Ripley Radio

FAmong the greatest conspiracies that you may not know about is the Great Abraham Lincoln Pocket Watch Conspiracy. That’s also the name of a new book. It’s author, Jacopo della Quercia joins us this week on Ripley Radio, the official radio show of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and tells us his story is based on true historical facts, but that he added some very quirky fictional twists. We also hear about a church whose pastor moved its Sunday services to a strip club in town because he wanted to better reach the underserved Christians in the area. Additional weird, strange and unusual stories you’ll hear on the June 9 episode of Ripley Radio: Chad Lewis takes us road trippin’ to Kansas where we visit the home of the original piggy bank; we talk with a lady who found $40,000 of cash in a used sofa she bought at a Salvation Army Thrift Shop and find out whether she returned it or kept it and why she made that decision; Angela looks at some of the amazing inventions that young kids have made over the years; and Ripley’s archivist Edward Meyer tells us how close the company was to acquiring a Beatle’s home-made movie for free that sold for more than a million dollars. The Bangles provide us with our rocking musical egress this week with Hazy Shade of Winter.

Fire officials in Waterville, Maine were confronted with a blazing fire in a truck in the Wal-Mart parking lot and upon arrival were quite surprised at the cargo contained in that truck! Fire chief David La Fountain joins us this week on Ripley Radio, the official radio show of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and explains. Sara Latta, author of Scared Stiff, a book about the top 50 phobias, tells us all about the fears associated with spiders and snakes. Additional weird but true stories on the June 2 episode of Ripley Radio include: Chad Lewis takes us road trippin’ to Nebraska where we visit the home town of late night king Johnny Carson and a Klown Doll museum with more than 7,000 dolls; TV reporter Nick La Grange shares a feel-good story about an auto theft in Evansville, Ind. It’s bizarre but touching; Angela shares a few interesting secrets behind some of the iconic scenes of your favorite movies; We hear of a man whose last name is Cocaine. Why is he on Ripley Radio? He got busted for illegal drugs; and Ripley’s archivist Edward Meyer describes the strangest and possibly the freakiest item he has ever acquired for Ripley’s Believe It or Not! It’s a sculpture of a two-foot tall thumb and it lights up. The freaky part is what it is made of. Tune in and be grossed out as all of us were! Avicii provides the musical egress this week with Hey Brother.

A bear with a jar stuck on his head in the Canadian city of Sudbury was rescued by officials after it blindly walked into a police cruiser! Was it the REAL Winnie the Pooh? This week on Ripley Radio, the official radio show of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, talks with a constable who helped the young bear. The overwhelming fear of needles and blood is discussed this week by Sara Latta in the third installment in her series on strange and weird phobias. Additional bizarre, weird but totally true stories discussed on the May 26 episode of Ripley Radio include: Ralf talks with a TV reporter who uncovered a heroin selling ring taking place from the intensive care ward of the local hospital; Chad Lewis takes us road trippin’ again this week to Colorado where one can watch a drive-in movie from their motel room and where one can climb the steps of an official alien-watching platform where they can be amongst the first to spot a spacecraft speeding toward Earth; Angela reports on a new study that shows that lathering your beef and pork with beer prior to cooking it on the outside grill can cut down on your cancer risks; We hear where a 26-story tall game of Tetris was played; and Ralf tells us of a 5-year old boy who figured out how to bypass parental controls and passwords on Xbox. Tennessee based rock band Paramore provides our musical egress this week with Ain’t it Fun?

