The Sirius Problem, Dorothy Eady, Ötzi the Iceman & MK-ULTRA

This week on The Oddities Department, history gets cosmic, reincarnated, frozen, and deeply classified.In Episode 23, Gavin and Lindsay take you through four bizarre true stories from the stranger corners of science, history, mystery, and government decision-making.First, Lindsay looks up at The Sirius Problem, where the Dogon people of Mali, a hidden companion star, French anthropology, ancient knowledge, and modern skepticism all collide in one of the weirdest debates to ever escape an academic journal. Is it astronomy? Is it anthropology? Is it cultural exchange? Is it space fish? Depends who you ask, and unfortunately, everyone is asking loudly.Then Gavin takes us into the strange life of Dorothy Louise Eady, the little girl from Edwardian England who fell down the stairs, was declared dead, woke back up, and spent the rest of her life insisting she remembered ancient Egypt. She would grow up, move to Egypt, work near the Temple of Seti I, become known as Omm Sety, and build an entire life around a home she should not have known how to miss.From there, Lindsay drags us into the Alps for Cave Man Carbs, where Ötzi the Iceman shows up frozen, tattooed, arthritic, murdered, and somehow still not done becoming everyone’s problem. What begins as one of the oldest cold cases in human history eventually leads to ancient microbes, questionable science, and the deeply unsettling possibility that archaeology sometimes ends in bread.And finally, Gavin opens the file on MK-ULTRA, the CIA’s very real, very documented program of mind-control research, non-consensual drug experiments, LSD, safe houses, destroyed records, and reckless disregard for human life. It is not a conspiracy theory. It was the conspiracy. This episode has everything: suspicious stars, reincarnation, ancient Egypt, dead pharaoh romance, glacier murder, bad knees, yeasty bread science, LSD experiments, government secrets, safe houses, brothels, shredded records, and just enough chaos to make it worth the listen.Listen to The Oddities Department anywhere you get your podcasts.Send us Fan Mail