Wide Atlantic Weird

Conspiracy theories, UFO folklore, fringe beliefs - they all have something in common, and it's something worrying. A thread of anti-intellectualism runs through them all. Cian decides to find out what's really going on and enlists the help of his brother Donal, PHd student and lecturer in Political Science, to get to the bottom of several important mysteries. Why is conspiracy thinking more rampant than ever? Why is this a danger to the very fabric of democracy? How is all this related to Trump, Brexit, and other populist happenings? And is it worth going to see the never-ending KISS Farewell tour? Find out in this special Wide Atlantic Weird interview episode. Various topics Cian has investigated in previous episodes have been leading up to this, so tune in to find out how his travels through the various alternate realities of paranormal belief have led to his deepening suspicions that all is not right in the world of fringe thinking.

Links:

The Gillbillies Facebook Page

Loco Bronco Facebook Page

NOTE: the style and format of the show was very different back in these days! But we think you'll still enjoy it.

The bizarre episode of mass hysteria known as the 2016 Clown Panic gets centre stage in this episode as Cian downs a can of Brooklyn lager in the bunker and gets down to investigating a modern case of an anomalous phenomenon.

THE 2016 CLOWN PANIC: Cian remembers following this case as it happened. Has time given us any insights? Was this a flash-in-the-pan case of mass hysteria, or does it fit into patterns of other weird beliefs from history? Learn how the original clown sighting from Greenville, South Carolina created a meme that went worldwide by October 2016. (NOTE: I mistakenly date the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film to 1968. It was in fact shot in 1967. Geez, you guys!)

DEVIL'S CHOICE: A short fictional piece. On a Reddit page dedicated to 80s nostalgia, one contributor remembers a strange, scary Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book about a scary house in the woods. A house haunted not by ghosts, but by cultists straight out of the 80s Satanic Panic. The more she reads, the more sucked into the world of the book she becomes. And the book seems to know what choices she has made ...

SOURCES:

The Guardian: Clown Sightings, The Day The Craze Began

New York Times: Creepy Clown Sightings in South Carolina Cause A Frenzy

Irish Independent: Creepy Clowns Armed With Chainsaws Enter Dublin City School

Cian downs a Theakston's Old Peculiar and gets a little serious in this episode about conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his frenemy and all-round bro Joe Rogan.

See, conspiracy theories are no longer a silly fringe interest that we can afford to dismiss. They are mainstream, and are having serious effects on world politics. So we might as well understand them. And what better place to start than with the hilarious feud between Alex Jones and Joe Rogan? 

Alex Jones is a despicable human being. His worldview is dangerous and incredibly popular. We cannot afford to simply smirk because he sounds like a loon. Yes he says silly things about frogs, but he says not-silly things about people, and other truly silly people act on this. Joe Rogan is a guy who has a lot of influence, and should know better than to entertain Jones quite so often.

Listen and find out why all of this is more serious than it sounds in a rather intense episode of WIDE ATLANTIC WEIRD!

The Secret Rulers Of The World (Jon Ronson)

New York Times: Conspiracy Theories Made Alex Jones Very Rich. Now They May Bring Him Down

Forbes: Alex Jones and Joe Rogan Made Peace With A Bizarre Podcast

Joe Rogan Vs Alex Jones 2 (PingTr1P)

NOTE: the style and format of the show was very different back in these days! But we think you'll still enjoy it. 

Join Cian by the fire to discuss paranormal and unexplained topics in this spooky episode of Wide Atlantic Weird. Oh, and have a fine ale at hand too!

THE FIRST UFO: In 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold saw nine, shiny, disc-shaped somethings flying in formation over Mount Ranier in Washington State, and the world was never the same again. Over 70 years later, people are still arguing about what he did (or didn’t see). Whatever the truth, this encounter proved to be the beginning of the modern UFO movement. Everything that has followed – flying saucers, alien greys, abductions, the X-Files – has its roots in the Arnold sighting. So what really happened? Who was Kenneth Arnold, anyway? And should we take his report seriously? Why do people say that newpapers really invented flying saucers? This report finds Cian being less sceptical than usual as he dives into this seminal case.

