The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

David White

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to sharing strange stories and amazing facts. No topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll do an episode about it.

  1. 3 NOV · BONUS

    On Hiatus until January 2026

    Greetings, initiates. #13 here. You are expecting an episode of the Ancient Order of the Jackalope, the secret society/podcast about uncovering hidden stories and sharing them with the world, and I am here to explain why you're not getting one. I have a lot of stuff going on in my life right now. You don't need to know what it all is, you just need to know that it's not all good. I had thought I was coping with everything quite well, and then I had a moment that made it very clear that I was not really coping at all. Looking back, I could see this has been a problem for a while. I have been setting myself up for a massive spectacular meltdown, and I have been lucky that it has been averted. Long story short, I need to step back from almost everything that I'm doing and try to set a path forward. Hopefully one that doesn't lead to inevitable burnout, stress-related ulcers, and sleepless nights. Everything includes this podcast. Now, it isn't not going away. It's just going on hiatus for a short while. In fact, I'll will guarantee you that right now there will be an episode of this podcast in the first week of January 2026. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. Until then, I need to rest and relax and reprioritize and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Hopfelly when I see you in January I will be a happier, healthier #13. Until then, maybe you could go listen to some other podcasts. The Constant is always great, it's hard to go wrong there. Or on any show with Michael Hobbes on it, like Maintenance Phase or If Books Could Kill. Maybe Lateral or No Such Thing as a Fish? Our Fake History or Imperfect Men or Pontifacts? You have hundreds of great options. We'll be back. Until then, remember: that which is least known, is best to know.

    2 min
  2. #118: They Came from Inner Space [the weird life of Dr. Walter Siegmeister]

    1 SEPT

    #118: They Came from Inner Space [the weird life of Dr. Walter Siegmeister]

    Dr. Walter Siegmeister believed we could create a psychic master race by taking off our clothes, moving to the jungle, and consuming only fruit and megadoses of lecithin. And that wasn't even the weirdest thing about him. https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/they-came-from-inner-space/ Key sources for this episode include Walter Siegmeister's The Hollow Earth: The Greatest Geographical Discovery in History; Walter Kafton-Minkel's Subterranean Worlds: 10,000 Years of Dragons, Dwars, the Dead, Lost Races & UFOs from Inside the Earth; and Professor Solomon's Visitors to the Inner Earth. Jenn Thorson: https://www.jennthorson.com/ The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it! Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com  Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/order-of-the-jackalope.com  Discord: https://discord.gg/Mbap3UQyCB  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@orderjackalope  Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/orderjackalope  YouTube: https://youtube.com/@orderjackalope

    1 hr
  3. #117: Kulopus [Elwood Towner, aka "Chief Red Cloud"]

    11 AUG

    #117: Kulopus [Elwood Towner, aka "Chief Red Cloud"]

    Come for the strange, sad, and hate-filled story of the Q Shaman of 1940: Elwood Towner, a.k.a. "Chief Red Cloud," who spoke at Nazi rallies in full Native American ceremonial regalia. Stay to hear #13 gets angry and go off the rails. https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/kulopus/ Key sources for this episode include Arnie Bernstein's Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German-American Bund; Kenneth William Townsend's World War II and the American Indian; Knute berger's "The strange case of the Northwest's Native American Nazi"; and contemporary newspaper reports. Robert Lifson Ultra The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it! Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/order-of-the-jackalope.com Discord: https://discord.gg/Mbap3UQyCB TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@orderjackalope Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/orderjackalope YouTube: https://youtube.com/@orderjackalope

    31 min
  4. #116: The Marshal is Missing! [the heist of Marshal Pétain's remains] presented by #42 (Alex Baumans)

    21 JUL

    #116: The Marshal is Missing! [the heist of Marshal Pétain's remains] presented by #42 (Alex Baumans)

    In February 1973, French right wingers broke into the grave of of fascist dictator Philippe Pétain and made off with his mortal remains. This is the tragicomic story of what led them to that moment... and what happened afterwards.  https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/the-marshal-is-missing/ Key sources for this episode include Jean-Yves La Naour's On a volé le Maréchal; Michel Dumas' La permission du Maréchal; Hugo Coniez's La mort de la IIIe Republique; and Julian Jackson's France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Petain. Presented by #42 (Alex Baumans). Alex is pathologically interested in anything unusual and obscure. He's a closet goth, armchair general and amateur theologian. His favorite animals are ducks, octopodes and pigs. You will also find him surprisingly knowledgable about K-Pop girl groups. The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it! Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/order-of-the-jackalope.com Discord: https://discord.gg/Mbap3UQyCB TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@orderjackalope Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/orderjackalope YouTube: https://youtube.com/@orderjackalope

    35 min
  5. #115: Fluffy Raffles Comes To Town [who?]

