Sofa King Podcast

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about the largest maritime oil spill in human history, the tragedy and incompetence of the Deepwater Horizon. The Deepwater Horizon was a deep-sea oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, about forty miles from the coast of Louisiana. On April 20, 2010, an explosion rocked the platform, killing 11 and forcing an evacuation. Two days later, the rig sank. This was a bad enough tragedy, but the real horror started when nobody was able to seal the oil well, and every failsafe failed. It was the perfect storm. The normal procedures to shear off the pipe in case of dangerous pressure failed. The robots they sent down to seal it manually failed. The 250 ton concrete dome failed. Back filling it with heavy mud failed. Wishful thinking and corporate lies failed. All that was left was a well that spewed thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf every day. BP claimed it was a 1000 barrels, but some government estimates are between 60,000 to over 100,000. This spill destroyed wildlife by the thousands, grounded dolphins and whales, shut down beaches in several states, and almost killed already endangered species. What was perhaps worse than the oil itself were the chemicals they spread on the oil to make it sink to the bottom of the sea. Did this help the environment? Not at all. Did it help the companies pay less because they were able to hide the true amount of spilled oil? Absolutely! So, who was to blame? That is where it gets tricky. The rig was divided up to different companies which all did different jobs on this particular well. Transocean, British Petroleum (BP), Anadarko, Halliburton, and M-I SWACO all had their hands in the pot. They also all lied about the amount of oil being spilled and pointed fingers at each other. But in spite of all of that, who was really at fault? BP, really. Their smug CEO got fired, they lost a quarter of their earnings for the year, and they got spanked by different government agencies. But at the end of the day, they still killed people, animals, and ecosystems and lied about it with only a slap on the wrist. If you want corporate conspiracy and malfeasance in a podcast, this is the episode for you! This one even has Russia and nukes! Various Lawsuits: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/deepwater-horizon-bp-gulf-mexico-oil-spill Good Site: https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/gulf-oil-spill  

This is a special bonus episode of the World Famous Sofa King Podcast. It is not our normal episode, so don't be sad when you see that it's shorter than usual and doesn't focus on some sick serial killer or government conspiracy. What do we talk about on this episode? I honestly don't feel like discussing it, and even more honestly we recorded it several days ago, so I don't remember. So instead, I'll just post a joke from Norm McDonald. A moth goes into a podiatrist’s office, and the podiatrist’s office says, “What seems to be the problem, moth?” The moth says “What’s the problem? Where do I begin, man? I go to work for Gregory Illinivich, and all day long I work. Honestly doc, I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I don’t even know if Gregory Illinivich knows. He only knows that he has power over me, and that seems to bring him happiness. But I don’t know, I wake up in a malaise, and I walk here and there… at night I…I sometimes wake up and I turn to some old lady in my bed that’s on my arm. A lady that I once loved, doc. I don’t know where to turn to. My youngest, Alexendria, she fell in the…in the cold of last year. The cold took her down, as it did many of us. And my other boy, and this is the hardest pill to swallow, doc. My other boy, Gregarro Ivinalititavitch… I no longer love him. As much as it pains me to say, when I look in his eyes, all I see is the same cowardice that I… that I catch when I take a glimpse of my own face in the mirror. If only I wasn’t such a coward, then perhaps…perhaps I could bring myself to reach over to that cocked and loaded gun that lays on the bedside behind me and end this hellish facade once and for all…Doc, sometimes I feel like a spider, even though I’m a moth, just barely hanging on to my web with an everlasting fire underneath me. I’m not feeling good. And so the doctor says, “Moth, man, you’re troubled. But you should be seeing a psychiatrist. Why on earth did you come here?” And the moth says, “‘Cause the light was on.”  

