About this podcast
Welcome to Strange Country, a podcast devoted to bizarre, surreal and extraordinary stories that make America the weird place it is. Co-hosts Kelly and Beth are former newspaper reporters turned school librarians who have always had a soft spot for a good story--the stranger the better. Discover the first woman to survive a barrel ride over Niagara Falls and the man who invented "complex marriage" in one of the most successful utopian experiments. Things get weird pretty quickly around here.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 319 episodes
- Strange Country Ep. 320: American Poltergeists · 49 min · Episode 320Are poltergeists the result of repressed emotion or is it all a bunch of hooey? Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss two such alleged poltergeist cases: one in…
- Strange Country Ep. 319: Lizzie Borden Monster Meh · 53 min · Episode 319We know dramatic license is a thing, but sometimes it can be taken way too far and become the projectile vomit that is Ryan Murphy's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. Strange…
- Strange Country Ep. 318: Piss Christ · 58 min · Episode 318Beth and Kelly are hoping the title alone will launch Strange Country into a culture war or at least get you to listen. In today's episode, Beth and Kelly are joined by in-house…
- Strange Country Ep. 317: Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar · 52 min · Episode 317It's time to pump up that flabby womb, everyone. Grab a bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar, make sure your feet are elevated a good 10 inches while sitting on a toilet and get ready…
- Strange Country Ep. 316: The Barbizon · 57 min · Episode 316Originally titled "Women, Ammiright? The Barbizon, Sylvia and the Rosenbergs in the summer of 1953 'merca," this episodes dives into some of the famous residents of the…
- Strange Country Ep. 315: JZ Knight · 56 min · Episode 315Put on your blindfolds, fill a wine glass to the brim and get ready to listen to the blather of a 35,000-year-old Lemurian god/warrior named Ramtha. It is only possible through…
- Strange Country Ep. 314: Jennicam · 56 min · Episode 314Long before influencers were telling us to shove garlic in all orifices to cure hot-dog fingers, a college student thought it would be interesting to write a computer program…
- Strange Country Ep. 313: America's Most Hated Woman · 58 min · Episode 313How do you become the Most Hated Woman in America? Kelly and Beth have been trying for nine years, but we still have no trophy with those words. And maybe that's a good thing. Is…
- Strange Country Ep. 312: Bath School Massacre · 48 min · Episode 312America is known for multiple things: apple pie, Mr. T, and school massacres. But the worst massacre of all time is likely one you've never heard of before. Strange Country…
- Strange Country Ep. 311: Tylenol Poisonings · 55 min · Episode 311In 1982, seven people died after taking doses of Extra Strength Tylenol, leading to a full-blown and safety standards for over-the-counter meds. To this day, the murders remain…
- Strange Country Ep. 310: Inez Nathaniel-Walker · 45 min · Episode 310Hey dear Dash Hounds, we are back this week in a regular kind of way talking about a woman you probably have never heard of—unless you are a folk art phenom like Beth. Learn…
- Strange Country Ep. 309: Viola Liuzzo · 51 min · Episode 309It may seem the government's technique of denigrating the people they kill to make it appear that the killing was justified is a new fun thing in 2026, but we've been here…
- Strange Country Ep. 308: Psychic Readers Network · 58 min · Episode 308"Ask again later" would have been a common response if you had asked your magic eight ball when Strange Country would have a new episode over the last weeks. But now "the outlook…
- Strange Country Ep. 307: Huey Long · 1 h 2 min · Episode 307While he may have been called a demagogue and a counterfeit Mussolini, Huey Long had some darn tootin' good ideas—mainly taxing the rich into oblivion. Strange Country cohosts…
- Strange Country Ep. 306: ELIZA · 49 min · Episode 306In 1964, MIT researcher Joseph Weizenbaum created the first therapy chatbot ELIZA and realized soon after that it sucked and humanity was worse for it. Sixty years later, our new…
