A few years ago, escape rooms took the world by storm. The best of these experiences challenged players mentally and physically. The games sometimes even stressed the relationships of those who endeavor to compete together. Anyone who has completed one of these escape rooms has dreamed of a more significant challenge. San Francisco artist Jeff Hull realized that dream in 2014. The experience was called the Latitude Society, and it aimed to give people a sense of awe and wonder while also tangibl...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 141
In 1910, a train car thief popped out of nowhere and became a noteworthy robber in the history of the wild west. Using his training in explosives from the US military Elmer McCurdy robbed a series of trains and a bank in the central and southwest United States. However, his career as a thief is the least exciting thing about him. It is the life he found after death that has people talking. Let's say this; it took nearly three of his lifetimes before McCurdy was properly buried. At that time, Elm...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 140
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is home to a precious art collection once owned by the infamous art collector after whom the museum was named. That collection has likely sparked nefarious thoughts in many visitors dreaming of the potential wealth hanging on those walls. Two robbers, dressed as policemen, realized those dreams on March 18th, 1990. Today the FBI estimates their haul to be valued at $600 Million. The immense value made it the most valuable art heist until the Dresden Green Vaul...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 139
There's an interesting stretch of land in southern Panama known as the Isthmus of Panama. This unique land mass separates the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by just 51 miles of rocky terrain. Throughout history, people dreamed of a way to traverse this stretch of land by sea. Proposals for a canal through Panama date back to 1534, when it was proposed by Charles V. However, the project wasn't realized for another 400 years when the Panama Canal finally opened on August 15, 1914. This is no ordinary...
Sep 13, 2022•58 min•Ep. 138
Every year some people argue that this is the worst year ever. Over the past couple of years, we have certainly had some genuine contenders. However, most historians agree that the absolute worst year in recorded human history was 536 AD. The year set in motion a turn of events that included wars, famines, volcanic eruptions, and even a dip in global average temperatures. Some researchers have even gone as far as to say that this single year is what propelled humanity into the dark ages and mayb...
Sep 06, 2022•43 min•Ep. 137
There are people across the entire world who are dropping little pucks of metal and organic material around cities and wilderness. What exactly are these pucks? They call them Orgone, and their history is quite strange. It began in the 1930s with psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich who admired Sigmund Freud. We know exactly where this is going, to a weird place. It grew into building boxes called Energy Accumulators, tubes called Cloud Busters, and Orgone Pucks. Each variation is equally bizarre. Learn ...
Aug 30, 2022•59 min•Ep. 136
On December 1, 1948, a body turned up on the beach in Adelaide, Australia. After nearly 72 years, no one has even come close to solving this case. Yet, when it comes to who the man was, mysteries abound. Despite investigation after investigation, no confirmation was ever found. What was found, however, was numerous strange details. Yet, somehow, the story continues to unfold. Today one thorough investigator has successfully petitioned the Australian government to exhume the body to solve the Tam...
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 135
Today we're constantly bombarded with news from the world's mega-corporations. More and more, it seems like the FAANG companies (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) will just keep getting bigger and bigger. However, according to some historians, these titans of tech are nothing compared to the financial reach and impact of one company that reigned throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Colloquially known as the Dutch East India Company, the VOC (short for Vereenigde Oostindische Co...
Aug 16, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 134
People worldwide watched the seconds tick by on December 21, 2012. Due to a 'prophecy' about the world's end, many expected to watch the apocalypse unfold that day. But nothing happened. Unfortunately for our ancient ancestors, they weren't as lucky. Nearly 3200 years ago, the world stopped spinning. At least, it stopped for the major superpowers of the day. As a result, one of the most technologically advanced and well-connected civilizations in human history was wiped from the face of the eart...
Aug 09, 2022•53 min•Ep. 134
The great depression was one of the most challenging times in history. The financial uncertainty of the time led many to nefarious forms of income. Unfortunately for Mike Malloy, others looked to more extreme measures. Over a few months in early 1933, a group of five directed by Tony Marino repeatedly attempted to kill Malloy to claim a significant life insurance policy they had taken out on him. The group didn't anticipate just how difficult it would be to kill Mike. Night after night, the grou...
