Strange Country

Time to reconsider your job and look to marrying someone famous. Or not. Instead you can listen to the sad story about a con woman known by many names, but most famously for being the murdered wife of actor Robert Blake. Dash Hounds, here is a story of a lost woman who finally got what she wanted as far as being with a famous man, but at the ultimate price. Join Strange Country this week for the story and some side stories we feel are worth your time. Thank you always for listening; it is an act of love.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite Your Sources:

David, Lisa Selin. Why Modern Medicine Keeps Overlooking Menopause. New York Times. April 6, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/us/menopause-perimenopause-symptoms.html

Telfer, Tori. (2021). Confident Women. New York: HarperCollins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Lee_Bakley

https://thecinemaholic.com/robert-blake/

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/robert-blake-acquitted-of-wifes-murder

Yang, Allie. Bonny Lee Bakley Had a Remarkable Story that Played a Big Role at Her HUsband Robert Blake's Murder Trial. 1/11/2019.

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/bonny-lee-bakley-remarkable-story-played-big-role-60056830. Accessed May 1, 2021.

H.H. Holmes carries the distinction of being America's first serial killer, possibly having murder between 20 to 200 people. But like most legends, things aren't always as the seem. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly peel away the layers of the white devil of Chicago in this episode and discover that it smells a bit like smegma.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

"H.H. Holmes." Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 12 June 2020, www.biography.com/crime-figure/hh-holmes.

Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. Vintage, 2004.

Little, Becky. "Did Serial Killer H.H. Holmes Really Build a 'Murder Castle'?" History.com, A&E Television Networks, 23 Jan. 2020, www.history.com/news/murder-castle-h-h-holmes-chicago.

Pruitt, Sarah. "Was Paul Bunyan a Real Person?" History.com, A&E Television Networks, 20 Nov. 2015, https://www.history.com/news/was-paul-bunyan-a-real-person#:~:text=Historians%20believe%20Bunyan%20was%20based,Michigan%20after%20the%20Civil%20War.&text=The%20French%20pronunciation%20of%20Jean's,evolved%20into%20the%20surname%20Bunyan

Selzer, Adam. H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil. Skyhorse. 2017

Stone, Rachel. "Backstory: The Oak Cliff Victims of Famed Serial Killer H.H. Holmes." Oak Cliff, 12 Oct. 2017, oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2017/10/backstory-oak-cliff-victims-famed-serial-killer-h-h-holmes/#:~:text=Serial killer H.H. Holmes conned,estate holdings before killing her.&text=The Williams girls, Minnie and,returned with her sister Nannie.

Kelly and Beth have missed you Dear Dash Hounds, but we are back! In this episode you will learn the important story of Minnie Cox, an African American postmistress at the turn of the 20th century. Cox was smart, wonderful and successful, but still treated terribly because she was black. Before we get to the details of her story, sit tight for some ramblings about cockfighting, Facebook, and post office anxiety. Or fast forward to the halfway mark and get ready to be angry about American history that should be part of our common knowledge. As always, thank you for listening; it is an act of love.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Garrett-Scott, S. (2018, March). Minnie Geddings Cox and the Indianola Affair, 1902-1904. Retrieved April 10, 2021, from http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/421/minnie-geddings-cox-and-the-indianola-affair

James K. vardaman. (2021, February 10). Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Vardaman

Minnie M. Cox: A Postmaster's Story. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://postalmuseum.si.edu/research-articles/the-history-and-experience-of-african-americans-in-america%E2%80%99s-postal-service/minnie

Momodu, S. (2020, February 26). Minnie M. COX (1869-1933) •. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/cox-minnie-m-1869-1933/

What is about unsolved murders that stay with us? In particular why does the true crime genre skew female? In this episode of Strange Country, co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about Julie Monson and Jane Britton, two young women cut down in the prime of their lives. Monson disappeared after a night out in September 1981 in Auburn, NY. Britton was found bludgeoned inside her Harvard University apartment in January 1969. Today's Strange Country episode is sponsored by the Cayuga County Arts Council.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Case, Dick. "One Case Closed; Slaying Probe Reopened." The Post Standard, 8 March 1993, pp. A9.

