Stupiracy | Stupid History + Conspiracy

Hubbard Radio
  • 4.5 (105)
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In a world where conspiracy and history meets stupidity, 'Stupiracy' takes you on a wild ride through the most bizarre tales ever told. Join hosts Scott Rizzuto and Tim McKernan for another 12 episode season of absurd, unbelievable, and downright hilarious stories you never learned in history class. This is the Stupiracy Podcast. New episodes every Thursday. Presented by CARSTAR – your auto body repair experts – locally owned with a nationwide guarantee.

  1. The Bohemian Grove Conspiracy: Cremation of Care, Weird History, and the Manhattan Project

    2D AGO

    The Bohemian Grove Conspiracy: Cremation of Care, Weird History, and the Manhattan Project

    You think this is a secret cult in the woods plotting world domination.  It’s not what you think.  It’s worse.  But also… somehow much dumber.  The Bohemian Grove conspiracy sounds like peak weird conspiracies internet lore — presidents, billionaires, media titans, and captains of industry gathering in strict secrecy beneath a 40-foot owl statue in Northern California. And yes. That part is real.  But what actually happens at Bohemian Grove isn’t a clean villain monologue situation. It’s a chaotic mix of global power, summer camp energy, theatrical rituals, whiskey, frog skits, and the legally celebrated freedom to pee on redwood trees.  Welcome to the Stupiracy podcast - presented by Carstar - where this week’s weird history episode dives headfirst into one of the most bizarre history rabbit holes in America.  The Bohemian Grove conspiracy centers on a 2,700-acre private campground owned by the Bohemian Club, founded in 1878. Every July, private jets quietly flood Sonoma County. Security locks down. And some of the most powerful men in American political and corporate history disappear into the woods.  Ronald Reagan. George H.W. Bush. Gerald Ford. Eisenhower. Rockefellers. William Randolph Hearst. Clint Eastwood. Walter Cronkite. Jimmy Buffett. Yes. That Jimmy Buffett. And once inside? They perform the Cremation of Care ceremony — a ritual where robed members gather before a giant owl statue and symbolically burn an effigy called “Care” to free themselves from worldly concerns. That’s either: A sinister secret society ritual A theatrical arts camp fever dream Or history gone wrong with a production budget  And here’s where the Bohemian Grove conspiracy stops being internet lore and turns into crazy true history: In 1942, a meeting at Bohemian Grove helped lay groundwork for the Manhattan Project. The atomic bomb. Yes. The groundwork for one of the most world-altering weapons in human history traces back to a secretive encampment in the redwoods.  So is this a shadow government summit where elite agendas are shaped?  Or is it just a fraternity party for Fortune 500 executives who never emotionally left college?  This episode unpacks: The patron saint of secrecy with his finger to his lips The 33-year membership waitlist The owl symbolism and conspiracy stories around it The documented Manhattan Project meeting The Cremation of Care ritual And the persistent belief that a small circle of powerful men are quietly steering history  We explore whether the Bohemian Grove conspiracy is one of the great debunked conspiracies… or just one of the most unbelievable historical events hiding in plain sight.  If you love weird history, historical oddities, ridiculous historical facts, and history you didn’t learn in school, this is your episode of Stupiracy – Presented by CARSTAR – your auto body repair experts – locally owned with a nationwide guarantee. This is history meets comedy. This is conspiracy comedy. This is a comedy history podcast asking:  Is it a cult? Is it a summer camp? Is it both?  And why is there always an owl. Now listen carefully. If you made it this far and you’re not following the show, that’s suspicious. Very suspicious. Subscribe immediately. Leave a five-star review like you’ve just been invited to a secret encampment in July. The owl is watching. The redwoods are judging. And we absolutely track who refuses to click “follow.” Don’t make this weird. Just join the club.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    22 min
  2. The Dark Origins of Common Phrases: Weird History You Didn’t Learn in School

