True Weird Stuff

Swing Your Partner

Today's True Weird Stuff - Swing Your Partner

From 17th-century folk traditions to 20th-century propaganda, the square dance traveled a long road before landing in your elementary school gym. What looks like homespun Americana hides a secret: a powerful man’s fear that jazz was a threat to white America. Sometimes the most wholesome traditions carry the darkest fingerprints.

01:28:10

Feb 15, 2026 12:43 AM

Clean

Chronovision

Today's True Weird Stuff - Chronovision

In 1972, a Vatican priest claimed he built a machine that could watch past events like a television...everything from ancient Rome to the crucifixion of Christ. Father Pellegrino Ernetti called his invention the Chronovisor, and Ernetti claimed the Vatican saw the machine, feared it, and hid it away forever. The Chronovisor promised answers that no religion or government could survive. Was it the greatest secret ever buried, or a warning about wanting proof too badly?

01:22:40

Feb 7, 2026 12:0 AM

Clean

Internal Sunshine

Today's True Weird Stuff - Internal Sunshine

William J.A. Bailey wasn’t a doctor, but he convinced the public to trust him anyway—selling radium-laced water as a cure for nearly everything. One of those believers was Eben Byers, a wealthy athlete who drank more than a thousand doses, slowly poisoning himself until his jaw disintegrated and his skull began to rot before his death. The death of Eben Byers forced the world to finally confront the cost of pseudoscience that goes unchecked.

01:28:18

Jan 31, 2026 12:0 AM

Clean

The Perfect Baby

Today's True Weird Stuff - The Perfect Baby

In 1919, a toddler known as one of America’s “Perfect Babies” vanished from his New Jersey home. Searchers scoured the woods. Accusations spread. Theories multiplied. When his remains were found deep in the swamp, they answered nothing. The disappearance and death of 2-year-old Billy Dansey spun a web of fear, superstition, prejudice, and failed justice.

01:23:59

Jan 24, 2026 12:0 AM

Clean

Lynnewood Hall

Today's True Werid Stuff - Lynnewood Hall

Lynnewood Hall was built as a monument to wealth, power, and permanence—an American Versailles, commissioned by the Widener family, meant to last for generations. But tragedy struck the Widener family at the height of their fortune, tying the mansion forever to the sinking of the Titanic and a grief no amount of money could undo. As decades passed, the house was stripped, sold, misused, and left to decay, becoming a silent witness to hubris, loss, and the slow collapse of a gilded dream.

01:15:36

Jan 17, 2026 12:0 AM

Clean

Tiny Pedro

Today's True Weird Stuff - Tiny Pedro

In 1932, a prospector blasting for gold in Wyoming uncovered something no one expected: a tiny mummified human seated upright in a cave. Scientists examined it. Crowds paid to see it. And then—like so many pieces of ancient history—it disappeared. Join us as we uncover the legend of Tiny Pedro.

01:09:13

Jan 10, 2026 12:0 AM

Clean

The Award Winning "Doomsday Clock"

Today's True Weird Stuff - The Award Winning "Doomsday Clock"

True Weird Stuff is currently on hiatus, but Sheri and Max will be back with a brand new episode next week. Until then, we present to you another one of their award winning episodes. Winner of two Signal Awards for best history episode and best editing, "Doomsday Clock" explores the origins of the clock, and its lingering flirtation with striking midnight.

01:31:08

Jan 3, 2026 12:0 AM

Clean

The Award Winning "Once Upon A Shroom"

Sheri and Max have placed True Weird Stuff on hiatus through the holiday season. Today, we present to you another one of their award winning episodes. Winner of a W3 Award for best history episode, Once Upon A Shroom dives into the story of the man who popularized shrooms in America.

01:20:27

Dec 27, 2025 12:0 AM

Clean

The Award Winning "Cokey & Lucky"

Today's True Weird Stuff - The Award Winning "Cokey & Lucky"

Sheri and Max have placed True Weird Stuff on hiatus as we enter the chaotic crunch time of the Christmas season, In their stead, we present to you one of their award-winning episodes. Winner of a W3 Award for best history episode, Cokey and Lucky explores the rise and fall of the architect of the modern mafia.

Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff #rulapod

01:20:30

Dec 20, 2025 12:0 AM

Clean

The Phantom Killer

Today's True Weird Stuff - The Phantom Killer

In 1946, the twin cities of Texarkana were gripped by terror; an unknown person began attacking couples in the night, murdering five people over the course of weeks. As the murders mounted, fear and paranoia consumed the community. Despite an exhaustive investigation fueled by endless false tips, bogus confessions, and hundreds of possible suspects, the actual perpetrator was never found. They'd vanished without a trace and will forever be known as the Phantom Killer.

01:35:46

Dec 13, 2025 12:0 AM

Clean

Dopey & Sad: The Year In Review

Today's True Weird Stuff - Dopey & Sad: The Year In Review

It's been quite the year for the True Weird Stuff crew. We won awards and spent countless hours writing and editing dozens of stories that may or may not have been lost to time. We don't have a story for you in this episode, per se, but it is the tale of how we've managed to build True Weird Stuff into something we're really proud of.

Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff #rulapod

00:53:50

Dec 6, 2025 12:0 AM

Clean

Revisiting The First War On Christmas

Today's True Weird Stuff - Revisiting The First War On Christmas

We're off for the Thanksgiving holiday, so in honor of Christmas here's a tale about a group of Grinches who hated the holiday. The Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th Century, people like Governor William Bradford and Reverend Increase Mather, hated Christmas so much that they chose to ban it.

Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/trueweirdstuff #rulapod

00:57:51

Nov 29, 2025 12:0 AM

Clean

Road Zoo

Today's True Weird Stuff - Road Zoo

As cars and family road trips exploded across America in the early 20th century, hundreds of mom-and-pop zoos sprang up along the highways, promising exotic animals, cheap thrills, and quick profits. But behind the quirky billboards and hand-painted signs, many of these zoos operated with little to no oversight. Lax regulations opened the door for questionable practices: cramped cages, animal mistreatment, and even the smuggling of dangerous species that sometimes resulted in serious injuries—or worse.

01:25:27

Nov 22, 2025 12:0 AM

Clean

The Fall of Fatty

Today's True Weird Stuff - The Fall of Fatty

In 1921, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars—beloved, bankable, and untouchable. But a wild party at San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel changed everything. When young actress Virginia Rappe fell mysteriously ill and later died, Arbuckle was accused of murdering her, igniting one of the first major celebrity scandals in American history. The tabloids turned the tragedy into a feeding frenzy, but the truth of what really happened that night remains murky over a century later.

01:34:51

Nov 15, 2025 12:0 AM

Clean

Gorillas in the Myth

Today's True Weird Stuff - Gorillas in the Myth

Long before Bigfoot roamed through modern folklore, there was another giant said to haunt the jungles. For centuries, explorers called it a monster, a savage man-beast that couldn’t possibly exist. Then one day, proof was uncovered. From cryptid legend to reality, this is the tale of the gorilla and its emergence from the mythical shadows.

01:14:21

Nov 8, 2025 3:12 AM

Clean

Bright Lights, Big Sleepy Revisited

Today's True Weird Stuff - Bright Lights, Big Sleepy Revisited

This was one of the first True Weird Stuff episodes we did...it's a deeply personal story for Sheri, who shared the time she and her family experienced a "lost time" phenomenon. This episode has been updated to include a newly recorded Post-Mortem, in which Sheri reveals new information she recently learned while visiting her mom.

01:16:36

Oct 31, 2025 11:0 PM

Clean

Flat Earth City

Today's True Weird Stuff - Flat Earth City

Wilbur Glenn Voliva was a self-proclaimed prophet, flat-earth crusader, and autocratic ruler of Zion, Illinois. This fiery preacher took over John Alexander Dowie’s religious utopia in the early 1900s, ruling with an iron fist, Volivabanning everything from whistling to reading newspapers on Sundays. But his most infamous crusade was against science itself: Voliva loudly declared that the Earth was flat, even offering thousands of dollars to anyone who could prove it was round.

