Spooky spooky! We're back with some more Halloween-month content for you. This week we dive into two movies, "When a Stranger Calls" (1979) and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997). We talk about the urban legends that inspired them (the-call-is-coming-from-inside-the-house and the tale of the Hookman, respectively), along with their possible connections to true stories.

SPOILER WARNING: We don't hold anything back on either film, so might want to watch them before listening to this episode.

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We're leaning hard into spooky season this week. Amelia talks about the grisly origins of the infamous "The Girl with the Green Ribbon" story, while Scotty takes us through the making and ignominious release of the "cursed" horror movie "Incubus," the first film ever made in the constructed Esperanto language.

CONTENT WARNING: Our stories this week touch on murder, execution, and suicide.

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To really kick off the start of spooky season, we're easing in and going only lightly creepy this week with the histories of two murdery/eerie board games. Scotty kicks things off with the creation of the Ouija Board, and Amelia takes us back into the billiard room with a candlestick and the origin story of the game "Clue." We also spend a few moments at the beginning talking about the documentary series "Shiny Happy People," and we have a ton of fun at the end dream-casting our perfect "Clue" movie remake.

CONTENT WARNING: The "Shiny Happy People" discussion touches on misogyny and child abuse.

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In an interesting role reversal, Amelia is the one who goes super dark this week with her story about the enduring mystery of the "Atlanta Blood House." Meanwhile, Scotty takes us back to Seattle with the infamous "Lexicon of Grunge" hoax.

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This week Scotty talks about how a down-on-his-luck Detroit musician became a cultural icon on another continent without him even knowing about it, and Amelia explores the very strange and twisty tale of "Miranda Grosvenor," the "Sweet Talker to the Stars."

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Welcome to another episode that only makes sense in the land of The Weirdest Thing. This week Amelia talks about the history of some of our very favorite cocktails... which she'll need to combat the stress dreams caused by Scotty's story about the Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever created. Mix yourself a drink and join us to watch the world burn!

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Scotty's got family in town this week, so Amelia brought in actor/screenwriter and longtime friend Elizabeth Dwyer to guest host. They talk about the movies "Striptease" (1996) and "Hustlers" (2019), and how the cinematic depiction of sex work has evolved over time. And is it true that all you youngs have decided you don't want sex scenes at all anymore, period? Amelia and Elizabeth have thoughts.

CONTENT WARNING: Lots of sex talk this week. If you've got kids in the car with you...earmuffs!

To order Shannon C.F. Rogers' acclaimed new YA novel "I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom," click the link: https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-d-rather-burn-than-bloom-shannon-c-f-rogers/18675104?ean=9781250845665

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We're back with another yin-yang episode this week. Scotty goes grim with the story of South Africa's Boesmansgat sinkhole and the tragic death of cave diver Dave Shaw, and Amelia lightens(??) things up with an examination of changing beauty standards of the industrial era and how Coco Chanel and Josephine Baker turned tanning into a thing.

CONTENT WARNING: Scotty's story deals with drowning and all sorts of underwater unpleasantness.

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Happy (continued) Pride Month! This week Amelia talks about the importance of "Bob Damron's Address Book" to pre-Stonewall gay culture, and Scotty continues his exploration of the life and work of author, filmmaker, queer icon, and shameless Hollywood gossip-monger Kenneth Anger.

To read Anger and filmmaker Stan Brakhage's cuckoo-bananas correspondence, go to: https://www.desistfilm.com.

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Happy Pride, everyone! This week Scotty presents Part 1 of his exploration of the life and career of author, filmmaker, and queer icon Kenneth Anger. Meanwhile, Amelia invites us all to experience the disaster bisexual dumpster fire that was Hans Christian Andersen.

To watch Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" (1947) in its entirety, go to: https://vimeo.com/425202939

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