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we dive into some True Crime, and we talk about the Golden State Killer. He was responsible for well over 100 burglaries, 50 rapes, and at least 13 murders. This guy went by a whole lotta names: The Original Night Stalker, The Visalia Ransacker, and the East Area Rapist. Until 2018 when they finally caught the guy, law enforcement wasn’t even sure these were all different people. Eventually, though, a DNA genealogy website linked them all together and pointed at one man-- Joseph DeAngelo. He started his sicko career as the Visalia Ransacker, where he stalked people, broke into their houses, took small trinkets of no value, and often made a mess and even ate their food. This escalated as he became the East Area Rapist. Here, he would do the same things, but it would culminate in raping the woman of the house. He often did the crime when the husband or boyfriend was home, and he had them bound in the other room with dishes on their chest. Like you do. But, DeAngelo eventually grew bored with just the rapes and break ins, and he shifted to murder. He started to bludgeon and knife his victims, only using a gun when it was going south, and someone got out of their bindings. Eventually, there were enough cases that they put together some pretty horrible composite drawings and a disturbing profile of the killer. They said he needed to dominate in the bedroom, even with his wife, and that he had an abnormally small penis. From the 70s through the 80s, The Golden State Killer ran through different cities in California, killing and raping. The truth about the man eventually came out once he was busted. The horrible fact is that he was a cop for several years, and he even was in charge of a burglary taskforce at one point! So, what exactly got him busted thirty years after his crime spree? How did a DNA match used in a common DNA website help to bust him? What did the community of true crime civilians do to get this perv busted? Why did he eventually get fired as a cop, and what did he do afterward? What was up with the special knot the Golden State Killer used with his victims? What did he say when he called his rape victims years later, and what’s up with his horrible poem? Listen, laugh, learn…  

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we do some corporate snooping and explore the history, pitfalls, and popularity of the most iconic brand in the world: Coca-Cola. From cocaine to Nazis, this one has it all. Coke is one of the biggest corporations on the planet, and it all started with one man who suffered one saber wound in the Civil War. That man was Colonel John Pemberton. He was slashed across his vitals and expected to die, so his doctors loaded him up on morphine. Lots and lots of morphine. They knew it was addictive, but nobody gave him a prognosis of survival. But survive he did, and he went home to Atlanta where he became a pharmacist just to feed his crazy morphine habit. After a number of years, he decided to kick the junk, and he developed some elixirs to help. The first was a wine/cocaine mix which did well until local prohibition made the wine illegal. Eventually, he settled on a syrup made from cocaine and kola, and the coke and caffeine and sugar did him good. He sold the drink as Coca-Cola, and is was off to (slow start). Eventually, one of his alleged original investors Asa Candler wanted to buy the brand from him. Pemberton said no, died, his son said no, died, and Candler eventually took over. Candler turned out to be a business genius. He had the iconic Coke logo developed, invented the American billboard, created coupons for the first time ever, and even did a massive make over on Santa Clause that really defines what the fat man looks and acts like, even to this day. Coke spread and eventually ditched the cocaine (we think? The recipe is so secret even congress can’t see it…). So, what has Coke been up since it ditched the cocaine? Well, they helped launch the German Fanta as a drink for Nazis to enjoy, but the story is a bit crazier than you might think. It involves beets. So, what was the deal with New Coke, and why did it fail? What the hell was the Magican, and why did it leave Coke fans smelling like farts? Why did a Russian general insist on drinking clear Coke? How much cocaine was in a serving of Coke, and what corporate ills has the company done? Oh, and what about their immoral marketing toward children? Listen, laugh, and learn… Some of the nasty things Coke has done :https://www.corp-research.org/coca-cola-company

