Cover of Strange Country

Strange Country

Strange Country

By: Strange Country
Listen for free

Season's Savings | 0.99 €/month for 3 months

5.99 €/month thereafter - terms apply. Cancel monthly.
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.2017 Strange Country Podcast
Episodes
  • Strange Country Ep. 319: Lizzie Borden Monster Meh

    Strange Country Ep. 319: Lizzie Borden Monster Meh
    8 Oct 2026

    We 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 Country cohosts Beth and Kelly pick apart fact from projectile vomit and retell the story of Lizzie Borden, a tale they told in their 3rd episode. Did we mention the projectile vomit? There is so much projectile vomit in that stupid show.

    Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands.

    Cite your sources:

    Cawley, Laurence. "Cambridge University academic's quest to clear Elizabeth Bathory's name." BBC, 28 May 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-69057709. Accessed 27 September 2026. Griffiths, Diana. "Exploding a Myth: the Manchester Connection – Hatchet Online." Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum, May 2004, https://lizzieandrewborden.com/hatchetonline/exploding-a-myth-the-manchester-connection/. Accessed 27 September 2026. Miller, Sarah. The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century. Random House Children's Books, 2019. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Netflix, 2026. Todisco, Eric. "Exclusive | Ed Gein biographer slams Ryan Murphy's 'Monster' Season 3: 'Pure fabrication.'" NY Post, 8 October 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/10/08/entertainment/ed-gein-biographer-harold-schechter-slams-monster-season-3-ryan-murphy/. Accessed 27 September 2026. Strange Country Podcast. "Lizzie Borden" Ep. 3 2017. Vargas, Ramon Antonio. "Mother of Dahmer victim condemns Netflix series: 'I don't see how they can do that.'" The Guardian, 10 October 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/10/dahmer-victim-tony-hughes-mother-condemns-netflix-series. Accessed 27 September 2026.
    Show more Show less
    53 min
  • Strange Country Ep. 318: Piss Christ

    Strange Country Ep. 318: Piss Christ
    3 Sep 2026
    Beth 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 artist expert Terry to talk about an early culture war focused on government funding of the arts. In 1989, Andres Serrano's photograph of a crucifix immersed in a tank of his own urine ignited a culture war. And culture wars continue to rage to this day, leading some to ponder such enduring issues like whether woke made the girl M&M less sexy. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Ansar, Hibah. "Revisiting the NEA Four: Free Speech Battles in the Arts." ACLU, 8 September 2025, https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/revisiting-the-nea-four-free-speech-battles-in-the-arts. Accessed 18 August 2026. Butler, Isaac. The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars. Bloomsbury USA, 2026. Cantor, Matthew. "'A proxy for America's culture war': why Cracker Barrel's new logo sparked ire on the right." The Guardian, 28 August 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/28/cracker-barrel-logo-trump. Accessed 23 August 2026. Hagan, Lisa, and Jeff Brady. "Gas stoves became part of the culture war in less than a week. Here's why." NPR, 21 January 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/01/21/1150397853/gas-stoves-became-part-of-the-culture-war-in-less-than-a-week-heres-why. Accessed 23 August 2026. Hogan, Joseph, director. When Art Fuels Anger, Who Should Prevail? 2023. Retro Report, https://retroreport.org/video/when-art-fuels-anger-who-should-prevail/. Accessed 17 August 2026. Serrano, Andres. "2022 GIA Conference: Andres Serrano" Grantmakers in the Arts, Keynote address, YouTube, uploaded by Grantmakers in the Arts, 10 October 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P9rGvqa03M&t=30s Smith, David. "'People are picking the dumbest fights': the tortured history of America's culture wars." The Guardian, 15 July 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/15/culture-wars-isaac-butler-interview. Accessed 23 August 2026. Walker, Michael Wingfield. "Artistic F tistic Freedom v eedom v. Censorship: The Aftermath of the NEA . Censorship: The Aftermath of the NEA's New Funding Restrictions." Washington University Law Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1993, p. 21. Washington University Law Review, https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1800&context=law_lawreview. Accessed 18 August 2026.
    Show more Show less
    58 min
  • Strange Country Ep. 317: Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar

    Strange Country Ep. 317: Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar
    13 Aug 2026

    It'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 for the tale of "Dr." Paul Bragg and his health knowledge about the benefits of apple cider vinegar. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly share nuggets from Bragg's tome Apple Cider Vinegar: Miracle Health System written 19 years after his death at the age of 80 or 199—what are numbers or facts or science or reality—who cares? The guy in charge of the federal health complex freezes raccoon penises.

    Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands.

    Cite your sources:

    Bragg, Patricia, and Paul C. Bragg. Apple Cider Vinegar: Miracle Health System. Bragg, 2020.

    Cramp, Arthur J. (1936). Nostrums and Quackery and Pseudo-Medicine, Volume 3. Press of American Medical Association. pp. 145-147

    Fort worth Star-Telegram. 5 Apr. 1934. America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb-newsbank-cay.orc.scoolaid.net/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-K12&docref=image/v2%3A10EEA3CFD727D370%40EANX-K12-1482430342CC829A%402427533-1480E8695F83046B%403-1480E8695F83046B%40. Accessed 25 July 2026.

    Masters, Nathan. "How a Health Guru Helped L.A. Discover its Hiking Trails." PBS, 19 August 2014, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/how-a-health-guru-helped-l-a-discover-its-hiking-trails. Accessed 25 July 2026.

    "The Mysterious Life Of Mr. Bragg: The Man Behind Apple Cider Vinegar's Rise." Pendulum Newsletter, 22 September 2022, https://pendulumnewsletter.com/news/the-untold-story-of-braggs-apple-cider-vinegar/. Accessed 25 July 2026

    Oregonian. 3 Nov. 1932. America's Historical Newspapers, infoweb-newsbank-cay.orc.scoolaid.net/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-K12&docref=image/v2%3A11A73E5827618330%40EANX-K12-12A275C4C90DA159%402427015-1299E01660B9883C%408-1299E01660B9883C%40. Accessed 25 July 2026.

    Schwarcz, Joe. "Apple Cider Vinegar…Again." Office for Science and Society, 8 Oct. 2025, https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/apple-cider-vinegaragain.
    Show more Show less
    52 min
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet