Ep. 91 – The Christmas Conspirators

Our very special Christmas episode

In this special Christmas episode, I present eight short holiday themed tales. Listen as I tell you the strange story of an astronaut’s UFO encounter, the tragic tale of a Christmas card that was never sent, of bizarre Christmas traditions from around the world, and many more.

Notes:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/54184/8-legendary-monsters-christmas

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/12/frightening-holiday-hauntings-tied-to-christmas/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/iceland-elves

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/jfk-christmas-card-was-never-sent-180948006/

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

All other music from this episode by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Ep. 90 – The Dead of Winter

The tragic story of the Donner Party

One of the most tragic and disturbing stories from American history has to be that of the Donner Party. But the story of the ill-fated journey by the group of settlers is one that has been twisted and exaggerated over time. In this episode I tell you the story of what really happened, and try to dispel some of the myths.

Sponsor:

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https://www.sudio.com/us/

Use coupon code CONSPIRATOR at checkout to receive 15% off your order. You’ll also receive free shipping and if you order before Christmas your package will come in a complementary gift box.

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/theconspiratorspodcast

Notes:

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Land-Under-Heaven-Manifest/dp/0871407698/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1544294436&sr=8-1&keywords=Michael+wallis

https://www.amazon.com/Indifferent-Stars-Above-Harrowing-Donner/dp/0061348112/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1544294473&sr=8-1&keywords=the+indifferent+stars+above

Music:

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

Kai Engel, December, January, February, Snowfall Intro, Blizzard, Snowmen, Floret, Morbid Imagination, Curtains are always drawn, Mist and Clouds

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/

Ep. 89 – The Hatchet

In 1892, one of the most infamous murders in American history occurred in Fall River, Massachusetts. Although most people believe Lizzie Borden murdered her father and step-mother with a hatchet, is that what really happened? Hear the true story behind the gruesome children’s rhyme, and make up your own mind.

 

Sponsor:

Sudio Headphones

https://www.sudio.com/us/

Use coupon code CONSPIRATOR at checkout to receive 15% off your order. You’ll also receive free shipping and if you order before Christmas your package will come in a complementary gift box.

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/theconspiratorspodcast

Notes:

https://www.amazon.com/Borden-Murders-Lizzie-Trial-Century/dp/0553498088/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1543196110&sr=8-1&keywords=Lizzie+Borden+book

https://www.lizzieandrewborden.com

Lizzie Borden: Why a 19th-Century Axe Murder Still Fascinates Us

The Lizzie Borden House | Tour the Macabre

http://mentalfloss.com/article/81765/how-lizzie-borden-spent-her-life-after-being-acquitted

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

Kai Engel, Silence, Mist and Clouds, Oneiri, The Burden of Empathy, Difference

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/

Coldnoise, Remember

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Coldnoise/

Alex Mason & The Minor Emotion, Only, Silent Park Inside Your Soul, Parting, Again Alone, Hope

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Alex_Mason/

Ep. 88 – The Bad Trip

The history of LSD and the MK-Ultra Program

In this episode I tell you the strange history of the drug LSD, from it’s origins involving a deadly fungus that may have caused a bizarre dancing plague in 1518, all the way up until the CIA began experimenting with it in their top secret program known as Project MK-Ultra. Did the CIA really murder one of its own scientists? And how does the man’s death tie into a bizarre outbreak of mass hallucinations in a tiny French village.

Notes:

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/was-scientist-frank-olsons-death-an-lsd-induced-suicide-or-cia-cover-up/

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/errol-morris-wormwood-netflix-interview

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-10996838

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/LECT12.HTM

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

Chris Zabriskie, I Need to Start Writing Things Down, John Stockton Slow Drag, There’s Probably No Time, Undercover Vampire Policeman, I Am a Man Who Will Fight For Your Honor

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/

https://www.history.com/news/what-was-the-dancing-plague-of-1518

Ep. 76 – The Land of the Lost

The story of hollow earth theories and conspiracies

For centuries, stories have been told that the earth is a hollow ball, and that a vast, magical world lies just beneath our feet. These stories include practically everything strange and unusual you can imagine: Bigfoot, UFOs, aliens, government conspiracies and even Adolf Hitler. This episode features a special guest appearance by Nathan Lloyd of the Historical Blindness podcast.