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we go back in time to World War Two and explore the time when the US Navy got in bed with the Italian Mob through a crazy program officially called Project Underworld. It all started when about 650,000 tons of war goods per month were being sunk off the American coast by German U-boats. These were critical supplies for our European allies, and Europe was on the verge of collapsing because they couldn’t get these imperative materials. Then, a ship called the Normandie was burned on the docks in Long Island, and the Navy smelled a Nazi saboteur. However, the docks were owned by the Mob, and snitches get stitches, so nobody would give any Intel to the Navy. At this point, they decided to contact Joseph “Socks” Lanza, a made man who controlled the fisher union. They told him then needed to find out what happened to the ship and needed to learn how the Nazi U-boats were getting fuel and supplies this far from home. Lanza was on board instantly, and he and the Navy’s Commander Haffenden hatched  an incredible plot. They used the entire fishing fleet from Maine to Miami as eyes and ears, and they were able to sniff out the sympathizers who were supplying the U-boats and spot the U-boats before they could do damage. The results were far more effective than they ever dreamed. But their use of the mob spread. The team developed a group of half mob and half navy breaking and entering teams who snuck into places throughout Manhattan and found German spy rings. There were many twists and turns, and the mob was very much the mob through the whole affair. Surprisingly, the Navy was on board with racketeering, roughing people up, breaking limbs, burning down buildings, and even whacking people to keep the Nazis at bay. Eventually, they needed Project Underworld to spread, so they needed the help of Lucky Luciano, the father of the modern day mob. He was in prison, cut off from the four families, but his partner, the Jewish mobster Meyer “The Little Man” Lansky, came in to help (he hated the Nazis after all). Lansky got the government in touch with Luciano, and the Navy and the New York DA fully reinstated Luciano to be the head of the five families in exchange for his help. What did he do? Well, he wacked key Nazi spies for them. They got all of New York to be an intelligence gathering apparatus within days. He got the Jewish and Irish Mobs on board. He even helped plan the ultimate US invasion of Sicily where the beginning of the end of the war all started. Quite simply, the Mob turned the tides of the war, and people like Socks, Luciano, and Lansky were to be hailed as heroes for a moment instead of lauded as murderers and criminals. So, how effective was Project Underworld at turning the tide of U-boat attacks? What did they do to help the invasion of Sicily through Operation Husky? What did Luciano get out of his deal to help the Navy? What did the Navy higher ups think of the Mob being…well…the mob? Listen, laugh, learn. Very Thorough Discussion: https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/project-underworld-the-u-s-navys-secret-pact-with-the-mafia/

In this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we go back in time all the way to February of 1997, and we talk about the infamous Hollywood Bank Robbery Shootout. It was a day that showed the world the damage a couple of well-equipped active shooters could be. It showed how easy and dangerous it was to outclass the cops. It was an event that changed how cops use tactics, what weapons they carry, and how to treat bank robbers. The two robbers, Larry Eugene Phillips Jr. the Romania Decebal Stefan Emilian "Emil" Matasareanu (say that five times fast) met at Gold’s Gym in Venice beach. They shared a love of body building and stealing things while shooting at people, so they hit it off, like, right away. Within no time, they decided to rob an armored truck and got away with it. While planning another heist, they got pulled over for speeding, and their arsenal got them each 100 days in jail plus probation. But this didn’t stop them. They robbed a few more cars and a few banks and earned the nick name of High Incident Bandits by law enforcement. They got about one and a half million dollars in short order, but they wanted more, so they planned on robbing a Bank of America in North Hollywood. This is where the Hollywood Shootout famously took place. They stormed the bank, shot the joint up, and took the money from the vault. It was supposed to be $750,000, but it was closer to $300,000, and this made the robbers lose their cool. They shot the place up some more and stormed out toward their getaway car. Unfortunately, they had been surrounded by cops who saw them enter the building. What unfolded here captured the eyes of the nation for 44 crazy minutes. The two walked around the streets shooting cops and civilians, unharmed by the weak sauce the cops were shooting at them. They injured 20 people in their shootout and only sustained minor injuries for the longest time. Eventually, the SWAT team showed up (wearing shorts…it happens), and the game changed. Finally, some firepower and training was on the ground, and soon the Hollywood Shootout changed up. SWAT shot the robbers’ guns and aimed for soft unarmored targets like their buttocks and calves, and eventually, the two shooters were down. One put a pistol under his chin and ended his own life, and the other slowly bled out on national TV from his 20 gunshot wounds. So, how did the two get their weapons? What impact did their actions have on gun legislation? Why were the SWAT team in shorts? What happened when Brad and Dave argue about gun control at the end of the episode? Listen, laugh, learn.  

