Ripley Radio

Less than 200 people have gone below the sea to visit the Titanic in the 100 years since it sank. Fran Capo, a regular Ripley Radio Oddcast contributor is one of them. This week, she relates how she got to be one of the lucky ones, the world record she set while submerged more than two miles below the surface, and she candidly tells us what her greatest fear during the trip was. You’ll be surprised as to what it was! May is the start of the summer in most regions of the Northern Hemisphere and that means the start of a long string of unusual and bizarre fairs, festivals and events. If weird is in your travel plans for 2012, make sure you listen as our ensemble talks about everything from the Garlic Festival and the Monkey Buffett Festival to the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival and the Redneck Games. We also cover the Twins Festival and as many of the food throwing festivals we could find!

Lee Speigel, a regular contributor to Ripley Radio – An On-Demand Oddcast and a Huffington Post writer, not only gave a popular presentation to the International UFO Congress last month, but he was also awarded the UFO Researcher of the Year. This week, he talks about the award and about the importance of the UFO Congress. Swami Yomahmi, the self-proclaimed “Original Sideshow Geek,” has one of the most original sideshow acts in the business today – combining traditional acts with a heavy dose of nerdiness and humor! He drops by this week and discusses his act, why he does what he does, and maybe most importantly, what his mother thinks of his line of work!

This week marks the 100th episode of Ripley Radio – An On-Demand Oddcast and during the show we hear from Ripley’s President Jim Pattison Jr. on how the show is helping keep Robert Ripley’s legacy alive and current, and we also hear from many of our guests who we featured during the first 100 shows! We talk with Ray Johnson, the 46-year mayor of Campo, Colo., who is thought to be the most heavily tattooed mayor in the US. Ralf questions him on how his constituency feels about all the ink. You’ll be surprised at his response.

Believe It or Not! creator Robert Ripley has been inducted into the Sideshow Hall of Fame, at Coney Island USA! Ninety-four years after he drew his first Believe It or Not! cartoon and 79 years after he opened his first Odditorium at the Chicago World’s Fair, Ripley officially joins the esteemed lineup of history’s greatest showmen! Tim was there and he reports on how it all went down! An exhibit featuring the secretive Area 51 has just opened at the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas. Ripley’s UFO expert Lee Speigel tells us the the irony that the museum, part of the federally funded Smithsonian Museum group, would feature something that the Federal Government itself has claimed doesn’t exist, wasn’t lost on him. Otherwise, it’s a well done, expansive and educational exhibit, he notes.

Ripley Radio’s tribute to Easter this week features Ripley-style advice on how one should eat a chocolate bunny and author Anne Perciado Rich visits to explain how bunnies and colored eggs became a part of the most important holiday in the Christian religion. Have you ever been in a noisy restaurant or a loud rock concert and have been unable to hear your cell phone or even feel it vibrating? Now, our friends at Nokia are creating the technology that will cause a special tattoo on your body to vibrate when a call or email comes in.

Since its beginning, the Girl to Gorilla illusion has been a hit on circus and carnival midways around the world. Using mirrors, it appears the beautiful girl is slowly turning into a big hairy ape and as she does, the mesmerized crowds stood there silently until something happens that sends them all screaming out of the tent! Sideshow historian James Taylor visits Ripley Radio this week and tells us the reason behind that mass exodus at practically every show. As the tax deadlines approach in the US, we learn that many of the rich and famous owe incredible amounts of back taxes to the US Government. You’ll be amazed to find out what film star still owes nearly $150 million in back taxes!

A nun who gives messages and pigs who serve as ball boys are just a few of the weird and wonderful promotions that baseball club owner and promoter Mike Veeck has propagated over the years. The King of Baseball Promotion drops by Ripley Radio this week and tells us what unusual activities he has planned for his ballparks in 2012. An incredible tale of killing, deception and avoidance of the law is the story behind Fran Capo’s segment about the Boogeyman of Westfield. She wrote about him in her book Myths and Mysteries of New Jersey, and she recounts the amazingly grisly story to our listeners this week.

Bello Nock is perhaps the most recognizable circus performer ever. In creating his own performance niche as a comic daredevil, he shows as much skill as a daredevil as he does as a clown. His foot tall orange hair helps identify him in either role. Tim caught up with Nock for a quick interview prior to the Circus Sarasota presentation of Bello Mania. Duff Beer, the drink of choice of the fictional Homer Simpson, was a fictional drink itself until recently. It is now being brewed as a German Pilsner, but only available in the UK. Angela explains why it has taken so long for a brew named Duff to make it to the marketplace.

David Schuler likes good pizza, so he drives nearly 1,500 miles and across 16 states, from Mississippi to Massachusetts, to get the perfect pizza pie. And he stocks up once he gets there. Last time, he went home with 150 of those tomato-soaked ovals of greatness in his backseat. He visits with us this week on Ripley Radio – An On-Demand Oddcast and tells us about his favorite pizza restaurant. Susan Hyatt says the only difference between lucky and unlucky people is their thoughts. That said, the author of “Create Your Own Luck: 7 Steps to Get Your Lucky On” stops by this week and describes how we all can learn to be lucky!

This year contains the most Friday the 13th occurrences possible in one calendar year – three. And to make things even more daunting for those with Triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13) is that they are exactly 13 weeks apart! This week on the Ripley Radio Worldwide Oddcast, we examine the number and give everyone a little bit more to worry about, such as the fact that dying in a car crash is 64% greater on Friday the 13th! The New Jersey Devil, not the Hockey Team, is legendary in the folklore of New Jersey, and this week the author of Myths and Mysteries of New Jersey, Fran Capo, drops by and traces the history of this monster and provides some credibility to those who claim they have seen it.

It’s a new year and that means there are new Doomsdays predicted that we all must prepare for. Tim Ralston is our guest on Ripley Radio Oddcast this week. He’s a Prepper, one who prepares extensively for Doomsday by stocking up on food, water, batteries, and maybe most important – knowledge. As part of the team on the new National Geographic TV show Doomsdayers 2012, he shares with us what really can happen “out there” and how to prepare for it. Throughout ages, humans have been born with extra body parts, including arms, legs, fingers, and in some cases another human being! Marc Hartzman joins us this week to tell us about very rare example of a man born with an extra mouth – Otto Tolpefer. He was a featured attraction on sideshows in the 1880s in the New York area.

It’s President’s Week here at Ripley Radio – An On-Demand Oddcast, as we present two amazing and unusual stories you won’t find anywhere else. We hear that President Andrew Jackson may be the biggest party animal the White House has ever seen! Author and presidential historian Jacopo della Quercia visits and explains what Jackson’s big and boisterous Cheese Party was all about! We learn from Ian Randall Strock that the fertility of the US Commander in Chief tells us a great deal about how we should judge the success of a president. His research is expansive and he tells us everything you ever wanted to know about fertility, kids, grandkids and siblings in the White House. Check out Ian’s latest presidential book project!

Believe It or Not! David and Lauren Blair of Nashville, Tenn., have married each other 101 times! The couple joins Ripley Radio this week to discuss their love for each other and share some of the weirder vow exchanges the two have made: ranging from several at Hard Rock Cafes to the time Elvis married them in Las Vegas! Dan Meyer, president of the Sword Swallowers Assoc. International, stops by to talk about the upcoming World Sword Swallowers Day on Feb. 25, to be held at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! odditoriums around the world. He notes that this year’s event will be the largest ever, with more than 30 sword swallowers “dropping solid steel” at 10 different Ripley’s locations.