Butch Patrick, better known as Eddie Munster on the iconic TV series, The Munsters, visits us this week on Ripley Radio, the official radio show of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and tells us about his plans to restore his haunted ancestral home in Macon, Mo. Author Sara Latta joins us again this week and explains the phobias of cats and the number 13. Additional Bizarre, Strange and Weird Stories on the May 19 Edition of Ripley Radio include: Our expert on the charms of Roadside America, Chad Lewis takes us road trippin’ again this week as we visit The Bridges of West Virginia; We hear that five children born this year so far have the name of ZZYZX and that a California town has the same name; Ripley’s archivist Edward Meyer reports on one of Ripley’s newest, and strangest acquisitions ever, a cow magnet. Once a farmer gets it into the cow’s stomach, it protects the bovine by collecting all the extraneous metal objects he eats during his life; Student Walker Harnden has just broken the record for the highest pitched human whistle ever recorded. He talks with Ralf and samples his whistling skills; and we learn that a school in London is now teaching dogs how to take selfies on an iPad! Newcomer Rixton provides this week’s musical egress with his hit, Me and My Broken Heart.

Two volunteers who have trained for a trip to Mars in simulated environments in the U.S., talk with Ripley Radio, the official broadcast program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, about their time isolated in these environs. We start off four-week series on bizarre phobias and on road trippin’ to offbeat and strange roadside attractions. Additional weird, crazy, strange and wacky stories on the May 12 Edition of Ripley Radio includes: Sara Latta, author of Scared Stiff – Everything you need to know about 50 famous phobias, delves into the bizarre phobias centered on clowns and dolls; Chad Lewis takes us on a road trip to Chicago where he discovers a person can walk from the beginning to the end of the famous Route 66, in less than 30 seconds; we hear from a Portland, Ore., man who has created a web-enabled cat toy that allows anyone anywhere to interact with live cats at several humane societies across the country; Ripley archivist Edward Meyer informs us that he has actually stood on (a piece of) Mars; and Ralf tells us about a woman in Michigan who has worked at the same KFC restaurant for 50 years, and to make things even stranger, her daughter has worked at that same restaurant for the past 34 years! Miley Cyrus loves to have fun, and she provides our musical egress this week with her own version of Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Richard Reames grows boats and chairs! He plants trees in a pattern, waters and waits as they grow into what he wants them to be. He visits Ripley Radio, the official radio show of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! this week and tells us how, and why, he does this. Chad Lewis takes us on a road trip to Southern Wisconsin, where he discovers the Garden of Eden. Additional weird, crazy, strange and wacky stories on the May 5 Edition of Ripley Radio includes: Skidmore College is offering a summer course based on Miley Cyrus. Ralf finds out it’s much more than a class on popular culture when he talks with the assistant professor who will be teaching it; Angela reports on a new cell phone fit for the spies amongst us – it self-destructs if tampered with; Chad Lewis tells the tale of a mansion that purportedly grew and shrank on its own, and nobody could figure out how it did it; In her Weird Medical Malady Minute, Jodi Pliszka informs us if the doctor can’t figure out what’s ailing you, check out what alien objects you may have in your stomach; Award-winning Florida broadcaster Scott Fais describes a small island on Florida’s West Coast inhabited only by monkeys, with a warning to not get too close; A man on a business trip to Europe buys one of the missing Faberge Eggs from the Court of Imperial Russia for $15,000. He bought it for the gold value, not realizing at the time that it was worth many, many millions. We unveil its value; and we hear of a new mummy discovery in Germany. The mummified woman was discovered sitting in a chair in front of her turned-on television. For our musical egress this week, we hear the award-winning country song by Kacey Musgraves, Merry Go ‘Round.

Margot Adler has read more than 270 books and in return, she has written a book about that experience, Vampires are Us, and brewmaster Justin Low is making beer with goat brains! We talk with both this week, on the April 28 edition of Ripley Radio, the official broadcast program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Additional weird, crazy, strange and wacky stories on this week’s show includes: Sara Latta shares a few of the most bizarre phobias that she writes about in her new book, Scared Stiff, when she talks with Tim; Chad Lewis takes us back on the highway with a couple ideas for May road trips – to a Bonnie and Clyde Festival and to the world famous Pun-off; Florida broadcaster Scott Fais recalls the night he spent in a haunted mansion in St. Augustine; Angela reveals that there was a city named Vulcan, long before the Star Trek series began; and Ripley archivist Edward Meyer gets excited while telling us about the newest heads he has acquired for our already huge skull collection. Focus provides the musical egress this week with the haunting, Hurkey Turkey.