    FEB 19

    The Dark Origins of Common Phrases: Weird History You Didn’t Learn in School

    You’ve been casually referencing battlefield amputations and ancient political chaos your entire life. This week on Stupiracy - presented by CARSTAR - we uncover the dark origins of common phrases, from “bite the bullet” to “spill the beans,” and the weird history hiding inside everyday sayings you never questioned. Turns out… language is violent. And occasionally butter-based. You say “bite the bullet” like it’s nothing. You casually tell someone to “break a leg.” You accuse people of “spilling the beans” without realizing those beans were once ancient Greek voting ballots. The dark origins of common phrases are far less metaphorical than you think. “Bite the bullet”? Civil War surgery. No anesthesia. Just a lead bullet and courage.“Cat got your tongue”? Possibly ancient Egypt feeding liars’ tongues to cats. Possibly naval torture.“Spill the beans”? Ancient Greek democracy chaos. Literal beans. Political beans.“Mad as a hatter”? Mercury poisoning from hat-making. Industrial brain damage, but fashionable.“Bury the hatchet”? Shockingly wholesome peace treaties. Actual hatchets in the dirt.“Saved by the bell”? Not coffins. Sorry. It’s boxing.“Break a leg”? Theater people trying to pull one over on evil spirits.“Rule of thumb”? Not the myth you’ve heard.“Dead ringer”? Horse racing fraud, because of course people cheat. This is the history of common phrases you were never taught. This is weird history at its finest. This is history you didn’t learn in school because textbooks prefer wars and treaties over butter being thrown at the gods. We unpack the real phrase origins of everyday sayings, the myths that refuse to die, and the phrases that survived centuries of chaos to end up in your group chat. Some of these stories are dark. Some are clever. Some are completely fake, and humanity just decided to commit to the bit. The dark origins of common phrases prove one thing: language is basically an archaeological dig, except instead of pottery shards you find raccoons, gramophones, furious playwrights yelling about stolen thunder, and a suspicious amount of mercury exposure. If you love weird history, stupid history, and the kind of comedy history podcast that explains something clearly and then immediately derails it, this episode is exactly your problem. Welcome to Stupiracy – Presented by CARSTAR – your auto body repair experts – locally owned with a nationwide guarantee. Now listen carefully. You are going to follow this show. You are going to leave a five-star review. You are going to tell a friend. Not because we’re desperate. Obviously not. But because somewhere in ancient Greece a guy spilled beans too early and democracy survived anyway. You can survive tapping five stars. Subscribe. Review. Join the weird history ritual. Or we release the mercury hats. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    24 min
  3. Early Automotive History: The First Car Crash, Henry Ford’s Weed Diet, and the Horsey Horseless Disaster

    FEB 12

    Early Automotive History: The First Car Crash, Henry Ford’s Weed Diet, and the Horsey Horseless Disaster

    There were only two cars in the entire state of Ohio. Two. And somehow… they crashed into each other. That’s not a metaphor. That’s early automotive history. And it only gets weirder from there. This is Stupiracy - Presented by CARSTAR. This week on our funny history podcast, we’re diving into early automotive history — when cars looked like farm equipment possessed by ambition and nobody fully understood what was happening. Before Henry Ford and the Model T, there was the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, built by Carl Benz in 1885. The first real automobile. Not a carriage. Not a horse. A car. And adjusted for modern money? Shockingly affordable. Which feels wrong. The first car should’ve cost “sell your castle” money. Instead, early automotive history opens with a relatively reasonable price tag. Then America said, “Cool. Let’s make this worse.” Enter the Horsey Horseless. An actual vehicle with a wooden horse head attached to the front so it wouldn’t scare real horses. The head was hollow. The fuel tank was inside it. Gasoline. In a fake horse skull. This is not satire. This is weird history you didn’t learn in school because no teacher wants to say “gas-powered horse face” out loud. And then comes 1895. The first car crash in America. In Ohio. With only two cars registered in the entire state. Early automotive history statistically said, “That’s impossible.” Ohio said, “Watch this.” Boom. Tree root. Collision. Awkward silence. Of course we talk about Henry Ford — assembly line genius, Model T architect, industrial legend. But also: man who regularly pulled over to eat weeds. Dandelions. Milkweed. Pigweed. Shepherd’s purse. He called them “roadside greens,” which sounds artisanal but was really just him grazing near Detroit like a very motivated goat. We also get into: • The Henry Ford weeds diet • The first car crash in America • The Benz Patent-Motorwagen • The Horsey Horseless • Thomas Edison’s final breath preserved in a vial • In-car toilets from the 1950s • A fifth wheel designed only for parallel parking • Chrysler installing record players in dashboards Because early automotive history wasn’t smooth innovation. It was chaos. It was experimentation. It was “put a toilet in it and see what happens.” It was “maybe the car needs a horse face.” It was “capture Edison’s breath like it’s limited-edition air.” This is stupid history. This is weird history. This is history you didn’t learn in school because the textbook couldn’t handle the milkweed. If you like your comedy history podcast informative, slightly unhinged, and confidently explaining nonsense like it’s obvious — welcome to Stupiracy. A podcast about stupid history and weird history - Presented by CARSTAR – your auto body repair experts – locally owned with a nationwide guarantee. Now do the responsible thing. Follow the show. Leave a five-star review. Not because we’re desperate. Because statistically, if there are only two podcasts in your state and you don’t subscribe to this one… something terrible could happen. Don’t be Ohio, 1895. WTF history? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    23 min
  4. Was Helen Keller A Fraud? The History Conspiracy That The Internet Won't Let Go Away

