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MIT Technology Review — https://www.technologyreview.com/

Smithsonian Magazine — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/

LIFE Magazine Archive — https://books.google.com/books/about/LIFE.html

Atomic Ranch — https://www.atomic-ranch.com/

Paleofuture (Smithsonian) — https://paleofuture.com/

Atomic Age design resources

Official Site — http://www.thevenusproject.com/

Future by Design (documentary)

Zeitgeist Addendum (documentary)

World’s Fair Museum — https://worldsfairusa.com/

WIRED — https://www.wired.com/

National Archives — https://www.archives.gov/

r/RetroFuturism — https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/

What did people in the 1950s and '60s think the year 2000 would look like? Flying cars? Robot maids? A kitchen that cooked dinner with the push of one shiny chrome button? A perfectly cheerful smart home that—ideally—didn’t spy on you?

In this episode of Messy Minded, Jess dives into the gloriously unhinged futures we once imagined: from retro-futuristic dream houses made of plastic, to food pills that never took off, to Cold War fallout shelters disguised as cozy family retreats. We’ll wander through world’s fairs, peek inside mid-century “homes of tomorrow,” and explore how sci-fi—from The Jetsons to The Matrix—shaped the future we’re living in now (and the future we definitely aren’t).

Along the way, we’ll visit the Venus Project, revisit the push-button optimism of the Atomic Age, and laugh at the predictions that aged like milk. Think of it as a guided tour through yesterday’s tomorrows — equal parts hopeful, weird, and wonderfully wrong.

Curl up with your metaphorical space blanket, hop into the retro time machine, and join me for a trip to the future… as imagined by the past.

Music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Bobby Cole for "Fifties Jukebox Moods Full" and "Milkshake Girl", Black Scorpion Music-Ali Afshar for "Matrix", "Get Ready",

William Medeirosri for "Tension" , Nikita Kondrashev for "Cosy, Quirky, Comedy", Geoff Harvey for "Mischief Maker", and Audio Coffee for "Funny"

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A peaceful mountain town. A newcomer with… opinions. And a story that starts quiet and ends in the kind of Appalachian mystery nobody writes down. Come wander the Smokies with me as we uncover what happens when the wrong person arrives in the right place at the worst possible time.

https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast

https://www.instagram.com/messymindedpod/

https://www.tiktok.com/@messymindedpod

https://www.youtube.com/@MessyMindedPod

Sources:

An Abbreviated History of Gatlinburg – Gatlinburg Inn

Gatlinburg – The Story of Radford Gatlin – Visit My Smokies Staff

Gatlinburg History from the 1700s – Today – Elk Springs Resort Blog Team

Music by:SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", and "Cosy Quirky Comedy"

#History

#AmericanHistory

#Appalachia

#Tennessee

#SmokyMountains

#Folklore

#WeirdHistory

#SmallTownHistory

#Storytelling

#MessyMinded

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Ever had an emotional reaction that felt way bigger than the situation? Like your body hit the panic button, and you’re not sure why?

In this short and snack-sized episode of Messy Minded, Jess explores the limbic system — the emotional part of the brain involved in trauma, fear, memory, emotional regulation, and survival responses. We’ll talk about why the limbic system reacts the way it does, how it stores old emotional patterns, and how to start healing trauma gently through self-regulation, nervous system care, and patterned safety.

https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast

https://www.instagram.com/messymindedpod/

https://www.tiktok.com/@messymindedpod

https://www.youtube.com/@MessyMindedPod

Sources:

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

PsychologyToday.org (Therapist Finder)

Harvard Health – Brain & Emotion Overview

Yale Scientific – The Science of Emotions

NICABM – How Trauma Triggers the Nervous System

Greater Good Science Center – Mindfulness Overview

The Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges

American Psychological Association – Types of Therapists

Music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", "Cosy Quirky Comedy", Geoff Harvey for "Lucky go lightly", Audio Coffee for "Funny"

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It's Halloweens origin story! Ever wonder why we carve faces into vegetables, hand candy to small pirates, and light fires to celebrate the dark? Turns out, Halloween didn’t start with chocolate — it started with Samhain, a Celtic festival where the veil thinned, the fairies roamed, and people wore disguises just in case something noticed them back.