- Strange Country Ep. 305: The Page Act · 44 min · Episode 305Hey Dash Hounds! Remember when that famous person said the thing that the other famous person put on a coffee mug? "The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing…
- Strange Country Ep. 304: Villisca Axe Murders · 51 min · Episode 304Tis Pumpkin Spice time and Strange Country has a spooky story to listen to as you drink a pumpkin spice-flavored whatever gets you through this America 2025. Co-hosts Beth and…
- Strange Country Ep. 303: It's Britney, Bitch · 1 h 1 min · Episode 303It's Strange Country, bitch. Yes, we're back. Has anything happened? Likely no. In today's episode cohosts Beth and Kelly tackle the conservatorship saga of pop icon Britney…
- Strange Country Ep. 302: Candy Darling · 54 min · Episode 302We all know that women and men are monoliths, right? Women like shoes and the government controlling their bodies; men like muscled-up NFTs of Donald Trump and bench-pressing…
- Strange Country Ep. 301: Dr. Feelgood · 57 min · Episode 301What do you do when you need a little pick-me-up? Exercise? Drink some coffee? Laugh uproariously at Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly? For some, like politicians and celebs…
- Strange Country Ep. 300: Streaking · 42 min · Episode 300Dear Dashhounds, have you lost the ability to handle all the things? Enough that you are thinking about bringing back the streaking fad of the 70s? Before you get all hot and…
- Strange Country Ep. 299: Charlotte Osgood Mason · 50 min · Episode 299Charlotte Osborne Mason was one of the biggest benefactors of the Harlem Renaissance but her patronage came with a cost. While she gave noted luminaries Langston Hughes and Zora…
- Strange Country Ep. 298: Rhinelander v. Rhinelander · 60 min · Episode 298We love our trials of the century here at Strange Country and this one is a doozy. It's likely one you've never heard of: Rhinelander v Rhinelander. See a young aristocrat…
- Strange Country Ep. 297: Elizabeth Dilling · 56 min · Episode 297Does it make you feel better to know that America has always been populated by horrible people determined to ostracize others and destroy our democratic principles? Probably not…
- Strange Country Ep. 296: The Apprentice · 59 min · Episode 296With the on-again, off-again tariffs and total economic sh*tstorm, one wonders why anyone ever thought Donald Trump had any economic sense. That's because Mark Burnett…
- Strange Country Ep. 295: Alice Duer Miller · 47 min · Episode 295Hey Readers! Alice Duer Miller was a women of her time and ours! Who was she? Why don't you know? Because she is a woman, and that's a dangerous word these days. Theme music: Big…
- Strange Country Ep. 294: The Real World · 1 h 0 min · Episode 294This is a true story. Of two strange podcasters picked to podcast in an attic about a strange country. Find out what happens when Beth and Kelly stop being polite and start…
- Strange Country Ep. 293: Candid Camera · 1 h 8 min · Episode 293Smile, you're listening to a podcast about Candid Camera. Created by Allen Funt, Candid Camera was America's first prank reality show. A case could be made that this show is…
- Strange Country Ep. 292: Plants Know What You Think About This Podcast · 48 min · Episode 292Well Dash Hounds, if you are still out there listening and tuning in, we are thankful. Listening is an act of love. Love brings joy, and joy is a form of resistance. So sit back…
- Strange Country Ep. 291: David Starr Jordan · 60 minSince we heard America was "being made great again" or something, we decided it was time for Strange Country to return. This time, cohosts Beth and Kelly tackle the story of…
- Strange Country Ep. 290: Ed Gein · 51 min · Episode 290It's the spooky season, and this episode is a doozy and an oozy, as in the oozing of decomposing bodies. Ed Gein, the inspiration behind characters Norman Bates, Leatherface and…
- Strange Country Ep. 289: Night of Terror · 42 min · Episode 289Hey Dashhounds, it's our favorite month for creepy tales at Strange Country! October brings warmish temperatures at night, hot sunny days, hurricanes with power that you have…
- Strange Country Ep. 288: Talking Dolphins · 56 min · Episode 288The mid-20th century was heady times full of LSD, and a NASA flush with cash, which is how we get to today's story about a scientist trying to get dolphins to speak English…