Aug 02, 2022•56 min•Ep. 132
Join Jaron and Tim for this special live edition of Things I Learned Last Night recorded live on the Podcast stage at Boulevardia 2022 in Kansas City, MO. In this episode, learn about the history of crafting with Secret Handshake Studios. For more info about Secret Handshake Studios: https://www.secrethandshakekc.com For more info about Boulevardia, visit: https://boulevardia.com Love TILLN? Become a Patron and get more bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/tillnpodcast Learn more about your ad...
Jul 28, 2022•29 min
In the world of UFO sightings, it can often be tough to delineate fact from fiction. Well, actually, sometimes it's pretty easy to see what is fiction. But, lately, there have been well-documented cases of UAP sightings by trained observers occupying the limelight. This is not a new thing. There have been well-documented sightings by professional observers for decades. One such case is the Rendlesham Forest Incident. In December 1980, two separate groups of United States Military personnel witne...
Jul 26, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 131
Join Jaron and Tim for this special live edition of Things I Learned Last Night recorded live on the podcast stage at Boulevardia 2022 in Kansas City, MO. In this episode, learn about the history, technique, and competition circuit for beatboxing with up-and-coming entertainer musicbyskippy. For tickets, music, and more check out: https://www.musicbyskippy.com For info about Boulevardia, visit: https://boulevardia.com Love TILLN? Become and Patron and get more bonus content: https://www.patreon....
Jul 21, 2022•31 min
The ocean is one of the earth's most precious resources. However, like many of the resources on earth, capitalism has not treated them well. For that very reason, Russ George has devised a plan to revitalize the ocean. His controversial theory is called Ocean Pasteurization. To replenish the ecosystem of the world's oceans, George plans to dump iron into the seas to feed plankton and cause an artificial bloom of plankton. Though Russ has acquired a wide array of investors and supporters, many ot...
Jul 19, 2022•56 min•Ep. 130
Antarctica is one of the most mysterious places on the planet. Few people in the world have ever or will ever step foot on this massive slab of ice. Due to the lack of experience with this strange continent, many conspiracy theories have been born around the area. One of the first and most prolific, Antarctic explorers is US Navy Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Not only did Boyd take a few trips to the continent, but he took the largest single group of individuals with a 4700-person fleet. This mi...
Jul 12, 2022•51 min•Ep. 129
In the 1980's Tacoma, Washington, faced a stark increase in gang activity. The hilltop neighborhood was a particularly active subset of the city and became a hub for the illegal drug trade in the town. However, when one Army Ranger bought a home in the neighborhood, he took matters into his own hands. Sergeant Bill Foulk installed security cameras and began confronting the gangsters during drug deals. After weeks of this behavior, the crips decided to retaliate. They had no clue that Foulk was a...
Jul 05, 2022•42 min•Ep. 128
The early days of the internet were truly the wild west. Anyone with the means to post to the world wide web could upload whatever they wanted and leave it out there to the world. That is precisely what inspired Julian Assange to create Wikileaks. The now infamous site was envisioned to be a place where whistleblowers could anonymously leak sensitive information into a platform that would verify and publicize the information. The website gained notoriety for leaking a few very significant sets o...
Jun 28, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 127
Since the first humans took their first breath, we have been trying to subvert the forces of death. But, to date, no one has successfully unlocked the keys to eternal life. At least, no one has publicly discovered the key to endless life. Legends of fantastic figures that found the secret have captivated people for longer than we've been writing. The Count of St Germain is one such mythic figure. This historical figure has long been the subject of stories of everlasting life. For hundreds of yea...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 126
On a hot summer day in 1954, a man arrived at Tokyo Haneda Airport. Since the man came on an international flight, he was required to show his passport to be stamped. Upon viewing the man's passport, officials were shocked to find the country that issued the passport was called Taured, a country that does not exist. Furthermore, the man was shocked when he attempted to show his country's location on a map because the location that he called home was not Taured on this map. As quickly as the conf...
Jun 14, 2022•47 min•Ep. 125
Today flying is one of the safest forms of transit that exists. Out of the millions of flights every year, only about 30 of those result in an accident in the US, and very few result in any serious injury. However, this hasn't always been the case. In recent history, regulations on air travel were much laxer and allowed for a far greater rate of failure. On Christmas Eve 1971, Juliane Koepcke witnessed how dangerous air travel can be when her plane broke apart in mid-air and plummeted 10,000 fee...
