Shows / Strange Country
Strange Country
Welcome to Strange Country, a podcast devoted to bizarre, surreal and extraordinary stories that make America the weird place it is. Co-hosts Kelly and Beth are former newspaper reporters turned school librarians who have always had a soft spot for a good story--the stranger the better. Discover the first woman to survive a barrel ride over Niagara Falls and the man who invented "complex marriage" in one of the most successful utopian experiments. Things get weird pretty quickly around here.
Episodes
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 260: History of Smiling
Hey Readers! You know, you look a little tired. Maybe you should. . . smile? While you're at it, take a listen to Beth and Kelly as we learn the history of the…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 259: James Arthur Ray
What is the main PSA of Strange Country? Trust your gut. Especially when self-proclaimed gurus tell you to suck it up inside a blistering hot sweat lodge. On…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 258: Pellegra
Hey Readers! Who has pellagra?? Would you know if you did? Don't worry you won't get it. But you will learn on this episode what pellagra was, why it killed…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 257: Waco Siege Part 5
We have finally reached the end of the Strange Country siege of covering the Waco Siege. In the final episode, cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss the aftermath of…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 256: Waco Siege Part 4
We're almost there, gentle dash hounds, to the end of our siege. In part 4 of Waco, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the 51-day standoff…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 255: Waco Siege Part 3
In third installment of the Waco Siege, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss the ATF raid on Feb. 28, 1993. The ATF steamrolled ahead even when they…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 254: Waco Siege Part 2
In this second installment of the Waco Siege, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss some of the features of being in David Koresh's orb. If you were a…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 253: Waco Siege Part 1
Welcome readers to part 1 of a possibly 144K episodes about the Waco Siege. Thirty years ago, federal agents raided the Mount Carmel Center to serve a warrant…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 252: Munchausen Syndrome
What drives someone to pretend to have a serious illness? In this episode of Strange Country, cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss two women who convinced friends…
Strange CountryStrange County Ep. 251: Afong Moy
Hello dear readers! Happy Listening Love month! Join Beth and Kelly as we try to learn the real story of Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman immigrant in…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 250: Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film
As librarians, Beth and Kelly know Bigfoot books are located in the nonfiction section; the 001s for the unexplained, yet to be definitively proved. But for…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 249: Henry Ford
Welcome back, readers! Where the hell have you been? This episode--249, if you are counting—Kelly and Beth explore the side of Henry Ford that weirdly gets…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 248: Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson has had a resurgence this century, her works being turned into successful series and movies. But when she was writing in the mid-20th century…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 247: Mother Jones
Dearest Dashies: It's time to learn about the Most Dangerous Woman in the World, aka, Mother Jones. Have you ever heard of her? Do you read the magazine that…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 246: Tony Costa
From May 1968 to the following winter, Tony Costa went on a killing spree in Cape Cod. He claimed an alter ego egged him on to do the murderous deeds. Strange…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 245: Anthony Comstock
Dear Dash Hounds: Be thankful you can listen to Beth and Kelly today because, if ol' misogynist Anthony Comstock had any say, we would have been shut down…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 244: Creepy Clowns
Kelly's back!!! And just in time because in this episode of Strange Country, we send in the clowns—lots of em pouring out of that one tiny car. Cohosts Beth…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 243: Horror Movies Inspired By Real Stories
Life imitates art, as they say, and in these cases life inspired some famous horror films. In today's episode, Strange country co-host Beth and guest host…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 242: Axis Sally
Mildred Gillars was the American mouthpiece for Nazi Germany. Known by the GIs as Axis Sally, Gillars tried to derail the war effort by spewing garbage over…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 241: This One's For Da Birds
Dear Dash Hounds and Readers: Join us this week on a flight of fancy—not really—actually the opposite. Dead birds falling from the sky in Arkansas. Thousands…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 240: Howard Hughes Hoax
In 1971, middling author Clifford Irving was able to convince a giant publisher that he landed the white whale—the autobiography of reclusive billionaire…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 239: Taliesin Massacre
Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of America's most influential 20th century architects. While he built homes designed for family togetherness, he was…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 238: Monkey Colonies
Dear Dash Hounds: Beth and Kelly realized we don't talk enough about animals. Sure there are many stories about strange 'Mericans, but what about the monkeys…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 237: Lonely Hearts Killers
Raymond Fernandez took advantage of widows and spinsters who sent their bios into the Lonely Hearts Club in the 1940s. Martha Beck was one such lonely heart…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 236: Osh-Tisch
Welcome Readers to an episode surely to enlighten you or at least make you think: why didn't I know who this person was? You may find the the story of…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 235: Holiday Magic Cosmetics
William Penn Patrick founded Holiday Magic Cosmetics in 1964. The defunct company is mainly known by law students learning about pyramid schemes. Strange…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 234: Twelve Tribes and Travel Tips