01:07:36

Oct 25, 2025 4:25 AM

Clean

The Littlest Survivor

Today's True Weird Stuff - The Littlest Survivor

In 1846, the Donner Party set out westward seeking new land and opportunity, but their journey turned into a nightmare when they became trapped by snow in the unforgiving Sierra Nevada. Starvation, freezing temperatures, and impossible choices claimed the lives of many members of the Donner Party. Eliza Donner Houghton, the youngest survivor and among the last to be rescued, witnessed the loss of both parents and bore witness to fear, desperation, and horrors no child should endure.

01:34:52

Oct 18, 2025 12:3 AM

Clean

A Demon Named Bob

Today's True Weird Stuff - A Demon Named Bob

In 1878, a quiet town in Nova Scotia became the stage for one of the most chilling hauntings in North American history. After a near-death experience, a young woman named Esther Cox began to suffer strange attacks — unseen forces that scratched messages into walls, set fires, and hurled objects through the air. Was she the victim of a violent haunting, or the center of a psychological storm misunderstood by her time?

01:33:08

Oct 11, 2025 4:35 AM

Clean

Liar, Liar, Plants on Fire

Today's True Weird Stuff - Liar, Liar, Plants on Fire

In 1966, Cleve Backster, an interrogation specialist for the CIA, claimed to have discovered something shocking: plants seemed to respond to human thoughts and emotions. He came to this conclusion by hooking up plants to a polygraph machine to measure their response. His controversial experiments with polygraphs suggested that living things might share a hidden form of communication, and sparked a wave of fascination and skepticism that still lingers today.

01:10:56

Oct 3, 2025 11:0 PM

Clean

The Terrordome

Today/s True Weird Stuff - The Terrordome

Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia became notorious for unethical medical experiments conducted on inmates from the 1950s through the 1970s. Prisoners, many of them poor and Black, were lured into participating with small payments; doctors also lied to prisoners about the risks. Under dermatologist Albert Kligman, inmates were exposed to chemicals, viruses, asbestos, and other toxic chemicals that caused lifelong physical and psychological damage. The horrors of this institution are why Holmesburg Prison was given the nickname, "The Terrordome."

01:22:27

Sep 27, 2025 7:29 PM

Clean

Wild Child

Today's True Weird Stuff - Wild Child (Airdate 9/19/2025)

In 1797, a young boy was discovered in the woods of France. He would eventually be found and taken into towns to be cared for by the locals. This boy, known as Victor, couldn't speak, was covered in scars, and behaved like a wild animal. Victor would escape many times, but he was eventually taken in by a French physician, who vowed to turn Victor into a civilized member of society.

01:19:14

Sep 19, 2025 11:0 PM

Clean

Our Lady Of The Attic

Today's True Weird Stuff - Our Lady Of The Attic

Blanche Monnier’s story is one of the most chilling true tales from 19th-century France. Once a vibrant young woman from a respected family, Blanche mysteriously vanished—only to be discovered 25 years later, imprisoned in a dark, filthy room by her own mother. Malnourished, covered in filth, and hidden away from the world, Blanche’s shocking ordeal became headline news across Europe, exposing the horrifying secret that had been kept behind closed doors for decades.

01:20:15

Sep 12, 2025 11:0 PM

Clean

Sin Eater

Today's True Weird Stuff - Sin Eater

The practice of people eating a meal after a loved one's funeral is common, but the combination of eating and death used to have a morbid relationship in some religions. Certain people were called upon to place bread on the deceased's body, then eat the bread as a way to "consume" the person's sins. They were known as Sin Eaters, and these social pariahs were doomed to carry the burden of others' sins into eternal damnation.

01:16:32

Sep 6, 2025 1:52 AM

Clean