Episodes
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Episode 199: FanX 2026 Panel: Spy Games & Superpowers: The Cold War’s Shadow on Comic Book History
Before aliens and multiverses, the greatest threat was The Other Side. This panel traces how Cold War paranoia infiltrated the DNA of comics—from Iron Man's origin to Black Widow’s defection, Magneto’s trauma, and the government distrust baked into Watchmen. A must-see for fans of espionage,...
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Episode 201: FanX 2026 Panel: Disclosure - Is this the year for UFOs?
There's a buzz in the air. Stephen Spielberg has a new movie about it, documentaries are coming fast and furious. TV and online, the culture is abuzz with UFO speculation. Let's talk all things UFOs! With: Tom Paden, Johnny Worthen, Chelsy Bloomfield (moderating), and Noelle Faenn
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Episode 202: FanX 2026 Panel: Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord
Maul looks to be one of the most complicated characters in the Star Wars mythos now. With his new show a monster hit and it getting a second season, our panel dives into what makes Maul such a surprisingly deep character and where he might pop up next. With: Chelsy Bloomfield, Noelle Faenn,...
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Episode 198: FanX 2026 Panel: 10 Years of Star Wars - Rogue One
It's been 10 years since the release of Star Wars Rogue One and we've since been treated to two seasons expanding on its characters. What legacy has the show left and how does it hold up after the masterpiece of Andor? With: Chelsy Bloomfield, Craig Price, Quinn Rollins, and Bryan Young (moderating)
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Episode 200: The Aberfan Disaster of 1966
In the quiet Welsh village of Aberfan, life revolved around the coal mines. For generations, the industry had provided jobs, supported families, and shaped the community. But high above the village, something sinister was taking shape. For decades, a growing mountain of mining waste loomed over...
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Episode 197: FanX 2026 Panel: 40 Years of The Dark Knight Returns
In 1986, Frank Miller took Batman to a grim, dystopian future where a fascist government had taken over and only vigilantes and their followers could fend off their predations in the form of The Dark Knight Returns. How does this landmark piece of graphic storytelling stand up after 40 years?…
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Episode 196: FanX 2026 Panel: It is 1986 ... It is 2026: 40 Years of WATCHMEN
In 1986, writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons launched a fascinating alternate-history tale of costumed heroes and the use (and misuse) of power that became a landmark in the comic-book form. Explore the legacy of that creation--through the original series, the 2009 feature film adaptation,...
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Episode 195: FanX 2026 Panel: V for Vendetta is Old Enough to Drink: 21 Years of Masks, Vengeance, and Modern Myth
Released in 2005 and adapted from the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V for Vendetta transformed a stylized dystopian thriller into a cultural touchstone. This panel revisits the film’s origins, its political resonance, and the evolution of the Guy Fawkes mask from comic-book icon to...
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Episode 194: The Road to FanX Public Patreon
Join us for another public Patreon where we dive into the road to FanX, covering panels, prep time, and some insider tips 'n' tricks.
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Episode 193: Star Wars, Movies & Deeply Unhinged Questions | Public Patreon Episode
We’re opening up the ol' Patreon for a public episode full of Star Wars, movie talk, conspiracy theories, creepy rabbit holes, and increasingly unhinged questions about memories, gut feelings, unexplained experiences, family secrets, and all the weird stuff that keeps you awake at 2 a.m. Join us…
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Episode 192: The Lead Masks Case: Aliens, Mystery Pills, and So Much More
(Julio R. please email us at [email protected] because we have loved your comments and do not know how to contact you. Also Chels ordered a new microphone so excuse her for sounding like she recorded through a tin can this episode.) In 1966, two Brazilian electricians were found...
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Episode 191: Congress Finally Talks About MKUltra… and Immediately Ruins It
Congress actually held a hearing on MKUltra, and for a brief, glorious moment it looked like we'd get a serious discussion about CIA mind control experiments, Frank Olson, Sidney Gottlieb, Charles Manson, and newly declassified files. Instead, the hearing devolved into an anti-vaccine spectacle...
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Episode 190: The "Lost Cause" of the Confederacy: Rebranding 101
The Confederacy lost the Civil War, but the myth it built afterward never really died. In this episode, we unpack the Lost Cause: the postwar propaganda campaign that recast slavery as “states’ rights,” turned Confederate leaders into martyrs, and helped justify monuments, textbooks, and...