    30 JUN

    #115: Fluffy Raffles Comes To Town [who?]

    She was the meandering metropolitan mystery, the famous will-o'-the-wisp of the continent, who fooled police and the public from Abilene to Akron. Who was this mysterious and alluring woman, and why did she love bread so much?  https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/fluffy-raffles-comes-to-town Thanks to the initiates who contributed their voices to this episode, including Dorothy Sibole (#7), Eric Leslie, and Jenn Thorson! Jenn Thorson: https://jennthorson.com/ Little Lake Theater Company: https://www.littlelake.org/ Key sources for this episode include contemporary newspaper report and that's about it. (You may find this hard to believe, not a lot of people are out there writing about this.) So let me recommend Rebeca Rego Barry's The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells, where she does some literary detective work to track down this vanished author, and Bill Peschel's Sherlock Holmes: Great War Parodies and Pastiches, an anthology of Sherlockian oddities. The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it! Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/order-of-the-jackalope.com Discord: https://discord.gg/Mbap3UQyCB TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@orderjackalope Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/orderjackalope YouTube: https://youtube.com/@orderjackalope

    29 min
  6. #114: Unhuman Animals [Pennsylvania's anti-cartoon bills of 1903]

    9 JUN

    #114: Unhuman Animals [Pennsylvania's anti-cartoon bills of 1903]

    In 1903 Pennsylvania found the recipe for disaster: two of the greatest political cartoonists of the day, and an easily caricatured governor with no sense of humor. Their battle went to some...u unexpected places. https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/unhuman-animals Key sources for this episode include... Stephen Piott's "The Right of the Cartoonist: Samuel Pennypacker and the Freedom of the Press," contemporary newspaper reports... and that's it. Almost every other source I found either did not go into any detail about the act, or got the specifics so very wrong (like confusing the Pusey and Salus-Grady bills) to the point where I had to doubt everything else it had to say. The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it! Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/order-of-the-jackalope.com Discord: https://discord.gg/Mbap3UQyCB TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@orderjackalope Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/orderjackalope YouTube: https://youtube.com/@orderjackalope

    28 min
  7. #113: Such Was Railroading [the Castle Shannon Railway War]

    19 MAY

    #113: Such Was Railroading [the Castle Shannon Railway War]

    Milton D. Hays had two things: a dream of a railroad linking Pittsburgh to the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania, and a lack of ethics that would allow him to realize that dream. This is the story of the Castle Shannon Railway War. https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/such-was-railroading Key sources for this episode include contemporary newspaper reports; the Bridgeville Area Historical Society, Brookline Connection, and Carrick-Overbrook Historical Society web sites; and N.A. Critchett's fantastic (and highly inaccurate) "Double Gauge." The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it! Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/order-of-the-jackalope.com Discord: https://discord.gg/Mbap3UQyCB TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@orderjackalope Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/orderjackalope YouTube: https://youtube.com/@orderjackalope

    18 min
  8. #112: There Must Come a Change [Octavius Valentine Catto]

    28 APR

    #112: There Must Come a Change [Octavius Valentine Catto]

    Octavius Valentine Catto was truly a man for all seasons: scholar, activist, politician, baseball star. He could have been the inspiring black leader Reconstruction-era Philadelphia needed... if he hadn't been murdered. https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/there-must-come-a-change Key sources for this episode include Daniel Biddle and Murray Dubin's Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America; Joe William Trotter Jr and Eric Ledell Smith's African Americans in Pennsylvania: Shifting Historical Perspectives; Michael E. Lomax's Black Baseball Entrepreneurs: 1860-1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary; Ryan A. Swanson's When Baseball Went White: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Pastime; and Stephan Segal's "An Unbreakable Game: Baseball and Its Inability to Bring About Equality During Reconstruction" The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it! Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/order-of-the-jackalope.com Discord: https://discord.gg/Mbap3UQyCB TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@orderjackalope Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/orderjackalope YouTube: https://youtube.com/@orderjackalope

    1h 3m
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The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to sharing strange stories and amazing facts. No topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll do an episode about it.

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