Bunkum and Ballyhoo

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns to the world of professional wrestling, as host, historian and author Patrick W. Reed tells the story of what happens when the make-believe world of professional wrestling becomes all too real - it's a story of obsession, toxic masculinity, and unimaginable grief. From the wrestling rings of Texas in the 1980s, this is the story of the Von Erich Curse.

In an impromptu and unscripted emergency episode of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, host Patrick W. Reed considers the emergent pop culture conspiracy theory that the final series of Stranger Things hid within it a series of clues revealing the existence of a secret additional episode - taking into account the distinction between fanfiction and fan theory, the dangers of mistaking the algorithm for reality, and the perennial Bunkum & Ballyhoo theme of being awake to irrational beliefs and cognitive biases in your own life. Plus Patrick's broader thoughts on Stranger Things as a series.

In a bumper edition of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, historian and author Patrick W. Reed uses examples from his own memory to example one of the internet's favourite bizarre beliefs, the timeline-hopping, detail-altering mischief of the Mandela Effect. It's an exploration that takes in personal history, the paranormal, the vagaries and weaknesses of human history, while asking how the Mandela Effect can serve as a gateway drug to more dangerous beliefs, and what it tells us about the increasingly selfish and atomised nature of our culture, all serving to examine why we believe what we believe, and what leads people further and further down rabbit holes of conspiracy theory, extremism, and irrational beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. All while finding time to fit in Bigfoot, the Satanic Panic, QAnon, and the nature of childhood fandom.Selected Bibliography:The Science of Weird Shit by Professor Chris FrenchSatanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, edited by Kier-La Janisse and Paul CorupeSatanic child abuse claims are almost certainly based on false memories - Professor Chris French, The Guardian, 18/11/14Audio Sources:WWF Monday Night RAW Intro - 1993

In the world of literary scandal, there have always been books filed under "non-fiction" that are better positioned elsewhere in the library. In this episode, historian Patrick W. Reed looks at one notorious example - Clifford Irving's authorised "autobiography" of the world's most famous recluse, the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.Selected Bibliography & Sources:The Autobiography of Howard Hughes by Clifford IrvingHoward Hughes: The Hidden Years by James PhelanThe Hoax by Clifford Irving

A return to the Fortean and the supernatural, and to the eminently gullible world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as Bunkum & Ballyhoo explores the story of fairies photographed in a Yorkshire garden, and how one of England's most famous authors made them a media sensation.Selected Bibliography & SourcesThe Coming Of The Fairies by Arthur Conan DoyleSprites, spiritualists and sleuths: the intersecting ownership of transcendent proofs in the Cottingley Fairy Fraud by Francesca BihetArthur C. Clarke's World of Strange PowersThe James Randi Educational FoundationAudio Credit"Fairies Wear Boots" by Jazz Sabbath

Bunkum and Ballyhoo returns for its third series, as author and historian Patrick W. Reed looks at the phenomenon of True Believer Syndrome, through the story of the spiritualist medium M. Lamar Keene, his stranger than fiction true life story, and his fears of being stalked by who he called "The Psychic Mafia".Selected BibliographyThe Psychic Mafia by M. Lamar KeeneFlim-Flam! by James Randi

Part two of a double-header on the story of The Highgate Vampire takes a closer look at the principle players - David Farrant, and Reverend Sean Manchester - to explore the background of two extraordinary characters, the unsavoury and unsettling beliefs that so often lurk behind the irrational and the conspiratorial world-view, and asks why Bunkum & Ballyhoo.Selected Sources:The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: The Anglo-American Connection In Satanic Cult Lore by Bill Ellis, in Folklore (1993)London Uncanny by Clive BloomThe Highgate Vampire by Sean ManchesterHaunted Highgate by Della FarrantThe Vampire's Bedside Companion by Peter UnderwoodI am also indebted in these episodes to the work of Anthony Hogg, Erin Chapman, and Kevin Chesham.Audio Sources:True Horror with Anthony Head (2004)Father Ted S3E1, "Are You Right There Father Ted?" (1998)

Series two of Bunkum & Ballyhoo closes out with the extraordinary story of the Highgate Vampire - a supposed supernatural phenomenon that haunted one of London's great cemeteries in the 1970s, and the ongoing feud between the two duelling occultists and vampire hunters at its heart. Are we ever really that far from the irrational beliefs and moral panics of the past?Selected Sources:The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: The Anglo-American Connection In Satanic Cult Lore by Bill Ellis, in Folklore (1993)London Uncanny by Clive BloomThe Highgate Vampire by Sean ManchesterHaunted Highgate by Della FarrantThe Vampire's Bedside Companion by Peter UnderwoodI am also indebted in these episodes to the work of Anthony Hogg, Erin Chapman, and Kevin Chesham.Audio Sources:Penda's Fen (1974) dir. Alan Clarke, written by David RudkinBBC 24 Hours (1970)One Hour with Jonathan Ross (1990)True Horror with Anthony Head (2004)

Bunkum & Ballyhoo explores the life and complicated legacy of the voice of the Canadian wilderness, an early vocal spokesman for conservation, environmentalism, and native rights; Grey Owl, and the thorny issue of cultural appropriation.NOTE:This episode contains historical quotations which some listeners may find offensive.Selected Sources:The Collected Works Of Grey Owlby Grey OwlDevil In Deerskins: My Life With Grey Owlby AnahareoWilderness Man: The Strange Story of Grey Owlby Lovat DicksonFrom The Land Of Shadows: The Making of Grey Owlby Donald B SmithAudio Sources:Canadian Cameo - "Grey Owl's Strange Quest" (1936)Trailer: Grey Owl (1999), dir. Richard Attenborough -20th Century Studioswww.patrickwreed.comwww.patreon.com/patrickwreed

