True Weird Stuff

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting Tripping Johns</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>One of our first episodes of True Weird Stuff was about the CIA dosing unsuspecting men with LSD and luring them to surveillance brothels. We're doing something a little different in this episode; we're providing live commentary as we listen back to "Tripping Johns."</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting Talking To Heaven</p> <div> <div> <div> </div> <div>What happens when we die? Are you a person who believes that we flicker into and out of existence like earthbound fireflies, here and then gone? Or maybe you believe in an eternal soul that recycles itself lifetime after lifetime? What if you could know, what if you did know what happens when we die? In this episode, you’ll hear from internationally acclaimed spiritual medium James Van Praagh.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Killer Ouija Board</p> <p> </p> <p>Some say the Ouija board is just a game. A toy. A harmless way to pass the time. But in 1933, Dorothea Turley—once celebrated as America’s ideal of beauty—found herself trapped in a life she no longer wanted. Isolated, restless, and searching for answers, she turned to a Ouija board. What she got back was a sinister command: kill your husband.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Cursed Bread</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>In 1951, a quiet French village descended into chaos after people began hallucinating, screaming about monsters, and even jumping from windows—all after eating bread. Officially blamed on contaminated grain, the case took a darker turn when connections to CIA LSD experiments and the mysterious death of a government scientist surfaced. Was this a tragic accident… or a secret test on an entire town?</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Jumper</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>On November 28, 1953, a man crashed through a tenth-floor window at New York City’s Hotel Statler. His name was Frank Olson — a scientist working on some of the most disturbing top-secret programs of the Cold War. Days earlier, the CIA had secretly dosed him with LSD. The official story? A troubled man had a breakdown and jumped. But decades later, new evidence raised a terrifying possibility: Frank Olson didn’t jump...he was thrown.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Open Wide</p> <p> </p> <p>In the early 1900s, psychiatrist Dr. Henry Cotton claimed he could cure mental illness by removing hidden infections in the body. His theory led to a shocking medical practice at the New Jersey State Hospital for the Insane in Trenton—patients had all of their teeth pulled, tonsils removed, and even parts of their intestines surgically removed in an attempt to eliminate bacteria believed to cause insanity.  What started as a revolutionary medical theory quickly spiraled into one of the most disturbing chapters in psychiatric history.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Scarlett Sisters</p> <div> <div> <div> </div> <div>Born into Southern privilege, sisters Ada and Minna Simms escaped violent marriages, stumbled into show business, and eventually pivoted into running what became the most luxurious brothel in America. The Everleigh Club catered exclusively to millionaires, politicians, gangsters, and royalty. Ada and Minna transformed prostitution into an elite, curated luxury experience that also brought controversy to their front door.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Jeffrey Epstein, Vampire</p> <p> </p> <p>How do you build a conspiracy theory? Start with a villain. Add power. Stir in mystery. True Weird Stuff examines the internet's bizarre claim that Jeffrey Epstein is an immortal vampire who once lived as President Andrew Jackson. We trace the ingredients: the suspicious timing of press releases, strange digital footprints after Epstein’s death, the uncanny resemblance to the face on the $20 bill — and society's refusal to accept an unsatisfying ending.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Swing Your Partner</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>From 17th-century folk traditions to 20th-century propaganda, the square dance traveled a long road before landing in your elementary school gym. What looks like homespun Americana hides a secret: a powerful man’s fear that jazz was a threat to white America. Sometimes the most wholesome traditions carry the darkest fingerprints.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Chronovision</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1972, a Vatican priest claimed he built a machine that could watch past events like a television...everything from ancient Rome to the crucifixion of Christ. Father Pellegrino Ernetti called his invention the Chronovisor, and Ernetti claimed the Vatican saw the machine, feared it, and hid it away forever. The Chronovisor promised answers that no religion or government could survive. Was it the greatest secret ever buried, or a warning about wanting proof too badly?</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Internal Sunshine</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>William J.A. Bailey wasn’t a doctor, but he convinced the public to trust him anyway—selling radium-laced water as a cure for nearly everything. One of those believers was Eben Byers, a wealthy athlete who drank more than a thousand doses, slowly poisoning himself until his jaw disintegrated and his skull began to rot before his death. The death of Eben Byers forced the world to finally confront the cost of pseudoscience that goes unchecked.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Perfect Baby</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1919, a toddler known as one of America’s “Perfect Babies” vanished from his New Jersey home. Searchers scoured the woods. Accusations spread. Theories multiplied. When his remains were found deep in the swamp, they answered nothing. The disappearance and death of 2-year-old Billy Dansey spun a web of fear, superstition, prejudice, and failed justice.</p>

