Strange Country

Strange Country
  • 3.4 (181)
  • Comedy
  • Updated Bimonthly

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.

  1. 2d ago

    Lizzie Borden Monster Meh

    We know dramatic license is a thing, but sometimes it can be taken way too far and become the projectile vomit that is Ryan Murphy's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly pick apart fact from projectile vomit and retell the story of Lizzie Borden, a tale they told in their 3rd episode. Did we mention the projectile vomit? There is so much projectile vomit in that stupid show. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Cawley, Laurence. "Cambridge University academic's quest to clear Elizabeth Bathory's name." BBC, 28 May 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-69057709. Accessed 27 September 2026.   Griffiths, Diana. "Exploding a Myth: the Manchester Connection – Hatchet Online." Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum, May 2004, https://lizzieandrewborden.com/hatchetonline/exploding-a-myth-the-manchester-connection/. Accessed 27 September 2026.   Miller, Sarah. The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century. Random House Children's Books, 2019.   Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Netflix, 2026.   Todisco, Eric. "Exclusive | Ed Gein biographer slams Ryan Murphy's 'Monster' Season 3: 'Pure fabrication.'" NY Post, 8 October 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/10/08/entertainment/ed-gein-biographer-harold-schechter-slams-monster-season-3-ryan-murphy/. Accessed 27 September 2026.   Strange Country Podcast. "Lizzie Borden" Ep. 3 2017.   Vargas, Ramon Antonio. "Mother of Dahmer victim condemns Netflix series: 'I don't see how they can do that.'" The Guardian, 10 October 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/10/dahmer-victim-tony-hughes-mother-condemns-netflix-series. Accessed 27 September 2026.

  2. Sep 3

    Piss Christ

    Beth and Kelly are hoping the title alone will launch Strange Country into a culture war or at least get you to listen. In today's episode, Beth and Kelly are joined by in-house artist expert Terry to talk about an early culture war focused on government funding of the arts. In 1989, Andres Serrano's photograph of a crucifix immersed in a tank of his own urine ignited a culture war. And culture wars continue to rage to this day, leading some to ponder such enduring issues like whether woke made the girl M&M less sexy. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Ansar, Hibah. "Revisiting the NEA Four: Free Speech Battles in the Arts." ACLU, 8 September 2025, https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/revisiting-the-nea-four-free-speech-battles-in-the-arts. Accessed 18 August 2026.   Butler, Isaac. The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars. Bloomsbury USA, 2026.   Cantor, Matthew. "'A proxy for America's culture war': why Cracker Barrel's new logo sparked ire on the right." The Guardian, 28 August 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/28/cracker-barrel-logo-trump. Accessed 23 August 2026.   Hagan, Lisa, and Jeff Brady. "Gas stoves became part of the culture war in less than a week. Here's why." NPR, 21 January 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/01/21/1150397853/gas-stoves-became-part-of-the-culture-war-in-less-than-a-week-heres-why. Accessed 23 August 2026.   Hogan, Joseph, director. When Art Fuels Anger, Who Should Prevail? 2023. Retro Report, https://retroreport.org/video/when-art-fuels-anger-who-should-prevail/. Accessed 17 August 2026. Serrano, Andres. "2022 GIA Conference: Andres Serrano" Grantmakers in the Arts, Keynote address, YouTube, uploaded by Grantmakers in the Arts, 10 October 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P9rGvqa03M&t=30s Smith, David. "'People are picking the dumbest fights': the tortured history of America's culture wars." The Guardian, 15 July 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/15/culture-wars-isaac-butler-interview. Accessed 23 August 2026.   Walker, Michael Wingfield. "Artistic F tistic Freedom v eedom v. Censorship: The Aftermath of the NEA . Censorship: The Aftermath of the NEA's New Funding Restrictions." Washington University Law Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1993, p. 21. Washington University Law Review, https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1800&context=law_lawreview. Accessed 18 August 2026.

