The Free Bin

The Free Bin

By Toledo Public LibrarySociety & CultureEducation
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The Free Bin episodes

  • Out Antiquing

    Content Warning: This episode is all about death investigation, and contains discussions of violence, decomposition, and death planning.

    Cindy brings some books (two fiction and one nonfiction) paying homage to forensic science pioneer Frances Glessner Lee. Harrison tells a suprising story about a civil war grave. Coconut pairs well with coconut.

    In this episode:

    "Death in the Details" (book, 2024) by Katie Tietjen

    "18 Tiny Deaths" (book, 2020) by Judy Melinek, MD

    Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee Knoxville

    "Murder in Miniature" (book, 2025) by Katie Tietjen

    "Who Hid a Fresh Body in a Civil War Grave?" (YouTube video, 2025) by Caitlin Doughty

    54 min
  • Two Lead Pipes

    Cindy and Harrison face a barrage of random conversation starters from a website Cindy found. Harrison receives an exemplary poking stick. Cindy multitasks. Harrison comes to terms with gendered bath wipes.

    50 min
  • Love Rhombus

    Harrison leads Cindy through the weird and wild journey of a cancelled early-'90s "Hellraiser" video game. We have such sights to show you!

    In this episode:

    "Bible Adventures" (video game, 1991) by Wisdom Tree

    "Doom" (PC game, 1993) by id Software

    "Golly! Ghost!" (arcade game, 1990) by Namco

    "The Hellbound Heart" (book, 1986) by Clive Barker

    "Hellraiser" (film, 1987) dir. by Clive Barker

    "Super 3D Noah's Ark" (video game, 1994) by Wisdom Tree

    "Wolfenstein 3D" (PC game, 1992) by id Software

    Music used during cold open:

    "SCP-x1x (Gateway to Hell)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    50 min
  • William Pitt's Appeal

    In observance of Independence Day, Harrison reads an appeal delivered to Parliament by William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, in 1775. Happy Fourth, everybody!

    12 min
  • Grumpy Sunshine

    Cindy leads Harrison on a deep dive into the romance genre and its many, many subgenres! Dukes and Skarsgårds abound. A cowboy demonstrates nominative determinism. A fortune-telling session takes an uncomfortable turn.

    1 hr 15 min
  • Two Tales from the Brothers Grimm

    Harrison shares some updates and reads "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage" and "Fundevogel"--two German folktales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and published in 1812.

    19 min
  • Liminality Pt. 2: Feeling All The Feels

    Harrison, Cindy and superstar volunteer Olga delve into the concept of "hauntology" and how it applies to culture, society, and music.

    In this episode:

    "Etched Headplate" by Burial

    "Everywhere at the End of Time" by The Caretaker

    "На Дне" by Molchat Doma

    "Redline" by Lazerhawk

    "Хочу перемен" by Kino

    50 min
  • Liminality Pt. 1: That Looks Like A Place I Used To Live

    Harrison and Cindy begin a two-episode trek into the Backrooms, and the concepts, history, and artistic movements that dwell within their endless corridors.

    In this episode:

    Backrooms (film, 2026) (IMdB)

    Kane Pixels (YouTube)

    r/LiminalSpace (subreddit)

    28 min

About The Free Bin

From the publisher's feed

Join the staff of the Toledo Public Library as they dive deep into history, culture, and the arts! That's Toledo, Oregon, USA, by the way--not the bigger one in Ohio or the original one in Spain. But a public library serves everyone, so if you are someone, The Free Bin has something for you. Whether it's cult movies, cultural history, classic stories, games, or (of course) books, you never know what you'll find in here, so reach on in!