Episodes
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Myspace Was Actually a Corporate Psyop | Case File #256
What was MySpace? Well, it was one of the first social media platforms on the internet to become a cultural phenomenon and almost single-handedly revolutionize the very idea of social media. We look back nostalgically on the site as being part of a bygone era before the internet was overrun with...
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The Bizarre Reason That The Muppets Aren't Actually Muppets | Case File #255
What are the muppets? Well, they’re an iconic cast of characters tied to decades of movies, tv shows, and merchandise created by the Jim Henson company in the late 1960s and then later sold to Disney in the early 2000s. But wait. It’s also a style of puppetry created by Jim and Jane Henson in the...
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The Wacom Company Was Started By a Cult | Case File #254
What is the Wacom Company? Well, well it’s the purveyor of finer pieces of technology usually in connection with creating art. However, this seemingly innocuous company actually has a much darker origin. One that is spawned from a sprawling networks of religious cults, political power struggles,...
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The Kidnapping Plot That Destroyed the Entire NFT Market | Case File #253
NFTs were a weird thing, huh? Why did the NFT market crash so suddenly? We examine how the Seth Green NFT project and its bizarre kidnapping arc signaled a turning point. We analyze the timeline of 2021, when investment in digital assets peaked, and discuss how the Seth Green NFT TV show became a...
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The Shadowy Organization Holding MrBeast's Face Hostage | Case File #252
What is MrBeast Burger? Well, it’s the burger chain started by the most popular YouTuber on the planet. But, actually, is it? Or was it started by a shadowy restaurant organization run by the same guy who owns Bucca De Beppo, who secretly operated it for MrBeast behind the scenes, and then when…
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Patreon Bonus Preview: The Fenix Flexin Situation Is Bizarre | Case File #251
Enjoy a special unlocked episode of our Patreon-exclusive show, Shallow Cuts. -- BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon -- CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Join our Discord server!...
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The Disturbing Reason Corn Flakes Exist | Case File #250
Who are the Kellogg Brothers? They’re the siblings behind the company that would become known as Kellogg’s, which has become synonymous with breakfast cereals. Their most famous creation was a little product called Corn Flakes, which the cereal box or Kellogg’s corporate website will tell you was...
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How Mythbusters Saved 3 Men From Life In Prison | Case File #249
So what happened? Well, in 2005, an episode of the Mythbusters accidentally proved that a crime three men were accused of in 1986 was physically impossible. And two years later, one of these men saw the episode, and it started a process of his legal team using it to get him and the other two men...
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Is Avengers: Doomsday Going To Suck? | Case File #248
Is Avengers: Doomsday gonna save the MCU, or is it gonna be its penultimate swan song? -- BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon -- CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Join our Discord server!...
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The Curious Case of All Colors Sam | Case File #247
Did two little girls living on the Isle of Wight meet a strange ghost clown man in the woods and form a decades-long friendship with him? -- BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon -- CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Join our Discord server!...
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The Complicated Legacy of RL Stine | Case File #246
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Who is R.L. Stine? He’s the author of the immensely popular Goosebumps and Fear Street book series, who at the height of his success entered into a lengthy legal battle with...
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Jennicam, World's First Internet Celeb | Case File #245
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- What is JenniCam? The brainchild of Jennifer Ringley, JenniCam was the first “lifecast” on the internet where everything about Jennifer’s life was streamed 24/7, so curious...
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Clay Tiffany, Public Access Prophet | Case File #244
Note: Sorry for the radio silence! Long story short, the latest MacBook Pro seems to have some kind of line-wide defect. When I first bought it last year, the screen died a day later. And I got another one, and it worked fine for like a year and then about three weeks ago the screen died again. I...
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The Kentucky Cave Wars | Case File #243
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- What were the Kentucky Cave Wars? It was a fierce business rivalry in the early 1900s between competing cave owners around Mammoth Cave in south-central Kentucky. It involved...
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Roy Jay, Comedian or AI Demon? | Case File #242
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Who is Roy Jay? He was a British-Norwegian comedian who performed stand-up from the 1970s until his death in 2007. However, something strange happened in April 2025. The internet...
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Satanic Panic w/ Jason Pargin Case File #241
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- What is the Satanic Panic? It was a moral panic predominantly occurring in North America throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The general public lost their shit over the belief...
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The Tragedy of the McMartin Preschool Trial | Case File #240
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Who is Ray Buckey? He was a preschool teacher, but in the height of the 1980s Satanic Panic, he as well as other teachers at his school, underwent years of trials for sexually...
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The Shamwow Guy's Unhinged Life | Case File #239
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Who is Vince Offer? If you watched any television in the late 2000s, you undoubtedly saw Vince hock a product called ShamWow, a super absorbent towel. His abrasive, enthusiastic...
