Wahhhh but also ACK! We are leaving you with some wonderful night calls from our wonderful listeners. But of course there is also a call about how The Big Chill and Cathy comics are connected, some rhapsodizing about monoliths (new and old), and a decision on what show is better: Frasier or Cheers. Some sentimental night calls to send us out, our favorite episodes and guests, reminiscing about Girls In Hoodies, and where we’d send our listeners to help fill the void. We promise we’ll be back som...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 20 min
We are joined this week by writer and actress Mara Wilson to discuss how acting classes can function like cults and why. Mara reveals her personal Alison Mack story and talks about how we can protect child actors on sets. Then she tells us about her personal isolation tank experience and we try to figure out hacks for making isolation tank like experiences at home. At the end of the episode we have a very bittersweet important announcement about the show. Notes: Mara's Substack https://mara.subs...
Nov 23, 2020•47 min
Emily is off this week, but Tess and Molly are taking your night calls about Joseph Smith, sphinx monuments, and the devil's tritone! First it's a night call about the Devil's Note, which some listeners liked and others did not at all. Then an email about Joseph Smith's head on the body of a Sphinx, and whether the "Salamander Letter" is a forgery (yes.) Molly waxes philosophical on the newest Housewives franchise: Salt Lake City, and reveals some behind the scenes info she got about why this se...
Nov 16, 2020•55 min
November is Dreams Month at Night Call, and we're kicking it off with some incredible dream calls and emails from listeners. Of course there are also more pyramids and architecture talk too. This time it’s Brasilia - the faded poppy mid-century utopia that is Brazil’s capital, and The Summum Pyramid - the mummification temple from 70s religion Summum in Salt Lake City, Utah. Would we get mummified and more importantly, would we let Summum do it? But also: a viral Tik Tok about the Christian cons...
Nov 09, 2020•58 min
This week we delve into the OTHER cult Mark Vicente was a member of: Ramtha! Learn how putting a tiny paper pyramid on your head might make you channel an ancient racist spirit. Then it’s even more pyramid pals and a general spooky season and Halloween roundup. Notes Ramtha More Ramtha Salma Hayek rude at lunch Faith Chapel Christian Center AT&T City Center Ave Maria Grotto Grotto Photos Flinstone House Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.c...
Oct 26, 2020•56 min
We’re joined by Lazor Wulf writer Nikki Mayard to wrap up The Vow with a nylon sash. Why did the editors save all the men’s rights stuff for the 8th episode? Did seeing Keith Raniere go full Frank TJ Mackey explain how people got so deep into this cult? Did he also maybe murder a bunch of women? Who is the best Vow character: Mark, Sarah, Catherine or Nippy? How privileged do you have to be to get into this kind of group? Will season 2 explain it all or just make everyone more frustrated? Then i...
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 2 min
This week on Night Call we have Sadie Dupuis aka Sad13 as our guest! But first it's an update to Pyramid Pals with a call about a recently demolished but also fairly recently built glass walled pyramid for a pharmaceutical company. Why wouldn't Amazon want to operate out of this futuristic pyramid building out of a dystopian movie, too on the nose? Then we're joined by Sadie to discuss haunted portraits, haunted studios in Texas, and isolation tanks (probably also haunted). Notes: Richardsonian ...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Emily is back with tales from the Pyramids of Wyoming and Nevada: the railroad ghost town of the Ames Monument, and driving past the current ghost town of Las Vegas glimpsing the Luxor Pyramid after whispers that MGM plans to blow it up soon. Then it's all calls and emails, starting with another call about the New Age to Q Anon phenomenon (Q Age). After that a listener in Australia calls in to talk about climate change around the globe, and why AQI (Air Quality Index) sites are all over the plac...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr
Emily is on the road again, so it's just Tess and Molly this week taking calls calls calls, calls from the public! First we get a call from a listener debating whether or not to go to a family wedding. We talk about the no-win situation that is Coronavirus weddings - what to do when your family won't cancel, and why everyone should cancel big family events this fall and winter if possible even if they put money down. Then it's Spanky's, the secret Los Angeles afterhours speakeasy that went viral...