    FEB 5

    Was Helen Keller A Fraud? The History Conspiracy That The Internet Won't Let Go Away

    Helen Keller wrote 14 books, met 12 presidents, helped found the ACLU, got surveilled by the FBI, and somehow, according to TikTok commenters with anime avatars, she was also lying about all of it. Cool. Sure. Totally reasonable. In this episode of Stupiracy - presented by CARSTAR - Scott Rizzuto and Tim McKernan ask the question that feels illegal to even say out loud: Was Helen Keller a fraud? Not because we believe it — but because the internet absolutely does and is very confident about it. Confident in the way only someone who learned history exclusively through obscure web forums and short-form video can be. Rizzuto and McKernan break down where this modern conspiracy theory came from, why it keeps popping up in weird history threads and Reddit comments, and how a woman who became the most famous deafblind person in history somehow turned into a punchline meme about airplanes and handwriting. Because yes, apparently the fact that Helen Keller “flew a plane” in 1946 is now considered iron-clad proof that the entire 20th century was lying to us. So we rewind. Back to Alabama. Back to the mysterious childhood illness. Back to the Miracle Worker water pump moment that everyone remembers but no one actually understands. Then we keep going — past the inspirational poster version of Helen Keller and straight into the stuff you definitely didn’t learn in school. The socialism. The labor activism. The IWW membership. The FBI file. The part where she was a full-on political menace while also being treated like a porcelain doll by history textbooks. From there, we put on the tinfoil hats and examine the “evidence.” The books were too well written. The handwriting was too neat. The airplane thing. Oh god, the airplane thing. We explain how Helen Keller actually wrote, how assistive technology worked in the early 1900s, why Anne Sullivan wasn’t some shadowy puppet master running a long con, and how a 20-minute supervised flight turned into the dumbest gotcha in conspiracy history. Along the way, we talk ableism, internet brain rot, and why people seem deeply uncomfortable accepting that disabled people can be brilliant without it being a trick. This is weird history, stupid history, and a perfect example of history you didn’t learn in school, mostly because your teacher didn’t have time to say, “By the way, someday people on the internet will accuse this woman of being fake.” So no, Helen Keller was not a fraud. But the conspiracy claiming she was? Absolute hall-of-fame Stupiracy - Presented by CARSTAR – your auto body repair experts – locally owned with a nationwide guarantee. Now do the obvious thing. Subscribe to the show. Leave a review. Tell the algorithm you enjoyed listening to two grown adults defend Helen Keller against TikTok detectives. If you don’t, that’s fine, but just know Helen Keller would have hated you, and frankly, we’ll assume you’re part of the conspiracy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    20 min
  5. Tulip Mania

