Author: Meagan Ankney

Episode 45 Sources: Lab Disasters Part 1, The Radium Girls

Paige is our resident health and safety professional and it’s her time to shine in this episode all about the “Radium Girls”, a group of amazing women whose fight against the US Radium Corporation was instrumental in the establishment of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and modern workplace safety regulations. This is part one of two episodes we plan to do on lab disasters (up next: EXPLOSIONS!).

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Featured promo in this episode from the Malpractice Podcast.

Link to the industrial safety presentation mentioned by Paige: https://orau.org/ihos/downloads/meetings/support-files/2018/RadiumGirls_King.pdf

Link to the song “Radium Dance”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvn3Kr15azg 

Here are our sources:

  1. Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls-Story-Americas-Shining/dp/149264935X
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPpRrUI3PyE
  3. https://www.britannica.com/story/radium-girls-the-women-who-fought-for-their-lives-in-a-killer-workplace#:~:text=The%20women%20hired%20to%20paint,they%20went%20dancing%20after%20work.
  4. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/curies-isolate-radium#:~:text=On%20April%2020%2C%201902%2C%20Marie,in%20their%20research%20of%20pitchblende.
  5. https://orau.org/ihos/downloads/meetings/support-files/2018/RadiumGirls_King.pdf
  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5595405/  
  7. https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/miscellaneous/radium-dance.html

Episode 44 Sources: The Short & The Spooky – Tokyo Drift

For this installment of Short & Spooky, we’re bringing you four stories that have about as much connection to one-another as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift has to the rest of the franchise its associated with. That is to say, almost none. Join us as we learn about creepy dolls, glowing Civil War wounds, strange trees, and baby dragons.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources:

  1. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-creepy-dolls-180955916/
  2. https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a23737943/fear-of-dolls/
  3. https://www.discovery.com/exploration/the-mystery-of-the-crooked-forest
  4. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/interesting-facts-about-udaipur-that-every-traveller-should-know/photostory/82304814.cms
  5. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/science/crooked-forest-poland-theories.html
  6. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/blind-aquatic-salamander-may-have-sat-mostly-still-seven-years
  7. https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/angels-glow-why-did-some-civil-war-soldiers-glow-as-they-lay-dying/?fbclid=IwAR0nTmWhdolMRbKU3OGRf8cHX0cCAGIkz7PCDC_auZAevqXyzw0GDRgUSBg
  8. https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2001/students-may-have-answer-for-faster-healing-civil-war-wounds-that-glowed/ 
  9. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4450468
  10. https://www.livescience.com/32651-what-causes-bioluminescence-.html
  11. https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/did-you-know/how-does-bioluminescence-work/
  12. https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/bioluminescence#:~:text=Bioluminescence%20occurs%20through%20a%20chemical,reacts%20with%20oxygen%2C%20produces%20light.&text=Many%20organisms%20also%20produce%20the,to%20speed%20up%20the%20reaction.
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescent_bacteria#:~:text=Purpose%20of%20bio%2Dluminescence,-The%20wide%2Dranged&text=In%20the%20case%20of%20bioluminescent,as%20a%20form%20of%20dispersal.&text=The%20bio%2Dluminescence%20of%20bacteria,enter%20and%20inhabit%20other%20organisms.
  14. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01142/full
  15. https://ano-patel.medium.com/slovenias-dragons-from-myth-to-reality-2a22a3f3dfc#:~:text=Postojna%20and%20Skocjan%20caves%20in,14%20years%20without%20any%20food
  16. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/whats-behind-slovenias-love-affair-with-a-salamander

Episode 43 Sources: Spooky Volcanoes – Take My Picture With It!

In this episode, our very own volcano expert, Meagan, talks about what occurred during the infamous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. We discuss what is left of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as what makes them spooky. We also dive into supervolcanoes, including how much of a threat they really pose to the survival of the human race and some spooky stories about the biggest eruptions that humans (or at least our ancestors) have witnessed.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

*This is a joke. Meagan did not pose with any skeletons.

