In part one of a two-part series, I review all the positive evidence proving humanity reached the Moon to refute long-lived claims that the Apollo program was a hoax. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Direct all advertising inquirie...
May 19, 2026•51 min•Ep. 197
In part 2 of my series on the myth that Nazis developed supertechnology, I look at the growth of this conspiracy theory and later hoaxes, like the Nazi Bell, that have kept it alive. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Direct all advertisin...
May 05, 2026•49 min•Ep. 196
In part 1 of a 2-parter, I explore the myth that Nazis developed supertechnology, like flying saucers, looking at both the reality of German innovation in the war and the fiction that developed. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Direct all adve...
Apr 21, 2026•44 min•Ep. 195
In this episode, I look into an early 20th century claim of a supernatural encounter with the past. Did two Oxford dons really see Marie Antoinette at Versailles in 1901? Was it a haunting? A "time-slip"? A psychic journey? Or was it a hoax or a simple mistake? Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my ...
Apr 07, 2026•54 min•Ep. 194
In this episode, I continue to look at the topic of women's persecution under fascism then pivot, in observation of International Trans Visibility Day, to a discussion of the dramatic shift from the gender progressivism of the Weimar Republic to the persecution of the LGBTQ community, and specifically the thriving transgender community, under the Third Reich. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get...
Mar 24, 2026•45 min•Ep. 193
In this episode, I kick off women's history month with the story of the much mythologized but undeniably symbolic and important Hypatia of Alexandria, martyred by Christians who would afterward co-opt her memory. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Direct all adve...
Mar 10, 2026•44 min•Ep. 192
In this episode, I talk about the history of gun rights and gun control as a history of systemic racism. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Direct all advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com . Visit ww...
Feb 24, 2026•45 min•Ep. 191
In this episode, I talk about Crispus Attucks, a figure in Black history both lauded as the first martyr of American liberty and maligned as a violent thug, and I explore his relevance in this moment of state-sanctioned violence against protestors. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found!...
Feb 10, 2026•48 min•Ep. 190
In this episode, I recount TikTok's recent brush with rapture predictions and then survey America's deep history of failed millennialist predictions of the Second Coming and the end of the world. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Direct all advertising inquiries to ...
Jan 27, 2026•43 min•Ep. 189
In this year's season premiere, I return to my series on the myths and legends of the Indiana Jones franchise, this time examining the ideas underpinning the recent video game, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, leading me to all kinds of claims about ancient landmarks aligning and their origin in the concept of ley lines. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes!...
Jan 13, 2026•58 min•Ep. 188
In my annual holiday special for 2025, I examine discrepancies in the gospels relating to Jesus's lineage and parentage, as well as the gospel authors' use of common biblical tropes, their incorporation of prophecy and philosophy, and early church apologists' embrace of comparisons between Christ and pagan mythology, to demonstrate that, though Jesus was a real person, the gospels are crafted narratives, not the histories that biblical literalists make them out to be. This episode is sponsored b...
Dec 23, 2025•50 min•Ep. 187
This week I'm sharing an episode of a new podcast from CBC, called The Devil You Know. In The Devil You Know, Sarah Marshall explores the tangled web of the Satanic Panic, a journey that will take you everywhere from Victoria, B.C. to rural Kentucky to San Antonio, Texas. This is a show about the people who experienced the Satanic Panic in real-time—the believers, the skeptics, the bystanders, the wrongfully-convicted. What was it like to be a psychologist told to look for Satanists in every cas...
Dec 09, 2025•44 min
In the conclusion of my series on the moral panics of the eighties, I look at the development of the Satanic Panic and consider its resurgence today. This episode is sponsored by American History Tellers: The Mayflower and American Scandal: The West Memphis Three. Binge all episodes of both series right now on Wonder+. Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! ...
Nov 25, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 186
In this episode, I look at the development of the Stranger Danger moral panic as a precursor to right wing conspiracist claims today. This episode is sponsored by American History Tellers: The Mayflower. Binge all episodes early and ad-free right now on Wondery+ . Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get ...
Nov 11, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 185
In this episode, I tell the story of a hysteria in 1970s London, involving claims of ghosts, Satanists, and vampires, as well as two dueling magicians. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Dir...
Oct 21, 2025•51 min•Ep. 184
In this episode, I tell the story of a haunting in Bavaria that was claimed to be the first in which paranormal phenomena was scientifically observed. The Rosenheim Poltergeist claim is a perfect case for examining the ghost story generally, its history, and the pseudoscience of parapsychology. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge suppo...
Oct 07, 2025•47 min•Ep. 183
In this new episode, I talk about America's long history of resenting domestic policing by the military especially when the military is used against citizen protesters, from the Boston Massacre to the Gilded Age. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check ...
