Emergency Episode: "Conformity Gate" - The Phony Finale of Stranger Things

The Von Erich Curse

Bunkum & Ballyhoo returns to the world of professional wrestling, as host, historian and author Patrick W. Reed tells the story of what happens when the make-believe world of professional wrestling becomes all too real - it's a story of obsession, toxic masculinity, and unimaginable grief. From the wrestling rings of Texas in the 1980s, this is the story of the Von Erich Curse.

Emergency Episode: "Conformity Gate" - The Phony Finale of Stranger Things

In an impromptu and unscripted emergency episode of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, host Patrick W. Reed considers the emergent pop culture conspiracy theory that the final series of Stranger Things hid within it a series of clues revealing the existence of a secret additional episode - taking into account the distinction between fanfiction and fan theory, the dangers of mistaking the algorithm for reality, and the perennial Bunkum & Ballyhoo theme of being awake to irrational beliefs and cognitive biases in your own life. Plus Patrick's broader thoughts on Stranger Things as a series.

The Mandela Effect, Conspiracy & The Dangers Of Weaponised Ignorance

In a bumper edition of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, historian and author Patrick W. Reed uses examples from his own memory to example one of the internet's favourite bizarre beliefs, the timeline-hopping, detail-altering mischief of the Mandela Effect. It's an exploration that takes in personal history, the paranormal, the vagaries and weaknesses of human history, while asking how the Mandela Effect can serve as a gateway drug to more dangerous beliefs, and what it tells us about the increasingly selfish and atomised nature of our culture, all serving to examine why we believe what we believe, and what leads people further and further down rabbit holes of conspiracy theory, extremism, and irrational beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. All while finding time to fit in Bigfoot, the Satanic Panic, QAnon, and the nature of childhood fandom. Selected Bibliography: The Science of Weird Shit by Professor Chris French Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, edited by Kier-La Janisse and Paul Corupe Satanic child abuse claims are almost certainly based on false memories - Professor Chris French, The Guardian, 18/11/14 Audio Sources: WWF Monday Night RAW Intro - 1993

The Autobiography of Howard Hughes

In the world of literary scandal, there have always been books filed under "non-fiction" that are better positioned elsewhere in the library. In this episode, historian Patrick W. Reed looks at one notorious example - Clifford Irving's authorised "autobiography" of the world's most famous recluse, the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. Selected Bibliography & Sources: The Autobiography of Howard Hughes by Clifford Irving Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years by James Phelan The Hoax by Clifford Irving

The Cottingley Fairies

A return to the Fortean and the supernatural, and to the eminently gullible world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as Bunkum & Ballyhoo explores the story of fairies photographed in a Yorkshire garden, and how one of England's most famous authors made them a media sensation. Selected Bibliography & Sources The Coming Of The Fairies by Arthur Conan Doyle Sprites, spiritualists and sleuths: the intersecting ownership of transcendent proofs in the Cottingley Fairy Fraud by Francesca Bihet Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers The James Randi Educational Foundation Audio Credit "Fairies Wear Boots" by Jazz Sabbath