It's summertime, Readers, and that means time to cautiously hit the road, head to the skies, climb aboard (that's what she said). No really. Kelly said that—be…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep, 233: Jeffrey MacDonald, Part 2
In the concluding episode on Jeffrey MacDonald, Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly delve into the theory that maybe MacDonald didn't murder his wife and…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 232: Jeffrey MacDonald, Part 1
Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted in 1979 of killing his pregnant wife Colette and two young daughters Kimberly and Kristen. These murders have been the subject…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 231: Natalie Wood
The mystery surrounding Natalie Wood's death continues to captivate 40 years after the fact. The answer to the question, why was Natalie Wood in the Pacific…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 230: Biosphere 2
Could we actually replicate the biomes of Earth on other planets? In September 1991, eight intrepid explorers entered Biosphere 2 in the Arizona desert to…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 229: Margaret Sanger
Where do you fall on the abortion debate? Some people like to believe that if you are pro choice, you must idolize Margaret Sanger. But wait. . . do you even…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 228: Gordon Kahl
Nothing is certain but death and Strange Country's guarantee of exquisitely-designed mousepads. Oh, and taxes. But some people really don't like paying taxes…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 227: Recovered Memory Therapy
Our memories are fallible and malleable. In the 1980s and 1990s, recovered memory therapists convinced patients they had been sexually abused in some cases by…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 226: Dismantling of Roe v. Wade
On this episode of Strange Country, Ofterry and Ofbryan talk about the U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion dismantling women's reproductive freedoms. Forced birth…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 225: Mildred Fish Harnack
In a time when democracy ruled, women had all the freedoms, people went to college and news sources were plentiful and trustworthy Wisconsin native Mildred…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 224: Jeane Dixon
Do you believe psychics can predict the future? in the later half of the 20th century, Jeane Dixon was one of the best known psychics. Her astrological star…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 223: Left-handedness
One hundred years ago, there were fewer left handed Americans than there are now. Why the change? Obviously the indoctrination of public schools…or maybe it…
Strange CountryStrange 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…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 221: Critical Race Theory
Things seems super chill around education these days. Wait—do they? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the current state legislation being…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 220: Victor Lustig
We all the run risk of falling for a con and we all believe we are immune to it. For the low, low cost of $9.99 a month, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 219: The Seekers
On Dec. 21, 1954, the world was supposed to be flooded, and true believers taken aboard flying saucers to safety. When that didn't happen, the Seekers tried to…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 218: Kanawha County Textbook Wars
The current spate of book banning is nothing new in America. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly take readers back to Kanawha County in 1974 when protestors…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 217: Queen for a Day
What would you want if you were named Queen for a Day? Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about this strange game show that awarded one woman with…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 216: Miss America
There she is . . . the Strange Country Podcast is back after its brief Covid hiatus to talk about a 100-year-old scholarship beauty pageant that crowns an…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 215: Moonies 3 in 3-D
In the final installment in the Moonies' trilogy, Strange Country looks at Sun Myung Moon's influence in American politics, and how his money helped the New…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 214: Moonies 2, Electric Boogaloo
In the second installment of the Moonies, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about mass marriage, rituals and how Sun Myung Moon began to cement his…
Strange CountryStrange 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…
Strange CountryStrange 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…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 211: Room 1046/Yuba Country Five
On this episode, Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly delve into two unsolved mysteries, one in 1935 and one in 1978. In 1935, Roland T. Owen checked into…
Strange CountryStrange 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…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep, 209: Scary Smorgasborg
It's the time of year when pumpkin spice permeates everything including Strange Country, and people are in the mood to sit in front of a pumpkin-spice scented…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 208: James Hogue
James Hogue claimed to be many things. A high school student, an orphan, a ranch-hand, a carpenter, a ski instructor, a ski stuntman, a bioengineer, an ivy…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 207: Elizabeth Packard
In the 19th century, men could commit women to asylums for such stellar reasons as excessive thinking or novel reading. Elizabeth Packard was married to a real…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 206: Victorian Tapeworm Diet
One constant--besides death and taxes--is the notion that women need to work to attain that ever-morphing ideal body that doesn't actually exist. Strange…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 205: Mountain Meadows Massacre
America's home-spun religion of Mormonism has a bloody past. The founder Joseph Smith was murdered, and the Saints run out of various places they settled. This…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 204: Exorcism
Dear Dash Hounds: Has worry from Covid taken over your life? Are you behaving in ways that seem rather devilish, as your rage powers on? Might you be…
Strange CountryStrange 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…
Strange CountryStrange 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…
Strange CountryStrange Country Ep. 201: Cahokia
You know Beth and Kelly have issues with numbers, and anything prior to or around BC, AD and CE is hard for us to comprehend. So please bear with us this…