Fascinating Nouns

What if the Zodiac Killer never existed? In this episode of Fascinating Nouns, host Daniel J. Glenn sits down with former Port Authority NY/NJ officer, 9/11 first responder, and author Eddie McNamara to dig into his book Zodiac Actually: The True Story of a Fake Serial Killer — and the case he makes is more convincing than you might expect. Eddie McNamara spent years tracking down court records, interviewing criminals, and piecing together what the actual evidence says about the Zodiac killings — and what he found is that the five canonical Zodiac murders, when examined individually rather than as a connected series, look a lot less like the work of a criminal genius and a lot more like a series of unrelated crimes that got stitched together by bad police work, credulous media, and the human desire for a better story. They dig into the Lake Herman Road murders — where a likely suspect named Dave Magris confessed to being present, drove the right car, owned the right gun, and was already on death row for another murder — and how the police essentially looked away because a drug dealer wasn’t as exciting as a supervillain. They also explore the Lake Berryessa stabbing, where a 250-pound man in a hand-sewn executioner’s hood with sunglasses clipped to the outside decided to stab two people in broad daylight instead of using the loaded gun in his hand — and then drove 27 miles to call the wrong police department. Plus: the Kitty Genovese myth, the Vietnam spitting story, Woodstock liars, a vegetarian cookbook with the greatest title ever, and whether Eddie won a film festival award over Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room”. Eddie on Social Media Instagram Purchase “Zodiactually” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

*Disclaimer* This episode goes blue. You’ve been warned. What do a rubber chicken, a Tibetan singing bowl, and a hula girl figurine all have in common? They all have deeply, deeply messed up thoughts — and Elisabeth Saake is here to tell you exactly what they are. In this episode I sit down with author and associate publisher Elisabeth Saki to dig into her two wildly funny books: House Plants and Their F*cked Up Thoughts and Tchotchkes and Their F*cked Up Thoughts — and to figure out exactly what is going on inside her head. They talk about why house plants hit a cultural nerve that Tchotchkes couldn’t quite match (spoiler: it’s because they’re alive), the anonymous co-author hiding behind the pseudonym Carlyle Christoff, the one aloe plant entry that walked the line perfectly, and why a rubber chicken that understands advanced particle physics but can only say “squawk” might be the most poignant thing in either book. They also get into why people take joke books way too seriously, the surprisingly vulnerable experience of being an author, the therapeutic value of dark humor, and whether Elisabeth’s next book — P is for Perimenopause — is actually a children’s book alphabet or something far more unhinged. Elisabeth on Social Media Website Instagram X Purchase “Houseplants and their F*cked-Up Thoughts” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

What happens when the first and only person allowed into Stephen King’s private archives sits down to talk about what she found? In this episode of Fascinating Nouns, host Daniel J. Glenn sits down with Dr. Caroline Bicks, author of Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, for a wide-ranging conversation about horror, language, childhood trauma, and the secret sauce behind one of the most prolific writers in history. Dr. Bicks — a Shakespeare scholar and the University of Maine’s Stephen A. King Chair — was given unprecedented access to King’s full manuscript collection, including handwritten drafts of Carrie, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, Pet Sematary, and Night Shift. She shares what she found: margin notes revealing King’s obsessive attention to word sounds, the moment he almost put Pet Sematary in a drawer forever, how a concrete gravel liner changed the entire moral weight of the novel, and why the famous line “sometimes dead is better” was originally “sometimes death is better” — and why that one word change made all the difference. We also get into whether kids should be reading Stephen King (spoiler: it’s complicated), why Stephen King hated the Kubrick Shining, how Shakespeare and King are more alike than you think, the ghost question, and why Francis Bacon might actually be Stephen King. This one goes everywhere — and it’s a blast. Caroline on Social Media Website Instagram Facebook Podcast “Everyday Shakespeare” Purchase “Monsters in the Archives” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

In this bonus episode, Steven and I explore the more strange and mystical elements of time expansion, including spiritual awakenings and near death experiences.  With both of these, time can seem to stop or cease completely.  We also talk about life reviews, their relation to precognitive events, and how that relates to the block universe!  Yeah, we pack quite a bit into these 10 minutes.

