Strange Country

It's the time of year when pumpkin spice permeates everything including Strange Country, and people are in the mood to sit in front of a pumpkin-spice scented fire to hear some scary stories. Join Beth and Kelly as they darn socks or stories about the Congelier Mansion, the White Lady, and the haunting of the H house.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Axelson, Ben. "Haunted Upstate NY: The Truth about Rochester's Famous 'White Lady' Legend." Newyorkupstate, 30 Oct. 2016, https://www.newyorkupstate.com/rochester/2016/10/haunted_upstate_ny_the_truth_about_rochesters_famous_white_lady_legend.html.

"Barack Obama: I Don't Eat Exactly Seven Almonds Every Night." The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 July 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/28/barack-obama-seven-almonds-every-night-new-york-times.

"Carbon Monoxide Poisoning." Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 16 Oct. 2019, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/carbon-monoxide/symptoms-causes/syc-20370642.

"Carrie Poppy: Can Science Reveal The Truth Behind Ghost Stories?" NPR, NPR, 23 June 2017, https://www.npr.org/transcripts/533791342.

"Castle of the White Lady." Weird New York, http://www.weirdus.com/states/new_york/local_legends/white_lady_castle/.

"Congelier House." Popular Pittsburgh, 12 June 2018, https://popularpittsburgh.com/congelier-house/.

"History of Ghost Stories." History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/historical-ghost-stories.

Lucia. "The Haunted House That Never Was: The Congelier Mansion Of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." The Ghost In My Machine, 9 Mar. 2021, https://theghostinmymachine.com/2018/07/09/haunted-house-never-congelier-mansion-pittsburgh-pennsylvania/.

"The Story behind Irondequoit's Famous White Lady." RochesterFirst, RochesterFirst, 26 Oct. 2020, https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/the-story-behind-irondequoits-famous-white-lady/.

Tablang, Kristin. "Thomas Edison, B.C. Forbes And The Mystery Of The Spirit Phone." Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 28 Oct. 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristintablang/2019/10/25/thomas-edison-bc-forbes-mystery-spirit-phone/?sh=711d25ca29ad.

Taylor, Troy. "THE HOUSE ON RIDGE AVENUE." American Hauntings, https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/ridge.

"The White Lady's Castle." Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 10 May 2012, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-white-lady-s-castle-rochester-new-york.

Wilmer, William. "Effects of Carbon Monoxide on the Eye" The American Journal of Ophthalmology, 1 February 1921, https://www.ajo.com/article/S0002-9394(21)90825-0/fulltext

James Hogue claimed to be many things. A high school student, an orphan, a ranch-hand, a carpenter, a ski instructor, a ski stuntman, a bioengineer, an ivy leaguer. He has lived a lifetime of deception using false credentials to earn a spot in the 1993 graduating class at Princeton University. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk adults passing as teenagers and how sometimes it works and sometimes It's Never Been Kissed.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Auslander, Jason. "Famed Con Man Who Lived in Ajax Shack Arrested Again in Aspen." AspenTimes.com, AspenTimes.com, 13 Jan. 2021, https://www.aspentimes.com/news/famed-con-man-who-lived-in-ajax-shack-arrested-again-in-aspen/.

Barron, James, and M. A. Farber. "Tracing a Devious Path to the Ivy League." The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Mar. 1991, https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/nyregion/tracing-a-devious-path-to-the-ivy-league.html?pagewanted=print.

"Convicted con man indicted in Harvard gem thefts." UPI Archive: Domestic News, 3 June 1993. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A441979438/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=d05b8acc. Accessed 26 Sept. 2021.

LeDuc, D. (1992, Feb 11). PRINCETON IMPOSTOR'S NEXT TERM IS JAIL: STILL DRESSING THE PART, JAMES HOGUE PLEADED GUILTY TO THEFT BY DECEPTION. Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.oswego.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/newspapers/princeton-impostors-next-term-is-jail/docview/1837932535/se-2?accountid=13025

Lofholm, Nancy. "The Con Artist next Door." The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 21 Mar. 2017, https://www.denverpost.com/2006/03/25/the-con-artist-next-door/.

"Nationally Known Con Man Gets Prison Time for Illegal Aspen Shack." The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 21 Mar. 2017, https://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/21/james-hogue-illegal-aspen-shack/.

"Phony Student Arrested Again at Princeton." New York Times, 25 Feb. 1996. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A150542901/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=a3b4dab8. Accessed 26 Sept. 2021.

