Why Would You Ask That?

Part 3? Kind of. This episode is not about idioms but is from a question we received about "culture-bound syndromes" based on the idiom running amok from our Spilling the Beans episode. You don't need to have listened to parts 1 and 2 to understand this episode. It's all about how the term "culture-bound syndrome" was born and died in a flash. We take a look at what some of these syndromes were/are and what the APA is doing to fix their mistakes. From koro to bouffée délirante, join us in learning what binds us together in mental health awareness.

CW: Mental Health Talk (the whole episode), Eating Disorders, Bugs on or in the body (briefly), Skin Picking (briefly), Exoticism/Othering in the Medical Community

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

It's aquatic. It's humanoid. It's arguably a mermaid. It was invented by anonymous forum posters and somehow ended up in a paranormal magazine next to a "real" 1958 sighting. This week we chase the Ningen from 2chan to Antarctica to your Pokédex, and detour through the wider world of monsters the internet built from scratch.

CW: Whaling, Survival Situation Talk

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

In 2023, Channel 4 aired a mockumentary called The British Miracle Meat, hosted by Gregg Wallace, that got 408 Ofcom complaints in 23 minutes flat. This week we get into how it pulled that off by borrowing a centuries-old literary con, and why horrifying your audience might genuinely be the most effective way to get anyone to care about a crisis they've been ignoring for years.

CW: Simulated Cannibalism (including of children), Poverty, Surgery, Medical Harm, Brief discussion of Pedofilia during the section about Brass Eye

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

Frozen in your own body, convinced something’s in the room with you? This mini unpacks what sleep paralysis is, why it can feel so terrifying, and how those night visits turned into stories of hags, nightmares, and bedroom demons. M shares personal experiences and practical tips for what you can actually do if your sleep is being disrupted.

CW: Sleep Paralysis, Fear, Blood Mention (a few seconds), Choking

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

We take it easy this week and chat up food— favorite, fictional, and family recipes. It's a chance to learn a little more about your hosts and perhaps try a recipe they offer.

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

Michael Bay's use of explosions is meme-worthy, referenced in everything from US comedies to video games to even Japanese manga. How did he get here, and how did his EXPLOSIVE style find his success?

CW: Explosions, Gun Use, House Fires, Exploitation of Women, Talk of the Military

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

Beneath our feet lies a labyrinth of cheese, specifically, American cheese. How much? The answer is more than a healthy amount of cheese, and the government put it there. The story of America's cheese caves stretches from WWII-era farm subsidies to Reagan-era welfare politics. It's weirder than you think.

CW: Classism/Poverty, Food Insecurity, Politics

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

Did you know human zoos, where real people from colonized lands were displayed like animals, ran until shockingly recently? From Ota Benga in the Bronx Zoo monkey house to 598 Congolese in Belgium's "village" exhibit, this episode uncovers the global history of human exhibitions, the pseudoscience that justified them, and why most people still don't know it happened.

CW: violence, racism, kidnapping, dehumanization, non-consensual sexualization of women, medical abuse, suicide, and child exploitation

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

There's the usual laws, like no kissing your wife on Sunday, and then there's the law about keeping ice cream in your back pocket. Remy delivers on weird laws that are still on the books, some of which we can be arrested for very easily. Or may actively be breaking. And that you might be breaking. Right now.

CW: Ableism / Disability exploitation, LGBTQ+ discrimination, Sexual content (brief/legal context), Death (brieth), Religion

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.

Echelon sounds like a conspiracy theory. A secret government project? Cold war private surveilling? And giant golf balls in the English countryside? This week we're digging into the full story of mass surveillance from Cold War spy networks to the devices sitting in our homes and asking how much privacy we actually have left.

CW: Government Spying and Privacy Violation, War, Brief talk of 9/11

Music provided by Dark Fantasy Studios. [License]

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/why-would-you-ask-that--5784165/support.