Conroy, J Oliver. "Why Are Women Obsessed with True Crime? Rachel Monroe Has Some Answers." The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Aug. 2019, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/20/rachel-monroe-savage-appetites-true-crime-book-interview.

Cooper, Becky. WE KEEP THE DEAD CLOSE: a Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence. Windmill Books, 2021.

Howland, Lance. "Auburn Girl's Murder Baffles Family, Cops." Syracuse Herald Journal, 25 Sept. 1983.

"The Julie Monson Case." Syracuse Herald Journal, 6 Oct. 1984.

Kenyon, Jim. "FBI Resumes Dna Tests in Julie Monson Murder Mystery." WSTM, WSTM, 21 July 2015, cnycentral.com/news/local/fbi-resumes-dna-tests-in-julie-monson-murder-mystery.

LaRue, William. "Bianco's Close Friends on the Stand." The Post Standard, 25 Feb. 1986, pp. 1–1.

LaRue, William. "Testimony Suggests Monson Body Was Moved." The Post Standard, 28 Feb. 1986, pp. 4–4.

LaRue, William. "Witness Says He Was Mistaken About Car." The Post Standard, 22 Feb. 1986, pp. 3–3.

Nolan, Maureen, and Neil MacFarquehar. "'There Is No Happy Ending for Us'." Syracuse Herald Journal, 6 July 1985, pp. 1–2.

"Social Psychologist Amanda Vicary and Spotify Reveal Why Women Are So Obsessed with True Crime-And Share 4 New Podcasts Coming in 2020." Spotify, 29 Jan. 2020, newsroom.spotify.com/2020-01-29/social-psychologist-amanda-vicary-and-spotify-reveal-why-women-are-so-obsessed-with-true-crime-and-share-4-new-podcasts-coming-in-2020/.

Tuttle, Kate. "Why Do Women Love True Crime? New York Times. 16 July 2019. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/books/review/kate-tuttle-true-crime-women.html

Wallack, T. (2017, Jun 17). Unsolved cambridge murder raises a question: When should outside investigators get a chance? Boston Globe Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.oswego.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/newspapers/unsolved-cambridge-murder-raises-question-when/docview/1910533609/se-2?accountid=13025

Wallack, T. (2018, Nov 21). Killer identified in 1969 murder of harvard student in cambridge: DNA offers link to serial rapist. Boston Globe Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.oswego.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/newspapers/killer-identified-1969-murder-harvard-student/docview/2135909993/se-2?accountid=13025

"Widow Killed Near Radcliffe Dorm; Police Cite Britton Case Similarities: News: The Harvard Crimson." News | The Harvard Crimson, 7 Feb. 1969, www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/2/7/widow-killed-near-radcliffe-dorm-police/.

"Woman's Hour - True Crime: Five Reasons Why Women Love It." BBC Radio 4, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5BQCFMQd3mPqj7YT4hlvdCL/true-crime-five-reasons-why-women-love-it.

It is so close to spring break that Kelly and Beth thought a little story about rum, cocaine, and a beautiful Caribbean Island would be timely. Thinking of traveling? Now that we are seemingly on the other side of this pandemic- we understand, but we will caution you to not take the late night boat ride run by white supremacists, laden with weaponry thrown into plastic grocery bags. Ok? Strange Country's destination this week: Dominica. As always thank you for listening- it is an act if love- but also may help save you from some really stupid decisions.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources, dude:

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35459809/operation-red-dog/

Bell, Stewart. The Bayou of Pigs. Kindle Edition HarperCollkins ebooks.

Burroughs, Nicholas. FBI Says Michigan Anti-Government Group Plotted to Kidnap Gov. Grethchen Whittmer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/us/gretchen-whitmer-michigan-militia.html?