Brittany Walsh shot an arrow at David Letterman and he loved it! Her “stupid human trick” was the hit of the night. This week on Ripley Radio, she tells us all about that night and how she hit her target, standing on her hands and shooting the bow with her feet! We also hear about a new revolution in tasting! A company has created an aromafork, a utensil that provides different flavors and smells to your food. The product goes on sale this summer. Additional Weird, Wacky, and Strange Stories on the April 21 episode of Ripley Radio, the official radio program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: The apartment where President Barack Obama lived while attending Law School at Columbia University in New York City, is now a Bed and Breakfast and can be rented by the night; hikers going up Mt. Everest must now bring back an additional 17 pounds of trash, or be fined. Angela tells us it’s all a part of a major clean-up of the mountain; Chad Lewis takes us on a couple interesting road trips. First we go to a town in Pennsylvania that has been on fire for more than 50 years, and then to a valley in Missouri where a light mysteriously appears most nights. Nobody has been able to figure out where it comes from or where it goes when approached; Emmy-award winning TV reporter Scott Fais takes us to a swamp where a relative of Florida’s famed skunk ape has been seen; a pizza shop owner hates to see his pizza dipped in Ranch Dressing, so much that he charges $1,000 for anyone who wants some of the condiment; and Edward tells us that Ripley’s Bizarre Buying Bazaar will be at the Believe It or Not! museum in Panama City Beach, Fla., on April 18 & 19. He’ll be there with Ripley’s checkbook looking for oddities of all kinds to add to the Ripley’s archives. Meklit provides this week’s musical egress with Slow.

Amelia Earhart to fly solo around the world! Big news then, big news now and Ripley Radio this week talks with the “new” Earhart as she plans her 28,000 mile journey. The 31-year old tells Ralf that with the name her parents gave her, she was destined to be a pilot. Most of us never have a near-death experience, but Brooklyn’s Robert Kopecky has had three and he tells Tim that each one was different and each taught him a different lesson. He shares those lessons with us and talks about his new book, “How to Survive Life and Death.” Additional Weird, Wacky, and Strange Stories on the April 14 Episode of Ripley Radio, the official radio program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: On Wednesday, April 16, Mezco Toyz, the creators of the popular Living Dead Dolls will be displaying a time capsule full of product from the 16-year history of the doll series at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in Times Square, New York City. The capsule coffin will be interred and opened in 66.6 years. We hear more about this crazy publicity stunt from a company representative; Ripley archivist Edward Meyer notes how surprised he has been that Robert Ripley never wrote or drew anything about Amelia Earhart during his long career, but the company has since acquired several, which are now on display at the San Diego Air and Space Museum; Jodi Pliszka describes this week’s Weird Medical Malady as Hyper Empathy; Florida TV reporter Scott Fais gives us an alternative to a traditional church for Easter service this year, a drive-in church with plenty of coffee and doughnuts for everyone; and we hear that the Doomsday Seed Bank has added 20,000 new varieties of seeds, including 600 types of beer barley seeds!