Sep 28, 2020•54 min
A listener calls in with a harrowing tale of getting pressured into going to Disney World and then having a panic attack immediately afterwards. We discuss the prevalence of lockdown cabin fever leading to risky decisions immediately followed by intense regret. Then we get into The Social Dilemma on Netflix, and why we didn’t really like it. For the second half we are joined by writer Justin Charity for a reunion of Emily’s pod It’s Cool To Like Anime to chat about Psycho-Pass and more. Notes el...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 16 min
First it’s a night call about Esoteric Catholicism! Then we get into The Vow more deeply. In the second half we are joined by Samer Kalaf from Defector to discuss haunted New Hampshire and haunted new media. Then we get a truly weird tip about a youtube user named sweet peach and speculate about what the hell these weird animated videos are attempting to do. Plus the conspiracy about frequencies that make you go crazy and the trend of online it girls succumbing to conspiracy theories. Notes How ...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Tom Cruise’s crazy trip to the movies to see Tenet prompts Night Call’s finest thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s latest movie that none of us have seen. Then we investigate Halo, the Amazon device that says it can read emotions, and debunk its dubious, dangerous claims. Two listeners provide us with their very different experiences with Kratom, off last week’s discussion. Then we are joined by food writer Katherine Spiers of Smart Mouth podcast and newsletter to talk about community fridge project...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 126
Molly and Emily delve into the world of kratom, the Midwest’s favorite legal drug! What is kratom and why are opioid users using it to get off opiods? Molly’s tales of caffeine psychosis. Will Emily try kratom for the pod? The outlook is good! For the second half we are joined by Tess and special guest tech journalist Nitasha Tiku to talk about unfriendly AI, the singularity, the paperclip experiment, the dark enlightenment and more! Why racist workplace culture thrives in Silicon Valley, and ho...
Aug 24, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 124
We take a night call about Evangelion and neurotic artificial intelligence from a listener that gives Emily a great excuse to explain Eva to Molly and Tess. Then it’s the saga of Jordan and Mikalya Peterson, the Canadian father daughter grifter team. All meat diets, gothic intrigue, Russian doctors inducing comas for benzo withdrawal, the Numa Numa song and maybe even...murder? For the second half of the show we are joined by writer and comedian Joan Ford to talk about her new Twitch show Fall T...
Aug 17, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 123
A night call from a data scientist offers more accurate information about how our phones are “listening” to us. Then we take a road trip of the mind to the haunted Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada and find out why the graveyard next door is doubly haunted for reasons not related to clowns (hint: plague). Then a night email prompts a fun chat about the sentience of A.I. as Molly puts forth the theory that the A.I. revolution could be stopped by making the robots neurotic. Another email endorses del...
Aug 10, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 122
We start off with a night call about whether your phone camera knows which part of a photo you’re looking at (it does). More chat about phones and surveillance leads to Elon Musk’s Neuralink and a discussion of futurism (both kinds) and transhumanists. Then we get a night email from a listener in Key West about the bind faced by tourist towns with reopening. Emily makes a case for seeing the ocean safely. Then we are joined by comedian and podcaster Brandi Brown (The Bill Corbett Show) who tells...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 121
Emily returns with tales of a haunted hotel she stayed at in Mobile, Alabama. Then it's the #babywitches who hexed the moon, followed by a listener email about the queer Sapphic aesthetics of cottagecore. This of course leads into some discussion of Taylor Swift's new album Folklore, and how in a way it's always fall right now. We read a listener email about the struggles of international students right now, and another about working in a plastic surgery clinic during the pandemic. Then the girl...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 120
A night call from a teacher about the back to school catch 22 facing all teachers and students right now. Tess blows the lid off the secret pandemic pod tutoring circuit. Then it’s the rebooted Unsolved Mysteries and the Howie Mandel Tik Tok teen conspiracy! Is Howie okay? Has Howie ever been okay? A night email about the club at the top of the Baltimore hotel featured in the new Unsolved Mysteries, and the Berkshires UFO sighting of 1969. For the second half we are joined by Jay Kang from the T...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 119
We kick it off with a night email from an anonymous listener working at an unnamed theme park about how unsafe reopening is. Then Emily explains “Dark Academia” the college themed Tik Tok teen trend that feels extra dystopian now that school reopenings are being threatened for the fall. Then we are joined by special guest writer Hannah Giorgis from The Atlantic to discuss Polish erotic thriller and viral hit 365 Days! Does this movie resurrect the erotic thriller as Night Call has been hoping it...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 118
