The Strange Machine

On this episode, Lee dives headfirst into distant history to try to put together the puzzle of the Knights Templar. Did they really disappear, or did they take their great wealth and go underground to try to manipulate the world's events from behind the scenes?

For more information on the Knights Templar, check out Helen J Nichols' "The Knights Templar" or Michael Haag's "The Templars: The History and the Myth".

On this episode, Lee and Nathan begin examining the concept of the secret cabal, by looking at a real example (Skull and Bones) and a lie that was used to manipulate a population (the Committee of 300). Also, Nathan tries to pronounce German names, and Lee reminisces about being at a fancy dinner party.

On this "Junk Drawer" episode, Lee and Nathan talk about a mob hit from the 1960s that's even shadier and more disturbing than you might think, a scheme to kidnap people and force them to try to scam you over the phone, and the strange story of the brilliant author Philip K. Dick, who maybe tipped a little too far into suspicion and landed in the world of paranoia...

In Utah there's an alleged hotbed of supernatural and extraterrestrial activity named "Skinwalker Ranch". As it turns out, the location might well be the centre of a legitimate conspiracy, but not necessarily the one that people claim...

In October of 2023, a rumour started to spread on social media that a signal was going to be broadcast over everyone's cell phones that would activate a virus or a microchip in the vaccinated population that would turn them all into... zombies. Did this happen? No. But like all media-driven panics we can still learn something from it...

On this episode, Lee looks at the claims made by Preston Nichols that he was part of a top secret American government project involving time travel, teleportation, mind control, aliens, and meeting God at the centre of the Galaxy.

Disinformation is widespread in our current media ecosystem, and even if we don't fall for it it can still be hazardous to our health. To find out why this is the case, Lee and Nathan talk to Evan Thornburg: bioethicist, expert in disinformation and public health, and TikTok-facing intellectual.

You can find Evan's work on TikTok at "EVN the (Bio) Ethicist"

In 1997, dozens of people died by their own hands in a group called "Heaven's Gate" On this episode, Lee and Nathan try to make sense of the specific belief system that led to this disaster and examine the idea of the "cult" in general.

Lee and Nathan examine the season 3 episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" of the classic conspiracy TV show "The X-Files", and use the show to springboard off into a conversation about truth, aliens, hypnosis, abductions, hoaxes, government cover-ups, gorilla suits, and flying saucers. We recommend watching the X-Files episode before listening to this, but it's not necessary since the plot of the episode is explained fully.

What if there was a secret conspiracy to conceal the fact that the American government was making deals with aliens to allow them to abduct people for genetic research? And what if that conspiracy was nothing but a smoke screen to cover up the real conspiracy of a secret cabal working to depopulate the world? This is the story of Bill Cooper, and his book "Behold a Pale Horse".