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we do things a little differently. What makes this episode so special? We go back and discuss some of our past episodes and see if our knowledge or opinion of them has changed over the years. However, instead of doing it in any organized manner, we simply used a random number generator to determine which ones we’d revisit. Here’s where we went: The Rockefellers Reptilians North Korea Jack The Ripper So, if you want to hear our takes and updates on these randomly classic episodes, you're in the right place with this bonus episode. And if you wan to be a Patron and support our show, our efforts, our whiskey, and our OCD, you can go here and pledge a buck (or 40!) a month. Anything helps and is an awesome thing to do: SK Patreon

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we head to the Old West and talk about the rebel, guerilla, and shaper of nations, Pancho Villa. He was born the son of a poor Mexican sharecropper in 1878. His name was originally Doroteo Arango. They lived the life of subsistence farmers, and his father died when he was only 15 years old, making him the head of the family. Shortly after that, a landowner tried to rape his sister, and Doroteo Arango shot him dead and fled on his horse. He was reborn as Poncho Villa. Pancho Villa fled to the hills and joined a group of banditos. They did small time stuf: cattle theft, worked in some mines, and even graduated to bank robberies and other crimes. In short order, Pancho was the leader of the gang and was recruiting like crazy. He was even said to be a Robin Hood figure, robbing from the land owners and giving it to the poor farmers. This is when the Mexican Game of Thrones action starts. There was a revolution against the dictator Porfirio Díaz, and the new guy recruited Pancho to run the North of Mexico in their rebellion. He excelled with his guerilla tactics and amazing charisma and founded one of the largest armies in Mexico. So the guy Pancho Villa backed in the revolution became president and was soon assassinated. Then, Villa’s one time ally got him arrested for stealing his horse and eventually made a run to become president himself. Time after time, people took power, and Pancho Villa and his one true ally Emiliano Zapata fought against them. Pancho Villa was so good at his hit and run style warfare that the US Army took note and asked Pancho to teach them a thing or two. This led to an alliance between Villa and President Woodrow Wilson which lasted until it didn’t, and Wilson wanted Villa dead. Pancho Villa sacked American cities just to prove he could, took over rail road lines, sold stolen cattle to make a fortune and pay for his army, and deposed dictator after dictator through his crazy life. He was said to have had 70 wives through Mexico, and eventually died at the hands of 7 assassins who gunned him down in his car three years after he hung up his guns. If you like twists and turns and political intrigue, this is the episode for you. If you don’t, listen to it anyway: we recorded it on Cinco de Mayo and everything!

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about a listener-voted favorite, the mysterious disappearance of the Sodder Family. On Christmas Eve of 1945, an odd fire raged through the Sodder home, supposedly killing five of the 10 Sodder children. However, the circumstances around the fire are pretty baffling, and the lack of evidence and bodies suggest the kids weren’t actually in the house in the fire. But if that was the case, where did they go, and why did nobody ever find them? Good question! George and Jennie Sodder were both first generation Italian immigrants who came through Ellis Island and settled in Fayetteville, West Virginia. It was a town with a large Italian population, half of whom hated George Sodder for his stance against Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. He got in regular arguments with the locals about this, and it got so heated that an insurance salesman once said that his house would one day go up in smoke, and his children would be destroyed! Well, turns out that guy was right. On Christmas eve, a strange series of events took place that may or may not have put the kids in their beds up in the attic as they were supposed to be. At 12:30 AM, an odd phone call came in. At 1:00, there were noises on the roof (those ain’t reindeer!), and by 1:30 George’s office and the roof were on fire. The couple ushered four of their children out of the house, but the flames were too intense for them to return for the remaining 5. And then came the series of “No’s”. The ladder that was always against the house (and could save the kids) was gone. The water barrels were all frozen solid. The phone line was cut. The neighbors couldn’t reach anyone on the phone to get help. The trucks wouldn’t start. The Cosmic Muffin really dropped his hammer. Or did he? Investigations started to reveal mysteries and odd happenings. The phone line wasn’t dead from the fire but was cut. A burglar was caught on the premises but released for no good reason. There were no children screaming in the fire. It took the fire department 7 hours to get on the scene. And most importantly, there were no bodies or bones found after the fire died. So, were the kids inside, and if so, what happened to their bones? Why did George go against the will of the fire department and bury the Sodder house under five feet of dirt just four days after the fire? What did the guy who threatened the Sodders have to do with the findings of the fire department? Did this all have to do with the mob? How long does it take Brad, Brent, and Dave to descend into talk about the Mario Brothers? Listen, laugh, learn.

