Ruth is Stranger Than Fiction

Last time we left you in suspense with the peculiar disappearance of American student James Dallas Egbert III. This episode we will learn his fate and discover whether or not the moral outrage around RPGs and D&D was justified. We must also return to the UK to rejoin the story of parapsychologist Carl Sargent, which entails a mystery of its own.

And it’s time to Booze Your Illusion with the return of everyone’s (no one’s) favourite drink!

Image by Mathieu Nonnenmacher used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

Get the D20 ready! Grab the nearest Fighting Fantasy book! For the next couple of episodes we’re diving into the world of Role Playing Games, or RPGs for those in the know. But it will take a winding route to get us there, through the early career experiments of a Cambridge parapsychologist called Carl Sargent, and via the story of a missing teenager from Ohio. Turn to 148…

The stage is set, but not for a fine production of Shakespeare or Greek tragedy… no, the stage is set for MURDER! Last time we met a rum assortment of ne’er-do-wells from the Regency underground, and this time one (or more) of them is about to meet a violent end. The whole sorry saga gives rise to media hysteria, public bloodlust, and an unexpected joke about pork.

Episode illustration of Hunt, Probert, and Thurtell from the Wellcome Collection.

Ahhh the Regency era, when everyone was obsessed with true crime entertainment, boxing, and illegal gambling. Those were the days! From the East End of London to the quiet rural towns of Norfolk, violence was brewing for a motley crew of fellows, but the roles of hero and villain are as yet unclear.

Folklore and religion collide as we journey to the fine county of Suffolk to hear about the misadventures of a slightly buffoonish devil. Let’s find out why this diabolical fool hates Suffolk so much.

A giant named Moses Carter, farmer of cabbages and thrower of rocks! A psychical investigator called Tony Cornell, who will thoroughly examine your claims of supernatural occurrences and, quite probably, debunk them. What do these two seemingly disparate characters have in common? They were both residents of Cambridge-adjacent village of Histon, of course! And also, we’re going to hear about them in this episode. We’re joined by author and proud Histon-dweller Mike Rampton, who has some theories and also quite a lot of jam.

The Black Death continues its inevitable progress across the country, and East Anglia is next in line. What happens when the plague reaches Cambridge? Nothing good, that’s for sure. It’s pest houses and grave pits all the way, with a sprinkling of quarantine thrown in for good measure. Drinkswise, Rosie reveals her cocktail and it's quite something, plus we try some stouts from Eyam Brewery.

It’s time for the last disease in our trilogy of maladies: the plague! In part 1 we explore the spread and of course the symptoms of the Great Plague aka the Great Mortality aka the Black Death. Are our schoolday recollections of buboes correct? How many plague pits did London have? And what has Bambi got to do with it? Let’s find out.

Our picture is ‘A physician wearing a seventeenth century plague preventive’ from the Wellcome Collection.

A special live recording of our Hallowe’en event at the wonderful Museum of Cambridge on 30th October: stories of grey ladies, poltergeists, haunted pubs, and even a spectral penguin.

It’s time for the next disease: get ready to reabsorb your extremities and fit yourself with a set of jingling bells as we discuss the scourge of the Middle Ages. It’s leprosy! As it turns out, various versions of Robin Hood on TV and film are not a reliable source of information about this unpleasant illness. Amongst the hooded man talk, we also find time to discuss the Cambridge Leper Chapel and the origins of Stourbridge Fair.