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Yasuke, the Black Samurai | Case File #238
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Yasuke: The Black Man Who Escaped Slavery and Became the First Non-Japanese Samurai -- Written by Adam Smith -- Join our Discord server!...
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Slab City | Case File #237
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- What is Slab City? It’s an off-the-grid unincorporated community in the California Sonoran Desert, taking its name from concrete slabs left behind by the Marine Corps and upon...
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Roy Sullivan, The Human Lightning Rod | Case File #236
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Between 1942 and 1977, Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning not once. Not twice. But seven times. Seven separate incidents, each documented. Each time, he survived. This is not a...
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The Final Fantasy VII Cult From the 2000s | Case File #235
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- This is the true story of a woman who lured a series of vulnerable young people—most of them queer or trans—into her home with promises of friendship, acceptance, and a place to...
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The CIA Vampire Hoax | Case File #234
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- What is the CIA vampire hoax? It was a 1950s military operation in which the CIA fought back against Filipino insurgents via psychological warfare by making them think that local...
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The Carpet People of New York City | Case File #233
BACK OUR PATREON! https://bit.ly/deepcutspatreon CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL! https://bit.ly/mysterytreehouse -- Who are the Carpet People? They’re two separate guys - Kevin Carpet and Georgio the Human Carpet - who have nothing to do with one another, yet they each inexplicably wrap...
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Kalachi, the Town That Couldn't Stop Sleeping | Case File #232
So, who are the people of Kalachi, Kazakhstan, and why did an entire town just decide to nap for days on end? Well, they didn’t exactly “decide” – but, in a phenomenon that still has people confounded years later, hundreds of villagers in Kalachi started randomly falling asleep for days. And by...
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William Banks, Performance Artist Cult Leader | Case File #231
Who is William Banks? He’s a New York-based artist and comedian who specializes in avant garde performance art This includes forming his own cult, going to jail, breaking out of jail, committing a crypto scam, and donating all the profits from said scam to Palestinian charities. Cults, weird...
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The Sex Raft Experiment | Case File #230
What is the sex raft experiment? In the extremely insane pantheon of insane 1970s science experiments, right next to dolphin handjobs and psychic spoon-bending, there lies one forgotten maritime debacle more Love Island than thesis. It was called the "Acali Experiment," but history remembers it…
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The Forest Child Who Couldn't Stop Hijacking Planes | Case File #229
What happens when a teenager turns small-time theft into a nationwide manhunt? In this episode, we dive into the wild story of Colton Harris-Moore — better known as The Barefoot Bandit. From stolen planes to high-speed boat chases, Colton’s two-year crime spree captured headlines around the world...
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The Mob Boss Who Pretended to Be Crazy For Decades | Case File #228
Vincent “The Chin” Gigante was a crime boss infamous for two pretty stellar feats. One: sounding like a Dick Tracy villain. And two: feigning mental illness in order avoid prosecution for a lifetime of crime. Most surprisingly, he almost pulled it off. -- Written by Adam Smith -- Join our Discord...
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Milli Vanilli Lip Sync Scandal | Case File #227
Today we unravel one of the most infamous scandals in music history – the story of Milli Vanilli, the duo that rose to global stardom only to become the ultimate cautionary tale of pop culture. This is the tale of manufactured fame, kayfabe, and a lie that grew too big to sustain. -- Written by...
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The Magazine That Killed the Comics Industry | Case File #226
Who is Gareb Shamus? He’s the founder of Wizard Magazine, an influential resource of comic book news in the ‘90s that contributed to the comic speculation market and subsequent crash of that era. And while he helped push the medium of entertainment news forward initially, more recently, you can...
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Roar, the Most Dangerous Movie Ever Made | Case File #225
What is Roar? It’s a 1981 movie starring Noel Marshall, Tippi Hedren, and Melanie Griffith about a family that gets attacked by dozens of big cats. However, the movie itself isn’t all that interesting compared to the story behind it because throughout production, as many as 70 people were injured...
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The Dolphin House Experiments | Case File #224
The Dolphin House, the story of a flooded home, a scientist’s dream, and a dolphin named Peter who showed us all how important connection and *contact* can really be. -- Written by Adam Smith -- Join our Discord server!...
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The Chimpanzee That Saved the Today Show | Case File #223
Who is J. Fred Muggs? He was the chimp co-host of The Today Show who helped save the show from an early cancellation, much to the dismay of his co-host, who went to ridiculous lengths to get Muggs kicked off the show, including putting drugs in his drinks. -- Written by Mike Bedard -- Join our...
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The Time Howard Stern Drove a Woman to Suicide | Case File #222
While Howard Stern is now a reputable figure of pop culture, it’s easy to forget how truly shocking his ascent was. And in the case of his fame making feud, how dark it really was. -- Written by Adam Smith Edited by Lewis Poggie -- Join our Discord server!...
