Episodes

We're back, bay-bee! For the next umpty-bajillion episodes, we're going to take a new angle to look at Qanon. Why, when we've already done Qanon several times? Because we believe the Qanon conspiracy is...in a sense "eating" other conspiracy theories. Because we think it's metastasizing into the one uber-conspiracy theory that rules our current moment in time. But more than that, we want to know how it got here, by tracing the historical and cultural threads that fed into the Q morass. And most ...

We did it! We reached the end of the marathon. In this one, we chat through the Zapruder film, and its cultural impact. But the most important thing about this episode is it marks the end of the new-content dry spell. We're putting out a brand new episode next time, and we can't wait to share it with you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

PENULTIMATE! It does not, as a young Jesuit believed, mean "better than ultimate". It means "the one before the last one." Which is what we have here. Some more discussions of the impact of JFK conspiracizing prior to the final wrap-up. We've finished the first episode of Year 5--like, totally finished, can't wait for you to hear it. Soon, my Strainiacs. In the meantime, enjoy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This time, we focus not on Oliver Stone, but rather the real guy whom his movie portrayed as a fearless, untouchable campaigner for the truth--former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Our analysis of the man's career and crusade to prove a JFK conspiracy is rather less sympathetic. Enjoy the episode, and we'll see you with the next part in a week. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Part 4, which includes the end of our Stone/Costner courtroom takedown, as well as a discussion of a bunch of other conspiracies that somehow Stone managed not to regurgitate in that scene. Year 5 coming in a matter of weeks. Can't wait for you to hear it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Third part of JFK inbound. This one features one of the highlights of our cross-country conspiracy trek of 2017, an interview with Stephen Fagin of the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas, which we insist you visit if you find yourself in that town. We then get to the important business of taking Oliver Stone down a peg or two. Still working hard on new shows. Still very excited about what we'll be sharing with you once they're ready. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Part 2, better late than never. This episode covers Lee Harvey Oswald's desperate attempt to make his life matter in some way by murdering a President in broad daylight. We cover Oswald's crime, attempted escape, capture, interrogation, and murder by another loon. Then, it's an overview of the Warren Commission, and the subsequent official investigations over the years. See you soon with part 3. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lo, we have entered the time prophesied--the time between episode arcs...the time...of the ARCHIVE! Seriously, though, we're once again breaking down one of our old, big, long shows into bite-sized chunks, to give you something to listen to while you wait for us to kick into year 5 of the show. Those new episodes will be here before you know it. In the meantime, enjoy this first chunk, of one of our favorite episodes of all time. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Masons, Illuminati, Wrapup, and Bonus Material

Rosicrucians through a lot of the Masons

Cathars through most of Rosicrucians

Eleusynian Mysteries through Cathars

You're not gonna believe this--but this is actually the final episode of the secret societies series. I know. Which means that next week, as promised, and almost a year to the day from when we started this thing, we will be putting out the full episode in as few segments as we can, one per day, starting Monday of next week. What we think is that it's gonna be about four sections of three hours each. So...clear your calendars. In the meantime, we go deep on conspiracy theorists' whacked out ideas...

Off-schedule, but on-topic, we bring you the first of two Illuminati episodes to wrap up this epic series. This one's the story of the actual, real-life 18th-century group whose brief but influential existence led them, through a bizarre series of twists and turns, to become the "big bad" of all conspiracy thinking. The final boss, if you will. The Kaiser Soze hiding behind the Masons' Verbal Kint (spoilers, we guess). We have a new interviewee, Terry Melanson, the man who wrote the most compreh...

Comin' in HOT! We just got Dana Unicorn's lines a day or so ago, and yet here we are, presenting a complete, piping-fresh episode right out of the oven. We'd say it's like your grandmother used to make, but we think it's unlikely that your grandmother used to be a conspiracy theory podcaster. We're doing a one-off--a book report show covering one of the most legendary conspiracy novels ever written, Illuminatus! by two guys named Bob. Hope you like it. Back with the final Illuminati-focused epis...

Just a quick check-in. Dana is briefly out of commission (but 100% ok and on the mend), so we're stopping by briefly to let you know what to expect out of the next year or so of your favorite conspiracy theory podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to “Disc 2” of what, as far as we know, is the first ever two-and-a-half-hour podcast episode that is actually a full-on rock opera. Please note there’s a first “disc”--be sure you download that one, and listen to it first. Otherwise, it’s probably confusing. We’ve been working hard on this thing for months now, and are incredibly proud to share it with you. Thanks to Hellfingers, we have both front and back cover album art, as well as simulated record sleeve with lyrics, (front) (back)...

Welcome to “Disc 1” of what, as far as we know, is the first ever two-and-a-half-hour podcast episode that is actually a full-on rock opera. Please note there’s a second “disc”--be sure you download that one, too. We’ve been working hard on this thing for months now and are incredibly proud to share it with you. Thanks to Hellfingers, we have both front and back cover album art, as well as simulated record sleeve with lyrics, (front) (back). Easier to read, but far less visually impressive lyri...

Just a quick teaser for our release on 1/6. Can't wait for you to hear it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We've reached the end of the Masons section, which means we're covering the sad story of the masons versus the various fascisms that dominated the pre WWII period. The tale is super-interesting, but isn't quite what the freemasons of today might want you to believe it is. We've still got the Illuminati to cover, but they won't be the next episode, nor the one after that. We're not spoiling the surprise, but the next episode, which you should be hearing in the first week of next year, is the most...

Here we have perhaps our favorite of this Masons series, covering everything from the supposed coverup of the masonic murder of Mozart (alliteration!) to a Catholic-sponsored expose of Masonic evil that includes a ghostly, piano-playing crocodile. Oh, and we also cover Jack the Ripper. It goes places. Special appearance by Lady Jesuit made possible by special arrangement with her long-suffering patience with her husband's obscure enthusiasms. See you in a couple of weeks to wrap up the Masons. ...

Here's where the Masons story runs smack into 'MURICA! From the founding fathers' relationship to the Craft, to the very strange interplay between Mormonism (the most American religion of faiths) and Freemasons, and finally to the sad, yet inspiring story of how Black Freemasons carved their own unique version of the brotherhood out in the face of implacable white opposition, it's amazing the degree to which the nation and the secret society have impacted each other. Just...you know, not the way...

As you can probably tell by our episode art, this here is the episode where we find out why the Freemasons caused the French Revolution. Or rather, we find out why, just after the revolution, a whole lot of people began to think that. It's the first big, implausible conspiracy that was attached to the masons, and upon which a broader, still more ridiculous conspiracy scaffold would eventually be built. We're going to go ahead and assume all of you already bought a copy of Professor Dickie's boo...

In this second part of our dive into the world's most successful secret society, we go deep into the early history of the Freemasons, as well as the pageantry behind their initiation ceremonies. Plus, we BLOW THE LID off of all the most super-secret secrets this secret society protects. Which turns out to be "not much". But that's an interesting story, too. Hope you enjoy it--see you in a couple of weeks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.