In this episode, I tumble headfirst into the weird, wonderful history of Halloween — from druids and divine wars to bonfires, banshees, and the night the fairies basically handed humanity the keys to the world. Grab your pumpkin spice and a flashlight — things are about to get folklorically flammable.

https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast

https://www.instagram.com/messymindedpod/

https://www.tiktok.com/@messymindedpod

https://www.youtube.com/@MessyMindedPod

Sources:

Encyclopædia Britannica, “Samhain” – britannica.com/topic/Samhain

Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996)

National Museum of Ireland, “The Festival of Samhain” – museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Country-Life/Exhibitions/Folklife-Collections/The-Festival-of-Samhain

Library of Congress, Headlines & Heroes Blog: “The Origins of Halloween Traditions” – blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/10/the-origins-of-halloween-traditions

History.com Editors, “History of Halloween” – history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

Wikipedia, “Samhain,” “All Saints’ Day,” and “Cottingley Fairies” – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies

BBC, “The Truth About the Cottingley Fairies” – bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42456384

Leeds University Library Galleries, The Cottingley Fairies: A Study in Deception – artsandculture.google.com/story/lgVB6Ceti9WVAw

Music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Sosin Mykola "Halloween Spooky Eerie Music", Mykola Sosin "Mystery Mystic Mystical Music" and "Eerie - Wizard Mystery Music", MMAudio for "Chasing Faries", Hits Lab - Levgren Poltavsky " Halloween Background Music" and War Battle Military Drums", "Hunters of darkness epic and mystical fantasy music", Leigh Robinson " Alban Arthan (The Druids Christmas", scary horror creepy music, "Secret Room"

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In this episode Jess explores the cursed objects, haunted legacies, and historical hexes that won’t leave us alone. Jess's co-conspirator, Lolo. joins her again to help weigh in on supernatural etiquette. In Part Two of our Halloween special on curses, we’re diving deeper into the objects and artifacts that seem to carry doom in their wake — from world-famous jewels and tunnel-side tragedies to cursed paintings and spooky dolls with reputations that span generations. We're talking about cursed objects, cursed dolls, haunted paintings, Annabelle, King Tut, the Medusa myth, and more!

https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast

Music by SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Geoff Harvey "Spellcraft", ProgressiveTape "Gaslight Waltz", Jerome Chauvel "Middle Eastern Desert", Nick Panek "Energetic Rockabilly Instrumental", Denis Pavlov Music "Magical Ritual Shaman Amazonian Indians", Geoff Harvey "The Secret Room". Andorios "Gypsy Moderate", "Funny and Scary", Levgen Poltavski "Scary Horror Creepy Music", Studio3D Music "Podcast music good vibe", and Dmitry Taras "Scary Horror Music".

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Enjoy this teaser clip that'll be in our full feature Halloween episode on Oct. 30th!

Before we ever carved pumpkins, there was Jack: a trickster, a drunk, and the reason we light a candle every Halloween night. In this Messy Minded Halloween story, Jess retells the eerie Irish legend that gave us the jack-o’-lantern — and explains why some lights aren’t meant to go out.

https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast

https://www.instagram.com/messymindedpod/

https://www.tiktok.com/@messymindedpod

https://www.youtube.com/@MessyMindedPod

Music by: Sosin Mykola "Halloween Spooky Eerie Music" and SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove"

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 In this special Halloween two-parter, Jess and Lolo dive into the wild, weird world of curses — the spooky kind, the biblical kind, and the ones that sneak up on you through a mirror. Ancient Irish curses, old-school hexes, and whether you might be spiritually Teflon… or a high-risk hex magnet.