  3. Aug 13

    Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar

    It's time to pump up that flabby womb, everyone. Grab a bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar, make sure your feet are elevated a good 10 inches while sitting on a toilet and get ready for the tale of "Dr." Paul Bragg and his health knowledge about the benefits of apple cider vinegar. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly share nuggets from Bragg's tome Apple Cider Vinegar: Miracle Health System written 19 years after his death at the age of 80 or 199—what are numbers or facts or science or reality—who cares? The guy in charge of the federal health complex freezes raccoon penises. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Bragg, Patricia, and Paul C. Bragg. Apple Cider Vinegar: Miracle Health System. Bragg, 2020. Cramp, Arthur J. (1936). Nostrums and Quackery and Pseudo-Medicine, Volume 3. Press of American Medical Association. pp. 145-147 Fort worth Star-Telegram. 5 Apr. 1934. America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb-newsbank-cay.orc.scoolaid.net/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-K12&docref=image/v2%3A10EEA3CFD727D370%40EANX-K12-1482430342CC829A%402427533-1480E8695F83046B%403-1480E8695F83046B%40. Accessed 25 July 2026. Masters, Nathan. "How a Health Guru Helped L.A. Discover its Hiking Trails." PBS, 19 August 2014, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/how-a-health-guru-helped-l-a-discover-its-hiking-trails. Accessed 25 July 2026. "The Mysterious Life Of Mr. Bragg: The Man Behind Apple Cider Vinegar's Rise." Pendulum Newsletter, 22 September 2022, https://pendulumnewsletter.com/news/the-untold-story-of-braggs-apple-cider-vinegar/. Accessed 25 July 2026 Oregonian. 3 Nov. 1932. America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb-newsbank-cay.orc.scoolaid.net/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-K12&docref=image/v2%3A11A73E5827618330%40EANX-K12-12A275C4C90DA159%402427015-1299E01660B9883C%408-1299E01660B9883C%40. Accessed 25 July 2026. Schwarcz, Joe. "Apple Cider Vinegar…Again." Office for Science and Society, 8 Oct. 2025, https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/apple-cider-vinegaragain.

  4. Jul 30

    The Barbizon

    Originally titled "Women, Ammiright? The Barbizon, Sylvia and the Rosenbergs in the summer of 1953 'merca," this episodes dives into some of the famous residents of the women-only hotel in NYC, and veers into a story of orphaned boys. Beth is only partly on her phone as Kelly tells the story of what she learned reading The Barbizon by Paulina Bren. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: "Atom Spy Case/Rosenbergs — FBI." FBI, https://www.fbi.gov/history/cases-and-criminals/atom-spy-caserosenbergs. Accessed 24 July 2026. Bren, Paulina. The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free. Simon & Schuster, 2021. Gardner, Meredith, and Santiago Juan. "Julius and Ethel Rosenberg." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg. Accessed 24 July 2026. Weiss-Meyer, Amy. "The Rosenberg Boys." The Atlantic, no. August, 2026, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/ethel-julius-rosenberg-boys/687631/. Accessed july 24 July 2026.

