Strange Country Ep. 222: Melvil Dewey
Dear Dashhounds, are you one of the 75% (15% according to Beth) who know the term, Dewey Decimal System? Do you care? You will today as Strange Country hosts Beth and Kelly discuss the life and times of Melvil Dewey, which really encompassed a lot of misogyny, racism and antisemitism. Yet still he was lauded as a library great. How do we handle these people of the past, and how should we handle them now? The answer lies within a sweet song that you won’t be able to get out of your head. Always, thanks for listening it is an act of love which is the opposite of fear
Strange Country Ep. 213: Moonies, Part I
Sun Myung Moon claimed to be the Messiah who would bring about the kingdom of heaven. See God visited him and told him it was his turn to pick up where Jesus left off. And apparently that was convincing lonely college kids to peddle candy and flowers at street corners and airports. In this multi-episode show, cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the Unification Church, the True Parents, and ways they could possibly convince loyal dashounds to peddle Strange Country merch to the masses.
Strange Country Ep. 212: Belle Gunness
Dashounds and Readers! Ever wonder what to do if your husband dies and you have a farm to keep up? If you’re Belle Gunness, you are glad for the extra hog food, and excited to hop onto the 1900’s version of Tinder—the newspaper want ads! If only her suitors had FB; they may have been a little more cautious. But alas it was that er-ah when times were tough and a woman could quite literally get away with murder. Join Beth and Kelly as we dive into Belle’s story - and try to figure out why this woman did what she did. Spoiler alert: you will never know!
And important pre-listening info! Kelly did find the “story of Bell’s attack” in a legit source. Check the biblio! Thanks always for listening!
Strange Country Ep. 210: The Sodder Family
A forever mystery will haunt your ears this week, Dash Hounds. Join Kelly and Beth as we discuss the missing Sodder children, who quite literally went up in smoke one terrible Christmas night in West Virginia, never to be seen again. A warning: if you don’t like women or cats, you probably shouldn’t listen. But if you do, then you should listen because as you well know, it is an act of love.
Strange Country Ep. 203: Weigh Down Workshop
Maybe you've tried Keto or Atkins or the blood type diet, but have you thought about maybe trying God? The Weigh Down Workshop was founded by Gwen Shamblin in 1986. She didn't believe in dieting, exercising or counting calories. Shamblin instead told followers to rely on God and pray that He will slap the Doritos out of your hand. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about this program turned church and how some cult experts see it as a cult.
Strange Country Ep. 202: The Goat Castle
Today's Strange Country tale involves murder, racism and goats. The big three, as we like to say. In 1932, Jennie Merrill was murdered in Natchez, Miss. Her neighbors who lived in a dilapidated estate nicknamed The Goat Castle likely had something to do with it, but it was a black laundress named Emily Burns who was convicted of the crime. Because everything is garbage.
Strange Country Ep. 194: Emperor Norton I
Sometimes you just need to make an announcement in the newspaper declaring yourself Emperor of the U.S. especially if other people don't realize it. That's what Joshua Norton did in 1859. His next step was to abolish Congress. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about San Francisco's greatest tourist attraction and decree that you will love this episode with your very being.
Strange Country Ep.122: Rhoda Eats Bark
Strange Country Ep. 46: Elmer McCurdy
Strange Country Ep. 45: Robert the Doll
Strange Country Ep. 43: The Cult of the Great Eleven
Strange Country Ep. 42: Karl Tanzler
Strange Country Ep. 41: Shirley Mason
Strange Country Ep. 40: Barbara Newhall Follett
Strange Country Ep. 35: Ghost Stories from Wells College
Strange Country Episode 26: Warren G. Harding
Strange Country Episode 24: New England Vampires
Strange Country Episode 23: Patricia Hearst
Strange Country Episode 22: Lizzie Magie
What kind of capitalist are you? Did you play Monopoly for hours with your family in hopes of owning all the land and hoarding all the money? Guess what? That's not how the game was originally meant to be played.
It was all the works of the brilliant Lizzie Magie, who owned the patent for the Landlord's Game-the original monopoly game, which by the way included the anti-monopoly version.
Join us for the tale of Lizzie, a woman who is very likely related to Beth, and a woman who said one of our most favorite quotes ever, "I'm glad I was taught how to think, not what to think."
Enjoy our 22nd episode and we'll take Atlantic Avenue, with a couple of little green houses.
Strange Country Episode 17: Liebeck vs. McDonald's
Imagine spilling blazing hot coffee on yourself, getting such terrible third-degree burns the doctors think you'll die and then being called a money-grubbing dummy. That's what happened to Stella Liebeck. She became the villain and McDonald's the victim. Not cool...literally. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly decide good must prevail against evil even if it requires a whole new category of damages called "penitive damages."