Trial on for Two Accused in Bid to Control Island. Oct. 8, 1981. The Tennessean

https://www.thegrenadarevolutiononline.com/page17a.html

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/don-black

https://allthatsinteresting.com/operation-red-dog

https://historyofyesterday.com/the-bayou-of-pigs-incident-afdd2e90cec

Saslow, Eli. Rising out of Hatred.

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2019/06/20/the-iron-lady-of-the-caribbean-at-lse-remembering-dominicas-eugenia-charles-100-years-after-her-birth/

For decades, Anthony Gignac pretended to be Saudi royalty, racking up hotel bills, department store charges, and even swindling Syracuse University out of money. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly would talk more about this, but are trapped in Nigeria with their huge fortune, and need your help. If you could send your bank account number, they would be happy to share in their wealth.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Cohn, Scott. "Four Surefire Ways to Spot a Con Artist-and What to Do When You See Them." CNBC, CNBC, 4 Jan. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/01/03/four-sure-fire-ways-to-spot-a-con-artistand-what-to-do-when-you-see-them.html.

Eder, S. (2008, Dec 21). Siblings with sordid past turn to bernadette noe; the former lucas county GOP leader assists two brothers whose records rouse suspicion. The Blade Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.oswego.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/newspapers/siblings-with-sordid-past-turn-bernadette-noe/docview/380807805/se-2?accountid=13025

Long, Stephanie Topacio. "8 Strange Facts About Con Artists, Because They're More Common Than You Think." Bustle, Bustle, 15 Jan. 2016, www.bustle.com/articles/135836-8-strange-facts-about-con-artists-because-theyre-more-common-than-you-think.

Scott, Cathy. "The Art of the Con and Why People Fall for It." Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 26 Sept. 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/crime-she-writes/201909/the-art-the-con-and-why-people-fall-it#:~:text=By definition, a con artist,up taking the victim's money.

Seal, Mark. "The Amazing 30-Year Odyssey of a Counterfeit Saudi Prince." Vanity Fair, 5 Oct. 2018, www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/10/he-actually-believes-he-is-khalid-the-odyssey-of-a-counterfeit-saudi-prince.

Seal, Mark. "How the Fake Saudi Prince, Anthony Gignac, Was Exposed." Vanity Fair, 30 Oct. 2018, www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/10/how-the-fake-saudi-prince-anthony-gignac-was-exposed.

Stack, Liam. "Man Who Posed as Saudi Prince and Defrauded Investors Out of $8 Million Is Sent to Prison." The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 June 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/01/us/fake-saudi-prince-anthony-gignac.html?searchResultPosition=2.

Swenson, Kyle. "He convinced people he was a rich 'Saudi prince.' He was really a poor street kid from Bogota." Washingtonpost.com, 30 May 2018. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A540885876/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=STND&xid=47c3f428. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.

Weaver, J. (2018, May 30). Bogus saudi sultan pleads guilty, faces years in jail anthony gignac admits he stole $8 million from dozens of victims in his pretended role. Portland Press Herald Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.oswego.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.oswego.edu/newspapers/bogus-saudi-sultan-pleads-guilty-faces-years-jail/docview/2046443596/se-2?accountid=13025

In 1912, four-year-old Bobby Dunbar went missing on a family vacation only to turn up nine months later in nearby Mississippi. Or did he? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this odd tale of a boy with two mothers claiming him as their son, and the weirdo lurkers and gawkers that we're all now descended from who watched the whole thing with maws gaping wide open. New Strange Country tagline: We've always been garbage.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Donan, Joe. "The Disappearance of Bobby Dunbar." Medium, History of Yesterday, 10 Aug. 2020, medium.com/history-of-yesterday/the-disappearance-of-bobby-dunbar-8c061b5b7c9b.