AMERICAN EUGENICS: Cian shares an anecdote about his time working in the US, at a site that had once been fundamental in the history of the American eugenics project. Creepy graveyards, Hell’s Tunnel, the body hold: Cian seems to wind up living in places that are a magnet for urban legends and unsettling history, and this time he discovered that the remnants of some of America’s darkest doings are still to be found today.

THE PINE BARRENS EXPEDITION: A fictional piece. When a dedicated eugenics scientist takes his crusade to the New Jersey Pine Barrens in the 1930s, he hopes to meet some the most degenerate people the US has to offer. There’s nowhere better for him to begin his plan to rid the country of undesirables. But what he finds in those swampy depths goes to show that what’s desirable can mean different things to different folks.

Daily Grail: Re-Evaluating The Kenneth Arnold UFO Sighting

The Coming Of The Saucers, Kenneth Arnold & Ray Palmer

NOTE: The format and style of the show was VERY different back at the start! We still think you'll enjoy it though.

In this paranormal-themed episode, Cian sits by the fire with a strong coffee and tries to get to grip with a bizarre and little-known phenomenon. (NOTE: this episode was recorded under the original podcast title Off The Wagon.)

BRITISH BIGFOOT: Did you even know this was a thing? Not content with being master of the forests of the Pacific Northwest, Bigfoot has been reported many times in the UK. But is this really the Bigfoot we know and love? Cian takes you through some of the reports, dives into the community of believers, and tries to figure out just how the Bigfoot in Blighty seems to be different from his American cousin. One of the strangest of all paranormal subcultures is examined.

CENTRAL ONTARIO SIGHTING: A personal anecdote, in which your host reveals the one time he kinda maybe saw something mysterious in the forests of Central Ontario. Or at least got himself all spooked out by wandering in the woods listening to paranormal podcasts. Maybe you can do the same!

THE WASHINGTON SOUND MAP: A short fictional piece. Claire from Wicklow writes in to tell of her encounter with strange creatures in the vast forests of Washington. Hiking with a broken ankle through the American wilderness, she comes across a truck driven by two locals who have something mysterious in the back, and it ain't a keg of beer …

Vice: On The Trail Of The British Bigfoot

Mysterious Universe: UK's Bigfoot

British Bigfoot Sighting Reports

Join Cian by the fire for a strange tale in this episode of Off The Wagon. 

He's always been fascinated by stories about Sasquatch, so he's delighted to come across a new one from a listener.

Cian reads an email from Claire, a WIcklow girl who came across something strange while on holiday in Washington State. While hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail on a broken ankle, Claire came across a pair of hunters who seemed like her only safe way home. The only problem was the huge, mysterious thing they had stashed under a tarp in the back of the truck. When animal howls ring out among the forested hills, she knows something strange is up.

Read the text version of the story here.

(NOTE: Wide Atlantic Weird was originally called Off The Wagon, and featured, among other things, episodes about bad movies. There may be future episodes about bad movies too)

The movies of cult filmmaker Neil Breen are so bad they're hallucinogenic. Hypnotic, even. Cian and Ali can't get enough of them. In this 'cast they discuss all four of Breen's movies. 

To feed his ego, Breen always casts himself as a super-powerful, flawless hero. Sometimes he's a genius hacker, sometimes a successful author, sometimes he's even a straight-up Space Jesus come to punish humanity for its mistakes. But you can be sure that there will always be lots of hacking of government and corporate secrets, lots of awkward canoodling with much-younger women, and lots of astoundingly bad writing, acting and dialogue. 

The movies of Breen are like nothing you've ever seen before. He's the new Tommy Wiseau: if you think The Room is funny, Neil Breen elevates bad movie-making to an art form. Newbies and Breen-iacs alike will find something to enjoy in this deep-dive. Check out what happens when Off The Wagon goes full Breen.

Show Notes:

The Selfish Breen, from the Bad Movie Bible

Inside Neil Breen, from LeoHunt.com

I Am Here ...Now drinking game, from Movie Boozer

All music by The Scuts