What happens if you discover something so diabolical, so terrifying, and so frankly preposterous that it cannot possibly be true? What if nobody--not your friends, not your family, not the press, not even the entire nation--believes you? Are you simply crazy? Do you need professional help? Maybe even involuntary commitment?
What happens when you're proven to be right?
This is what happened to Martha Mitchell. She was the wife of John Mitchell, former attorney general under Richard Nixon. This week Scotty tells Amelia about "the Martha Mitchell effect," i.e. what happens when a person's seemingly outlandish "delusions" are revealed to be true. Aside from Martha's tale, they look at fictional examples--particularly the works of writer Ira Levin ("Rosemary's Baby," "The Stepford Wives")--and the harrowing true story of a would-be police whistleblower in New York City.
Sometimes they really are out to get you.
WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for both "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Stepford Wives."
Check out the "Slow Burn" podcast on Spotify for more about the Watergate coverup: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ON0PNRRNs9zWEAy2YPeAc?si=7b41733260ca4044
Watch the trailer for "The Martha Mitchell Effect" documentary on Netflix: https://youtu.be/0SYWxQ62AUM?si=mPnlW9feiwNMjHAh
Watch the trailer for the series "Gaslit" on Starz: https://youtu.be/5SxnbpGngtI?si=nsZeJdKBeWRlrmZi
Listen to the "This American Life" episode "Right to Remain Silent," about Adrian Schoolcraft: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/414/right-to-remain-silent
Check out Ira Levin's books on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8050.Ira_Levin/
From a celebrated "Star Wars" series to some true-crime documentaries, Scotty and Amelia use this Pocket Size episode to touch on a few of the pop-culture items they didn't manage to get to in their 2025 wrap-up.
Filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner were more than just another Hollywood couple--they were passionate activists and progressive power brokers. In this episode, Scotty and Amelia celebrate their lives, their work, and their considerable influence. They also delve into two of Rob's most popular films: 1984's "This is Spinal Tap" and 1995's "The American President."
Their loss is a terrible tragedy, but hopefully this episode is a small reminder of just some of the joy that they provided.
We're closing out another year at The Weirdest Thing Podcast, so Scotty and Amelia are here with a look back at some of their most significant pop-cultural events of 2025. There are TV shows like "Dying for Sex" (Hulu) and "Death By Lightning" (Netflix), movies like "28 Years Later" and "Wicked Part 2," ruminations on Leonardo DiCaprio's squinty face, new possibilities for superhero movies, and more!
Note: Scotty and Amelia recorded this episode before the tragic death of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. They will return after the New Year with a tribute to the legendary filmmaker and activist.
On this (admittedly beefy) Pocket Size episode, Amelia and Scotty present a bit of a companion piece to their earlier "Teenage Hijinks!" episode with another entry in their ongoing series about Movies They Just Don't Make Anymore, by looking at the uniquely 80s subgenre of "Kids on Adventures!" flicks.
To that end, they consider three specific entries: 1985's "Goonies" (directed by Richard Donner), 1987's "Monster Squad" (directed by Fred Dekker), and -- perhaps the greatest of them all -- 1986's "Stand By Me" (directed by Rob Reiner). And, of course, no discussion of this particular grouping of movies would be complete without a few words on Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial."
Yes, yes, Scotty and Amelia know that there's no shortage of science fiction movies to be found at the multiplex or on your streaming platforms. But there's a particular type of one-shot, grown-up sensibility sci-fi blockbuster that has become increasingly rare, and they've decided to take a look back at two shining examples: Steven Spielberg's 1977 classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and James Cameron's 1989 underwater epic "The Abyss."
Not all heroes wear capes...or even walk on two legs. This week Scotty tells Amelia and the listeners about the early days of the Space Race, and some of its non-human pioneers (and sacrifices) in the name of "progress." There was Albert II, a rhesus macaque monkey who became the first mammal to travel into space. There was Ham, a chimpanzee who flew aboard the Mercury-Redstone 2 rocket. And, of course, there was little Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow who entered into orbit and the history books.
Not all of these furry astronauts survived their flights into the Great Unknown. But they live on forever in our hearts.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode talks about animal death.
Amelia's back! Having returned from parts unknown, she and Scotty return to their series on Movies They Just Don't Make Anymore by considering the "adult shenanigans!" subgenre...i.e. movies about legitimate grownups getting up to, well, shenanigans. To that end, they look back at three movies from their youth: 1987's "Three Men and a Baby" (starring Tom Sellick, Ted Danson, and Steve Guttenberg), 1988's "Big Business" (starring Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler), and 1989's "Troop Beverly Hills" (starring Shelley Long).
The night-owl reporter Tom Waits said it best: "I don't want to grow up..."
Welcome back! Sort of. Amelia remains in an undisclosed location, so in this episode of A Weirdest Thing Podcast, Scotty invites his good friend/real-working-screenwriter Ellen Huggins onto the show to talk about their grad-school days in Boston, their time in the film-industry trenches, the importance of geek "third spaces," writing sexy thrillers for Lifetime and Tubi, what goes into a Hollywood pitch, the awesomeness of the movie "Ghost," and more.