Mahjouri, Shakiel. "LAPD Releases Suspect Descriptions After Lady Gaga's Dogs Are Stolen, Dog Walker Shot." ET Canada, ET Canada, 25 Feb. 2021, etcanada.com/news/750908/lady-gaga-offers-500000-reward-after-dogs-are-stolen-dog-walker-shot/.

McThenia, Tal and Cutright, Margaret Dunbar. A Case of Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping that Haunted a Nation. Free Press: 2012.

Women have been labeled crazy in an effort to shut them up. In the 1970s, the label stuck to Martha Mitchell. Martha's husband John Mitchell headed up Nixon's reelection campaign. Richard Nixon was definitely NOT crazy. He was totally cool in a paranoid, spying, enemy-listing kind of way. Martha knew one of the Watergate burglars was connected to the campaign and that her husband lied about it. Strange Country co-hosts talk about this woman lost to history and what would happen if women actually were listened to rather than sedated.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Brockell, Gillian. "'I'm a political prisoner': Mouthy Martha Mitchell was the George Conway of the Nixon era." Washingtonpost.com, 21 Mar. 2019. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A579691680/STND?u=oswego&sid=STND&xid=212e9884. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Cadden, Vivian (July 1973). "Martha Mitchell: the Day the Laughing Stopped" (PDF). The Harold Weisberg Archive.

"Cassandra." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Cassandra-Greek-mythology.

Curtis, Charlotte (May 4, 1973). "Martha Mitchell Testifies in Civil Suit". The New York Times.

Farnsworth, Malcolm. "Watergate Burglars." Watergateinfo, watergate.info/burglary/burglars.

"GOP PUNDIT RECALLS MITCHELL MAYHEM." Capital Times [Madison, WI], 25 June 1999, p. 2A. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A69343508/STND?u=oswego&sid=STND&xid=9a52cb77. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

"LADD TAKES ON MITCHELL CASE AFTER GHOSTLY VISIT." World Entertainment News Network, 23 Aug. 2010. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A235175297/STND?u=oswego&sid=STND&xid=e4d40550. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

MacPherson, Myra (June 4, 1976). "Martha Mitchell Buried" (PDF). The Washington Post.

"McCord Declares That Mrs. Mitchell Was Forcibly Held". The New York Times. February 19, 1975.

Meyer, Lawrence. "John N. Mitchell, Principal in Watergate, Dies at 75." The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 Nov. 1988, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/stories/mitchobit.htm.

"Nation: The Warbler of Watergate." Time, Time Inc., 5 Dec. 1969, content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,901629,00.html

Smilgis, Martha. "A Martha Mitchell Biography Raps John, but Confirms That She Loved Him Until She Died." PEOPLE.com, 9 July 1979, people.com/archive/a-martha-mitchell-biography-raps-john-but-confirms-that-she-loved-him-until-she-died-vol-12-no-2/.

Stein, Jeff. "Trump Ambassador Beat and 'Kidnapped' Woman in Watergate Cover-Up: Reports; Stephen King, Trump's envoy to the Czech Republic, reportedly roughed up the wife of Nixon's campaign director to silence her about Watergate crimes." Newsweek, vol. 169, no. 23, 29 Dec. 2017. Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A519862669/PPPM?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=PPPM&xid=40768c7d. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

WINTON EVANS, KATHERINE (June 17, 1979). "Washington's Other Martha". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1979/06/17/washingtons-other-martha/f78b6750-8a6e-4647-9b71-fe90755d0e4b/

Kelly and Beth speak our truth each week on Strange Country and it feels so good. It may take us a while, meandering through details of our lives as mothers, women in our 40s, and librarians, but we get there eventually, dear Dashhounds. Thanks for listening and supporting that journey each week. This week we give honor to the podcast space that let's us speak our truth and wish singer and actress Eartha Kitt,could have had her own podcast. Instead she had to eat clam bisque with the fancy-pants Doers of the White House, and then speak her mind about Vietnam and the real reason behind crime in America. And then watch her career flounder for years thanks to CIA gossip gatherers, and racists.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite Your Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North,_South_Carolina