What if you could slow down time — without getting into a car accident? In this episode of Fascinating Nouns, host Daniel J. Glenn sits down with psychologist and author Dr. Steven Taylor to explore one of the most fascinating phenomena in human experience: time expansion. We dig into the science behind why time seems to slow to a crawl during car crashes, emergencies, and near-death situations — and why that’s not just a trick of memory. Dr. Taylor shares his own dramatic highway accident, the story of a pregnant woman dodging bullets in slow motion, and a cyclist who calculated how to survive being run over by a truck — all in a matter of seconds. We also break down Taylor’s four laws of psychological time: why time speeds up as we get older, why new experiences stretch time, why absorption makes hours vanish, and why altered states of consciousness can make seconds feel like hours. Plus — how elite athletes like Ted Williams, Lionel Messi, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan may literally experience time more slowly than the rest of us, and how meditation and martial arts can help ordinary people access the same ability. This episode will change the way you think about every second of your day. Topics Covered: What are time expansion experiences & how common are they? The science of time slowing down in accidents & emergencies The hypermemory hypothesis — and why Dr. Taylor is skeptical The four laws of psychological time Why time speeds up as we age New experiences, flow states & the zone Elite athletes and slowed-down time perception DMT, psychedelics & altered states Meditation & martial arts as tools for time control Near-death experiences & awakening experiences Steven on Social Media Website Instagram X Purchase “Time Expansion Experiences” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

He was more famous than the mayor of New York — and one of the biggest fraudsters in American history. In this episode of Fascinating Nouns, host Daniel J. Glenn sits down with author Gary Weiss, author of Retail Gangster: The Fall of Crazy Eddie, to unravel the wild true story of Eddie Antar — the man behind the iconic “his prices are insane!” commercials that dominated New York airwaves in the 70s and 80s. We dig into the origins of the Antar family’s Syrian-Jewish immigrant roots, the cultural practice of “Nehkdi” (profit skimming) that became the gateway to massive fraud, and how Eddie built his empire on stolen sales tax, bait-and-switch sales tactics, and rigged co-op advertising deals. We trace the company’s rise through its 1984 IPO, the inventory fraud that inflated its stock price, and the family betrayals — including Eddie’s own cousin and CFO, Sam Antar, who eventually became the key witness against him. Finally, we cover Eddie’s dramatic downfall: insider trading, a hostile takeover that exposed empty filing cabinets, his international manhunt and capture in Israel, and one truly wild detail — a former Crazy Eddie salesman who went on to become a street boss in the Bonanno crime family. This is one of the craziest true crime business stories you’ll ever hear — equal parts immigrant success story, family betrayal, and Wall Street fraud. Topics Covered: Who was Crazy Eddie? The man behind the commercials Syrian-Jewish immigrant roots & the “Nehkdi” tax skim Stolen sales tax, bait-and-switch & “lunching” scams Co-op advertising fraud The 1984 IPO & inventory manipulation Family betrayal: Sam Antar & the cousin who brought him down Insider trading & the hostile takeover that exposed everything Tracking Eddie down in Israel The Bonanno crime family connection Gary on Social Media Website Website 2 Purchase “Retail Gangster” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

In this episode Amelia and I go beyond the science and discuss the more supernatural elements of communicating with animals, which include animal psychics and prescient dreams.  And it all starts with a distinct giggling in the trees…

Since before the publication of Dr. Doolittle, we have been obsessed with communicating with animals.  Whether it’s out pet dog or the squirrel he’s chasing in the backyard, we would love to know what these creatures are thinking.  That is exactly what motivated Amelia Thomas to write her book ‘What Sheep Think about the Weather’, which documents her attempts at understanding how animals try to communicate with us, and each other.  She and I discuss how she spent a day sniffing the world with her dogs, which earwigs have the best personality, and how many different dialects fruit flies have.  We even discuss the Great Ape Gesture Dictionary, which *Spoiler* is way more intuitive than than you think. Amelia on Social Media Website Facebook Instagram Purchase “What Sheep Think About the Weather” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

