The Box of Oddities

Realm
Realm

The Webby Award-winning “Box of Oddities" is a podcast that delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. With a focus on oddities, curiosities, and the macabre, each episode is a journey into the unknown, where hosts Kat and Jethro Gilligan Toth share their love for unusual stories and inject their humor and commentary. From the strange history of medical practices to chilling true crime stories, to natural (and unnatural) events, "The Box of Oddities" satisfies your thirst for the weird and the unusual, offering an informative and entertaining look into the dark and mysterious corners of our world. JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC-TV says, "Should you be the type who has an interest in weird stuff, this is a fun thing to allow in your head!"  “Truth is stranger than fiction, and the Box of Oddities is the strangest of all!” -SLUGGO, SIRIUS XM LITHIUM “Kat & Jethro wring humor from bizarre, macabre and perplexing places.” -BOSTON MAGAZINE

  1. 14h ago

    The Body in the Glacier & The Woman Who Wouldn’t Stay Buried

    A body emerges from a California glacier more than sixty years after a World War II training plane vanished in the Sierra Nevada. He’s still wearing his military uniform, carrying coins, a fountain pen, and an address book—but who is he, and what happened to the other men aboard the missing aircraft? Then, we head to Colorado for the strange story of Emma Crawford, a young woman whose dying wish was to be buried high atop Red Mountain. Unfortunately, death was only the beginning of Emma’s travels. Her grave was moved, her coffin was swept down a mountainside, her remains spent years in a basement—and today, thousands of people gather every year to race coffins through the streets in her honor. In this episode of The Box of Oddities: the frozen mystery of WWII airman Leo Mustonen and the wonderfully bizarre history behind the Emma Crawford Coffin Races of Manitou Springs. Strange history, unsolved mysteries, frozen remains, bizarre burials, and one of America’s most unusual festivals. Just another day inside The Box of Oddities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Body in the Glacier & The Woman Who Wouldn’t Stay Buried

  2. 3d ago ·  Bonus

    The Gods Below & The Boy Beyond

    It’s time for another Freak Family Favorite, pulled from deep inside The Box of Oddities archives! First, Kat explores the surprisingly widespread history of dwarf mythology and reverence. From ancient Egypt, where people of short stature could hold prestigious positions and dwarf deities were associated with protection, childbirth, and regeneration, to Norse mythology and legends of mysterious underground craftsmen, the connection between dwarves, gods, magic, and folklore stretches across cultures and centuries. Then, Jethro revisits the deeply troubling disappearance of five-year-old Stephen McKernan. In 1988, Stephen vanished from a crowded Scottish holiday park after being out of his family’s sight for only seconds. Sixteen days later, his body was discovered six miles away—just beyond the area police had searched. Authorities concluded that Stephen wandered there on his own and died from exposure. But eyewitness reports, the brutal terrain, a six-foot fence, and one particularly strange detail involving Stephen’s shoes and socks raise questions that have never entirely gone away. Ancient gods, mysterious dwarves, a baffling disappearance, and a case officially considered solved that somehow still doesn’t feel solved. It’s another Freak Family Favorite from The Box of Oddities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Gods Below & The Boy Beyond

  3. 5d ago

    The Letter That Fell From the Sky

    A letter disappears in one of the deadliest tornadoes in American history—then turns up 130 miles away. In 1925, the catastrophic Tri-State Tornado destroyed the Indiana home of Will Jones. Among the possessions swept away was a letter written decades earlier by his late wife. About a week later, a farmer found that same piece of paper lying in a field more than a hundred miles away—and somehow, against absurd odds, it found its way back to the man who treasured it. Then, Kat takes us inside Bayernhof, the spectacularly eccentric Pittsburgh mansion built by millionaire Charles B. Brown III. The 19,000-square-foot home is packed with secret passages, an indoor waterfall, a concrete cave, and more than 140 antique automatic musical instruments. But after Brown’s death, his family discovered the house had been designed with a surprising purpose all along. Plus: strange superstitions involving deadly chewing gum, cursed opals, lethal electric fans, red ink, and the potentially catastrophic consequences of trimming your fingernails after dark. The Box of Oddities: strange history, bizarre true stories, unexplained events, unusual people, and the wonderfully weird corners of the world. And don’t forget: our ninth annual Halloween special is coming. If you have a paranormal experience of your own, record it and send it to curator@theboxofoddities.com for a chance to be included. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Letter That Fell From the Sky

  4. Sep 28

    San Francisco’s Buried Ships & Bizarre Toilet World Records

    What if the streets beneath San Francisco aren’t sitting on solid ground at all—but on the remains of abandoned ships? During the California Gold Rush, crews deserted vessels by the hundreds, leaving ships stranded along the waterfront. Some became warehouses, hotels, saloons, even a jail. Others were swallowed by landfill as San Francisco expanded outward into the bay. Today, dozens of nineteenth-century ships may still lie beneath downtown—including the Niantic, whose buried hull has repeatedly resurfaced during construction, complete with artifacts and bottles of wine and champagne sealed underground for more than a century. Then Kat takes us into a very different corner of human achievement: toilet-related world records. Meet the man who smashed 46 wooden toilet seats with his head in one minute, the record holder who passed his entire body through a toilet seat ten times in sixty seconds, and the Belgian man who spent nearly five days sitting on a toilet in the middle of a bar—all in pursuit of questionable glory. Plus: Kat goes to jury duty and, completely on brand, discovers she has brought more knives than expected. Buried Gold Rush ships, forgotten champagne, toilet-seat martial arts, bizarre Guinness records, and one woman who apparently cannot enter a government building without accidentally carrying a weapon. It’s another beautifully strange episode of The Box of Oddities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    San Francisco’s Buried Ships & Bizarre Toilet World Records