In this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we check to see if the stars are aligned, chant Cthulhu Fhtagn, and explore the life, mind, and worlds of H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was one of the most prolific and influential horror writers of the last century. Even some guy named Stephen King thinks so. However, Lovecraft's horror is not typical, and it is often hard to follow and utterly alien, which is what makes it so amazing. If you’ve seen anything about the Old God Cthulhu, you’ve seen Lovecraft. That, and many other horrors of extra dimensions were dreamed up in his fevered mind. Howard Philip Lovecraft was born to a moneyed family Providence, Rhode Island. However, when he was only three, his father went insane and was committed to a mental hospital for the rest of his life. This brought Lovecraft in orbit of his cold mother and aunts, and this didn’t do him any favors. In fact, he himself developed mental problems that kept him from graduating high school or attending Brown University where he was accepted. Lovecraft was thought to be a writing prodigy, reciting poetry he memorized at two and reading at three. He wrote stories and studied astronomy by the age of six, and by eight or nine, he created his first alter ego, “Abdul Alhazred,” who would later become the fictional author of the nefarious Necronomicon. Eventually, his mother went mad, his grandfather died, and Lovecraft found himself in a strange marriage that his family didn’t approve of and broke, living in a bad apartment in Brooklyn. Eventually, he got involved with a national writers group where he fostered the careers of several other authors (including August Derleth). He wrote thousands of letters and dozens of short stories, but he could never find a popular audience since his themes of madness and dense prose proved inaccessible to a general audience. He died (penniless) of cancer, and his friends pitched in to get his work published, so it would survive. So, from Dagon to Nyaralathotep, the Deep Ones to the Dagon, his visions are the most unique in all of horror. What was his relationship to Harry Houdini? What drove his father mad? Why do we know he was a hardcore racist and white supremacist? How did Lovecraft say you actually pronounce Cthulhu (hint: you’re saying it WAY wrong)? Why does Brad say his rap name is Two Chins? Listen, laugh, learn.   Thorough if not ugly website: http://www.hplovecraft.com/ Good Summary of Major Works With Links: https://www.polygon.com/2018/8/23/17762378/hp-lovecraft-books-cthulhu-necronomicon-stories Lovecraft for KIDS: https://kids.kiddle.co/H._P._Lovecraft

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we do things a little differently. (We'll pretend it's because we care about our listeners and pay attention to what they want, but it's really because it was Easter Sunday, so we couldn't research and get together to record on our normal schedule...) What makes this episode so special? We go back and discuss some of our past episodes and see if our knowledge or opinion of them has changed over the years. However, instead of doing it in any organized manner, we simply used a random number generator to determine which ones we'd revisit. Here's where we went: Nikola Tesla Roswell, New Mexico Project Odessa Michael Jackson MS 13 Also, to be honest, we may have covered one or two more. But it's late. And I'm tired. So give me a break. Oh! But we did also do a favor for some patrons. Some of them wanted to come out to friends, loved ones, and SK Family about various issues and secrets they've been living with. We discuss these people and their unique stories on the episode as a way to thank them for being Patrons. And if you wan to be a Patron and support our show, our efforts, our whiskey, and our OCD, you can go here and pledge a buck (or 40!) a month. Anything helps and is an awesome thing to do: SK Patreon