<p>Today's True Werid Stuff - Lynnewood Hall</p> <p> </p> <p>Lynnewood Hall was built as a monument to wealth, power, and permanence—an American Versailles, commissioned by the Widener family, meant to last for generations. But tragedy struck the Widener family at the height of their fortune, tying the mansion forever to the sinking of the Titanic and a grief no amount of money could undo. As decades passed, the house was stripped, sold, misused, and left to decay, becoming a silent witness to hubris, loss, and the slow collapse of a gilded dream.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Tiny Pedro</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1932, a prospector blasting for gold in Wyoming uncovered something no one expected: a tiny mummified human seated upright in a cave. Scientists examined it. Crowds paid to see it. And then—like so many pieces of ancient history—it disappeared. Join us as we uncover the legend of Tiny Pedro.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Award Winning "Doomsday Clock"</p> <p> </p> <p>True Weird Stuff is currently on hiatus, but Sheri and Max will be back with a brand new episode next week. Until then, we present to you another one of their award winning episodes. Winner of two Signal Awards for best history episode and best editing, "Doomsday Clock" explores the origins of the clock, and its lingering flirtation with striking midnight.</p>

<p>The Award Winning "Once Upon A Shroom"</p> <p> </p> <p>Sheri and Max have placed True Weird Stuff on hiatus through the holiday season. Today, we present to you another one of their award winning episodes. Winner of a W3 Award for best history episode, Once Upon A Shroom dives into the story of the man who popularized shrooms in America.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Award Winning "Cokey & Lucky"</p> <p> </p> <p>Sheri and Max have placed True Weird Stuff on hiatus as we enter the chaotic crunch time of the Christmas season, In their stead, we present to you one of their award-winning episodes. Winner of a W3 Award for best history episode, Cokey and Lucky explores the rise and fall of the architect of the modern mafia.</p> <p> </p> <div> <div><em>Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at <a href="https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff&source=gmail&ust=1766248147351000&usg=AOvVaw3U2f8y2gJ75ZeZ_IJje4x5">https://www.rula.com/<wbr>trueweirdstuff</a> #rulapod</em></div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Phantom Killer</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1946, the twin cities of Texarkana were gripped by terror; an unknown person began attacking couples in the night, murdering five people over the course of weeks. As the murders mounted, fear and paranoia consumed the community. Despite an exhaustive investigation fueled by endless false tips, bogus confessions, and hundreds of possible suspects, the actual perpetrator was never found. They'd vanished without a trace and will forever be known as the Phantom Killer.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Dopey & Sad: The Year In Review</p> <p> </p> <div> <div>It's been quite the year for the True Weird Stuff crew. We won awards and spent countless hours writing and editing dozens of stories that may or may not have been lost to time. We don't have a story for you in this episode, per se, but it is the tale of how we've managed to build True Weird Stuff into something we're really proud of.</div> <div> </div> <div> <div><em>Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at <a href="https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff&source=gmail&ust=1765062094668000&usg=AOvVaw0_EgYd1ZsTzrp4pVIceLuF">https://www.rula.com/<wbr>trueweirdstuff</a> #rulapod</em></div> <div> </div> </div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting The First War On Christmas</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>We're off for the Thanksgiving holiday, so in honor of Christmas here's a tale about a group of Grinches who hated the holiday. The Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th Century, people like Governor William Bradford and Reverend Increase Mather, hated Christmas so much that they chose to ban it.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> <div><em>Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at <a href="https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff&source=gmail&ust=1764442746337000&usg=AOvVaw3pHBKYonlLBHc1TKHF1KAF">https://www.rula.com/<wbr>trueweirdstuff</a> </em><em>#rulapod</em></div> <div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Road Zoo</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>As cars and family road trips exploded across America in the early 20th century, hundreds of mom-and-pop zoos sprang up along the highways, promising exotic animals, cheap thrills, and quick profits. But behind the quirky billboards and hand-painted signs, many of these zoos operated with little to no oversight. Lax regulations opened the door for questionable practices: cramped cages, animal mistreatment, and even the smuggling of dangerous species that sometimes resulted in serious injuries—or worse.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Fall of Fatty</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>In 1921, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars—beloved, bankable, and untouchable. But a wild party at San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel changed everything. When young actress Virginia Rappe fell mysteriously ill and later died, Arbuckle was accused of murdering her, igniting one of the first major celebrity scandals in American history. The tabloids turned the tragedy into a feeding frenzy, but the truth of what really happened that night remains murky over a century later.