  5. Sep 25 ·  Bonus

    Inbox Of Oddities #101

    The Inbox of Oddities is open, and the Freak Family has delivered another beautifully strange collection of listener stories. This time, Kat and Jethro dive into an accidentally perfect sign at a spay-and-neuter clinic, a spectacularly unfortunate product mistranslation involving “aging horniness,” a rabbit openly mocking someone’s gardening defenses, and a listener determined to bring a beloved Box of Oddities song back into heavy rotation. There’s also a Phoenix-versus-Tucson debate, memories of a skateboarding Pope look-alike, mysterious internet rabbit holes, questionable bathroom barbecue-tong etiquette, and plenty of pet pictures. But things take a decidedly eerie turn with the story of a late-night highway rest stop, a strange older man, and a warning to take the next exit. Minutes later, the listener discovers a serious accident on the road they would have been traveling. When they return from the restroom, the mysterious stranger has vanished. Coincidence, intuition, guardian angel… or something much stranger? Plus, Kat and Jethro are looking for your creepy, unusual, and unexplained stories for the upcoming Halloween episode. It’s listener mail at its funniest, weirdest, and occasionally unsettling best on this episode of The Inbox of Oddities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Inbox Of Oddities #101

  6. Sep 23

    Cursed Bread and Pink Dolphins

    A quiet French town is hit by a wave of sickness, terror, and impossible visions after its residents eat the same bread. Were the horrors of Pont-Saint-Esprit in 1951 caused by ergot poisoning, contaminated flour, or something even stranger? Then, deep in the Amazon, male pink river dolphins have a baffling social habit involving aerial urination, zigzagging streams, and very interested onlookers. The Box of Oddities investigates cursed bread, Cold War suspicions, hallucinations, and why nature remains undefeated at being weird. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Cursed Bread and Pink Dolphins

  7. Sep 21

    The Dinosaur Tree & The Blue Mountains Mystery

    An accidental Australian takeover of The Box of Oddities begins with Vegemite and somehow ends with a prehistoric mystery and a disappearance that only gets stranger. First, buried in ancient Australian rock are the delicate remains of a forest that vanished from the world millions of years ago. Scientists knew these trees only through fossils—until a park ranger climbed into a remote canyon and noticed something he couldn't explain. What he found would rewrite a small piece of botanical history and eventually trigger an extraordinary fight to keep something ancient from disappearing all over again. Then, 30-year-old Jessica Zarinsky leaves a Western Sydney pub with a man she's just met and vanishes. CCTV traces their journey toward the Blue Mountains, but eventually Jessica disappears from the cameras—and the man she was traveling with disappears too. Years later, investigators find him in one of the strangest places imaginable. But the discovery only deepens the mystery of what happened to Jessica. Two Australian stories. One survivor from an almost unimaginable past. One woman whose family is still waiting for answers. Also: wombat poop, penguin fences, Vegemite, and further evidence that Australia may be the most Box of Oddities place on Earth. The Box of Oddities — where the strange, bizarre, mysterious, and unexplained remind us that the world is much weirder than we think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Dinosaur Tree & The Blue Mountains Mystery

  8. Sep 18 ·  Bonus

    Inbox Of Oddities #100

    Halloween is creeping closer, and the Inbox is filling up with teeth, doppelgängers, bizarre coincidences, pet opossums, and the kind of heartfelt notes that make Kat and JG question whether they deserve any of you. This week: a listener wakes from wisdom-tooth surgery determined to show Kat and JG her teeth, a mysterious ambulance/fire-alarm “Boo Effect,” a license plate coincidence involving the word Gordita, and a pet opossum named Myrtle with absolutely no survival instincts. Plus, a listener suggestion sends the hosts down a dark historical path toward Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries. And, of course, the ninth annual Box of Oddities Halloween special is coming. Have a spooky story? Record it and send it to curator@theboxofoddities.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Inbox Of Oddities #100
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Hosts & Guests

4.8
out of 5
2,873 Ratings

About

The Webby Award-winning “Box of Oddities" is a podcast that delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. With a focus on oddities, curiosities, and the macabre, each episode is a journey into the unknown, where hosts Kat and Jethro Gilligan Toth share their love for unusual stories and inject their humor and commentary. From the strange history of medical practices to chilling true crime stories, to natural (and unnatural) events, "The Box of Oddities" satisfies your thirst for the weird and the unusual, offering an informative and entertaining look into the dark and mysterious corners of our world. JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC-TV says, "Should you be the type who has an interest in weird stuff, this is a fun thing to allow in your head!"  “Truth is stranger than fiction, and the Box of Oddities is the strangest of all!” -SLUGGO, SIRIUS XM LITHIUM “Kat & Jethro wring humor from bizarre, macabre and perplexing places.” -BOSTON MAGAZINE

Information

  • Channel
    Realm
  • Creator
    Kat & Jethro Gilligan Toth
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    992
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Eleven Eleven llc - 936607
  • Show Website
    The Box of Oddities
  • Provider
    Realm of Possibility, Inc.

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