Rowley, H. (2006, Feb 06). Colorado con man nabbed at foothills mall: James arthur hogue, 46, is the primary suspect in 18 colorado thefts. police arrested him saturday at foothills mall. Tucson Citizen Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.oswego.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/newspapers/colorado-con-man-nabbed-at-foothills-mall/docview/237160310/se-2?accountid=13025

Samuels, David, et al. "The Many Lives of a Princeton Impostor." The New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2001, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/09/03/the-runner.

Samuels, David. The Runner: a True Account of the Amazing Lies and Fantastical Adventures of the Ivy League Impostor James Hogue. Counterpoint, 2008.

Steade, Susan. "Palo Alto High School Con Man James Hogue: His Bizarre Tale Continues." The Mercury News, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2017, https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/09/palo-alto-high-school-con-man-james-hogue-his-bizarre-tale-continues/.

In the 19th century, men could commit women to asylums for such stellar reasons as excessive thinking or novel reading. Elizabeth Packard was married to a real prince who committed her because she was smarter than him. Strange Country cohosts share her heroic tale, and Beth reveals an alarming secret about her cat.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

"Elizabeth Packard – Legal and Mental Health Reformer." Illinois History Lincoln Collections, 27 Mar. 2019, publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/2019/03/28/elizabeth-packard-legal-and-mental-health-reformer/.

Moore, Kate. The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear. Sourcebooks, 2021.

One constant--besides death and taxes--is the notion that women need to work to attain that ever-morphing ideal body that doesn't actually exist. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about diet plans like ingesting tapeworms to obtain the consumption look in Victorian times. There's also asides on the many ways humans choose to destroy themselves. Fun!

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Collins, Ben, and Brandy Zadrozny. "Ivermectin Demand Drives Some to pro-Trump Telemedicine Website." NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 27 Aug. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ivermectin-demand-drives-trump-telemedicine-website-rcna1791.

Fuller, Kristen. "What Is the Cotton Ball Diet?" Verywell Mind, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-cotton-ball-diet-5115569.

"Graves' Disease." Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 5 Dec. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/graves-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20356240.

Kesa, Ingrid. "Inside the Lasting Legacy of Tapeworm Diets." VICE, 18 Mar. 2018, www.vice.com/en/article/xw5nnq/inside-the-lasting-legacy-of-tapeworm-diets.

Klein, Gavi, and Audrey Gibbs. "Tools of the Patriarchy: Diet Culture and How We All Perpetuate the Stigma." Ms. Magazine, 12 Aug. 2020, msmagazine.com/2020/07/16/tools-of-the-patriarchy-diet-culture-and-how-we-all-perpetuate-the-stigma/.

Migala, Jessica. "What Is The Sleeping Beauty Diet-And Why Are People Doing It?" Women's Health, Women's Health, 11 June 2019, www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/a19908241/sleeping-beauty-diet/.

Mullin, Emily. "How Tuberculosis Shaped Victorian Fashion." Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 10 May 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-tuberculosis-shaped-victorian-fashion-180959029/.

O'Neill, Therese. "Diet: You're a Little Bag of Pudding." Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage & Manners, Little Brown and Company, 2016, pp. 75–90.

Sommer, Will. "Trump's New COVID Doctor Says Sex With Demons Makes You Sick." The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 28 July 2020, www.thedailybeast.com/stella-immanuel-trumps-new-covid-doctor-believes-in-alien-dna-demon-sperm-and-hydroxychloroquine.

Starr, Michelle. "Vintage X-Rays Reveal the Hidden Effects of Corsets." CNET, CNET, 26 Feb. 2015, www.cnet.com/news/vintage-x-rays-reveal-the-hidden-effects-of-corsets/.

"Tapeworm Infection." Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 16 Mar. 2021, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tapeworm/symptoms-causes/syc-20378174.

Wells, Diana. "Tapeworm Diet: Weight Loss, Risks and Side Effects." Healthline, Healthline Media, 11 June 2019, www.healthline.com/health/diet-and-weight-loss/tapeworm-diet.

"What Are Sea-Monkeys?" LiveScience, Purch, 11 May 2012, www.livescience.com/33907-sea-monkeys.html.

America's home-spun religion of Mormonism has a bloody past. The founder Joseph Smith was murdered, and the Saints run out of various places they settled. This us-versus-them mentality really fermented in the Great Salt Valley where Brigham Young whipped his flock into a frenzy about interlopers and outsiders. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about how that volatile mx led to some Mormons murdering approximately 120 adults and children heading to California in 1857 in Mountain Meadows, and then blamed it on the Paiute.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Denton, Sally. American Massacre: the Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857. Vintage Books, 2004.

