The Internet Explorer's Podcast

The Internet Explorer's Podcast

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The Internet Explorer's Podcast episodes

  • Lord have Mercy (and let us learn our lesson)

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    In 1892, in the sleepy town of Exeter, Rhode Island, a teenage girl named Mercy Brown died of tuberculosis. Two months later, her body was pulled from its crypt, her heart cut out and burned, and the ashes fed to her dying brother as a medical treatment. Why? Because the townspeople believed she was a vampire.

    In this episode, we dig deep into one of the strangest, most tragically hilarious moments in American medical history: the Mercy Brown vampire panic. It’s a true story of grief, fear, community hysteria, and just the tiniest bit of 19th-century grave-robbing ritual cannibalism. 

    You’ll meet the Browns: a family ravaged by tuberculosis, known back then as “consumption”. You’ll attend the now-legendary Exeter town hall meeting, where a group of very confident but very underqualified citizens voted to desecrate Mercy’s body based on local folklore, zero science, and one woman’s dream. We’re talking backwoods epidemiology, complete with shovels, torches, and a clay bowl full of teen heart ashes.

    But the story doesn’t end there. Because Mercy Brown didn’t just die, she became a symbol. A cautionary tale. And maybe even the inspiration for Dracula. This episode explores how magical thinking, medical ignorance, and the irresistible pull of a good monster story shaped not just one New England town, but a whole national tradition of getting history spectacularly wrong.

    So if you like your true stories with a side of social critique, a dash of cryptid energy, and a whole lot of “Are you kidding me?”, this one’s for you.

    41 min
  • The God Trip

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    What do a priest, an atheist, and a mushroom have in common?

    No, this isn’t a bar joke, it’s the setup for this week’s episode of The Internet Explorer’s Podcast, where we dig into the strange, trippy overlap between spirituality, psychedelics, and brain chemistry.

    In clinical labs and quiet chapels, professional religious leaders are now taking psilocybin, the compound in magic mushrooms, as part of scientific studies. And the results are... mixed.  Compare that to hardcore atheists taking the same trips and coming back with stories of oneness, light, and love... followed by six weeks of rationalizing what the hell just happened.

    So what gives?

    This episode breaks down the neurochemistry of transcendence, the history of humans chasing visions, and the not-so-shocking idea that maybe religion has always had a little fungus in its foundation. From burning bushes and talking snakes to angels covered in eyes, we explore why religious experiences sound a lot like a high-dose trip report.

    We’ll look at how your brain constructs the “sacred” whether or not you believe in the supernatural, and why that feeling of spiritual truth might just be what happens when your Default Mode Network takes a nap.

    Featuring an alarming number of biblical hallucinations, a lot of deadpan jokes, and zero actual shroom use by your host (but a lot of curiosity), this is the episode that connects monks, mushrooms, and modern neuroscience without making you convert, confess, or fast for 40 days.

    What does and doesn't the mushroom reveal?

    You'll have to listen to find out.

    34 min
  • Oumuawhaaaat?!

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    In October 2017, a mysterious object flew into our solar system, flipped us the cosmic bird, and sped off into the stars without so much as a “Thanks for the gravity assist.” Scientists named it ʻOumuamua, which is Hawaiian for “scout,” though “WTF Is That” would’ve also worked. It tumbled strangely, didn’t outgas like a comet, and for a hot minute, Harvard’s top alien-hunter suggested it might be an interstellar lightsail. After that, as expected, the sci-fi nerds and conspiracy theorists collectively lost their minds.

    Naturally, your boy Jimmy Googled the hell out of it. Is it a rock? A spaceship? A space turd with delusions of grandeur? In this episode, we untangle the physics, the wild theories, and the incredibly human urge to shout “ALIENS!” any time something confusing floats by.