If you know the name Dan Meyer, it is because he is the world’s foremost expert on sword swallowing.  He has had several appearances on America’s Got Talent, he has a famous Ted Talk, and he even has an IG Nobel Prize for his work documenting injuries sustained while swallowing swords.  What people don’t know is that for as impressive as this body of work is, it pales in comparison to his lifelong pursuit of thromes.  After surviving a bout of malaria, he vowed to make the most of life and has lived on an island, on a boat, visited the 7 wonders, and has seen Mt. Everest at dawn.  We discuss his unbelievable journey, and even learn how he got the nickname “Curly”, and no, it’s not because he loves the Three Stooges. Episodes We Mentioned Fascinating Nouns Ep. on Stanford Research w/ Russel Targ Dan Meyer on Social Media Cutting Edge Innertainment Facebook 1 Facebook 2 X Instagram TikTok Purchase “To The Hilt” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

How far back do your memories go?  Do you remember your kiss with little Susie in second grade?  Can you remember your Kindergarten teacher’s name?  What do you remember about the day you were born?  My guess is, even if you CAN remember any of these things, the details are pretty fuzzy.  Not so for today’s guest Rebecca Sharrock.  She has a rare condition called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM).  This means, she literally remembers EVERYTHING that has ever happened to her with crystal clear accuracy.  She even claims to have memories that are prenatal!  It is quite possible she has the best memory on the planet right now.  Of course we discuss this, but also her encounters with ghosts, her myriad phobias, and what she thinks of the Huntsman spider. Episodes We Mentioned Fascinating Nouns Ep. on Memory w/ Elizabeth Loftus Rebecca Sharock on Social Media Facebook 1 Facebook 2 Website Purchase “My Life is a Puzzle” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

Italian mobsters were not the only ones who wanted to control an entire musical genre.  Rap Mogul Suge Knight followed the formula of the Mafia by controlling the lives of up-and-coming rappers, and beating/killing the competition.  Just ask Vanilla Ice.

Today, it is a given that Rock ‘N Roll is still one of the most popular and lucrative music genres in the world, but this was not always the case.  In the 1950’s, it was an upstart musical movement that was nothing like the contemporary songs of the day.  It needed a push, and that […]

There is nothing more ubiquitous in human existence than waste.  To live is to produce refuse.  And there are so many kinds of waste:  Human, household, digital to name a few.  But what is waste really?  Turns out, the definition is pretty fluid.  In this episode I talk to John Scanlan, author of “The Idea […]

Initially I wanted this episode to come out during spring training this year, but now that the Cubs have clinched a playoff spot, this is a much better time to discuss Al Yellon’s new book “Chicago Cubs Firsts”.  We discuss the great players like Ernie Banks and Ryne Sandberg, as well as broadcasters Harry Caray […]

Henry and I talked for an hour about how the downfall of the human race was not only inevitable, but imminent.  Or is it?  In this bonus episode, Henry breaks down his plans for saving the human race.

Way back in the bonus episode to ep. 201, Henry Gee and I discuss his article on how the human race is in decline.  A better term would be free fall.  Well, he expanded that article into an entire book, and we finally get to discuss it!  It turns out, as soon as Homo sapiens […]

In a quiet theater, you sit and stare at a scene unfolding before your eyes, the participants unaware of your presence.  This excites you, and you just can’t seem to pull your eyes away.  That is because you, like everyone else who watches movies, is a voyeur, someone who loves to watch when others can’t […]

No matter what movie you are watching, there is a high likelihood that some form of mental illness will be presented there.  Whether it is a masked psychopath in the latest horror movie, or an OCD partner in the new buddy cop film, humans seem to be unable to look away from crazy.  But how […]

