What do YOU have in common with a prehistoric dire wolf? You might both live in North America, you both have spare blood, and you could both get... Lyme Disease!?

Part 1 of this 2-part series on Lyme Disease explores this bizarre, tenacious, and debilitating tick-borne illness that is rampant in the Northeast United States – and beyond.

Join Emily, Graham, and Will as they discuss what makes a spider a spider, the gross and amazing world of ticks, get into some unconventional gift ideas for the whole family, and cover both the crispy and gooey theories on the origins of this notorious illness.

Did you have a strange, unique, or interesting Lyme Disease experience? Want to share it with us?

Send us an email at l[email protected] and we might read it on the air!

Suddenly, the birds stop singing. The temperature plummets. The afternoon sun gives way to dusk, revealing the stars, planets, and creatures that only come alive at night. Is it the apocalypse? The wrath of God?! Well, we used to think so. Now we know we’re just witnessing an astounding astrological coincidence best known as a Total Solar Eclipse!

Solar eclipses are harmless astrological events that have evoked awe, fear, and major changes to world history. They have baffled scholars, terrified laypeople, and instantly ended war. Today, we know much more about eclipses and can appreciate them for the stunning experiences that they elicit here on Earth. Mark your calendars, because a Total Solar Eclipse will be making its way across North America on Monday, April 8, 2024!

Join us this week as Emily discusses what causes lunar and solar eclipses, what makes the upcoming solar eclipse so special, the history and lore of eclipses, and how to safely witness this natural wonder, retinas unfried.

The Byford Dolphin oil drilling rig located in the North Sea is no stranger to tragedy; the most notable infamously referred to as the “Byford Dolphin Incident”, or the “Diving Bell Incident”. Early November 1983, six seasoned saturation divers experienced explosive decompression that killed five, leaving one diver barely alive.

This event led to intense speculation on all sides of the incident. How could this have happened? Was it a mechanical or human error that caused the explosive decompression? Should the disaster-prone Byford Dolphin rig continue to operate?

Join us this week on our first “Fast and Loose” episode, where Will takes us through the gory details of this infamous diving catastrophe, Graham gives us some diving insight, and we get a spider-filled glimpse into the trios’ personal ‘local universe’. 

Ready for a new unlikely-but-totally-possible fear?

In 1982, 7 unsuspecting people were killed in the Chicago metro area when they opened and used Tylenol acetaminophen capsules that had been nefariously laced with potassium cyanide.

To this day, after 41 years of investigation no one has been arrested, charged, or convicted for this horrific act, no motive has been discovered, and the case has gone cold.

Johnson and Johnson's response to this crisis has become the stuff of PR and Marketing legend, and the aftermath of these deaths directly led to many reforms in the world of OTC pharmaceutical packaging that we still see today.

Join us this week as Emily goes in-depth to discuss what happened, how it was handled, and what came of it in this headache-inducing, seal-checking, and trust-breaking mystery of an episode of the Local Universe Podcast.

Please send all feedback, questions, and episode suggestions to [email protected]

We'll respond, I promise.

In 1921, the largest armed uprising in American History (other than the Civil War, of course) that you've probably never heard of occurred in Logan County, West Virginia. Lasting five days from late August to Early September of that year, over 10,000 armed coal miners confronted some 3,000 lawmen and strikebreakers over the miner's attempts to unionize amid some of the worst working conditions imaginable.

As tensions continued to rise, the United States Army was called in-- with some 27,000 West Virginia Army National Guard troops being stationed at Blair Mountain as per a Presidential peacekeeping order.

Ultimately. as many as 100 miners, 30 lawmen, and 3 soldiers were killed in the ensuing events, with nearly another 1000 miners being arrested at the scene.

Join us this week as Will goes into granular detail in exploring the context, contributing factors, and aftermath of the Battle of Blair Mountain on this dark, dusty, and monumental episode of the Local Universe Podcast.

Please send all questions, comments, episode ideas, and corrections to [email protected] We'd love to hear your feedback!