Jun 07, 2022•56 min•Ep. 124
Since the start of the internet, forums have been a strange place. Something about allowing people anonymity brings out the worst in humanity. The effect was in full display for Reddit user Religion of Peace. Known for running one of the most nefarious and controversial subreddits in the platform's history, the user garnered an almost mythic status during his time on Reddit. Many users had encountered one of Religion of Peace, often referred to as Milo, and one of his infamous rants. However, th...
May 31, 2022•56 min•Ep. 122
In 1991, eight people walked in a large glass dome in the Arizona desert. Camera crews captured the group as they disappeared into the void. The structure was built by billionaire Ed Bass who hoped to use the facility for research into what it would take to build a colony on an alien world. The philanthropist enlisted a crew of four men and four women to spend two years locked inside the biosphere without any contact with the outside world. In the most American of ways, the event was broadcast t...
May 24, 2022•56 min•Ep. 122
Imagine you woke up one morning to find the sky is full of circular, triangular, and cylindrical objects darting to and fro in an apparent struggle for aerial supremacy. You might immediately think that you were witnessing an alien invasion. Maybe you'd assume you were hallucinating. But, imagine this happened while you were living in the year 1561. That's exactly what happened to the people of Nuremberg, Germany. The 1561 Sky Battle, also known as the 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg, e...
May 17, 2022•45 min•Ep. 121
What are the names that come to mind when you think of bank robbers? For many, names like Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, and maybe even certain GTA V characters fill the mind. However, these robbers don't even scratch the surface. While, technically, not a bank robber, John Ruffo conned a few dozen banks out of more than $350 million. His case is the most expensive bank fraud in American history. What's more, he got away with it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 120
Marathon runners are a rare breed of humans. Few hobbies involve wheezing for miles and shopping for shirts that won't rub your skin off. Every year a new challenger appears for these hobbyists to overcome. However, there has never been a more formidable foe for the marathon runner than the Barkley Marathons. This infamous race tests not just its runner's physical endurance but also their mental fortitude. It's a marathon built on the intent that only 1% of runners will complete it. It's a race ...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 119
Moving into a new home can be stressful. In the best-case scenario, the new neighbors are helpful or maybe distant, depending on how social of a person you are. But we've all been in that scenario where our neighbors aren't exactly the type of people we wanted to live near. However, noisy or rude neighbors are nothing to the neighbor that the Broaddus family endured after moving into their New Jersey home in June of 2014. While many neighborhoods come complete with a neighborhood watch, this qui...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 118
These days just about anyone can tell you a thing or two about Scientology. Most of the public exposure to the church of Scientology has come from Leah Remini's documentary series on Netflix. Even though the average person knows the church, few understand exactly what it does or from where it came. Scientology's members' secrecy and financial actions have led most to label it a cult. It is a label that is fitting. Despite this fact, followers hail the founder for his revolutionary new way of thi...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 117
Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the idea of other universes, timelines, and dimensions has become mainstream. We've all become well-versed in the possibility of other worlds out there. But how realistic is the idea? Some serious thinkers believe that the sort of universe in the MCU is possible. M Theory is a subset of string theory that seeks to explain all of the other possible dimensions and what is possible. Spoiler alert, there are 11 dimensions. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Apr 12, 2022•53 min•Ep. 116
Imagine a theme park that surveyed the history of the United States while being shaped like the continental United States. How could that not excite you? In the '60s, the US of A was all the rage in the US, and C.V. Wood saw the hype as an opportunity to capitalize on patriotism. The disgraced Disney Park manager somehow landed a 13-million dollar investment from one of New York's most prolific real estate investors to build the park. Unfortunately, much like his previous attempts at park design...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 115
Point Pleasant. If you chose to stop for gas in Point Pleasant, you might be shocked to see a 12-foot-tall metallic statue of the mythological creature known as Moth Man. Both because it's shocking that a town would erect such a statue on their main crossroad and because it's an utterly terrifying statue. Nestled on the West Virginia and Ohio border, Point Pleasant boasts scenic views of the Ohio River and the Western Appalachian Mountains. The town is host to a long history dating back to the U...
Mar 29, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 114
