Optophobia

Before Tabitha Walton worked in Warren, Connecticut’s only occult museum, she spent years as a dental hygienist in Washington, DC. It was in the office of Dr. Stephen C. Hopkins, DMD that she discovered a horrifying coincidence: Many of Hopkins’s patients had worked on Kagnew’s STONEHOUSE project. And they were hearing voices. And then their teeth began to disintegrate. 

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Credits:

Erin Murray played Tabitha Walton. Erin performs on Washington Improv Theater  house ensemble Madeline. She can also be seen on indie teams The Lodge, Cruz Control and November performances of "In Lieu of Flowers." Check out her Instagram @eurniebmurray for upcoming shows.

Liz Sanders played Debra. Liz also performs with Madeline, and can also be seen in "In Lieu of Flowers." 

Produced by Tim Townsend.

Theme music by Bart Warshaw. 

Cover art by Claire Smalley. 

Website by Chance Griffin. 

Librarian Sylvia Brown discusses her research into a mid-1970s north Africa earthquake that unleashed what many have since called "the voice of God." The quake triggered a mass, 48-hour bout of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, across much of Eritrea. The U.S. government harnessed that energy and still deploys it on Americans today when, for instance, they're deciding whether or not to eat at Ruby Tuesday's.

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Credits:

Eva Lewis played Sylvia Brown. Eva performs with Press Play, White Privilege Black Power, Lena Dunham, NIXON and Colossus. Follow her on Instagram at @evarlewis.

Jamal Newman played Hasaan Gray. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com.

Produced by Tim Townsend.

Theme music by Bart Warshaw.

Cover art by Claire Smalley.

Website by Chance Griffin.

Visit us at optophobia.org

After starring as Girl With Beach Ball in 1965's "Beach Blanket Bingo" and Girl Near Jukebox in 1973's "American Graffiti," Meredith Crossings found herself on the set of "Cleopatra 2" filming near Kagnew Station. During a night spent under the stars with a herd of goats, Crossings received a mysterious message that ultimately forced her to leave her parents' Hollywood dreams for her behind.

CREDITS:

Catch Kristina Martinez on the improv stage in Washington, DC, and follow her on Instagram at @kmtheshow.

Jamal Newman performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. 

Produced by Tim Townsend.

Theme music by Bart Warshaw. 

Cover art by Claire Smalley. 

Website by Chance Griffin. 

We introduce the show's Season One co-hosts: Hassan Gray, a Verizon Fios sales analyst and host of the "Not My Problem" podcast & Debra, former host of the syndicated radio program "Debra," and author of "I Can't Go for Mind Control (No Can Do): Hall, Oates and the Soviet Roots of Blue-Eyed Soul" available in free-thinking bookstores everywhere.

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Credits:

Liz Sanders played Debra. Liz performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble. 

Jamal Newman played Hasaan Gray. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com. 

Produced by Tim Townsend.

Theme music by Bart Warshaw. 

Cover art by Claire Smalley. 

Website by Chance Griffin. 

Our guest this week, Theodore Kettle, grew up in the privileged world of 1980s international diplomacy. As the son of the UK ambassador in Addis Ababa, Kettle stumbled upon a hard-partying music scene in east Africa's Great Rift Valley, considered the "cradle of humankind," where he lost his virginity to a Russian-speaking beauty named Olga. Or did he?

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Credits:

Saleh Karaman played Theodore Kettle. Saleh performs with Nox and Colossus, usually at the Washington Improv Theater. Follow him on Instagram at @cirquedusalad.

Liz Sanders played Debra. Liz performs with Madeline, a Washington Improv Theater house ensemble. 

Produced by Tim Townsend.

Theme music by Bart Warshaw. 

Cover art by Claire Smalley. 

Website by Chance Griffin. 

In 1965, the U.S. Army Security Agency began a secret U.S. intelligence project on a shuttered military base in the Horn of Africa called Kagnew Station. The project — codenamed STONEHOUSE — included two 15-story parabolic antennas that made for optimal for stable military radio communications during the Cold War. Declassified Defense Department documents show, however, that for the next decade the true purpose of STONEHOUSE was to intercept Soviet space research data. But is that all the U.S. was keeping secret at Kagnew Station? 

The world is demonstrably not the way it’s portrayed to us. On this podcast, we’re in search of facts obscured by a web of “official” narratives pushed by shady organizations intent on attaining obscure, malevolent goals. 

Each season, we’ll tackle a new investigation into what many dismissively call a “conspiracy theory.” Our co-hosts are experts on each season’s investigation. And every week, a new guest — scientists, historians, ex-dictators, intelligence officers and everyday people — will join us to discuss their startling, often groundbreaking, research. 

Our first stop: Kagnew Station outside of Asmara, Eritrea and about 50 miles from the Red Sea. 

See you there, on September 30.

CREDITS:
Featuring the vocal pizzazz of Liz Sanders, Jamal Newman, Erin Murray, Eva Lewis, Saleh Karaman and Kristina Martinez
Music by Bart Warshaw
Cover art by Claire Smalley