- Strange Country Ep. 287: Free Town Project · 1 h 0 min · Episode 287New Hampshire seemed like the perfect state to start a libertarian utopia. No sales or income tax, aversion to governmental interference and the motto "Live free or die." But for…
- Strange Country Ep. 286: Hidden History of White Southern Women and Those They Enslaved · 35 min · Episode 286Things are changing in 'Merica, we can feel it. Join Beth and Kelly today as we tell the tale of white women in the south who played a very major role in the trading of enslaved…
- Strange Country Ep. 285: Project 2025, Part 2 · 52 min · Episode 285In today's episode Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly slog through the remaining 4,567,324 pages of Project 2025, a manifesto to turn America into Dante's 8th circle of hell…
- Strange Country Ep. 284: Project 2025, Part 1 · 58 min · Episode 284Project 2025 is a 920-page bloated opus about taking our fragile democracy and turning into Christian Nationalist nightmare if Trump gets back into the oval office. And Beth read…
- Strange Country Ep. 283: Play Time · 52 min · Episode 283Hey Dash Hounds, you clever playful listeners. Why do we play? Are we even allowed to play as adults without judgment. Not if Beth is around. In this episode, Kelly and Beth…
- Strange Country Ep. 282: John Leonard Orr · 54 min · Episode 282What should you not do if you commit crimes? Write a book where the main character is someone just like you doing the very crimes you are doing. John Leonard Orr, fire captain…
- Strange Country Ep. 281: Quest for Immortality · 59 min · Episode 281Charles Lindbergh wasn't only known for that flight, his weird reverence for Nazis and being the public face of America First, he was also interested in literal immortality. In…
- Strange Country Ep. 280: Gimme Some Credit · 53 min · Episode 280Dear Dash Hounds, join Beth and Kelly as we try to pull the curtain open on the Wonderful Wizard of credit scores. Do you know your credit score? Do you care? Has it ruined your…
- Strange Country Ep. 279: Robbers Cave Experiment · 50 min · Episode 279The mid-20th century was the heyday of figuring out why humans were the worst through the use of social psychological experiments. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk…
- Strange Country Ep. 278: Emma Goldman · 49 min · Episode 278Hey Dash Hounds, are you still there? Beth and Kelly are. Or are we? Has ChatGPT taken over? Can it? We are just women after all. What is our worth? In this episode, we will talk…
- Strange Country Ep. 277: The Sullivan Institute · 1 h 6 min · Episode 277Happy 2024! And Beth and Kelly are back with another tale of another cult on another year of Strange Country. What's to say? It starts off with plans for communal living and…
- Strange Country Ep. 276: OneTaste · 1 h 1 min · Episode 276You've heard of six-minute abs, but how about the 15-minute orgasm? That's what Nicole Daedone of OneTaste was touting; female empowerment through clitoris stimulation. Then like…
- Strange Country Ep. 275: Henry Darger · 50 min · Episode 275Henry Darger is one of the most profitable outsider artists out there. Unfortunately he didn't reap the benefit of that while he was alive, spending much of it in abject poverty…
- ENCORE: Strange Country Ep. 274: Bohemian Grove · 54 min · Episode 274Welcome dash hounds to an old episode from the pre-covid days when men could be rich men and spend the weekend urinating on trees and ruminating on how they could make life…
- Strange Country Ep. 273: Kary Mullis · 46 min · Episode 273We're sure you've heard of the Nobel Prize although it's hard to make the case Beth has since she mispronounces it quite a bit in this episode. But have you heard of Nobel…
- ENCORE: Strange Country Ep. 272: Killers of the Flower Moon · 1 h 0 min · Episode 272Welcome to a blast from the past. This is a re-release of ep. 59 The Osage Murders, repackaged as Killers of the Flower Moon to coincide with the new film by Martin Scorsese…
- Strange Country Ep. 271: Candyman · 38 min · Episode 271Hey DashHounds, if you were listening last episode, we mentioned the true story of Candyman. This may be the very first time Beth and Kelly said "we should look into that" and…