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Gorillas in the Myth</p> <p> </p> <p>Long before Bigfoot roamed through modern folklore, there was another giant said to haunt the jungles. For centuries, explorers called it a monster, a savage man-beast that couldn’t possibly exist. Then one day, proof was uncovered. From cryptid legend to reality, this is the tale of the gorilla and its emergence from the mythical shadows.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Bright Lights, Big Sleepy Revisited</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>This was one of the first True Weird Stuff episodes we did...it's a deeply personal story for Sheri, who shared the time she and her family experienced a "lost time" phenomenon. This episode has been updated to include a newly recorded Post-Mortem, in which Sheri reveals new information she recently learned while visiting her mom.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Flat Earth City</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>Wilbur Glenn Voliva was a self-proclaimed prophet, flat-earth crusader, and autocratic ruler of Zion, Illinois. This fiery preacher took over John Alexander Dowie’s religious utopia in the early 1900s, ruling with an iron fist, Volivabanning everything from whistling to reading newspapers on Sundays. But his most infamous crusade was against science itself: Voliva loudly declared that the Earth was flat, even offering thousands of dollars to anyone who could prove it was round.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Littlest Survivor</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1846, the Donner Party set out westward seeking new land and opportunity, but their journey turned into a nightmare when they became trapped by snow in the unforgiving Sierra Nevada. Starvation, freezing temperatures, and impossible choices claimed the lives of many members of the Donner Party. Eliza Donner Houghton, the youngest survivor and among the last to be rescued, witnessed the loss of both parents and bore witness to fear, desperation, and horrors no child should endure.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - A Demon Named Bob</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>In 1878, a quiet town in Nova Scotia became the stage for one of the most chilling hauntings in North American history. After a near-death experience, a young woman named Esther Cox began to suffer strange attacks — unseen forces that scratched messages into walls, set fires, and hurled objects through the air. Was she the victim of a violent haunting, or the center of a psychological storm misunderstood by her time?</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Liar, Liar, Plants on Fire</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>In 1966, Cleve Backster, an interrogation specialist for the CIA, claimed to have discovered something shocking: plants seemed to respond to human thoughts and emotions. He came to this conclusion by hooking up plants to a polygraph machine to measure their response. His controversial experiments with polygraphs suggested that living things might share a hidden form of communication, and sparked a wave of fascination and skepticism that still lingers today.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today/s True Weird Stuff - The Terrordome</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia became notorious for unethical medical experiments conducted on inmates from the 1950s through the 1970s. Prisoners, many of them poor and Black, were lured into participating with small payments; doctors also lied to prisoners about the risks. Under dermatologist Albert Kligman, inmates were exposed to chemicals, viruses, asbestos, and other toxic chemicals that caused lifelong physical and psychological damage. The horrors of this institution are why Holmesburg Prison was given the nickname, "The Terrordome."</div> </div> </div> <div> </div> <p> </p> <p> </p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Wild Child (Airdate 9/19/2025)</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>In 1797, a young boy was discovered in the woods of France. He would eventually be found and taken into towns to be cared for by the locals. This boy, known as Victor, couldn't speak, was covered in scars, and behaved like a wild animal. Victor would escape many times, but he was eventually taken in by a French physician, who vowed to turn Victor into a civilized member of society.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Our Lady Of The Attic</p> <p> </p> <p>Blanche Monnier’s story is one of the most chilling true tales from 19th-century France. Once a vibrant young woman from a respected family, Blanche mysteriously vanished—only to be discovered 25 years later, imprisoned in a dark, filthy room by her own mother. Malnourished, covered in filth, and hidden away from the world, Blanche’s shocking ordeal became headline news across Europe, exposing the horrifying secret that had been kept behind closed doors for decades.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Sin Eater</p> <p> </p> <p>The practice of people eating a meal after a loved one's funeral is common, but the combination of eating and death used to have a morbid relationship in some religions. Certain people were called upon to place bread on the deceased's body, then eat the bread as a way to "consume" the person's sins. They were known as Sin Eaters, and these social pariahs were doomed to carry the burden of others' sins into eternal damnation.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Madames of Mayhem - A True Crime Marathon</p> <p> </p> <div> <div>We have four chilling tales of women you don't want to cross. Nannie Doss loved her husbands...until she got tired of them and decided to murder them. Baba Anujka, the world's oldest serial killer, used her scientific knowledge to poison her victims. Megan Hess and Shirley Koch were a mother/daughter duo who illegally sold body parts through their funeral home. Georgia Tann, aka the "Baby Broker," ran an adoption agency that kidnapped young children and sold them to wealthy families.