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Episode 189: The Return of Martin Guerre
For years, the village of Artigat lived with an absence no one could bury. Martin Guerre had vanished, leaving behind a wife, a child, and a household suspended between grief, duty, and doubt. Then, after more than a decade, Martin came home older, changed, and carrying memories that seemed to...
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Episode 188: The Apocalypse of Adam: Gnostic Secrets, the Grey Pope, and the Antichrist Pipeline
Tonight, we open the forbidden folder and dive into The Apocalypse of Adam, an ancient Gnostic text from the Nag Hammadi Library. From Adam as a cosmic whistleblower to hidden knowledge, false rulers, the Orsini family, the Grey Pope, and Antichrist conspiracy lore, this episode traces how…
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Episode 187: The Price Sisters (Part 2): And the War That Came Home
As Northern Ireland spiraled into The Troubles, Dolours and Marian Price emerged from a world where republicanism was not radical but inherited. In this episode, we trace their path from Belfast activism to the Provisional IRA, the Old Bailey bombing, prison hunger strikes, and the uneasy shift...
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Episode 186: The Price Sisters (Part 1): Ireland’s Colonization, Famine, and the Roots of Resistance
In Part 1, we break down the brutal history of Ireland under British rule, from early colonization and land seizures to the Penal Laws and the Great Famine. This episode explores how centuries of empire, religious division, and economic control reshaped Irish society and laid the foundation for...
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Episode 185: Weapons of Mass Deception: The Iraq War
In this episode, we unpack the long road to the Iraq War, from the 1953 CIA-backed coup in Iran and U.S. support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran–Iraq War to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the Gulf War, sanctions, weapons inspections, and the Bush administration’s false claims about weapons of mass...
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Episode 184: Jeffrey Epstein: Power, Protection, and the Mossad Theory Explained
Join us on a deep dive into Jeffrey Epstein’s rise, the controversial 2008 plea deal, the 2019 arrest, and why the case shattered public trust. We break down the documented timeline, legal protection claims, and the Mossad intelligence theory: what’s proven, what’s alleged, and why the story…
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Episode 183: 20 (Not Actually 20) Questions to Kick Off the Year
Step into the new year with a round of 20 (not 20) Questions that starts playful, then turns a little darker. Between deep cuts, hot takes, and answers that land harder than expected, they keep circling back to what it means to remember 9/11 and carry that weight into a new chapter. It is funny…
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Episode 182: The Dark History of DARE: How Anti-Drug Education Became Police Marketing
From lion mascots to graduation ceremonies, DARE shaped childhoods across America. But behind the nostalgia is a story of failed drug policy, public-relations panic, and police branding aimed at kids. This episode traces how DARE spread, why it endured, and what it was really selling.
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Episode 181: World AIDS Day Abandoned: The Deadly Cost of Political Neglect
In December 2025, the U.S. government broke tradition by refusing to recognize World AIDS Day; echoing the deadly silence that fueled the early epidemic. This episode traces the history of AIDS stigma, activism, and policy failure, from Reagan to today, and honors the caretakers, communities, and...
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Episode 180: Mary Shelley: The Radical Mind That Made Frankenstein
Mary Shelley did not crawl out of the fog one night holding Frankenstein; rather she was born into a political and philosophical pressure cooker. Her mother wanted to tear gender roles out by the roots, her father thought government was a rigged scam, and her childhood house was full of banned...
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Episode 179: Project Beast: La Bête du Gévaudan and the Making of France’s First Monster
The Church calls it God’s punishment, the King swears it’s “just wolves,” and the people actually burying half-eaten children keep saying, "No. This is something else." In this episode, we dive into three years of throat-ripped corpses and a monster whose body conveniently rotted before anyone...
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Episode 178: From Royal Game to Modern Magic: The Hidden History of Tarot
Before tarot became a tool for fortune-telling and self-reflection, it was a luxury pastime enjoyed by nobles in Renaissance Italy. In this episode, we trace tarot’s surprising journey from hand-painted trionfi decks in the courts of Milan and Ferrara, to its transformation during the French…
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Episode 177: Possessed in Loudun: The Ursuline Nuns and the Making of a Scapegoat
In 1630s France, a convent erupts in convulsions, visions, and blasphemous ecstasies, accusations that lead to one of history’s most infamous possession trials. This is the story of hysteria and desire colliding with politics and power, where faith becomes performance and a priest becomes a...
