Happy Friday, folks! We're taking a break this week so thought we'd remind you of our favorite galavanting explorer-hopeful! It's been a year since he debuted on the pod, along with our theme music! So take a minute to dig into the nonsense and reassure yourself that if George could do all this, you can do anything. 

Wanna hear the wackiest story of a great explorer who…well, never explored much of anything? Come listen to Shannon tell Emma about George M. Boynton, the man who walked a lot, talked a big game, and got Teddy Roosevelt to love him. It seriously is crazy the amount this man got away with in life. Grannies, Chad, and Everest make appearances this week, so come get your fill of some nonsense. And enjoy our BRAND NEW INTRO MUSIC courtesy of our lovely friend, Tom (not the Cryptking)!

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Sources:

TikTok

The British Library’s Map Library (Shannon’s main source):

Geographical

Ultrarunning History

A poem written by Boynton; Historical Society of Princeton

Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research: San Jose Times Star

Arizona Memory Project

Accomack News (1907)

The Strand Magazine (1901)

Colorado Central Magazine

We’ve got another non-unsolved tale for you this week with our new favorite female of folklore: Baba Yaga. She might be a smelly old forest witch, but who among us isn’t! She is both death and life and all in all inevitable. We’ve got old Brooklyn men, drag queens, and untoasted bagels making an appearance, too, so yell “Yaga!” into the void and find out if this folklore figure is real after all.

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Sources:

The Mother Source on the Forest Mother

Ranker

Jack of Wands Tarot and his experience with Baba Yaga

Russiapedia

Ancient Origins

Grunge

Baba Yaga Perfume by Fantôme

Wicca Now on how to best encounter Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga’s Little Book of Hut Maintenance 

All That’s Interesting

Bust

BBC Culture

We’ve got a quick one for you this week with a more recent missing person’s case. Bryn Hargreaves, rugby pro turned safety inspector, was heard from in early January 2022, but it wasn’t until two weeks later anyone realized he was missing from his West Virginia home. Shannon fills Emma in on the details of the case and where it stands now, unfortunately colder than it should be. Stay to the end for our soapbox-y would-you-rather first date question and if you have any information on the whereabouts of Bryn Hargreaves, please contact the Monongalia Sheriff’s Office at 304-291-7260.

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Sources:

Medium

Find Bryn Jack

Mother Source

Manchester Evening News

12WBOY

BBC

Serious About Rugby League

The Mirror

National Missing and Unidentified Persons System

An almost 100 year-old murder still has no answer, which of course means Emma needs to tell Shannon all about it. A man was killed brutally in a locked hotel room on the 10th floor with no real motive or suspect in sight. Was it the mafia? A jilted lover? Donald Duck? Speculation abounds, and we’re a-bounding! Stay tuned at the end for a Mailbag Moment that is just so *us* and a special ask of you, our listeners!

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Sources

The Mother Source on President Hotel and Artemus Ogletree’s case

Newspapers.com

Kansas City Public Library “The Mystery of Room 1046” by John Horner

Pennsylvania State University 

Fox 4 News Kansas City 

This week Shannon brings us the unsolved and botched case of Lauren Smith Fields. Though the case remains open, the internet and Lauren’s family have clear ideas on what happened, though the start of the investigation could be why it may not be solved in the end. Join us this week to learn about Lauren and the danger most of us face in the world of dating. The Bridgeport Police Department encourages anyone with information regarding Lauren Smith-Fields’ case to contact them at 203-581-5219 or the anonymous TIPS Line at 203-576-TIPS.

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Sources:

WTNH News 8

NPR

Cardi B’s Tweet

ABC News

Hartford Courant

NewsOne

Connecticut Post

All That’s Interesting

Maine Public

CT Insider

Are you wanting the full experience of being on a ship and potentially encountering some ghosts but don’t want to be out at sea? Well, maybe a visit to RMS Queen Mary is next on your list, because she’s permanently docked in California and according to her Book of the Dead she’s loaded with ghosties. Emma regales Shannon with some things she already knows and others she doesn’t about this glorious ocean liner of the mid-20th century and of course chaos is not far behind. Stay tuned to the end to learn what Emma lied about and got Shannon for Christmas!

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Sources:

The Log on Queen Mary history and hauntings

Forbes

Queen Mary’s website to book tours, rooms, and tickets for the museum. Also a good bit of history and timeline

The Mother Source 

Cruise Maven and her haunted tour experience

Legends of America on the hauntings

Marine Insight

Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Haunted Decks of the Queen Mary

This cryptid has got a battle cry that neither host can resist, and we bet you won’t be able to either! Shannon takes us all the way to Indonesia to tell us about the Ahool, a bat-like, monkey, maybe dinosaur creature that is known to be territorial and sometimes very loud. Is this Emma’s spiritual cryptid? Most likely. Is she still married to Bigfoot? Definitely. Do we think Mothman would make a great babysitter? Yes. Hands (wings?) down. Join us for a quick episode and let us know who your cryptid significant other is!

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Ep. 109: A Winged Toddler: The AhoolSources:

TheIndonesia.id

Cryptid Wiki

Unknown Explorers

Mysterious Universe

Biology Online

Seanan McGuire

Buzzfeed Cryptid S.O. Quiz

Happy New Year, fiendish friends! Join us for a blast from the past and potentially a blast into space! Emma regales Shannon with the abduction story of Travis Walton and his glorious 70s mustache. From marshmallow-y aliens to Captain Kirk to Voldemort, the whole cohort is here! Start your year off like we did with an existential crisis and hot aliens and you’re sure to have an amazing 2023.

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Sources:

The Mother Source on Travis and the encounter

Travis Walton’s website

All That’s Interesting

CBC As It Happens

Happy (almost) New Year, all! Change your sheets, flip your mattress, and crack down on crime because this week Shannon is filling us in on the Mattress Firm Conspiracy. Really, since no one goes into a mattress store these days, what could the sheer amount of storefronts tell us? Is it a money laundering scheme? An elaborate and expensive marketing technique? Or a simple monopoly on all things sleep? Join us and find out (or not)!

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Sources:

Know Your Meme #1

Know Your Meme #2

Business Insider

Snopes

Inside Compliance (blog from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law)

WBUR

Reddit

Mother Source

YouTube

Happy Holidays from TPDE! We bring you a really-heckin-hot episode this week on spontaneous human combustion with our special guest, Alexis, helping us out. It might be “ick”, but can humans really go up in flames with nothing to ignite them but their own insides? We certainly hope not! We learn how much Emma knows about the death industry, what exactly we want done with our bodies after we’ve left this mortal plane, and ponder just how flammable we all are. Shannon has decided she doesn’t want to sit near a fire ever again. Hope you get lit this holiday season in all the best ways!

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Sources

The Mother Source on Spontaneous Human Combustion and Mary Reeser

The Tampa Bay Times on Mary Reeser’s case in 2009 and 2019

Buzzfeed Unsolved “The Spontaneous Human Combustion of Mary Reeser”

Britannica on SHC’s plausibility

Reddit thread titled “A Christmas Mystery, How did Matilda Rooney really die in 1885”