Sep 23, 2025•43 min•Ep. 182
After Texas's recent mid-decade partisan redistricting, representing a blatant power grab for the Republican Party undertaken at Trump's behest, I search for precedents and historical parallels and examine the history of gerrymandering in the US. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episode...
Sep 09, 2025•42 min•Ep. 181
Last month, when the Trump regime allied with Israel in their Twelve-Day War and bombed Iran, there was much scrutiny of presidential war powers. In this episode, I look at the evolution of undeclared wars and military authorizations throughout US history, specifically examining the conspiracy claims about two preludes to war: Pearl Harbor and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out ...
Aug 26, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 180
To conclude my series on the Israel-Palestine conflict, I look at Jewish presence in the Levant going all the way back to the Iron Age, the events leading to the founding of the modern State of Israel, its unique economic and military relationship with the US, and its long asymmetrical conflict with Palestinians. Please consider donating to help bring an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It can be confusing and complex to navigate the many charities that claim to offer direct aid in Gaza. ...
Aug 12, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 179
In this first part of a two-part series on the Israel-Palestine conflict, I start by looking at the Heritage Foundation's campaign to characterize any criticism of Israel or advocacy for Palestinians as anti-Semitism and to exploit that as a cudgel against free speech, academic freedom, and Progressives generally. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on...
Jul 29, 2025•53 min•Ep. 178
In this episode, I discuss the Trump administration's war on higher education and place it within the context of the history of academic freedom and previous assaults on it. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Find a transcript of this episode wit...
Jul 15, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 177
Here at the end of Pride, I want to discuss the long, bigoted history and false scriptural basis of religious opposition to LGBTQ rights, and the effort of the religious right to seek an exemption to anti-discrimination laws so that they can persecute gay and trans people. UPDATE : since the production of this episode, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious objection to LGBTQ+ books in the case Mahmoud v. Taylor. I encourage you to visit 5calls.org and find their page to help you Oppo...
Jul 01, 2025•51 min•Ep. 176
As Trump ramps up his immigration raids in California and brings the armed forces to bear against peaceful citizen protesters, I want to talk more about the long, racist history behind similar immigration crackdowns in the US. I encourage you to visit 5calls.org and find their page to help you Protest the Unlawful Deportation of Venezuelan Immigrants to El Salvador and demand that your governor Deny Trump’s Police State Tactics for Deportations . But more than this, get out to a protest in...
Jun 17, 2025•51 min•Ep. 175
In this episode, I discuss the history of the controversial wartime power that Trump has invoked to justify his mass deportations and the importance of the inalienable rights of due process and habeas corpus , granted by the constitution to all persons, that he is seeking to strip away. UPDATE : a few weeks after the production of this episode, the Supreme Court further contributed to Trump's centralization of power by limiting nationwide injunctions. Now if the courts determine that any executi...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 174
In this episode, in response to Trump's order supposedly "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," I look at the many ways he and his handlers/enablers distort and whitewash history and "sanewash" his administration. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Find a tra...
May 20, 2025•45 min•Ep. 173
In this episode, I tell the history of the US through the history of controversial tariff policies, and I examine speculation about the motivations behind Trump's disastrous tariff hikes. For an easy and effective way to make a political impact, visit 5calls.org and make your voice heard. Specifically, see the site's guidance for demanding Congress Stop Trump’s Tariffs and Reclaim Trade Authority. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Ch...
May 06, 2025•48 min•Ep. 172
From claims about the pagan origins of Easter traditions to biblical literalists asserting that the miraculous darkness at the crucifixion is historically provable, I explode all kinds of myths in this holiday special. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch , perfect for gifts! Pledge support on Patreon to get an ad-free feed with exclusive episodes! Check out my novel, Manuscript Found! Find a transcript of this episod...
Apr 22, 2025•54 min•Ep. 171
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Reformation, a story was told of the first female Pope, who had hidden her sex and been elevated to the highest position within the Church by accident. The story of Pope Joan is a total myth, but even today it serves as a useful lesson to illustrate the historical roots of the sexism and misogyny that still keeps women out of leadership positions. Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 bucks a month at MintMobile.com/Blindness Check out the show merch...
Apr 08, 2025•43 min•Ep. 170
In the face of trans erasure and genocide, this episode affirms the existence of transgender people throughout history, focusing on the trans empress of the Roman Empire, long misgendered and called Elagabalus, though that was not her name. For an easy and effective way to make a political impact, visit 5calls.org and make your voice heard. Specifically, see the site's guidance for Opposing Efforts to Dehumanize Transgender and LGBTQ+ People . Get 3 months of premium wireless service for $15 buc...
Mar 25, 2025•58 min•Ep. 169