Here are our sources:

  1. MEAGAN’S BRAIN.
  2. https://www.audiology.org/volcanic-eruption-tops-loudest-sound-heard-on-earth-in-the-past-100-years/#:~:text=Scientists%20believe%20the%20sonic%20boom,235%20dB%20in%20the%20epicenter.
  3. https://www.popsci.com/story/science/loudest-sounds-ever-measured/
  4. https://www.livescience.com/vitrified-brain-of-vesuvius-victim-found.html
  5. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mount-vesuvius-boiled-its-victims-blood-and-caused-their-skulls-explode-180970504/
  6. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/partially-mutilated-herculaneum-skeleton-was-fugitive-of-vesuvius-eruption/
  7. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57055163
  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder  https://www.susannaduffy.com/the-ghosts-of-herculaneum/
  9. https://igppweb.ucsd.edu/~gabi/sio15/lectures/volcanoes/pliny.html
  10. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22355515
  11. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-humans-weathered-toba-supervolcano-just-fine-180968479/
  12. https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-climate-works/mount-tambora-and-year-without-summer
  13. https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2016/05/26/year-without-a-summer-1816-mount-tambora/84855694/
  14. http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/smith-chronological-history-of-crater-lake/sources-and-articles-of-interest/orgin-stories-of-the-lake/

Episode 42 Sources: The (Not-So-Mysterious) Winchester Mystery House

In this episode we are joined by the fabulous Karen Stollznow (author and host of the Monster Talk podcast) to talk about the history and rumors surrounding Sarah Winchester and her famed California mansion. As with the Mystery House itself, things aren’t always what they seem when it comes to the reclusive widow who built it.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources:

  1. The Meg Conley article mentioned by Meagan: https://www.megconley.com/the-winchester-mystery-house/
  2. Karen’s book Haunting America where she tells the story of the Winchester Mansion: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087FC3MYB/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i9
  3. The book on Sarah Winchester recommended by Karen, Captive of the Labyrinth by Mary Jo Ignoffo: https://www.amazon.com/Captive-Labyrinth-Winchester-Heiress-Fortune/dp/0826219837/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=captive+of+the+labyrinth&qid=1646405516&sprefix=captive+of+the+la%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-1
  4. Photo of the original Hayes Mansion: https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/06/14/herhold-the-woman-behind-san-joses-hayes-mansion/
  5. https://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/sarahs-story/
  6. https://www.biography.com/personality/sarah-winchester
  7. https://thetruthaboutsarahwinchester.com/
  8. Criminal Podcast – Episode 107: https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-107-the-widow-and-the-winchester-2-1-2019/
  9. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/winchester-helen-mirren-haunted-house-san-jose
  10. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/real-story-of-sarah-winchester-mystery-house-12552842.php
  11. https://www.7×7.com/the-top-10-lies-about-the-winchester-mystery-house-1786563456.html
  12. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/movies/horror-movie-based-on-a-true-story.html 
  13. https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1752944/new-local-musical-shows-only-thing-haunting-sarah-winchester-was-fake-news  
  14. https://www.guns.com/news/2012/07/19/winchester-1873

Episode 41 Sources: Spooky True Crime Vol. 3, Lake Crescent

In our third spooky true crime episode we chat about Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. If the chemistry of the lake and its potential to turn bodies into soap isn’t spooky enough for you, the long history of mysterious disappearances, deaths, and ghost stories associated with it will surely creep you out. Buckle in, because you’re in for a wild ride.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources:

  1. https://thenationsvacation.com/travel_guide/spooky-national-park-experiences-this-halloween/
  2. https://www.backpacker.com/trips/haunted-hikes-for-halloween/
  3. https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/washington/articles/the-lady-of-the-lake-is-still-haunting-this-washington-town/
  4. https://skullsinthestars.com/2010/10/31/the-lady-of-the-lake-a-scientific-ghost-story/
  5. https://www.myolympicpark.com/park/history/the-lady-of-crescent-lake/
  6. https://www.ststworld.com/lake-crescent/ 
  7. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/DNA-confirms-ID-in-1929-Lake-Crescent-death-1187827.php
  8. https://morbidology.com/the-lady-of-the-lake-hallie-illingworth/
  9. The Lady of Crescent Lake (myolympicpark.com)
  10. https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/serial-killer-ii-murderer-tied-to-five-slayings-while-living-in-neah-bay-including-body-in-lake-crescent/
  11. https://books.google.com/books?id=L8qPBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA341&lpg=PA341&dq=bones+warrens+lake+crescent&source=bl&ots=Zdz64JcHHQ&sig=ACfU3U3ndgsXgPJzpe9Qay6F4r19uuIExg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK4vH1mM71AhVzlIkEHX3ZB6UQ6AF6BAhCEAM#v=onepage&q=bones%20warrens%20lake%20crescent&f=false
  12. Lake Crescent: Washington State’s Beautiful, Deadly Lake and its History – STSTW (ststworld.com)
  13. Israel Keyes – Wikipedia
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Crescent
  15. https://wa100.dnr.wa.gov/olympic-peninsula/lake-crescent
  16. https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/lake-crescent-area-brochure.htm
  17. https://www.historylink.org/File/8599
  18. https://www.boydski.com/diving/dives/warren_wreck.htm
  19. https://www.hotcars.com/a-fatal-72-year-old-mystery-solved/