  5. Jul 2

    JZ Knight

    Put on your blindfolds, fill a wine glass to the brim and get ready to listen to the blather of a 35,000-year-old Lemurian god/warrior named Ramtha. It is only possible through the body of JZ Knight, a former cable television saleswoman who channeled that old dude after placing a paper pyramid on her head in 1977. And she has made millions off of it. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss the supposed enlightenment JZ shills as Ramtha's mouthpiece and whether channeling Ramtha might be the cure for Kelly's perimenopausal symptoms. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Aldred, Lisa. ""Money is just Spiritual Energy": Incorporating the New Age." Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 35, no. 4, 2002, pp. 61-74. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/money-is-just-spiritual-energy-incorporating-new/docview/195365462/se-2.  Braga, Michael. "FDA crackdown on alternative health - From fringes, growing distrust of feds' motives." USA TODAY (Arlington, VA), FIRST ed., sec. NEWS, 15 Sept. 2020, p. 1A. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/17D81F89B606B428. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Brunner, Jim. "Guess who's a big Trump fan? Ramtha, as channeled by Democratic donor JZ Knight." The Seattle Times, 4 April 2017, https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/guess-whos-a-big-trump-fan-ramtha-as-channeled-by-democratic-donor-jz-knight/. Accessed 18 June 2026. Buchanan, Susy. "Ramtha Riled." Southern Poverty Law Center, 24 May 2014, https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/ramtha-riled/. Accessed 18 June 2026. Egan, Timothy. "Worldly and the Spiritual Clash in New Age Divorce." New York Times, 25 Sept. 1992. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A174939497/STND?u=nysl_sc_ahs&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=e41ec71f. Accessed 18 June 2026. Eric, Scerri. "What the #$'! Do They Know?" Skeptical Inquirer, September/October 2004, https://skepticalinquirer.org/2004/09/what-the-do-they-know/. Accessed 23 June 2026. Hosenball, Mark. "The guru and the FAA." Newsweek, vol. 125, no. 10, 6 Mar. 1995, p. 32. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A16642039/STOM?u=nysl_sc_cayuga&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=07d4682f. Accessed 23 June 2026.  J. Z. Knight Divorce Trial Reveals Workings of Channeling Bu." The Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 17, no. 3, Spring, 1993, pp. 253. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/j-z-knight-divorce-trial-reveals-workings/docview/219263409/se-2.  Mackay, Rob. "Shocking allegations from former JZ Knight follower." FOX 13 Seattle, 18 April 2014, https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/shocking-allegations-from-former-jz-knight-follower. Accessed 23 June 2026. "Madame Blavatsky and Theosophy." Expedition Magazine 29, no. 2 (July, 1987): -. Accessed June 18, 2026. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/madame-blavatsky-and-theosophy/ "Ramtha is Solely Knight's, Court Says." The Seattle Times, 12 June 1997, https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970612/2544252/ramtha-is-solely-knights-court-says. Accessed 17 June 2026. "Ramtha School of Enlightenment Promotes Natural Healing - Three Students report nontraditional recoveries from serious conditions thanks to RSE." PR Newswire (USA), 5 Apr. 2012. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/13DF7B30E8151FA8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Reiss, Adam, and Dareh Gregorian. "Steve Bannon pleads guilty in New York 'We Build the Wall' case." NBC News, 11 February 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/steve-bannon-pleads-guilty-new-york-build-wall-case-rcna191672. Accessed 17 June 2026. RHODES, ELIZABETH. "STATE OF MIND JZ KNIGHT PREACHES SELF-LOVE THROUGH A 35,000- YEAR-OLD-SPIRIT." THE SEATTLE TIMES, SUNDAY ed., sec. SCENE, 25 Oct. 1987, p. K1. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/0EB5328A5EA73AE1. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World. pgs. 204-5, Random House Publishing Group, 1997. Sailor, Craig. "Ramtha channeler J.Z. Knight apparently has donated $10,000 to Mexican border wall campaign." The News Tribune, 21 December 2018, https://www.thenewstribune.com/latest-news/article223435620.html. Accessed 17 June 2026. "' School of Enlightenment' Subpoenas Facebook for Information on Former Members." Tacoma Examiner (WA), sec. Tacoma Private Schools Examiner, 30 Mar. 2013. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/1455FCEBF1D3C0A8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Scott, Marion. "SHE'S SOME PROFIT!; The blonde who'll tell you the secrets of a 35,000 year old man ... for pounds 1,000 a go." Sunday Mail [Glasgow, Scotland], 23 May 1999, p. 20. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A60213035/STND?u=nysl_sc_ahs&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=ccd425a2. Accessed 18 June 2026.  Schrader, Jordan. "Appeals court upholds most of ruling for JZ Knight." Olympian, The (WA), 1st State ed., sec. News, 22 Jan. 2016, p. 14A. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/15A8BE1384485BF8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Sommer, Will. "QAnon Teams Up With Alleged Cult Leader." Daily Beast, The, sec. Right Richter, 21 May 2019. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/173945FB34159670. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Sottile, Leah. Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age. Grand Central Publishing, 2025. "Testing Concludes That JZ Knight and Ramtha Have Distinct, Separate DNA - Results confirmed by three separate labs in different locations." PR Newswire (USA), 12 Mar. 2015. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/154063EF485623D8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Williams, Allison. "The Ancient Spirit That Settled in Small-Town Washington." Seattle Met, 15 November 2022, https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2022/11/jz-knight-ramtha-yelm-washington-school-of-enlightenment. Accessed 18 June 2026.

