The Psychology of Going Nowhere
A young woman boards an elevated train in 1907, reaches her stop…and simply cannot make herself leave. Her strange case of “nervousness” becomes a newspaper curiosity, but more than a century later, i...
9 Sep 33min
Odd Jobs, Bad Science, and Three Generations of Horror
In this classic episode, we celebrate Labor Day by looking at the most unusual jobs. Some people get paid to break into buildings, test mattresses, cuddle strangers, or bring horses into therapy sess...
7 Sep 44min
Inbox Of Oddities #98
This week’s Inbox of Oddities is full of the kinds of stories that make you wonder whether the universe is gently trying to get your attention. From a beloved dog who may have kept watch long after he...
4 Sep 26min
Freaks, Feathers, and Yellow Fever
A sideshow performer known as Koo-Koo the Bird Girl becomes one of the most unforgettable faces in Tod Browning’s 1932 film Freaks—yet the real Minnie Woolsey remains almost a mystery. We trace the st...
2 Sep 39min
Ten Dimes and One Very Stubborn House
What can ten dimes do? For Osceola McCarty, they represented a lifetime spent washing other people’s clothes—and a quiet act of generosity that would eventually change the lives of more than a hundred...
31 Aug 27min
Inbox Of Oddities #97
Can you feel time passing—or taste pizza using only your imagination? This week, the Freak Family opens our eyes to the wildly different ways our brains experience the world, including one listener wh...
28 Aug 24min
Black Holes, Nazis, & Fresh Baked Goods
Are We Living Inside a Black Hole? And Why You Should Never Trust a Nazi With a Plate Of Cookies. What if our entire universe is hiding inside a black hole? The James Webb Space Telescope has uncover...
26 Aug 35min
The Boys Who Refused to Become Monsters
What happens when six teenage boys are stranded on a deserted island for more than a year? Forget Lord of the Flies. The true story of the boys of Ata reveals something far more surprising—and far mor...
24 Aug 32min