Don’t miss Part 2, dropping October 23rd, with even more terrifying tales, legendary hexes, and famous spooky cursed objects.

🎃 And on October 30th, tune in for our special Halloween episode packed with creepy stories to make your skin crawl.

https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast

Sources include:

Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions – Opie & Tatem

Cursed Objects – J.W. Ocker (for haunted items and cultural fear of curses)

The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland – Steve Roud

Folklore and the Supernatural – Jacqueline Simpson

History.com – “The Kennedy Curse”

Road & Track – “The Story Behind James Dean’s Cursed Car”

The Burning of Bridget Cleary – Angela Bourke

Irish Folklore Commission Archives

The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition – Frederick Thomas Elworthy

The Mexican American Folk Healing Tradition – Robert T. Trotter II

Magical Household – Scott Cunningham & David Harrington

Folklife Today – Salt in Superstition

Yurei: The Japanese Ghost – Zack Davisson

Signs, Cures, and Witchery: German Appalachian Folklore – Gerald Milnes

The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries – W.Y. Evans-Wentz

Music by SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Geoff Harvey "Spellcraft", ProgressiveTape "Gaslight Waltz", Jerome Chauvel "Middle Eastern Desert", Nick Panek "Energetic Rockabilly Instrumental", Denis Pavlov Music "Magical Ritual Shaman Amazonian Indians", Geoff Harvey "The Secret Room"

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What do you do when you know too much… and the people you know too much about want you dead?

In this episode of Messy Minded, I look into the dark, secretive world of witness protection — from its mob-infested origins in the 1970s to modern-day name changes, fake IDs, and lives rebuilt from scratch. But long before WITSEC existed, people were already faking their deaths, hopping trains, and vanishing into the void. So what makes the government version different — and is it actually safe?

We'll explore:

The history of the U.S. Witness Security Program (WITSEC)

Famous cases like Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, the hitman who became a star witness

How identities are changed, families relocated, and what it really costs to disappear

How other countries do (or don’t do) witness protection

The myth vs. reality of witness protection in pop culture

A few truly wild stories from people who vanished before the system even existed

Music by: SoundPlusUA Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezsalov for "Spark Groove", "Funny and Weird", Geoff Harvey "Mafioso"

• U.S. Marshals Service: WITSEC Factsheet
• Gerald Shur & Pete Earley, WITSEC: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program
• NPR: Witness Protection Program: How It Works
• History.com: The Witness Protection Program's Secret History
• New York Times archive: “Gravano’s Testimony and the Fall of the Mob”
• The Atlantic: Disappearing Act – What It’s Like to Be in Witness Protection
• Vice: Inside Witness Protection

Don't forget to rate, subscribe, and maybe leave a five-star review if you’re not currently in hiding!

https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast

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What happens when someone you love looks you in the eye… and insists you’re not real? In this eerie and emotional Messy Morsel, Jess explores Capgras Delusion — a rare psychological condition where the brain recognizes a face but disconnects from the feeling behind it.

We’ll step into the shoes of a caregiver, unpack the neuroscience behind delusional misidentification, and talk about what (if anything) can be done when reality fractures. Along the way, we explore how this condition intersects with rare mental illness, face recognition disorder, and other psychological disorders that challenge our most basic sense of connection.

Sources:

• Capgras Syndrome: A Review of the Literature
• Joseph M. Silva et al., 1990, Psychiatric Services
• https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ps.41.4.434
• Three Laws of Qualia
• V.S. Ramachandran & William Hirstein, 1997
• https://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Ramachandran.pdf
• Disconnection Syndromes and Delusional Misidentification
• Ellis, H. D., & Young, A. W., 1990, Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
• (Key theory on fusiform-amygdala disconnect in Capgras)

Music by: SoundPlusUA and Mr. Lex Olesii Bezalov for Spark Groove " Electro Swing", NikitaKondrahev "Cosy Quirky Comedy", Geoff Harvey "The Secret Room"

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