In 1985, a former chicken farmer-turned-SCUBA pioneer turned Bona Fide treasure hunter named Mel Fisher and his crew came across the motherlode after nearly 17 years of searching: the remains of a Spanish treasure fleet that sank off the coast of the Florida Keys in 1622, and of course, all the 350+ year old gold and riches that came with it, totaling over $450 million.

But before we get into that, why were the Spanish in Florida to begin with? What exactly even is the "Spanish Main"? How did no one find this gigantic pile of gold before? How did the gold get to the seabed anyway? What actually goes into searching for sunken treasure? Who gets to keep it once its found?

Join us this week as Graham gets a little carried away answering all those questions and so many more. while deep diving into the hollywood-esque but completely real story of Mel Fisher and Treasure Salvors, Inc on this briny, shiny, and inspirational episode of the Local Universe Podcast.

All the gold you could ever want could be down there just waiting to be found.

Please send all suggestions, comments, and corrections to [email protected]

We're back with part 2 of our miniseries on Yale University's Skull and Bones Society!

This is the good stuff, the kind of learning that makes you unapproachable at parties and the life of any family gathering for better or worse. Ever wanted a questionable take on the JFK assassination or something to shout from the rooftops that sounds outlandish but has a tiny nugget of truth to it? Well, look no further, because that's exactly what Emily has been diving into for weeks and she just can't wait to tell you about it.

In this episode, Emily continues to regale us with more tales of secret societies, clubs, conspiracies, and unverified tin foil hat-wearing speculation all based around the secretive and powerful Brotherhood of Death!

Please send all questions, comments, and episode suggestions to [email protected], and let us know what you think!

In this weeks episode of the Local Universe Podcast, we dive deep into the first part of another ooey gooey two part series!

This time, Emily leads us down a path of power, conspiracy, and general guys-being-dudes secret society stuff-- only this secret society happens to have ties to a staggering amount of world decision makers throughout their nearly 200-year history, including Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Secretaries of Defense, and hyper-successful entrepreneurs.

But before we get into all that wonderful and questionably-based conspiracy business, we'll have to lay down some actual verifiable facts.

Join us this week as we dive deep into the true story of the most mysterious collegiate fraternity of the past 200 years: Yale University's Skull and Bones Society.

Please send all questions, comments, and episode suggestions to [email protected] and let us know what you think!

We're back from our Winter hiatus! 

Join us today, as Will regales us of the tale of John Brown (1800-1859), a (Connecticut-born), Radical Abolitionist in the antebellum United States who took it upon himself to rally an army to raid a federal outpost in Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1859, with the ultimate goal of starting a liberation movement to end slavery in the United States for good. 

Though his raid was ultimately unsuccessful at the time, the extensive media coverage of his actions, subsequent trial and execution contributed greatly to the tensions that led to the US Civil War, the ultimate abolition of slavery in the United States, and his own place in the eyes of Northerners as a Martyr for the Union cause. 

 Let's dive deep into some US History on this episode of the Local Universe Podcast

Please send all questions, comments, and topic suggestions to [email protected] for a personalized and very grateful response. 

In the 1920's and early 1930's, Germany was a pretty horrible place to be. Between unprecedented economic inflation, a nearly nonexistent job market, and growing civil unrest, many Germans fled elsewhere to avoid the complex and horrible conditions that eventually led to WWII. One out-of-work electrician and kayaking hobbyist named Oskar Speck, decided that his best course of action would be to find work as far away from Germany as possible, by any means possible. 

As it turned out for Speck, that endeavor ended up becoming one of the most epic and unsung journeys ever completed-- a 7-year kayak journey from Germany to Australia, which just so happened to coincide with Hitler's rise to power and the start of WWII, and Speck being held captive in Australia for another 7 years upon his arrival to the Land Down Under. 

But why would anyone do that? How did he not drown or flip or get killed along the way? What happened after he was released? What's a Schnitzel really? 

Join us today as we explore the historical context, the journey itself, and a brief foray into Australian Wartime prison camps in this seafaring, shoulder-burning, globetrotting edition of the Local Universe Podcast. 

Fortune favors the bold as well as the lucky, and some even manage to be both.

Please send any questions, episode topic suggestions, or corrections to [email protected]