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we hit you with something a little bit different and share details of our coast to coast meet up in New York City. Our beloved El Yucateco Hotsauce sponsored a New York meetup where the three of us flew out to the Big Apple and spent a few days with listeners. As with other meetups, friendships were made (others were tested...), and fun was had by all. So what do we talk about? How about some of this in your ear holes: We give details on the ultimate $50 Manhattan shave. We talk about Dave's awkward stint break dancing in Times Square. We talk comedy clubs. We remind Brent that his butt puckered while Brad drove us down The Old Road to avoid traffic on the I-5. We discuss the World Trade Center memorial as well as the new tower. We share Dave's vegan adventures through Manhattan. And of course, we talk about the drunks, louts, birthday girls, Long Island Crew, whiskey, studs, and vixens that were all flowing at the meet up at the Whiskey Trader. This isn't a normal episode, but we have a lot of laughs, and it must just inspire you to join us at our next meetup--wherever that may be!

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we step away from our usual show pattern and give you a good old fashioned bonus episode. But, this is even a bigger bonus because it was originally a Twitch stream! If you want a regular episode, skip this one and go one episode ahead or back. There, you’ll hear us research and topic and spit facts at you as well as horrible off topic jokes and conversational cul-de-sacs. On this one, however, we give you a bonus episode. No research. No plan, just the fellas shooting it over some whiskey. What do we talk about? All sorts of stuff. Great stuff! Crazy stuff! Stuff that is sure to delight and offend! Stuff that I can’t really remember because it’s late, I haven’t slept, and I’m tired! Oh, and if you love this Bonus Episode or our regular episodes, do us two favors. First, go and support us on Patreon! Also, visit us on Twitch, where the future of our streaming lies.

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we do a bonus episode. This isn't our normal research-based dig on cults, killers, and cooks. Instead, we turned to the lovely lunatics at the Unofficial Sofa King Ultra Fans page and asked for questions, advice, and philosophy on Adulting. So, we talked about all kinds of stuff. How to be successful came up a lot, but not just financially. How do we find success and work jobs that we feel have meaning instead of just a paycheck at the end of a hammer blow. If you want to hear us talk about what it means to be an adult, a parent, a "man," a succeful person, tune in. If not, what the hell. Download it anyway to help our metrics and then don't listen to it. I understand, but damn, hook a brother up. Oh, and speaking of gratuitous whoring: go visit us here and become a Patron of the show! Patreon! Also, visit us on Twitch, for the future of our streaming endeavors!  

We get all supernatural on this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, and we talk about the largest apparition in Catholic history, the Miracle of Fatima, which some 70,000 people witnessed. The place was Portugal, and the year was 1917. The children of three shepherds in the area were bringing their sheep home, and lo and behold, they ran into the Angel of Peace. He met with them several times and told him that the Virgin was going to show up on the 13th of the month for several months. When the kids told their parents, word got around, and the next thing you know, a media circus was erupting and pilgrims were coming to try and bottle a miracle. The Virgin came several times as promised, all as a precursor so the Miracle of Fatima. She told the children three secrets which were to be revealed only at the proper time, later in life. And finally, on October 13th, she came back again one last time. But this time, the three kids weren’t alone; indeed, they had tens of thousands of people with them. After revealing when World War I would end, the told the kids to look to the sky. The kids told the crowd, and then as the rains suddenly stopped, and the skies parted, the Miracle of Fatima happened. Also called the Miracle of the Sun, the crowd watched in awe as the sun did amazing things. It changed colors, it fired beams of color into the crowd, and it even loomed closer to earth, dominating the horizon and zigging around the sky. Everyone from the most devout to the most skeptic was there to bear witness. Oddly, some skeptics saw the miracle while some with faith did not. Even more odd, a bunch of psychics fro the area predicted this and published their predictions in the newspaper as proof. So what does all of this mean? What was really behind this miracle that is hard to dismiss since so many people saw it? Was it a meteorological phenomenon as some say? Was it an alien vessel? Was it truly a miracle? Was it the largest case of mass suggestion ever recorded? The children are all canonized, and the story is considered legit by the Vatican, but what really happened? Listen in and you decide.