Episode 40 Sources: Spooky Chemistry

Whether or not you realize it, you interact with chemicals every day of your life. The foods you eat, the products you use to clean your home, and even you, yourself, are made of chemicals! Some of them, though, can be quite dangerous or have been used for nefarious purposes. So, in this episode, we’re diving into the darker side of chemistry with stories of hidden gold, acid burns, and body dissolution.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources:

  1. https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/can-acid-dissolve-a-body/3007496.article
  2. https://edu.rsc.org/analysis/breaking-bad-ii-acid-bath-disposal-of-bodies/3007374.article
  3. https://medium.com/the-crime-historian/the-story-of-lye-the-cook-the-murderer-his-wife-and-her-lover-187d29c92352#:~:text=Under%20high%20heat%20and%20pressure,liquid%20in%20just%20three%20hours.
  4. https://ehs.unc.edu/chemical/hfa/chemical-safety-information-hydrofluoric-acid/
  5. https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/alkalinehydrolysis
  6. https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/what-happens-when-a-dead-body-is-dissolved-in-lye
  7. https://www.chem.purdue.edu/chemsafety/chem/HFfatality.html
  8. https://www.today.com/popculture/mythbusters-proves-breaking-bads-walt-needs-some-more-schooling-6C10904583
  9. https://inside.nku.edu/artsci/departments/chemistry/about/diversity/jabiribnhayyan.html
  10. https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/10/03/140815154/dissolve-my-nobel-prize-fast-a-true-story  
  11. https://gizmodo.com/how-acid-can-leave-your-skin-untouched-but-destroy-your-1723056026

Episode 38 Sources: Turkey Manslaughter & Murder Birds

This (belated) Thanksgiving episode features an exceptionally giggly discussion on spooky birds. It’s got a little bit of everything, from dinosaur-like cassowaries capable of disemboweling an adult human to mistaking owls for Mothman to meat raining from the sky!

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources – links with images discussed in the episode are noted:

  1. Cassowary images: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/how-dangerous-are-cassowaries-really/
  2. Baby cassowary image: https://www.nashvillezoo.org/our-blog/posts/first-cassowary-hatches-despite-hazards
  3. Shoebill Stork images: https://allthatsinteresting.com/shoebill-stork
  4. Information on bird preservation & what you can do: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/
  5. Baby owls look like aliens: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a29802935/owl-video-aliens/
  6. Barred owl with red eyeshine: https://twitter.com/edpiotrowski/status/438503770834497536?lang=ca
  7. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/the-great-kentucky-meat-shower-mystery-unwound-by-projectile-vulture-vomit/
  8. https://www.npr.org/2011/01/03/132631464/What-Killed-Thousands-Of-Blackbirds-In-Arkansas
  9. https://www.insider.com/scariest-birds-2019-1.
  10. https://lemonly.com/blog/owls-are-fcking-scary-an-infographic-argument
  11. https://craigmedred.news/2020/02/05/when-owls-attack/
  12. https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/aliens-or-baby-owls-man-shocked-after-spotting-spooky-looking-creatures-in-attic-2392311.html
  13. https://lithub.com/aliens-among-us-a-brief-history-of-the-owl/
  14. https://www.audubon.org/news/is-mothman-west-virginia-owl
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatwoods_monster
  16. https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Balaeniceps_rex/
  17. https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/shoebill-balaenicipitidae
  18. https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-prevention/articles/firefighters-demonstrate-the-dangers-of-deep-frying-a-turkey-PB6hDnjromoNOD4n/#:~:text=Fire%20Rescue,more%20than%2035%2C000%20burn%20injuries.
  19. https://web.extension.illinois.edu/turkey/turkey_facts.cfm
  20. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/08/cock-kills-man-california-cockfight

Episode 37 Sources: Halloween Listener Stories II

Happy (Belated) Halloween! In our second annual Halloween Listener Stories episode we will share (and debunk) three spooky stories that came to us from your fellow listeners! Has something similar happened to you? Do you have an explanation that we didn’t cover?  Let us know your thoughts! You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Special thanks to Sophie, DJ, and Tyson for sharing their amazing stories!