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The Stupidest Scam Of All Time | Case File #221
Who is Charles Ingram? He was a contestant on the British version of “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” who ended up winning the grand prize of one million pounds.. But he went home with nothing after producers caught him cheating in a major scandal that caused him and his wife to live on in…
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The Ghost Hoax That Caused a Death | Case File #220
What was Ghostwatch? It was a paranormal investigation broadcast on Halloween night by the BBC. Presented by highly renowned British journalists and famous TV personalities, this ninety minute special horrified eleven million viewers. With disturbing footage of a family besieged by infernal...
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Birds Aren't Real | Case File #219
What is Birds Aren’t Real? It’s a satirical conspiracy theory designed to poke fun at legitimate conspiracies, spearheaded by Peter McIndoe. Since 2017, it’s gained a massive online following, with plenty of people getting in on the joke while others harassed the founder. But even though it’s all...
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Coca Cola Worked With the Nazis | Case File #218
What is Coca-Cola? I mean, do you really need an introduction? It’s the most popular soda in the world that helped launch a soft drink empire to the point where estimates suggest 2.2 billion servings of Coca-Cola products are consumed every single day. But where did it all begin, and why don’t…
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The Netflix Show That Caused a Murder | Case File #217
What is The Three Body Problem? It’s a sprawling and brutalist sci-fi saga that’s as much an ideological stress test as it is a story. It was also the obsession of a tech guru cum filmmaker Lin Qi that would ultimately end in one of the most bizarre and chilling murders in modern entertainment...
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Lord Gordon Gordon, Conman Who Almost Caused a US/Canadian War | Case File #216
Who was Lord Gordon Gordon? He’s one of the most infamous con men of the 19th century, who once pulled off a grift so massive, it nearly caused a U.S. military invasion of Canada. -- Written by Mike Bedard Edited by Lewis Poggie -- Join our Discord server!...
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Breatharians, Cult of Breathing as Food | Case File #215
Who are The Breatharians and why do they sound like the villains in an 80s barbarian cartoon? Because they kinda could be. While it’s a universally acknowledged truth that humans require food to live there is a very curious subset of individuals who are convinced they’ve evolved beyond such…
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How the 'Die Hard' Director Went to Prison | Case File #214
Who is John McTiernan? He’s one of the most prolific Hollywood action directors of all time, helming such hits as Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October. However, his career came to a screeching halt when he was sent to federal prison for lying to the FBI and despite getting released…
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HQ Trivia, Tragic Game Show App | Case File #213
What was HQ Trivia? It was a once popular and highly controversial game app that allowed its users to win actual cash. With a live TV game show vibe, millions of players were asked a series of tough questions to hit a low stakes jackpot. But was the heyday of HQ Trivia actually worth anyone's…
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Space Hell Kumite | Case File #212
Dave, Hillsmer, and Zero head to Space Hell to find Spandrew and Freddie. But will they save Andrew from the Bad Devoted Eye Fisher and the clutches of death itself? Find out in this thrilling season finale of Deep Cuts! -- Written by Spandrew and Dave Edited by Spandrew Spice and Lewis Poggie...
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Intergalactic Battle of the Bands | Case File #211
It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation in deep space for the Mystery Treehouse gang. But the...universe had other plans. -- Written by Spandrew and Dave Edited by Spandrew Spice and Lewis Poggie -- Join our Discord server!...
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Fish Girl Interrupted | Case File #210
Freddie tries to adjust to life on the surface. -- Written by Spandrew and Dave Edited by Spandrew Spice and Lewis Poggie -- Join our Discord server! https://bit.ly/deepcutsdiscord -- Pick up some Deep Cuts T-Shirts and other merch!...
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Boy Bands and Blimps: The Crimes of Lou Pearlman | Case File #209
Who was Lou Pearlman? He was the manager behind some of the biggest boy bands of the ‘90s and 2000s, including the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. However, following the post-boy band boom, he was outed for screwing over many of the artists he worked with out of their hard-earned money before getting...
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The Murder Mystery Novelist That Really Murdered Someone | Case File #208
Who was Anne Perry? She was a prolific author known for writing historical detective fiction, a career that began in 1979. But she harbored a dark secret in the early part of her career, namely that she was involved in murdering a friend’s mother when she was only 15 years old in one of the most...
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The Tragic Story of the Cat Dancers | Case File #207
Who were The Cat Dancers? They were a trio of performers who embellished their dance routines with captive big cats. Originally a duo, Ron and Joy Holiday teamed up with Chuck Lizza and embarked on a thirty year odyssey of fame, love, and devastating loss. Because when they added a white tiger...