    Not to spoil the episode, but nobody really knows what it was or what it looked like, but we’re going to guess it's a cigar-shaped UFO.  And we're gonna chase that baby through astrophysics, internet rabbit holes, and the desperate hope that we’re not alone... and if we are alone, we'll kindly ask the universe to at least send us weirder junk mail.

    Pre-roll blip for FYST

    31 min
  • Please Proceed to Conspiracy Gate C

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    In this episode, I dig into the long, strange lore surrounding America’s most suspicious airport. Denver International has been accused of being a New World Order headquarters, a Nazi occult project, a FEMA death camp, an alien transit hub, and possibly the world’s most elaborate art prank. And through it all, the airport’s official response has been to lean in. To joke about it. To build a marketing campaign that says, “What are we hiding?” and install a talking gargoyle that welcomes travelers to the Illuminati’s western campus.

    So the question isn’t just “What’s going on at DIA?” It’s “Why are they so comfortable making it weird?”

    From a practical standpoint, it’s just a big airport with bad interior design choices and a few unfortunate coincidences. But the more you look—the deeper you go—the harder it gets to write it all off. Some of it’s easily explained. Some of it’s performance. And some of it… feels off. Like someone built something large and layered and ritualistic, and then left just enough strange details on the surface to distract us from asking the right questions.

    Is there a conspiracy under the runways?  Probably not.
     Is there one hiding in the way they invite us to laugh about it? That’s a little harder to answer.

    This episode isn’t about proving anything. It’s about what happens when a piece of public infrastructure starts behaving like a puzzle box. When it blurs the line between civic utility and cosmic joke. And when the most disturbing possibility isn’t that the theories are true, but that the people in charge think it’s funny you’re even asking. Welcome to Denver. Don’t touch the keypad.

    34 min
  • Max Headroom Predicted TikTok, Sorry

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    In this episode, I rewind to the birth of one of the strangest, most prescient characters to ever appear on television, Max Headroom. Originally conceived as a satirical jab at media culture in the 1980s, Max quickly became something more: a glitchy, rubber-faced oracle who accidentally predicted the world we live in today.

    In this smart and cutting deep dive, I'll guide you through Max’s origin story, his bizarre and iconic visual design, his surprising jump from British cyberpunk satire to American network television, and his transformation into a media mascot with a built-in critique of media itself. But more importantly, I will trace how Max’s fictional world, one overrun by corporate control, algorithmic entertainment, and synthetic personalities, came to look a whole lot like our own.

    This isn’t just a retro flashback. It’s a post-mortem on a character who tried to warn us, and a meditation on what happens when the satire becomes the standard.

    Pre-roll blip for FYST

    29 min
  • The Sovereign Origin Story of TIEP

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    This episode starts with a courtroom, a traffic stop, and a guy insisting that he’s "traveling" not "driving" because his vehicle is a private conveyance and the law doesn’t apply to him. That moment, that bizarre blend of internet confidence and legal gibberish, is what launched this entire podcast. Not because I believed it but because I couldn’t stop watching.

    Before I explored gene editing, ancient mysteries, or MKUltra, I was completely obsessed with sovereign citizens. The flag fringe truthers. The UCC code whisperers. The people who think their birth certificate is secretly worth millions if they just file the right form. This was the rabbit hole that started it all. In this episode, I break down what sovereign citizens actually believe, why they believe it, and how I tried to build a character around that mindset... until I realized I’d rather just be myself.

    It’s part legal parody, part internet anthropology, and part personal reflection. Because while the ideas might sound ridiculous, the emotions behind them are real: fear, frustration, and a deep desire to feel in control of a world that doesn’t make sense. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what we’re really exploring here.

    So if you've ever wondered how someone ends up shouting "I do not consent!" at a traffic stop, or how that moment inspired an entire podcast, this is the episode that ties it all together.

    47 min
  • Who Are You and What Have You Done with My Dog?