Presidential conspiracies go back to the first assignation of a U.S. president. This week on Ripley Radio, the official broadcast program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, historian James Taylor reveals that John Wilkes Booth, the actor who killed Abraham Lincoln, may not have been caught as thought and went on to live a long life and then a long second life on carnival and circus sideshows as a mummified exhibit. We also hear about MIT students who have created a way for a person to feel the sensations of the book that they are reading. It is truly a literary breakthrough! Other Weird, Wacky and Strange Stories you will Hear on the April 7 Episode of Ripley Radio: Ripley archivist Edward Meyer picks up where James Taylor left off and explains that the body of John Wilkes Booth is actually hidden in a barn in Maryland and its owner has offered to sell it to Ripley’s on two different occasions. Edward explains why he hasn’t purchased it and why he doesn’t think it is genuine; Chad Lewis takes us on a road trip to the site of an alien landing in Aztec, N.M., and to an Enchanted Highway in North Dakota; Hollywood’s Dr. Edward Lamadrid explains the alternative and often kooky medical procedures the stars and starlets of Tinseltown choose, including the newest rage – cupping; Angela advises us if we mix our alcoholic drinks with a diet soda, any Breathalyzer test will spike an additional 18% over what it would be if we mixed it with regular soda; and Ralf celebrates that this year’s Ducktona 500 will take place now that rubber duck racing is legal in Wisconsin. We go back into the vinyl archives to present this week’s musical egress, Song on the Radio, by Al Stewart..

Ripley’s has the world’s greatest collection of shrunken heads, but we also have a couple very rare shrunken torsos and dozens of mummified body parts in the archives. James Taylor’s series on mummies continues this week on Ripley Radio, the official broadcast program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and Ripley archivist Edward Meyer joins in the dialogue of the mysteries of Dr. Struve’s shrunken bodies. Jodi Pliszka reports on a weird medical malady in which a person can’t stop giving things away. She calls it pathological generosity. Additional Weird, Wacky, and Strange Stories you’ll hear on the March 31 Edition of Ripley Radio: Alaska has its Iditarod and Brooklyn, N.Y. has its Idiotarod, a sport in which involves pushing people around in shopping carts. The former thinks the New Yorker’s are infringing on their brand and have issued a warning; Chad Lewis takes us on a road trip to Austin, Minn. where we visit the famous Spam Museum; Ralf tells the story of how 90 cows in Germany raised the roof of their barn, as a result of their bovine belching and flatulence; Angela reports on some of the greatest April Fool’s Day pranks of all time, ranging from a guy who faked a volcano eruption to a team in Italy that picked pasta off their spaghetti trees; and speaking of mummies, the mummified body of a lady who had been dead for six years, was found in the backseat of her car, in her garage. No one had looked in there for six years! Lorde provides this week’s musical egress with Team.

It’s springtime at Ripley Radio, the official radio program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and that means more unbelievable baseball oddities and April Fool’s Day pranks. We talk with our favorite weird baseball mogul, Mike Veeck and he tells us of his plans to feature bobble legs, instead of bobble heads, this summer in honor of his father’s peg leg. We also hear from the manager of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs about his team’s bacon-themed uniforms and the scratch and sniff bacon t-shirts in the team’s gift shop. He also announces that he won the best minor league promotion of the season last year with his men’s room urinal video games. Additional Weird and Wacky Stories you’ll Hear on the March 24 Edition of Ripley Radio: Sideshow historian James Taylor begins a three-week series on contemporary mummies by telling the tale of Elmer McCurdy who was passed around amongst exhibitors until he ended up in an amusement park dark ride with his owners thinking he was made of paper Mache, until the day his arm fell off; Edward tells us about the three carnival sideshow mummies that Ripley has in its collection and how each is equally weird and different; Chad Lewis digs into history and explains why April first is the prank-filled day it is and reports on a few of his favorite pranks of all times; and Angela and Ralf disclose the greatest baseball pranks ever pulled. And in keeping with our tribute to mummies, we feature the Nashville-based funk band, Here Come the Mummies with Jump on my Ship as this week’s musical egress.