</div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Ghost Ship</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>A bizarre distress signal. A vessel discovered adrift. An entire crew found deceased with their faces frozen in terror. Since the 1940s, the legend of the SS Ourang Medan has been shrouded in mystery. Different accounts tell different stories. How did the crew die? Did the Ourgang Medan even exist at all? Only the souls of those on board know the truth about this ghost ship. </div> </div> </div> <div> <div> </div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - The Living Corpse</p> <p> </p> <p>Taphophobia is the fear of being buried alive. During the Victorian Era, people being mistakenly buried alive was so common that extensive measures were taken to prevent it. But throughout history, there have been individuals like "Country" Bill White, a man who made a career out of burying himself alive for the fame and notoriety. He will forever be known as The Living Corpse.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Vanished</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1768, Owen Parfitt was a crippled, old man sitting on his front porch like usual. When his sister returned to bring him inside, he was gone. It was impossible that he'd left on his own, and no one had seen a thing. Every search turned up empty-handed, and Owen Parfitt was never seen again. Was he kidnapped? Was he a victim of the supernatural? The disappearance of Owen Parfitt remains a mystery to this day.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Human Livestock</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div>In the 20th century, the American Eugenics Society promoted its ideas of "racial betterment" through publications, lectures, and even at state fairs. Entire families would jump at the chance to be scrupulously evaluated at these exhibits. The prize for winning these "Fitter Family" contests? Being deemed worthy of passing on your genes to improve the white race.</div> </div> </div> <div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - People Chow</p> <p> </p> <p>Webster Edgerly was the creator of a social movement known as Ralstonism. His self-promoted pseudoscience was based upon his advocacy of racial eugenics and strict health and hygiene habits. That's why in 1902, Edgerly's Ralstonism movement would end up partnering with popular food brand Purina, whose whole-grain cereal Edgerly considered to be the perfect food for his faithful followers.</p>

<p>The Hobo King</p> <p> </p> <p>In the decades before the Great Depression, it was common for folks known as hobos to wander from town to town searching for work, dangerously hopping on and off moving trains to reach their next destination. A man named Jeff Davis believed that hobos deserved a chance to care for themselves, and in 1913, he opened a hotel where hobos would provide for each other in exchange for lodging. This concept spread across the country, and Jeff Davis would become known as The Hobo King.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting Sea Demon </p> <p> </p> <p>You’re at the beach, standing at the water’s edge. Shielding your eyes from the sun glaring off the water, you gaze out at the far horizon. Did you see it? Was it a trick of the light or was it...a fin? You’re about to hear a shark tale unlike any other. One that makes Jaws look like Finding Nemo. This is the terrifying true story of...the Sea Demon.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting We The People</p> <p> </p> <p>In honor of the 4th of July, here's the episode we did about Gouverneur Morris, the man who coined the term "We the People."</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Nazi Farm Part 2</p> <p> </p> <div> <div> <div> <div>In Nazi Farm, Part 1 we discussed the origin of Colonia Dignidad, the Nazi religious cult established by Paul Schäfer in Chile. In this episode, we dive deeper into Colonia Dignidad's relationship with Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet. Schäfer's alliance with Pinochet's regime led to Colonia Dignidad becoming a place where Pinochet's enemies would be brutally tortured...or worse.</div> </div> </div> </div>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Nazi Farm Part 1</p> <p> </p> <p>Paul Schäfer was a Nazi who, after World War II, would go on to become a minister. When Schäfer was accused of abusing two young boys at his orphanage, he fled to Chile and started a community called Colonia Dignidad. Though this 53-square-mile compound looked peaceful on the outside, Colonia Dignidad was a horrific nightmare. Violence, abuse, forced separation of families, and an alliance with a Chilean dictator were just a few of the ways Paul Schäfer maintained control over his Nazi cult with an iron fist.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Order of the Pug</p> <p> </p> <p>The rise of Freemasonry in 18th century Europe led to conflict within the Catholic Church. Their disdain of these secret fraternal orders led to  Pope Clement XII banning Catholics from joining them. However, that didn't stop a group of Catholics from creating their own secret society, one based on loyalty, trustworthiness, steadfastness...and wearing a dog collar. This group was known as the Order of the Pug.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting A Killer Pool</p> <p> </p> <p>With Sheri feeling under the weather this week, we thought it'd be a good time to re-release the first episode of True Weird Stuff. Sheri shares the details of growing up with a neighbor down who was as nice as could be...until the day he snapped and went on a killing spree.</p>

<p>Today's True Weird Stuff - Killer Eyes</p> <p> </p> <p>Fritz Angerstein was a German mass murderer who killed his wife and 7 other people on November 30 and December 1, 1924. For centuries, people wondered if it might be possible for the human eye to record the last image it saw before death, leading to the practice of forensic optography. Even though it would eventually be debunked, forensic optography was admitted as damning evidence in the trial of Fritz Angerstein. It claimed that his face and an axe were the last images his victims saw.</p>