Notes:

https://www.wired.com/2014/07/fantastically-wrong-hollow-earth/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10961412/Hollow-Earth-conspiracy-theories-the-hole-truth.html

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-hollow-earth-is-filled-with-giants-germans-and-a-little-sun

Music:

Chris Zabriskie, There’s Probably No Time

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

ColdNoise, Remember

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Coldnoise/

Kai Engel, Curtains are Always Drawn, Mist and Clouds

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/

Kevin Macleod, Meditation Impromptu 1, 2, 3, Smoother Move

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/

 

Ep. 67 – The Plague Island

Stories from some of the scariest islands on earth

There are thousands of islands scattered across the globe, and many of those islands contain dark and terrifying stories of their own. In this episode we tell you some of these stories, including the tale of an island tomb where the coffins seem to move around on their own, of an island off the coast of Australia that was the location of one of the worst mass murders in history, and of a tiny island near Italy that some people claim is the most haunted place on earth.

Notes:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/off-track-planet/poveglia-island-like-hell_b_4188986.html

http://mentalfloss.com/article/24658/strange-geographies-happy-haunted-island-poveglia

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-chase-vault

http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/australias-most-infamous-shipwreck.aspx

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/snake-infested-island-deadliest-place-brazil-180951782/

http://www.isladelasmunecas.com

https://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/newfoundland/georges-island/

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

Kai Engel, January, February, March, May, Somnolence, Oneiri, Mist and Clouds, Silence

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/

Ep. 63 – The Last Witch Trial

The story of England's witchcraft laws, and the last woman to be tried under these laws in 1944
England has had laws on the books governing the trial of witches since the 1600s. Hear the story of how these witch laws came to be, and how they continued to be put into practice until well into the 20th century, when in 1944 a medium named Helen Duncan became the last woman tried under Britain’s Witchcraft laws.
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/theconspiratorspodcast
 
Notes:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/stuart-england/james-i-and-witchcraft/
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-18456106
http://www.helenduncan.org.uk
 
Music by:
Coldnoise
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Coldnoise/
Alex Mason & The Minor Emotion
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Alex_Mason__The_Minor_Emotion/
Dexter Britain
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

Ep. 60 – The Devil’s Business

Part three in our series on Charle Manson and the Manson Family

In the conclusion of our three-part series on Charles Manson and the Manson Family, we discuss the events surrounding the Tate-LaBianca murders, as well as the subsequent arrest and trial of the murderers. We also talk about several other unsolved murders that may have been committed by the Manson Family.

Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/theconspiratorspodcast

 

Notes:

https://www.amazon.com/Manson-Life-Times-Charles-ebook/dp/B00A2813WE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506304084&sr=8-1&keywords=Manson+book

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/charles-manson-the-incredible-story-of-the-most-dangerous-man-alive-19700625

http://www.laweekly.com/news/10-chilling-new-things-about-charles-manson-detailed-in-his-new-biography-4175174

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/manson-family-where-are-they-now-w430665/mary-brunner-w430670

10 Strange And Unusual Deaths Connected To The Manson Family

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

Coldnoise, Tale For Mind, Goodnight

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Coldnoise/

Kai Engel, Silence, December, Difference, Rejecting the Sirens, January

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/

Myuu, Outsider, Walking Into Darkness

 

Ep. 56 – The Blackout Ripper

The story of the serial killer known as the Blackout Ripper who terrorized London during World War II

During World War II, the German Luftwaffe began a massive bombing campaign over London and the surrounding British countryside known as The Blitz. By night, London began turning off all the lights in order to make it more difficult for German bombers to locate targets. But this also allowed a brutal serial killer to begin stalking London’s streets under cover of darkness.

 

Notes:

http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/cummins-gordon.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4167276/How-Blackout-Ripper-killed-horrifically.html

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/aug/29/blitz-london-crime-flourish-blackout

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-33566789

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

Kai Engel, Rejecting the Sirens, Modum, Daemones, Visum, At the End Everyone Dies, Soli, Shining Down

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/

 

Special Offer:

You can get 15% off a set of Sudio headphones or earbuds by clicking the link below and using the coupon code CONSPIRATORS15 at checkout

https://goo.gl/jbVmGu

Ep. 48 – The Carrier

New York in the early part of the 20th century was struck by a typhoid epidemic. An investigator managed to track down the unlikely cause, a 37-year-old cook named Mary Mallon. Although would go on to earn a nickname that’s become infamous, Typhoid Mary.