Believe It or Not! there is an event in Japan in which Sumo wrestlers compete in how long and loud they can make babies cry. The 400-year old traditional spring competition is coming up in April and you’ll hear all about this week from Chad Lewis on Ripley Radio, the official radio program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! We’ll also hear from a professor of a popular course in death and dying at Cal State who also runs a hospice for dogs on death’s door. Additional Weird and Wacky Stories you’ll Hear on the March 17 Episode of Ripley Radio: Ralf provides the ultimate answer to why the chicken crossed the road, at least in Gainesville, Fla.; Angela tells us that $4.5 billion worth of booze will be consumed on St. Patrick’s Day; Edward is headed to Phoenix this weekend for Ripley’s Bizarre Buying Bazaar at the Arizona Science Center; we hear of students who mixed jelly fish and a peanut butter concoction and now have living peanut butter jelly fish; Robert Robinson, author of the new book, Legend Tripping – The Ultimate Family Experience explains how much fun it is to take your entire family out looking for ghosts, aliens and bigfoot; and the feel good story of the week features an interview with Ressurrection Graves, a former homeless executive in Washington DC who found a husband and founded a national charity all while homeless. Our musical egress this week is Holding on for Life, by the Broken Bells.

This week on Ripley Radio, the official radio program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! features a fellow who has kissed the famous Blarney Stone in Ireland. Chad Lewis claims that it has helped him with his gift of gab. In our popular Weird Medical Malady of the Week segment, Jodi Pliszka explains the rare Exploding Head Syndrome, in which a person experiences strange and strong auditory hallucinations while sleeping. Additional Weird and Wacky Facts you’ll Hear on the March 10 Episode of Ripley Radio: The Safe House restaurant in Milwaukee has been named by Readers Digest as one of the weirdest places to eat in America. What makes it weird? There are no exterior signs, the doors stay locked and you need a special password to get in. Agent Shauna, the official spokesperson for the spy-themed eatery fascinates Ralf with her stories; As a student project at an Iowa high school, teacher John Cisna went on a 90-day diet, eating only at McDonald’s and ended up losing 37 pounds and becoming much healthier. Cisna tells us all about it; Lynn Waddell, author of Fringe Florida, closes out her four-week run with us and discloses more Florida weirdness from her popular book; Ralf reports that an Ohio man had been planning his funeral for decades and earlier this year when he died, his wishes were granted and he was buried, sitting up on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, with his helmet on, in a huge Plexiglas coffin; and we hear about police in China, Maine, responding to loud screams and noise that neighbors thought was a domestic violence incident. The screams turned out to be from a male pig that was put into a pen with five female pigs in heat! In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and in homage to Irishmen throughout the world, Ireland’s own Saw Doctors provide this week’s musical egress, FCA. (Ireland’s Army reserve forces).

The world’s largest vinyl record now serves as the roof of the Forum in Los Angeles. The huge copy of the Eagles’ Hotel California spins at 17 miles-per-hour and has 15,000 LED lights. Angela reports on the unique addition to the LA skyline on this week’s Ripley Radio, the official radio program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! The Denver (Colo.) County Fair plans to get in on the legalized marijuana bandwagon in August, by offering up what could possibly be America’s first legal Pot Pavilion. The fair’s Tracy Weil explains why they are doing it and what they plan to feature inside during the event. Additional Weird and Wacky facts you’ll hear on the March 3 Episode of Ripley Radio: Yes, it is true. Actor Dan Ackroyd has joined the sheriff’s department in Mississippi. Sheriff Tyronne Lewis joins us and relates how he met Ackroyd and why deputizing the actor is a great idea; Ripley’s official illustrator John Graziano drops by and explains what a precise task it is to produce the daily Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, the world’s longest running cartoon panel; Lynn Waddell, author of Fringe Florida, explains why the state of Florida has more nudist colonies than any other state and communicates with us about her recent visit to one of the largest; Ralf relates the painful experience of a woman who had a porcupine land, upside down, on top of her head; and in our Weird Medical Malady of the Week segment, Jodi Pliszka reports on a woman who received a flu shot and can now only walk backward. It’s weird, it’s true and it’s right here on the Ripley Radio Oddcast. Rick Vito, a former member of Fleetwood Mac and a Grammy-nominated guitar player, provides this week’s musical egress, Voodoo Woman.