King, Gilbert. "The Aftermath of Mountain Meadows." Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 29 Feb. 2012, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-aftermath-of-mountain-meadows-110735627/.

Krakauer, Jon. "For Water Will Not Do." Under the Banner of Heaven , Anchor Books, 2003, pp. 211–227.

Moore, Carrie. "LDS Church Issues Apology over Mountain Meadows." Deseret News, Deseret News, 12 Sept. 2007, www.deseret.com/2007/9/12/20040883/lds-church-issues-apology-over-mountain-meadows#flags-wave-at-the-event-marking-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-mountain-meadows-massacre-at-the-memorial-site-near-enterprise.

Smith, Christopher. "Unearthing Mountain Meadows Secrets: Backhoe at a S. Utah Killing Field Rips Open 142-Year-Old Wound." Mountain Meadows Massacre (CESNUR), The Salt Lake Tribune, 14 Mar. 2000, www.cesnur.org/testi/morm_01.htm.

Dear Dash Hounds: Has worry from Covid taken over your life? Are you behaving in ways that seem rather devilish, as your rage powers on? Might you be possessed? If you are, Beth and Kelly know who to call and you will too after listening to this episode of Strange Country. We discuss the original muse/ inspiration for the movie The Exorcist. And we also learn that the need for such rituals has skyrocketed in the past 20 years. Of course we blame the orange monster for that. We hope you enjoy this brief escape from reality…or is it? Thanks always for listening, it is an act of love.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Allen, Thomas. Possessed. iUniverse. 2000.

1. N. S., By, -, Service, C. N. S. C. N., & Service, C. N. (2021, March 11). U.S. priest in exorcism Ministry says focus should be on GOD'S POWER. The Catholic Sun. https://www.catholicsun.org/2021/03/11/u-s-priest-in-exorcism-ministry-says-focus-should-be-on-gods-power/.

Exorcism exposé. SLU. (n.d.). https://www.slu.edu/universitas/archive/2014/exorcism.php.

SLU legends and Lore: The 1949 St. louis exorcism. SLU. (n.d.). https://www.slu.edu/news/2019/october/slu-legends-lore-exorcism.php.

Gallagher, R. (2019, March 1). As a psychiatrist, i diagnose mental illness. also, i help spot demonic possession. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/07/01/as-a-psychiatrist-i-diagnose-mental-illness-and-sometimes-demonic-possession/.

GALLAGHER, R. I. C. H. A. R. D. (2021). Demonic foes: My twenty-five years as a psychiatrist investigating possessions,... diabolic attacks, and the paranormal. HARPERCOLLINS.

Guardian News and Media. (1999, January 27). Vatican lays down new rules for exorcism. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jan/27/religion.uk.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, August 18). The Exorcist (film). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_(film).

Maybe you've tried Keto or Atkins or the blood type diet, but have you thought about maybe trying God? The Weigh Down Workshop was founded by Gwen Shamblin in 1986. She didn't believe in dieting, exercising or counting calories. Shamblin instead told followers to rely on God and pray that He will slap the Doritos out of your hand. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about this program turned church and how some cult experts see it as a cult.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Dello Stritto, Mike. "Weigh Down: Faith or Fraud?" News Channel 9, Cult Education Institute, 25 Nov. 2002, culteducation.com/group/1224-weigh-down/21806-weigh-down-faith-or-fraud.html.

Dugan, Jeanne. "Church Lady of Diet Weighs In On Trinity and Her Flock Flees." Wall Street Journal, Cult Education Institute, 30 Oct. 2000, culteducation.com/group/1224-weigh-down/21821-church-lady-of-diet-weighs-in-on-trinity-and-her-flock-flees.html.

Ellin, Abby. "Religion Journal; Seeing Overeating as a Sin, and God as the Diet Coach." The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 May 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/05/29/us/religion-journal-seeing-overeating-as-a-sin-and-god-as-the-diet-coach.html?searchResultPosition=3.

"Firm Beliefs." NewsChannel 5, Cult Education Institute, 5 Feb. 2004, culteducation.com/group/1224-weigh-down/21827-firm-beliefs.html.

Levenson, Michael, and Jesus Jiménez. "7 Presumed Dead After Plane Crashes Into Tennessee Lake, Officials Say." The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 May 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/05/29/us/plane-crash-tennessee.html?searchResultPosition=2.

Mead, Rebecca. "Slim for Him." The New Yorker, 7 Jan. 2001, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/01/15/slim-for-him.