Here is the sketch Sophie included with her story about the Monte Cristo Homestead.

Here are our sources:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Cristo_Homestead
  2. https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2018/09/the-haunting-of-the-monte-cristo-homestead/  
  3. https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/strange-but-true-the-mystery-of-the-monte-cristo-homestead-and-the-supernatural-science-that-explains-it/
  4. https://www.science.org/content/article/illuminating-shadow-people-rev2
  5. https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/sleep-paralysis-terrifying-encounter-mind/

Episode 36 Sources – Black-Eyed Children: Creepypasta or Creepy Kids?

Are Black-Eyed Children just a product of a Creepypasta run rampant, or is there some science behind reported sightings of creepy kids? We discuss the origins of this popular urban legend, and then dive into possible explanations – Meagan has a theory of her own that we’re excited for you to hear! You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Here are our sources:

  1. Astonishing Legends podcast, Ep. 87 and 88: Black Eyed Kids Parts 1 and 2
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-eyed_children
  3. https://texashillcountry.com/black-eyed-kids-legend-abilene/
  4. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/black-eyed-children/
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20151208221117/http://www.reporternews.com/news/columnists/brian-bethel/brian-bethel-recounts-his-possible-paranormal-encounter-with-beks-ep-384772497-348207271.html
  6. https://www.tbsnews.net/splash/legend-black-eyed-children-55705
  7. https://www.pararational.com/what-are-black-eyed-kids/
  8. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1340278/6287302
  9. http://ineversausageaplace.com/2013/03/the-black-eyed-kids-of-the-iroquois-legends/
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonist_(The_X-Files)#Black_oil
  11. https://web.randi.org/swift/behind-black-eyes-reports-of-spooky-black-eyed-kids
  12. http://www.bizarrejournal.com/2012/12/debunked-black-eyed-children.html  
  13. https://skeptoid.com/blog/2013/01/15/the-black-eyed-children/
  14. https://partypinching.com/pear-bunny-salad/

Episode 35 Sources: 2 Short 2 Spooky

Our second Short & Spooky episode is here! Paige covers Deja Vu – what are we really experiencing and how is it studied? She also shares the story of the mysterious disappearance of Flight 513. Meagan gives an update on Oumuamua – the first interstellar object that we’ve been able to observe passing through our solar system – and our scariest topic yet, Bloody Mary. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, or iHeartRadio.

Reminder: We’re collecting spooky stories for our Annual Halloween Listener Stories episode! If you have a paranormal or other creepy experience that you were able to debunk, or that you’d like us to take a stab at, you can send it to [email protected] or DM us on any of our social media accounts. Happy Spooky Season!

Here are our sources:

Deja Vu:

  1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-science-explain-deja-vu/
  2. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-we-get-deja-vu-2017-12

Flight 513:

  1. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52255/8-weekly-world-news-headlines-turned-out-be-true
  2. https://www.mensxp.com/special-features/features/79021-mystery-santiago-flight-513.html

Oumuamua:

  1. https://observer.com/2021/03/oumuamua-alien-interstellar-object-ice-comet-study-reveal/

Bloody Mary: Source #8 includes the Strange Face Illusion photos we discuss.

  1. https://u.osu.edu/vanzandt/2019/04/17/bloody-mary-from-the-bathroom-to-the-laboratory/
  2. https://people.howstuffworks.com/bloody-mary-legend.htm
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catoptromancy
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Mary_(folklore)
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWORTeImS44
  6. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/558091/origin-bloody-mary-and-why-we-think-we-see-things-mirrors
  7. https://www.livescience.com/62274-disappearing-optical-illusion-troxler-explained.html
  8. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/locking-eyes-with-a-monster/