Almost every culture on the planet has stories of some sort of “Wild Man” creature, whether it is Sasquatch, Yeti, Skunk Apes, Yowie, Wendigo, Yeren, etc.  Here in The States we call this creature “Bigfoot”, and proof of their existence is elusive at best.  Almost as elusive as John O’Connor, who’s book “The Secret History […]

The way we live with dogs has change significantly over the past few decades.  Our pets are a part of the family, and as such, we want to give them every advantage possible, including a great education.  Dr. Brian Hare has been studying dog cognition for years, and his recent project involves monitoring the cognitive […]

The election has come and gone here is the states, and while we don’t get political on this show, we do love movies, so I decided to have Tea Krulos back on the show to discuss his research tying popular cinematic monsters to the political party who wins the White House. Democrats are tied to […]

As promised, Noah and I discuss the “Three Goddesses” story, one of them being the Baba Yaga, who is the prototype for our modern conception of the witch.  She has a big nose, long chin, a house on chicken lags, and for some reason there is a focus on her saggy breasts.  On, and she […]

It is Halloween again, and what is more iconic at this time of year than vampires, werewolves, and witches?  I thought it was about time we dedicate a whole episode to them, so Noah Charney is back on the show to discuss their origins.  It turns out that these creatures first appear in Slavic myths […]

With a few more minutes I talk to Jeff about Gigolos, Showgirls, and the man behind The Waffle King.

Los Angeles should be known as “Celebrity City”, since this is where so many live.  If you are an everyday person, and you happen to also live in Los Angeles, there is a small chance that you could run into one of these larger-than-life personalities and get sucked into their orbit.  You see, once you […]

Project Blue Book was supposed to be the U.S. Government’s official investigation into UFO’s.  The science advisor was a man named J. Allen Hynek.  He was the one responsible for the infamous “Swamp Gas” Explanation.  Well Blue Book was really a disinformation campaign, and Hynek went from professional debunker to believer.  He scientifically analyzed all […]

Let’s be serious:  The Gong Show was a national phenomenon!  Unfortunately like a lot of things in the 70’s, once a movie was made, the fad was over.  This is true of The Gong Show Movie which was really a therapy session for creator and host Chuck Barris.  So was his book “Confessions of a […]

If you didn’t grow up in the 70’s,  you have no concept of just how popular “The Gong Show” was.   This was a daytime show that destroyed the ratings, and was unlike anything on television.  It was basically a reverse talent show where the draw was a parade of terrible acts.  They had some […]

Sir Ian Livingstone is a real knight, known as the “Knight of the Nerds”.  Never has a moniker been more apt.  Ian and his partner Steve Jackson were early fanatics of various complex strategy games.  They turned this love into a paradigm changing company called “Games Workshop”.  Thanks to an exclusive deal with Dungeons & […]

How many people reading this have attempted to learn a new language?  I know that I have stopped and restarted Spanish lessons twice in the past 3 years.  The grammar rules are what kills it.  How about a completely unique language, that is almost indistinguishable from English, but uses the exact same rules and even […]

One of the lucky breaks Eastman & Laird received was that Nintendo and Konami were looking for a new kind of game and the turtles came around at the perfect time.  Not only was the NES game successful, but the sequel changed the way arcade games operated for a five year period.  Listen as we […]

1984 was a big year.  Ghostbusters and Terminator were released, the events of George Orwell’s novel take place, and in a Massachusetts suburb, two comic artists accidentally created one of the biggest pop culture events in human history:  the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  What started as a joke between friends has spawned numerous TV shows, […]

You may not think so, but the formula created by The Bad News Bears is still in use today!  A rag tag group of kids, lead by an incompetent and troubled adult somehow manage to overcome their differences and beat the better funded team at whatever sport they are competing in.  It is a tale […]

Nothing says spring like the smell of freshly cut grass on a baseball diamond, and in my opinion, nothing says America quite like the baseball movie. Sure the sport gets credit as the national past time, but Hollywood is uniquely American. This week film critic Noah Gittell discusses the history of baseball movies, which starts […]