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Episode 176: The Hammer of Witches: How 1487 Sparked Centuries of Fear, Fire, and Witch Hunts
Journey back to 1487, a Europe ravaged by plague, famine, and a desperate Catholic Church clinging to power. In this haunting episode, we expose how corruption, papal chaos, and mass paranoia collided to create the perfect storm for witch hunts. One book, the Malleus Maleficarum, turned fear into…
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Episode 175: Broadcast from Nowhere – The Gleiwitz Incident
August 31, 1939: a voice crackles over the airwaves: “This is Gliwice. The station is in Polish hands.” By dawn, German tanks are rolling across the border. But the so-called attack was a performance, complete with props, corpses, and propaganda. Join us as we uncover the Gleiwitz Incident, the...
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Episode 174: From Rome to Ringling: The Dark History and Reinvention of the Circus
Step inside the 42-foot ring and trace the circus from Ancient Rome’s Circus Maximus to Barnum’s “Greatest Show on Earth.” Discover how equestrian tricks, freak shows, and animal acts built a global spectacle — and how cruelty, exploitation, and spectacle shaped its rise and fall. We uncover the...
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Episode 173: The Dark Side of Reality TV: The Rise of MTV and VH1
In this episode, we trace the gritty, budget-driven rise of reality TV from MTV’s The Real World to VH1’s chaotic “celebreality” era. You’ll hear how networks cut costs by ditching writers, actors, and sets—and how that led to megahits like Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, and Megan Wants a...
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Episode 172: Faith, Fear, and Fatality: Exposing the Followers of Christ Death Cult
Join us as we expose the deadly truth behind the Followers of Christ—a secretive cult where medical care is forbidden, obedience is demanded, and preventable deaths are buried in plain sight. Survivors speak out, records vanish, and the body count keeps rising.
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Episode 171: Pride Was a Riot: The Radical History They Tried to Erase
On the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, we reflect on the legacy of queer resistance—from medical torture disguised as treatment to the state-sanctioned violence that sparked the Stonewall Uprising. This episode uncovers the sanitized history of Pride and centers the voices so often...
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Episode 170: Banana Republics & Bloody Fruit: The Dark Empire
Bananas: cheap, cheerful... and covered in blood. This week, we peel back the sickly sweet skin of the banana industry to uncover CIA coups, corporate death squads, and a century of colonial capitalism. From United Fruit to Chiquita, it’s not just fruit—it’s a crime scene in a peel. Thanks to…
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Episode 169: The Lavender Scare: How Queerness Became a National Security Threat
Before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and rainbow capitalism, there was the Lavender Scare—a government-backed witch hunt targeting LGBTQ+ federal employees as threats to national security. In this episode, we uncover how Cold War paranoia collided with homophobia, turning queerness into a crime of...
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Episode 168: The Queen of Resistance: William Dorsey Swann
Before Pride, before Stonewall, before RuPaul’s Drag Race—there was William Dorsey Swann. Born into slavery in 1860, Swann became the first self-proclaimed drag queen in American history and led a radical movement of joy, defiance, and survival in the heart of post-Civil War Washington D.C. In…
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Episode 167: The Yuba County Five: Lost in the Sierra Nevada
On a cold February night in 1978, five men left a basketball game in Chico, California, for what should have been a routine drive home. But instead of heading south, they veered east—deep into the remote and frigid Plumas National Forest—never to be seen alive again. Was it a wrong turn, a…
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Episode 166: Fred Hampton’s Assassination: The FBI, the Black Panthers, & the Fight for Revolution
Fred Hampton was 21 years old, electrifying, and uniting the people in a way that terrified the U.S. government. So, in the early hours of December 4, 1969, they did what governments do best: they murdered him in his sleep and called it a "shootout." But this isn’t just the story of an...
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Episode 165: Coup d'État or Nah? The CIA’s Greatest Hits
The CIA was officially created to protect American democracy, but its true purpose was shaping global events through covert operations and political manipulation. From overthrowing elected leaders to botched assassinations involving exploding cigars, the agency’s history is filled with deception,...