    09/09/2024

    Tulip Mania

    In this episode of Stupiracy, Scott and Tim delve into the historical financial bubble known as Tulip Mania. Explore how a simple flower bulb caused a massive economic crash in the 17th-century Netherlands. Learn about the cultural significance of tulips, the rise and fall of their prices, and the lasting impact of this financial frenzy on modern economics. This episode uncovers one of the first recorded instances of a market bubble and its surprising parallels to today's financial markets. Key Points: Introduction to Tulip Mania and its historical context. How tulips became a status symbol in the Netherlands. The escalation of tulip prices and the economic impact. The eventual crash of the tulip market and its aftermath. Comparison of Tulip Mania to modern financial bubbles. Resources Mentioned: Historical records of Tulip Mania. Articles on economic bubbles and market speculation. "Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused" by Mike Dash. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    18 min
  6. Elvis is Alive

    09/02/2024

    Elvis is Alive

    In this episode of Stupiracy, Scott and Tim dive into the enduring conspiracy theory that Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, is still alive. Explore the official account of Elvis's death, the numerous reported sightings of Elvis after his supposed demise, and the various reasons why people believe he faked his death. From misspelled tombstones to sightings at Burger King, uncover the strange evidence and theories that keep this conspiracy alive. Key Points: Official account of Elvis Presley’s death. Inconsistencies surrounding his death, including the misspelled tombstone and the heavy casket. Numerous reported sightings of Elvis after his death. Theories on why Elvis might have faked his death, including escaping the mafia and financial troubles. The cultural impact and lasting fascination with the idea that Elvis is still alive. Resources Mentioned: Rolling Stone magazine's list of top Elvis songs. "Is Elvis Alive?" book. Articles and interviews about Elvis sightings and the conspiracy theory. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    23 min
  7. The Erfurt Latrine Disaster

    08/26/2024

    The Erfurt Latrine Disaster

    In this dark and intriguing episode of Stupiracy, Scott and Tim delve into the gruesome details of the Erfurt Latrine Disaster of 1184. Discover how a meeting of European nobles turned into a horrific tragedy when the floor of a church collapsed, plunging dozens into a cesspit of human waste. Learn about the historical context, the notable victims, and the changes this disaster prompted in medieval sewage systems. This episode uncovers one of the most morbid yet fascinating events in history. Key Points: Introduction to the Erfurt Latrine Disaster. The political context and the meeting of the nobles. Detailed account of the disaster and its aftermath. Notable victims of the tragedy. The impact on medieval sewage systems and public health reforms. Resources Mentioned: Historical records of the Erfurt Latrine Disaster. Articles on medieval sewage systems. Research by Pastor Leitzman of Tusenhausen. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    16 min
  8. Queen Elizabeth Was A Cannibal

    08/19/2024

    Queen Elizabeth Was A Cannibal

    In this episode of Stupiracy, Scott and Tim dive into one of the wildest conspiracy theories about the British royal family: the claim that Queen Elizabeth II was a cannibal. From bizarre stories about her private freezer to tales of corpse medicine, discover the strange rumors that have swirled around the late queen. Learn about the historical context of these claims and why some people believe that the British royals have a taste for human flesh. Key Points: Introduction to the conspiracy theory about Queen Elizabeth II. Historical context of medicinal cannibalism and its use by royalty. The story of an electrician's shocking discovery in the queen's freezer. Analysis of why these rumors persist and their impact on public perception. Broader discussion on conspiracy theories involving the British royal family. Resources Mentioned: "Mummies, Cannibals, and Vampires" by Richard Sugg. Articles and interviews about royal family conspiracy theories. Historical records on medicinal cannibalism. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    20 min
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4.5
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In a world where conspiracy and history meets stupidity, 'Stupiracy' takes you on a wild ride through the most bizarre tales ever told. Join hosts Scott Rizzuto and Tim McKernan for another 12 episode season of absurd, unbelievable, and downright hilarious stories you never learned in history class. This is the Stupiracy Podcast. New episodes every Thursday. Presented by CARSTAR – your auto body repair experts – locally owned with a nationwide guarantee.

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