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    What if the person you love most looked exactly the same but suddenly felt like a stranger? In this episode of The Internet Explorer’s Podcast, Jimmy dives into the unsettling world of Capgras Delusion, a rare but fascinating neurological disorder where people become convinced that their loved ones have been replaced by impostors.

    We’ll explore how the brain processes facial recognition, what happens when emotional memory and identity perception fall out of sync, and why the mind often chooses a conspiracy theory over uncertainty. Along the way, you’ll hear the real-life story of a man who lost not his wife but the feeling that she was real.

    Expect wild analogies, chilling implications, and the uncomfortable truth that reality, identity, and trust all hang on surprisingly delicate brain wiring. If you’re into bizarre psychological phenomena, cognitive neuroscience, or just want to understand why your brain sometimes lies to you this one’s for you.

    Pre-roll blip for FYST

    34 min
  • You are a good mother. You will not feel pain. You are a good mother…

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    In this episode of The Internet Explorer’s Podcast, we dive headfirst into the CIA’s most disturbing covert experiments: Project MKUltra. Specifically, we break down two of its darkest chapters --- Subproject 68, where psychiatrist Ewen Cameron used electroshock therapy, LSD, and drug-induced comas to forcibly erase and reprogram psychiatric patients, and Subproject 42, a government-funded experiment in real-world mind control where CIA agents spiked civilians' drinks in bars to test covert LSD delivery.

    These Cold War conspiracies weren’t fringe.  They were declassified by Congress after decades of secrecy. We also look at the death of Frank Olson, a military scientist who may have been silenced after being unknowingly dosed, and the year-long LSD experiment on Whitey Bulger, the infamous mobster turned test subject.

    If you’ve ever been curious about CIA experiments, government cover-ups, or how psychological warfare was literally tested on everyday people, this is the episode for you.

    We’re not here to speculate.  We’re here to tell you exactly what the documents say.

    33 min
  • Steven Kubacki: The Man Who Vanished

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    In 1978, college student Steven Kubacki vanished while skiing along Lake Michigan. His footprints led out onto the frozen lake… and then stopped. No broken ice. No body. No explanation. Fifteen months later, he woke up in a field 700 miles away—with no memory of where he’d been, wearing someone else’s clothes, and carrying a bag of maps and receipts.

    In this episode of The Internet Explorer’s Podcast, we dive deep into the chilling case of Kubacki’s disappearance, reappearance, and the eerie stretch of water known as the Lake Michigan Triangle, a hotspot for UFO sightings, vanishing aircraft, and stories that slip the grip of reality. Was it a dissociative fugue, government experiment, alien abduction, or a glitch in the multiverse? We explore the facts, the theories, and the unsettling silence that still surrounds the case.

    If you love unsolved mysteries, paranormal legends, or disappearances with just the right amount of WTF… this one’s for you.

    Pre-roll blip for FYST

    28 min
  • Foreign Accent Syndrome: When your voice betrays you

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    What if a bump on the head could completely change your voice and make the world think you're from another country? In this episode of The Internet Explorer’s Podcast, we explore the strange and fascinating world of Foreign Accent Syndrome, a rare neurological condition that causes people to suddenly speak with a foreign-sounding accent even when they've never left home.

    Your boy Jimmy dives into real case studies, breaks down the brain science behind speech and identity, and unpacks how Foreign Accent Syndrome became internet clickbait and TikTok fodder. From strokes and brain injuries to media hoaxes and viral videos, we separate the real from the ridiculous and ask deeper questions about how your voice shapes who you are.

    Whether you're a neuroscience nerd, a fan of weird medical mysteries, or just someone who enjoys internet rabbit holes with actual depth, this episode will make you rethink what it means to sound like yourself.

    27 min

About The Internet Explorer's Podcast

From the publisher's feed

The Internet Explorer's Podcast is a comedy-ish, science-ish, history-ish, popculture-ish parody podcast where curiosity meets absurdity. Each week, self-proclaimed "internet explorer"…