The ‘Gentle Anarchy’ of the Muppets
Icky Gunk. Moldy Hay. Kermit. You might recognize one of these names. Before Kermit joined Miss Piggy and Big Bird, he was kicking it with Sam and Friends—a local TV…
Midnight Magic
From gulping grapes in Spain to donning yellow underwear in South America and practicing Scotland’s ancient “first-footing” tradition, people around the world embrace odd—and oddly meaningful—rituals to ensure good luck…
Episode 163: Ten Years After “Over the Garden Wall”
We're taking a cozy, autumnal trip back in time to "peak television," when animation was truly feral and we had shows like "Over the Garden Wall." We'll talk about this…
Can we avoid the enshittification of clean-energy tech?
In this episode, I chat with author Cory Doctorow about "enshittification," his viral term for how digital platforms and smart technologies inevitably get worse over time. We explore how monopoly…
Witches in Art
This is a (Halloween special!) bonus episode that explores the image of Witches in Art, as told by Professor Lyndal Roper! What is a witch? Where does it stem from?…
Robber Barons, Marcel Duchamp, and Big Museums’ Dirty Little Secrets
In 1915, Marcel Duchamp bought a snow shovel at a hardware store in New York City. He inscribed his signature and the date on its wooden handle. On the evening…
A Victorian cult: inside the strange world of the Agapemone
In the 1840s, a strange, secretive community known as the Agapemonites set up camp in Spaxton, Somerset. Presided over by a rogue Anglican priest who believed he had a hotline…
Richard Simmons
Before building his fitness empire, America’s most bedazzled fitness guru was a guy named Milton from New Orleans.
CuriosiD: Is the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library haunted?
WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode of CuriosiD, we answer the question: “Is the Main Branch of…
Spirit Halloween
Each fall, across the United States and Canada, around 1500 empty storefronts are taken up by the signature yellow, orange and black signage of Spirit Halloween. The seasonal retailer sells…