1645, Leo Allatius. According to Allatius, “The vrykolakas is an evil and wicked person who may have been excommunicated by a bishop. Its body swells up so that all its limbs are distended, it is hard, and when tapped it thrums like a drum.” It has also been reported, along with the rise of the Greek Orthodox Church, that the Vrykolakas had to do with evil (or the devil) inhabiting a body of the already dead, causing it to move.

The Vrykolakas do not turn those with a bite. Instead, it would spread death through disease. If you saw a Vrykolakas walking around town, you would immediately know your town was in mortal peril. In order to draw people out, it would knock on doors. Once a person opened the door, they would soon die. To this day in Greece, it is common in some places to not open the door until the second knock. However, it also seems that not all Vrykolakas wanted to kill everyone they came into contact with. Sometimes, Vrykolakas were people who had died unfortunate or violent deaths and had to attend to some unfinished business. One can become a Vrykolakas fairly simply. It is said that if you live a sacrilegious life, were excommunicated, or were buried in the unconsecrated ground that...

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that helps you cook your beans by wading into “healing” waters.

I'm your host this week, Aaron, and with me is Shea, and she’s back! It’s Jenn:

I'm Shea, and he forgot to fill this out!

I’m Jenn, and so did she...

This Week’s Beer

Atomic Pumpkin, from New Belgium

* Aaron: 6

* Jenn: 8

* Shea: 8

Round Table

The Round Table begins a little more trianglish… because Jenn is here! Woo!

Obligatory episode 69 joke.

Make sure you leave us a review wherever your pods cast, they’re good for the show and it’s a great way to let us know how much better this show is with our lady voice!

As ever you can leave us a comment, recommend a beer, or just scream into the void at 513-760-0463! Also accepting texts.

And if you’re not a patron, I’d just like to take this opportunity to remind you that you’ll get a unique story each week that is usually the same length or longer than the public story… and this week it’s a super awesome quiz! Does Jenn retain her quiz throne or will we crown a new, furrier, queen Yeti! Find out at patreon.com/IIT

Widows Peaks…

No, not your hair, peaks, like mountains.

Covid is a problem. But, you know, not that much of a problem. Seriously, like 99.9% of people survive it. The real problem is the vaccine. It’s thousands of times safer, which means it’s actually more dangerous. So dangerous that we all need to stock up on fish tank cleaners and horse dewormers. Also dog dewormer too, because if you take treatments for 8 legs, but only have two, that’s four times the health—which is way more health than Bill Gates’ 5G towers can beat!

But what if the lizard, communist, socialist, Marxist, Illuminati, infect you with weaponized stupidity… er… I mean, the “flu”?

Well… Radiation, of course.

Everyone knows that liberals are terrified of things that good, red-blooded, Americans love. Like apple pie, freedom, and dying of aggressive, self-inflicted, lung cancer.

To that end, traditional cures for other terrible suffering, like life, have become popular among the dying-of-covid-but-still-don’t-think-it’s-real crowd.

Specifically: radon exposure.

Yes, those words in that order.

From "FREE ENTERPRISE RADON HEALTH MINE" (caps theirs):

Radon Therapy is found to induce beneficial long term effects for many who suffer conditions of chronic pain due to disease or injury. Additionally, this modality is effective for – but not limited to – the following conditions and symptoms:

As a brief in-quote aside, this is by no means an exhaustive list of things I found…

* Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS)

* Diabetes Type I & II

* Migraine Headaches

* Arthritis (OA, RA, JRA, etc.)

* Eczema

* Mobility… yep, radon will definitely cure your ability to move...

* Asthma

* Emphysema

* Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

* Behcet’s

* Fibromyalgia

Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that…

I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me is my buddy ol’ pal, Aaron!

I'm Aaron, and this week I learned that most eclipse totalities are only a few minutes, but the longest possible duration of totality is 7 minutes 31 seconds according to math.

That is, apparently, a true.

This Week’s Beer

Kokanee - It’s from a Glacier!

What can I say, we were in a bit of hurry. Regular beer reviews will resume next week!

* Aaron: 7* Shea: 10

Learning about ancient cultures has always been a hobby of mine, especially their myths and legends. I was surfing the net the other day and kept coming across stories about natural phenomena and I really wanted to know how ancient cultures would have dealt with these seemingly terrifying events. So today I give you…

Solar Eclipse of the Heart

As the Earth and moon sweep through space in their annual journey around the sun, the three bodies align in such a way that the Earth passes into the shadow of the moon. Observers then witness a sun that is gradually covered and uncovered by the moon’s disk – a spectacular celestial event.

But until astronomers were able to explain this phenomenon, a solar eclipse could be a terrifying event. In many cultures throughout human history, the sun was seen as an entity of supreme importance, crucial to their very existence. It was regularly worshipped as a god – Amun-Ra to the Egyptians and Helios to the Greeks – or as a goddess, such as Amaterasu for the Japanese and Saule for many Baltic cultures.

One reason the sun served as a god or goddess in so many cultures was its awesome power: Looking directly at it would severely damage the eyes, a sign of the sun deity’s wrath.

The idea that the sun deity could be temporarily extinguished in a total eclipse inspired a number of imaginative explanations. Most involve some sort of evil entity trying to devour the sun. Such myths undoubtedly arose from the fact that during the early stages of a solar eclipse, the sun appears to have a bite taken out of it.

Several East Asian cultures believed the eclipse was caused by a giant frog eating the sun, and in China, myths tell of a dragon doing the deed.. In Norse mythology, the eclipse was the result of two sky wolves, Sköll and Hati, chasing and finally eating the sun, leading to its temporary disappearance. Ancient civilizations often created their own imaginative explanations that fit into their established mythology. Some ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks and Chinese, already had the advanced ability to predict eclipses, but this knowledge did not always pass down to the common people, leaving much room for superstition and speculation.

The ancient Greeks believed that an eclipse was a punishment and abandonment; the English word “eclipse” is derived from the Greek “ekleípō”, meaning disappearance. The Greeks (or at least those who were uninvolved in the scientific community) believed that an eclipse foretold the gods punishing the king. In the days leading up to an eclipse, they rounded up captives to substitute for the king, hoping that the real king would escape the cosmic punishment. After the eclipse, they executed the captives as a cautionary protection.

Chinese astronomers were able to predict eclipses by 206 AD, but the explanation for eclipses remained mythical for many centuries. In Ancient China, solar and lunar eclipses were regarded as heavenly signs that foretold the future of the Emperor. The ancient Chinese believed that solar eclipses occur when a celestial dragon devou...