Since the 50’s, no woman has captured the attention of little girls everywhere quite like Barbie.  Sure she is only 11 inches tall and made of plastic, but influence is global.  This week I talk with M. G. Lord, one of the foremost experts on his iconic fashion doll.  When it comes to her history, […]

In America, one organization has seemingly been in control of every industry we have at some point and time in our history.  That group is known collectively as The Mob.  From prostitution, to running unions, to funding government officials, some form of organized crime has been in control since the Mayflower.  We are going to […]

The U.S. government has a pretty straight-laced reputation, but did you know that in the 60’s and 70’s, the CIA and Army Intelligence funded research into psychic phenomena?  They sure did, and it was approved because the belief was that the Soviets were also doing it.  Then the Soviets started doing it because they heard […]

Before we finish, Russell lets me ask one final question about how Psychic Phenomenon works.

The U.S. government has a pretty straight-laced reputation, but did you know that in the 60’s and 70’s, the CIA and Army Intelligence funded research into psychic phenomena?  They sure did, and it was approved because the belief was that the Soviets were also doing it.  Then the Soviets started doing it because they heard […]

Lemuria.  If you are familiar with this place, you probably know it as a lost continent (akin to Atlantis), that was inhabited by higher beings who not live in the hollow Earth under Mt. Shasta in California.  You may also believe that extraterrestrials seeded this continent with crystals before it sank to the bottom of […]

Science Fiction has had a prolific run on television.  I bet some of your favorite shows have elements of Sci-Fi in them whether you know it or not. Westworld, The Mandalorian, and Stranger Things are just a few of the blockbuster shows driving you to your tv set.  If you go way back, before Lost, […]

An extraordinarily rare event is going to happen in 2024:  Two periodical cicada broods will be emerging at the same time, covering both the South and the Midwest in large, droning insects for six weeks this summer.  How rare are we talking here?  How about once every 221 years level of rare?  The last time […]

Edgar Allan Poe was the original Gloomy Gus right?  Writing horror stories alone, in a dilapidated mansion, with only the company of a red-eyed raven to keep him sane.  Most people probably believe his life was actually in black and white.  Turns out this is NOT the case!  He played flutes at parties, solved ciphers […]

Contrary to popular movies, most art crime is NOT perpetrate by some private art collector in order to enhance their collection.  Oh well there is one notable exception:  Pablo Picasso!  Check out this bonus episode and learn how Picasso got wrapped up in the Mona Lisa caper, and what he actually had stolen.

Just the mention of the name “Mona Lisa” sparks images of a cherub faced woman, half-smiling, hanging on a wall at the Louvre.  This is true of almost EVERYONE on the planet, but that was not always the case.  As a matter of fact, the Mona Lisa is kind of famous for being famous, and […]

As humans continue to sprawl into every known corner of the world, reproducing at a unsustainable rate, more and more we are invading on turf currently occupied by wild animals.  You may encounter these guys while walking to the garbage, or may even see them IN your garbage, depending on the time of day.  I […]

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy the outdoors.  Hiking can be a fun past time, but depending on where you go there is always a chance that you could run into a dangerous animal.  So what do you do?  Are you supposed to look intimidating or play dead?  Do you run to climb […]

No one knows how it all will end.  Will we blow ourselves up in a fiery nuclear explosion?  Will an asteroid smash into the Earth giving us the dinosaur treatment?  Will some new virus wipe out humanity before we have a chance to counter its spread?  While we can’t see the future, we can chronicle […]

As the center of the hippie movement, California has a long history of cults and communes.  In this bones episode, we tell the story of how religious groups helped popularize the modern Vegetarian movement, as well as the sordid background of the beloved Kettle Chips.

When it comes to spiritual belief, the United States is very unique.  Since religion is protected by the first amendment, the country has been fertile ground to many spiritual groups, cults, communes, and other religious groups.  Some have taken an isolation approach, and if your group is remote, you will have to grow and make […]