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Episode 164: John Brown & the Violent Catalyst of American Abolitionism
Step back into 1700s America, where Owen and Ruth Brown’s staunch Calvinist beliefs laid the groundwork for their son, John Brown—a man who would become one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. history. From witnessing the horrors of slavery at a young age to organizing militant resistance,...
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Episode 163: The Past, Present, and Future of Psychological Warfare
Discover the fascinating origins of psychological warfare and how it has evolved into the modern era. From the ancient battlefield tricks of Persian kings and Genghis Khan's fear tactics to Alexander the Great's unifying strategies and the propaganda leaflets of WWII, we trace the history of…
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Episode 162: Stanley Kubrick: Secrets, Scandals, & the Conspiracy Behind Eyes Wide Shut
Stanley Kubrick's genius transformed cinema, but his final film, Eyes Wide Shut, remains shrouded in mystery and controversy. Was Kubrick exposing hidden power structures, secret societies, and elite corruption? Dive into his career, from self-taught photographer to groundbreaking filmmaker, and...
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Episode 161: The CEO, the Scapegoat, and the Cover-Up: Untangling the UnitedHealthcare Murder Mystery
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is dead, and the headlines are calling it a terrorist murder plot. But the timing—right after insider trading allegations and a massive data breach—feels too perfect. Enter Luigi Mangione, the supposed assassin, whose arrest raises more questions than answers....
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Episode 160: Krampus: From Pagan Spirits to Christmas Chaos
In this episode, we dive into the dark origins of Krampus, tracing his roots back to ancient pagan winter solstice rituals and the Wild Hunt. From fearsome nature spirits to his role as Saint Nicholas' dark counterpart, Krampus embodies the chaotic balance between light and dark, good and evil.…
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Episode 159: Caligula - The Rise, Reign, and Ruin of Rome's Most Notorious Emperor
Dive into the dramatic saga of Caligula, one of Rome's most controversial emperors, in our latest podcast episode. From his noble birth in 12 CE into the powerful Julio-Claudian dynasty to his alarming descent into tyranny, this episode explores Caligula's complex reign and the extreme behaviors...
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Episode 158: Unboxing Evil: The Haunted Tale of the Dybbuk Box
Dive into the chilling story of the infamous Dybbuk Box, a small wooden cabinet said to imprison a restless spirit from Jewish folklore. From its mysterious origins tied to a Holocaust survivor to its journey through a series of tragic owners, we unravel the mix of ancient mysticism, urban…
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Episode 157: The Great Saltair: Utah’s Haunted Oasis and the Curse of the Great Salt Lake
Journey back to 1893, when the Saltair resort opened as Utah's answer to Coney Island, blending Moorish architecture with grand dance halls, scenic railways, and the allure of the Great Salt Lake’s shores. This episode uncovers Saltair’s fascinating rise and disastrous falls, from fires…
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Episode 156: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Early Mormonism
Step into the shadowy past of the early Mormon Church in a chilling exploration of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Discover how Joseph Smith's controversial founding of a new faith ignited fierce opposition and spiraled into a devastating conflict. This episode navigates the tumultuous interplay…
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Episode 155: Terror on the Airwaves: The Golden Age of Horror Radio and TV Hosts
Explore the spine-chilling world of horror radio and TV hosts from the Golden Age of Radio to modern-day icons like Elvira. Discover how shows like Lights Out and Suspense captivated listeners with terrifying tales, and how TV brought us unforgettable horror hosts like Vampira, Zacherley, and…
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Episode 154: Edward Bernays: The Father of Modern Propaganda
Explore the legacy of Edward Bernays, the mastermind behind modern marketing and propaganda. In this episode, we delve into how Bernays revolutionized the way products, ideas, and even political agendas are sold to the public. From shaping consumer culture to influencing public opinion during...
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Episode 153: The Antarctica Ice Wall: Is There a Frozen Barrier Keeping Us In?
In this chilling episode, we dive deep into one of the most controversial conspiracy theories: the existence of an Antarctica Ice Wall. Could this immense barrier be more than just a natural formation? Join us as we explore ancient maps, secret military missions, and the mysterious history of...