"Parents Convicted of Killing Son, 8." NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 16 Feb. 2007, www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17191330.

Ross, Rick Alan. "Has Gwen Shamblin's 'Weigh Down' Diet Turned into a 'Cult'?" Cult Education Institute, 30 June 2017, culteducation.com/group/1224-weigh-down/21804-praying-to-be-thin.html.

Shamblin, Gwen. The Weigh down Diet. Waterbrook Press, 2013.

"Why People Become Overweight." Harvard Health, 24 June 2019, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/why-people-become-overweight.

Williams, Phil. "Controversy Surrounded Brentwood Church, Founder for Years; Gwen Shamblin Lara among Those Presumed Dead." WTVF, WTVF, 30 May 2021, www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/controversy-surrounded-brentwood-church-founder-for-years-gwen-shamblin-lara-among-those-presumed-dead.

Today's Strange Country tale involves murder, racism and goats. The big three, as we like to say. In 1932, Jennie Merrill was murdered in Natchez, Miss. Her neighbors who lived in a dilapidated estate nicknamed The Goat Castle likely had something to do with it, but it was a black laundress named Emily Burns who was convicted of the crime. Because everything is garbage.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Carter, L. M. (2018, September 21). Murder, She Rewrote. Country Roads. Retrieved August 2, 2021, from https://countryroadsmagazine.com/art-and-culture/history/murder-she-rewrote/

Cox, K. L. (2017). Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race and the Gothic South. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press.

Neighbor Pair Held in Natchez Murder. (1932, August 9). The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/1932/08/09/archives/neighbor-pair-held-in-natchez-murder-rh-dana-and-his-housekeeper.html?searchResultPosition=2

Octavia Dockery, 84, Lived in 'Goat Castle'. (1949, April 23). The New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/1949/04/23/archives/octavia-dockern-84-lived-ingoat-castle.html?searchResultPosition=1

You know Beth and Kelly have issues with numbers, and anything prior to or around BC, AD and CE is hard for us to comprehend. So please bear with us this episode as we go back 1,000 years to the hopping city of …Cahokia. Have you ever heard of it? We didn't think so (but if you have, please tell us!) It is real and it is part of the important but ignored history of North America. And who can we blame for the fact that thousands of earthen mounds with rich and deep history have been plowed under? Dash Hounds - we know you can figure this out! Thanks for listening- it is an act of love.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite Your Sources Dude:

Adena mound. Adena Mound - Ohio History Central. (n.d.). https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Adena_Mound.

Baires, S. (2018, February 23). White settlers buried the truth about the Midwest's mysterious MOUND CITIES. Smithsonian.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/white-settlers-buried-truth-about-midwests-mysterious-mound-cities-180968246/.

Gosart, U. (2018, March 17). The idea of the Vanishing Race. Performing Archive. https://scalar.usc.edu/works/performingarchive/ideavanishingrace.

NEWITZ, A. N. N. A. L. E. E. (2022). Four lost Cities: A secret history of the urban age. W W NORTON.

Miamisburg mound. Miamisburg Mound | OHIO'S HISTORY. (n.d.). http://touringohio.com/history/miamisburg-mound.html.

https://moundville.museums.ua.edu/about/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS1TD6WFNeQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAXBA2Pt9wE

https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/mound-builders-poverty-point-adena-hopewell-and-mississippian-cultures

Strange County episode 200, everybody! That means, you've likely wasted 199 hours of your life. Why not waste an hour more with today's story of Sante Kimes, a grifter with a penchant for fraud, arson and murder. Beth and Kelly also share a new way to express anger.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Andrews, S., McLean, B., & Seal, M. (2000, March 01). The Story of Sante Kimes: Mother, Murderer, and Criminal Mastermind. Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2000/03/sante-kimes-mother-murderer-criminal-mastermind

Feuer, A. (2014, May 22). Sante Kimes Dies in Prison at 79; Killed and Swindled With Her Son. New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/nyregion/sante-kimes-dies-in-prison-at-79-killed-and-swindled-with-her-son.html?searchResultPosition=2

Rohde, D. (2000, May 17). Sante Kimes Chastised by Judge Over Contacts With News Media. New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/17/nyregion/sante-kimes-chastised-by-judge-over-contacts-with-news-media.html?searchResultPosition=1

Tefler, T. (2021). Sante Kimes. In Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion (pp. 256-285). Harper Perennial.

The lady vanishes [ii]. (1999, November 20). The Guardian. Retrieved July 24, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/nov/20/weekend7.weekend5