Bunkum & Ballyhoo host Patrick W. Reed returns to the familiar territory of professional wrestling history to uncover the true story behind one of wrestling's most infamous matches, and to shed light on the story of the wrestler, strongman, and legendary Montreal eccentric, The Great Antonio, and asks what we might find when we look behind a meme or a viral video.Audio Sources:Antonio Inoki vs. The Great Antonio, New Japan Pro Wrestling, 1977The Great Antonio on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - unknown air datewww.patrickwreed.comwww.patreon.com/patrickwreed

Bunkum & Ballyhoo explores the highs and lows of the footballing career of Brazilian soccer superstar Carlos Kaiser - 13 years, 10 teams, and zero goals. In fact, he never even made it on to the pitch.Selected Sources:Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never To Play Footballby Rob SmythKaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never To Play Football, directed by Louis Myles, written by Ivor Baddiel & Louis MylesAudio Sources:Music taken fromWorld Cup Italia '90 for the SEGA Mega Drive. Composer unknown.www.patrickwreed.comwww.patreon.com/patrickwreed

Bunkum & Ballyhoo takes its first cautious steps into the murky waters of Cryptozoology as it visits the shores of Loch Ness, and the caravan of its most notorious monster hunter Frank Searle to learn whether the camera truly never lies. Selected SourcesLoch Ness: They Created A Monster, directed by John MacLavertyLoch Ness Investigation - What Really Happened by Frank Searle50 People Who Screwed Up Scotland by Allan BrownFortean Times Audio Sources:Frank Searle interviewed by John "Sparky" SlyLoch Ness Monster Report, 3 Oct 1976 British MovietoneTheme From The Family Ness by Roger Greenaway www.patrickwreed.com www.patreon.com/patrickwreed

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns for Series 2 and Episode 1 takes a look at a legend of comic book ad pages - this is the story of the wild claims and even wilder life of the self-proclaimed Deadliest Man Alive, the Master Of The Dim Mak and the Dance Of Death, Count Dante, and his Black Dragon Fighting Society. Selected Sources:The Deadliest Man Alive: Count Dante, the Mob, and the War for American Martial Arts by Benji FeldheimSelected issues of Black Belt MagazineCount Dante: The World's Deadliest Myth by Eric NusbaumAudio Sources:CBS Interview with John "Count Dante" Keehan - CBS, 1967"Kung Fu Fighting" by Dread Zeppelin www.patrickwreed.com www.patreon.com/patrickwreed

Episode 6 of Bunkum & Ballyhoo rounds up a season on World War 2-related bullshit by looking at when lies and propaganda can be used for good, exploring the lives and times of the revolutionary queer surrealist artists Claude Cahun & Marcel Moore, and how they stood up to Nazi oppression in occupied Jersey. Selected Sources:Disavowals by Claude CahunPaper Bullets: Two Artists Who Risked Their Lives To Defy The Nazis by Jeffrey H. JacksonClaude Cahun by Francois LeperlierLiberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun by Kaz RoweClaude Cahun: A Sensual Politics of Photography by Gen Doy

Episode 5 is a spooktacular Halloween special looking at Orson Welles' infamous Halloween 1938 radio production of War Of The Worlds, and the stories of mass panic and chaos when the American public believed that the Martians really were coming - or did they?Audio Sources:War Of The Worlds by Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre On The AirCharles C. Shaw interviews Orson Welles and H.G. Wells, 1940 Selected Sources:The Invasion From Mars by Hadley CantrilOrson Welles: The Road To Xanadu by Simon Callow

Episode 4 of Bunkum & Ballyhoo looks at one of the most notorious hoaxes of the 20th century - the Hitler Diaries; how a clumsy forgery fooled the world's press and one of England's most respected historians, why sometimes a lie only needs a particularly enthusiastic believer to take flight, and how these phony diaries connect to a notorious Holocaust denier, and to a broader world of conspiracy theory.Audio Sources:Witness History: The Hitler Diaries Hoax - BBC World Service Selected Sources:Selling Hitler by Robert HarrisTelling Lies About Hitler by Richard J. EvansThe Last Days Of Hitler by Hugh Trevor-Roper

Episode 3 of Bunkum & Ballyhoo is a look at the magician Jasper Maskelyne, the claims that his magical prowess was employed in the fields of camouflage and espionage in World War 2, and why looking critically at the mythmaking around a dead old magician is still important in 2024. Audio Sources:Jasper Maskelyne for Pathétone - British PathéThe Mind Of David Berglas - Channel 4Selected SourcesThe War Magician: The True Story of Jasper Maskelyne by David FisherMagic: Top Secret by Jasper MaskelyneWhite Magic by Jasper MaskelyneGenii Magazine

Episode 2 of Bunkum and Ballyhoo once again looks at an intersection between professional wrestling and dubious politics, with the stranger than fiction story of how Norfolk professional wrestler Eric "Panther" Pleasants went from wrestling in Jersey to fighting for Hitler. Audio Sources:The Brits Who Fought For Hitler - History ChannelHarwich Newsreel: Britons Freed From Russia (1954) - British Pathé Selected Sources:The Traitors: A True Story Of Blood, Betrayal and Deceit by Josh IrelandI Killed To Live: The Story Of Eric Pleasants, Professional Strongman by Eric Pleasants & Eddie ChapmanHitler's Bastard: Through Hell and Back in Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia by Eric PleasantsAgent Zizag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman by Ben MacintyreThe Frank Falla Archive

In the very first episode of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, professional wrestling historian Patrick W. Reed looks at The Masked Marvel, a South African wrestling superstar whose legacy outside the ring was far grizzlier than any punishment he inflicted inside it.