The girls are joined by writer Ezekiel Kweku for the top half this week. A Ghislaine news roundup and some television show fueled speculation about why Ms. Maxwell was staying in New Hampshire. Then it’s Randonautica, the creepy geocaching app taking Tik Tok by storm. Would any of us be game to follow a set of random directions to potentially enchanting surprise locations? Or does that sound like the worst idea ever? Then it’s a deep dive on the American flag with noted flag expert Ezekiel. Can ...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 117
The ladies take on the fireworks conspiracy! But first, a night message about Colorado intentional community Drop City. More commune geodesic domes and experimental theater companies. What is the most Night Call time zone? How should we return Mount Rushmore to its former sacred natural state? Then, checking out the story about the shitposting cult DayLife Army. What does it look like when a cult is extremely online, seemingly self-aware about being a cult, and dead set on exploiting people's be...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 116
Today we take a night call about problematic Disneyland rides and suggest alternatives. Should we replace the torn down Splash Mountain with a Princess And The Frog Ride? (Yes) What is the most racist ride at Disneyland? Can theme parks be divided from themes of imperialism? Then it’s a listener query about Synanon, the self help drug rehab retreat on the Santa Monica strand that turned into a cult in the seventies. For our second half we are joined by Behind The Bastards host Robert Evans to di...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 115
Tess is off this week so Molly and Emily are joined by Night Call’s fabulous producer Joelle Monique! We start off with an email from a listener who was disappointed with our Lana Del Rey talk recently and take the opportunity to examine our own blind spots. We solicit more critiques from our listeners, and ask how we can be more helpful during this critical time in our country’s history. Then it’s a trip to the CHAZ! Emily learned about the history of autonomous zones and yes it does get weird....
Jun 15, 2020•1 hr 21 min
We start with a serious moment from Night Call about the current Black Lives Matter protests and our support for them. We plan to cover historic current events this month by looking into America’s past. Then we take some night calls and emails. Then the first (and most likely last) installment of Ramblin’ Gamblin’ June is our discussion of Robert Altman’s California Split! Who is horny on main for Elliott Gould and who is decidedly not? What is the secret to a gambling buddy comedy? What are our...
Jun 08, 2020•50 min
Night Call finishes up Y2May with some great calls and emails about the 2038 Problem that explain what it actually entails. Then we debate the merits of parallel universes and whether people just like theories because they offer a way out. And a surprise venture into the recent rash of cancellations and Cancel Culture in general. Does cancellation provide people with a sense of control in a time when there is none? Can any societal ill ever actually be corrected by cancelling a singular person? ...
May 25, 2020•1 hr 7 min
A listener question about the 90s and early 2000s celebrity sex tapes prompts a discussion about Tommy and Pam, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton’s tapes that leads into a talk about Only Fans. Molly tells Emily and Tess a story about the 528 Hz “love vibration” necklace that Denise Richards owns which turns into a story about shady right wing new organization Epoch Times and how it relates back to Shen Yun. Plus, the terrifying robot dog right out of Black Mirror and Christopher Meloni’s haunted ...
May 18, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Y2May continues with a listener query about the millennium celebration at Epcot, leading us down a hole about theme park rides like The Great Movie Ride and Superstar Limo that are no longer with us, the weird retro futuristic aesthetic of Epcot, and why Mickey Mouse can never be cool. Then it’s the Y2K movie chat everyone’s been waiting for, we break the first rule of Fight Club! We take on David Fincher’s 1999 satire to talk about capitalism, men’s rights groups, and whether the movies can eve...
May 11, 2020•1 hr
Welcome to Y2May! Our monthlong celebration of all things related to the year 2000 and the end of the 20th century. We start off with some William Gibson inspired chat about the current dystopian moment and then head back into the relative calmness of the near distant past. What were each of us doing on Y2K itself? But first it's our new sports show within the show Sports Call, where we take a call about Dennis Rodman and The Last Dance, the new ten part ESPN documentary about Michael Jordan's l...
May 04, 2020•57 min
A night email about Instagram face and The Twilight Zone episode "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" start a discussion about transformation narratives that turns into Emily describing a terrifying YA series called The Uglies and Molly explaining what POT LEDOM means. A discussion about whether wellness will merge fully with beauty, and how that turns into eugenics. Then we learn about Happy Science, the Japanese cult promising followers that Coronavirus can be cured by the sound of their leader's v...
Apr 27, 2020•1 hr 7 min
The ladies are joined by Jia Tolentino, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of the essay collection “Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion” this week. First up we fetch the bolt cutters for our first impressions of the new Fiona Apple album. Plus, pandemic dreams! A scientific explanation for why people are having such weird dreams during self-isolation. Then we talk about "Instagram Face," which Jia wrote an incredible essay about. She also describes her experience meeting the Karda...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 6 min