  6. Jun 18

    Jennicam

    Long before influencers were telling us to shove garlic in all orifices to cure hot-dog fingers, a college student thought it would be interesting to write a computer program that would upload pics of her in her dorm room every 15 minutes. Little did she know she would attract half a million followers (87% masturbators) and possibly play a role in the total collapse of humanity. On this episode of Strange Country, Beth and Kelly upload pics of themselves as they discuss Jennifer Ringley, the founder of Jennicam in 1996. She was one of the first to think it was a good idea to broadcast everything about yourself online. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Alptraum, Lux. "There Is Life After Campus Infamy - The New York Times." ny times, 22 July 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/style/campus-sex-women-exposure.html?searchResultPosition=1. Accessed 8 June 2026. Carlin, John. "Internet: The site that is bringing home entertainment to millions; A young American woman has a small video camera trained on her bedroom 24 hours a day. The camera, connected to a computer, relays continually updated colour photographs from her Washington flat into her Internet website, where 100 million visitors around." Independent [London, England], 26 Sept. 1997, p. 7. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A66974447/STND?u=nysl_sc_ahs&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=44e3efd8. Accessed 8 June 2026.  Copeland, Libby. "All a Woman Can Bare." The Washington Post, 26 August 2000, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/08/26/all-a-woman-can-bare/f104e1fc-7cc1-47ca-acad-53193eb1c18b/. Accessed 8 June 2026.   Craig, Elise. "The Discreet Thrill of Lurking Online." The New York Times Magazine, 11 May 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/magazine/lurking-online.html. Accessed 23 May 2026.   "Final Days in the Life at Jennicam." The Washington Post, 6 December 2003, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2003/12/07/final-days-in-the-life-at-jennicam/06aef23c-6ff9-4f05-8ea3-e0857a034b4c/. Accessed 8 June 2026.   Gilbert, Sophie. Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves. Penguin Publishing Group, 2025.   Hart, Hugh. "April 14, 1996: JenniCam Starts Lifecasting - WIRED." Wired, 14 Apr. 2010, https://www.wired.com/2010/04/0414jennicam-launches/. Knibbs, Kate, et al. "Jennicam: Why the First Lifecaster Disappeared from the Internet." Gizmodo, 14 April 2015, https://gizmodo.com/jennicam-why-the-first-lifecaster-disappeared-from-the-1697712996. Accessed 8 June 2026. Marin, Cheech, and Ray Sawhill. "And NOW, The Human Show." Newsweek, vol. 131, no. 22, 1 June 1998, p. 64. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A20835616/STND?u=nysl_sc_ahs&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=4d1465bc. Accessed 8 June 2026.  Stevic, Anja. "Anxious but Posting? The Psychology of Sharing Online." Stanford Cyber Policy Center, Stanford University, 13 April 2026, https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/anxious-posting-psychology-sharing-online. Accessed 8 June 2026.

  7. May 14

    America's Most Hated Woman

    How do you become the Most Hated Woman in America? Kelly and Beth have been trying for nine years, but we still have no trophy with those words. And maybe that's a good thing. Is it worth fighting for what's right and telling the truth if it means in the end you get murdered anyway? Learn about Madalyn Murray O'Hair who won that title according to Time Magazine, back in the era of Phil Donahue and people actually reading Time Magazine. Thanks for listening; it's an act of love, which we need more of these days! Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnMkhk9vAz8. Anderson, Owen. "Do You Remember Madalyn Murray O'Hair? | Owen Anderson." American Reformer, 7 April 2025, https://americanreformer.org/2025/04/do-you-remember-madalyn-murray-ohair/. Accessed 10 May 2026. "Become a Member." American Atheists, https://atheists.org/join/. Accessed 10 May 2026. Lancaster, Katherine, and Clarence B. Garrett. "O'Hair, Madalyn Murray." Texas State Historical Association, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/ohair-madalyn-murray. Accessed 10 May 2026. "Madalyn Murray O'Hair." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O%27Hair. Accessed 10 May 2026. Seaman, Ann Rowe. America's Most Hated Woman: The Life and Gruesome Death of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. Bloomsbury Academic, 2005. Accessed 10 May 2026.

  8. Apr 23

    Bath School Massacre

    America is known for multiple things: apple pie, Mr. T, and school massacres. But the worst massacre of all time is likely one you've never heard of before. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the 1927 bombing of Bath Consolidated Schools that resulted in the deaths of 43 people, mainly children. Just your ever-so-often reminder that while it seems like things are extra terrible now, we've always been pretty s****y. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources:  Bernstein, Arnie. Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing. University of Michigan Press, 2009. "Deepening Farms with Dynamite." Farms.com, 2 Nov. 2017, www.farms.com/reflections-on-farm-and-food-history/historical-articles-archive/deepening-farms-with-dynamite. Originally published in The Farmer's Advocate, 29 Aug. 1912. Gulliver, Katrina. "Why We Have Forgotten the Worst School Attack in U.S. History." Time, 12 December 2023, https://time.com/4492872/kehoe-attack-history/. Haddad, Ken. "96 years later: Michigan's Bath School disaster remains deadliest in US history." ClickOnDetroit, 18 May 2023, https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2023/05/16/96-years-later-michigans-bath-school-disaster-remains-deadliest-in-us-history/. Accessed 22 April 2026. "Survivors Recall 1927 Michigan School Massacre." NPR, 17 April 2009, https://www.npr.org/2009/04/17/103186662/survivors-recall-1927-michigan-school-massacre. Accessed 22 April 2026.

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3.4
out of 5
181 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Strange Country
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    318
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2017 Strange Country Podcast
  • Show Website
    Strange Country

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