 

Support us on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/theconspiratorspodcast?alert=2

 

Notes:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-frightening-legacy-of-typhoid-mary-180954324/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/typhoid/

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/10/30/360120406/awful-moments-in-quarantine-history-remember-typhoid-mary

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

Coldnoise, Weakness, Remember, Chance to Change, Malaika, Tale for Mind

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Coldnoise/

Myuu, Lights Out

 

Ep. 47 – The God Machine

In 1853, a reverend named John Murray Spear attempted to do something shocking. He believed he was receiving messages from spirits beyond the grave, who gave him instructions on how to build a mechanical messiah who would usher in a new age of man. What happened next carries echoes of Frankenstein, only this story was very real.

 

Notes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley

https://newrepublic.com/article/134271/frankensteins-monster-became-human

The Crucifixion of the Mechanical Messiah: John Murray Spear and the Synthetic Savior

The New Motor: Building John Murray Spear’s ‘God Machine’ in Lynn, Massachussets

The Bizarre Mechanical Messiah of John Murray Spear

 

Music:

Naoya Sakamata, Thought Amber

Myuu, Reversion

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

Kai Engel, Floret, Morbid Imagination, Rejecting the Sirens

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/

 

Ep. 43 – The Boys on the Ice

In 1868, the cargo ship The Arran set sail for Quebec, Canada from Greenock, Scotland. Unknown to the captain, on board were a group of seven young stowaways. What happened to those boys is the stuff of nightmares. Those young boys endured a trip full of torture, starvation and eventually a harrowing journey across a massive ice field that turned into a battle for their very lives.

 

Notes:

http://www.worldofdante.org/inferno1.html

https://www.mun.ca/mha/mlc/articles/crew-but-not-regular-seafarers/stowaways.php

http://www.scotsman.com/news/the-arran-stowaways-thrown-off-a-ship-in-newfoundland-1-4305151

The tragic ‘Arran’ stowaways – cruelly abused, then abandoned barefoot on the ice fields of Newfoundland in 1868

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

 

Myuu, Round that Corner

Naoya Sakamata, Chemical Afterimage, Thought Amber, Atmosphere Op. 2, 9-1, The Intent of Revenge

Ep. 30 – The Island of the Dead

Although there’s no accurate count, it’s estimated there are about 100,000 islands scattered around the globe. Sometimes, remote islands have been used to hide dark secrets, and stories of absolute horror and human misery. These are some of those stories. Hear the true story about a tiny island in a remote corner of the Soviet Union that turned into a real hell on earth.

 

Notes:

Gruinard Island: The Island of Death!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/scotland/1457035.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1359420/Legacy-of-fear-on-blighted-anthrax-island.html

https://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajafever/seri_indians.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibur%C3%B3n_Island_Tragedy

http://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/a-mythical-island-on-mexicos-untamed-coast/

The Russian Island of Cannibals

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazino_affair

PHOTOS: Cannibal Island, Where People Ate Each Other to Survive

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

Lee Rosevere, Dream Colors, Cosmic Drifting, First Light, At Edges of Sleep

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/

Ep. 29 – The Night Lincoln Died

We’ve all heard the story about how John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater. But did you ever hear the story about the men who drove a mummy around the U.S. claiming it was Booth? Or the one about the gang of criminals who tried to steal Lincoln’s corpse? Or how about the Army major who was in Lincoln’s box that night who later went insane and tried to murder his entire family? These are strange but true stories your history teacher forgot to tell you.

