Tag: Pop Culture

There’s no question that there have been incredible innovations in the ways in which scientists and law enforcement gather and present evidence for trial. Expert testimony has become an almost indispensable aspect of legal proceedings. We should consider that, perhaps, we are blurring the line between circumstantial and scientific evidence. Is this a new phenomenon? Hardly. Spectral evidence has featured prominently in criminal proceedings since the days of comparing the weights of ducks and witches.  From the validation of literal specters visiting people in the night, to three-buttoned double breasted suits; there are many examples of expert opinions casting long shadows in the court room. In this episode we’ll examine the history of behavioral profiling and take a look at the kind of testimony that originally convicted the West Memphis Three. Join us this week as we examine the evolution of spectral evidence over time, and what happens when we try stories instead of the accused. 

Guest Story Teller: Joshua Zeman, Director of Cropsey and Killer Legends  

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There’s no question that there have been incredible innovations in the ways in which scientists and law enforcement gather and present evidence for trial. Expert testimony has become an almost indispensable aspect of legal proceedings. We should consid… Read More …

Whether our parents warned about strangers with candy in windowless vans, or creepy clown gangs, or a deranged loner hiding in the woods; we were all subjected to cautionary tales in one form or another. Scare tactics are integral to parenting, apparently. We shrugged off the stories, or elaborated on the ideas and shared them with peers while holding flashlights under our chins. We may have been leery of men who looked like the silhouette on the neighborhood watch sign. We might have run out of the woods when we came upon a boot print, or imagined a sinister side to the Shriners in clown white who lead the parade. We probably never considered that these manufactured monsters might be real for longer than a moment. What if they were? This was a question addressed by filmmaker Joshua Zeman in his documentary feature, CROPSEY. He joins us this week to talk about the powerful intersection of legends and reality, and the effects that stories have on our perceptions. We’ll explore why society needs to believe in monsters, and what happens when the creatures we build in our imaginations come to life.

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Whether our parents warned about strangers with candy in windowless vans, or creepy clown gangs, or a deranged loner hiding in the woods; we were all subjected to cautionary tales in one form or another. Scare tactics are integral to parenting, apparen… Read More …

Halloween is often described as the one night of the year when spirits can return to the earth and interact with the living. That’s a very simplified version of a vast, multicultural tradition that has existed, in one form or another, since the earlies… Read More …

Halloween is often described as the one night of the year when spirits can return to the earth and interact with the living. That’s a very simplified version of a vast, multicultural tradition that has existed, in one form or another, since the earliest written records. Spirits, vague ideas of otherworldly intruders, have been visiting for centuries, and over the years they’ve been understood as ancestors, demons, eerie informants, and hostile haunts. Join us this week as we explore Halloween rituals through the ages and the evolution of the otherworldly visitors they invited to join. We conclude the episode by shifting our focus from the living’s relationships with the dead, to their relationships with Death itself, as we discuss Santa Muerte.

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It’s the time of year when well-meaning suburbanites stage miniature shock and awe campaigns on their front lawns. The sweet retirees on the corner are building a graveyard. Across the street, a soccer mom is arranging a life-sized skeleton in a lawn chair. The is a zombie invasion, comprised of wax dummies just one block down. So who would notice, could notice, the body hanging from a noose fastened to a tree? It’s just one more macabre Halloween decoration, right? If it wasn’t, if it was a corpse, that would ruin all the fun; that would make us question everything we know and love about this harmless holiday. Well, according to the legend of ‘The Halloween Hanging,’ it was a corpse; and that is exactly what we will be questioning on this episode. We will explore some dark territory, looking staged suicidal hangings, homicidal hangings and the history of hanging as a method of execution. We will also discuss the phenomena of crime scene staging, and try to reach our own verdict on the case of the mysterious death of Rebecca Zahau. 

Special Guest Story Teller Robert Chauncey, Creator of The Tunnels Podcast  Check it out Here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tunnels-podcast/id1139556079?mt=2 Read More …

It’s the time of year when well-meaning suburbanites stage miniature shock and awe campaigns on their front lawns. The sweet retirees on the corner are building a graveyard. Across the street, a soccer mom is arranging a life-sized skeleton in a lawn c… Read More …

It’s the time of year when well-meaning suburbanites stage miniature shock and awe campaigns on their front lawns. The sweet retirees on the corner are building a graveyard. Across the street, a soccer mom is arranging a life-sized skeleton in a lawn chair. The is a zombie invasion, comprised of wax dummies just one block down. So who would notice, could notice, the body hanging from a noose fastened to a tree? It’s just one more macabre Halloween decoration, right? If it wasn’t, if it was a corpse, that would ruin all the fun; that would make us question everything we know and love about this harmless holiday. Well, according to the legend of ‘The Halloween Hanging,’ it was a corpse; and that is exactly what we will be questioning on this episode. We will explore some dark territory, looking staged suicidal hangings, homicidal hangings and the history of hanging as a method of execution. We will also discuss the phenomena of crime scene staging, and try to reach our own verdict on the case of the mysterious death of Rebecca Zahau. 

Special Guest Story Teller Robert Chauncey, Creator of The Tunnels Podcast  Check it out Here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tunnels-podcast/id1139556079?mt=2 Read More …