Biography.com Editors. Eartha Kitt Biography. A&E Television Network. September 15, 2020. https://www.biography.com/musician/eartha-kitt

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Eartha Kitt". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Jan. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eartha-Kitt. Accessed 16 February 2021. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eartha-Kitt

Mezzack, Janet. Without Manners You Are Nothing": Ladybird Johnson, Eartha Kitt, and the Women Doers' Luncheon of January 18, 1968. Gonzaga University School of Law. Presidential Studies Quarterly. Vol. 20, No.4, Modern First Ladies White House Organization (Fall 1990), pp.745-760. Accessed via jstor. 2/15/2021.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/claudia-alta-taylor-lady-bird-johnson/

If you could leave instructions for the survivors of the apocalypse, what would you say? If you need some suggestions, you could always look to the Georgia Guidestones, a monument built in 1980 by a group of unidentified "loyal Americans who love God." They share their tips in the style of a David Letterman Top 10 list. Some like the stones for their tourist draw, others think it's the Ten Commandments of the Antichrist. Join Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly as they examine these stones and discuss what they would do to guide those who survive the inevitable zombie hordes.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Bebergal, Peter, and Jia Tolentino. "Reimagining a Shadowy Medieval Brotherhood That Probably Didn't Exist." The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2016, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/reimagining-a-shadowy-medieval-brotherhood-that-probably-didnt-exist.

Blinder, Alan. "A Monument's Mysteries Include Whether It Can Draw Tourists." The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Sept. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/a-monuments-mysteries-include-whether-it-can-draw-tourists.html.

Chhith, Alex. "Mysterious Monolith Appears near Cedar Lake in Minneapolis." Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 2 Feb. 2021, www.startribune.com/towering-figure/600017850/.

Eaton, Everett. "Another Mysterious Monolith Has Popped Up in the Milwaukee Area." Milwaukee Magazine, 30 Jan. 2021, www.milwaukeemag.com/another-mysterious-monolith-has-popped-up-in-the-milwaukee-area/.

Eveleth, Rose. "Nobody Knows How to Interpret This Doomsday Stonehenge in Georgia." Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 10 Sept. 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nobody-knows-how-to-interpret-this-doomsday-stonehenge-in-georgia-5592082/.

Fish, Greg. "The Rosicrucian Stonehenge." [ Weird Things ], 29 Aug. 2018, worldofweirdthings.com/2009/08/17/the-rosicrucian-stonehenge.

"Georgia Guidestones." Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 26 June 2012, www.atlasobscura.com/places/georgia-guidestones.

Henderson, Nick. "Another Monolith Appears in Woodstock Field." Hudson Valley One, 29 Jan. 2021, hudsonvalleyone.com/2021/01/27/another-monolith-appears-in-woodstock-field/.

Keeling, Jeff. "UPDATE: City Officials Remove Mystery Monolith in King Commons Park." WJHL, WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather, 4 Jan. 2021, www.wjhl.com/news/local/mystery-monolith-appears-in-johnson-citys-king-commons-park/.

Kovaleski, Serge F., et al. "How a Mysterious Monolith Vanished Overnight (It Wasn't Aliens)." The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Dec. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/arts/design/utah-monolith-removed-instagram.html.

Lewis, Marc. "Why We're Hardwired to Hate Uncertainty" The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Apr. 2016, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/04/uncertainty-stressful-research-neuroscience.

Sullivan, Randall. "American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse." Wired, Conde Nast, 28 Apr. 2009, www.wired.com/2009/04/ff-guidestones/?currentPage=all.

Wiley, Raymond, and K. T. Prime. The Georgia Guidestones: Americas Most Mysterious Monument. The Disinformation Company Ltd., 2011.

Yuhas, Alan. "A Weird Monolith Is Found in the Utah Desert." The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Nov. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/us/Utah-monolith-red-rock-country.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article.