 

Notes:

https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alrintr.html

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/conspirators.html

https://www.google.com/amp/www.chron.com/life/amp/9-things-you-didn-t-know-about-the-Lincoln-7248125.php

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2015/04/13/politics/lincoln-assassination-at-150/index.html?client=safari

http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln47.html

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2007/06/24/a-plot-to-steal-lincolns-body

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/15/the-mystery-of-lincoln-s-assassin.html

http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=31845

Rathbone Ends Long List Of Lincoln Party Tragedies

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/history/a-presidents-premonition/

http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4395960/john-wilkes-booth-killed-lincoln-but-who-killed-john-wilkes-booth

http://blogs.weta.org/boundarystones/2013/02/22/little-known-victims-lincoln-assassination

10 Strange Fates Of People Connected To Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

Julie Maxwell’s Piano Music, Dark Wonder

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Julie_Maxwells_Piano_Music/Piano_Soul/Julie_Maxwells_piano_music_-_Piano_Soul_-_18_Dark_Wonder

Myuu, Scent of Night, You, Morbid Mind, What Could Have Been and Wind’s Wreck

Fabrizio Paterlini, Autumn Stories

Ep. 21 – The Bloody Benders

It’s bizarre enough when a single serial killer is terrorizing the community. But an entire family of serial killers is almost unheard of. In 1843, in rural Kansas a family of serial killers known as The Bloody Benders cut a deadly swath across the prairie.

 

Notes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders

http://mentalfloss.com/article/53672/bloody-benders-americas-first-serial-killers

http://www.prairieghosts.com/bender.html

Scary House On The Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Brush With ‘Bloody Benders’ Serial Killers

Little House of Murder: The Bloody Benders

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

Chris Zabriskie, The Oceans Continue to Rise

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Music_from_Neptune_Flux/ChrisZabriskie-MusicfromNeptuneFlux-04

Blear Moon, Gean

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blear_Moon/Town_of_Two_Houses/Gean

Blue Dot Sessions, Cobweb Transit and In Paler Skies

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/Aeronaut/In_Paler_Skies_1276

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/Speakeasy_1959/Cobweb_Transit

 

Ep. 19 – The Prince of Humbugs

P.T. Barnum was many things in life–a showman, a con artist, a politician, and much more. This is the amazing true story of the man who managed to hoax the world.

 

Notes:

www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-p-t-barnum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum

http://hoaxes.org/archive/display/category/p.t._barnum

http://www.barnum-museum.org/manmythlegend.htm

P. T. Barnum: An Entertaining Life

http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_cardiff_giant

http://www.history.com/news/the-cardiff-giant-fools-the-nation-145-years-ago

http://www.livescience.com/55787-cardiff-giant.html

 

Music:

All music from this episode is by Dexter Britain.

The Tea Party, The Time to Run Finale, Juncture, Losing Love and Opus 04

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/

Ep. 13 – The Bone Wars

In the mid-1870s two of the most prominent paleontologists in the world, Edward Drinker Cope and O.C. Marsh, waged an epic and often ridiculous war against one another. This is the bizarre true story of The Bone Wars.

 

Notes:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-31623397

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/09/166665795/forget-extinct-the-brontosaurus-never-even-existed

Bone Wars! Othniel Marsh vs. Edward Drinker Cope

http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/benchmarks-march-1-1872-bone-wars-heat

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/15/battle-for-the-bone-wars-beasts/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/dinosaur-intro/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars

 

Music:

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

All other music by Julie Maxwell’s Piano Music

The Place I Called Home

Forever In Your Arms

Someday

Redefining

Dark Wonder

Time Traveler

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Julie_Maxwells_Piano_Music/

http://www.juliemaxwell.com/

Ep. 9 – The Dark Side of the Moon

The strange true story of Jack Parsons, one of the co-founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and fathers of modern rocket science, as well as the member of a black magic sex cult with ties to the creation of the Church of Scientology.

Notes:

http://www.space.com/29295-rocket-history.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons_(rocket_engineer)

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-last-of-the-magicians

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/jpl-jack-parsons

Jack Parsons and the Occult Roots of JPL

 

Music:

Bensound.com, Sad Day

http://www.bensound.com/

Dexter Britain, The Tea Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Volume_2/The_Tea_Party

Wayne Kinos, Settling In

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Interior_Melodies/Cat_Dreams/Settling_In

Blue Dot Sessions, Cobweb Transit

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/Speakeasy_1959/Cobweb_Transit

Blue Dot Sessions, Helmer Sprak, Zither Sprak

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/CloudCover/

 

 

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