KOOKS, CRANKS, AND ICONOCLASTS! cover art

KOOKS, CRANKS, AND ICONOCLASTS!

KOOKS, CRANKS, AND ICONOCLASTS!

By: Michael Lucht Spencer Lowery Chris Wells Jonas Lucht Jason Lloyd
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Greetings & Salutations! We're here to cover various interesting/infamous/inexplicable living enigmas & anomalies from across all of time, space, maybe even beyond, & from history BOTH ANCIENT & RECENT! Basically it's "BIOGRAPHY!" but focused solely on WEIRDOS! Listen then repeat what you hear to sound smart at parties! STOP being MYOPIC! START being ESOTERIC! (Mmm! Yum!) Stay tuned True Believers! Clear The Hump w/us as we provide Weekly Bios on strange/insane/shameful/lost/forgotten Misfits of History! Comedy/Conspiracy/True Crime/High Strangeness!Michael Lucht, Spencer Lowery, Chris Wells, Jonas Lucht, Jason Lloyd
Episodes
  • DEVIL'S NIGHT IN DETROIT! - "NECROTIC FLESHMOB!" a.k.a. "BINGING THE PURGE!"
    Jul 18 2026

    WOOOOOOOOOOO! WASSUP KOOOOOOOOKS! This here's the spiritual sequel/sister episode to "The Red Man/Red Dwarf" episode! In this episode, we take an analytical look at "Devil's Night" in Detroit...THEN WE GONNA SETS IT ON FIRE! Nah, but for real, we take a look at some of the old world "holidays", "festivals", and "celebrations" that center upon and revolve around the idea of controlled transgressions! Saturnalia, The Feast of Fools, Carnivale, Mardi Gras, Samhain, and others! Why would a city REPEATEDLY! keep trying to burn itself down to the ground? Also, as always, we gotta ask: "QUI BONO?"..."Who profits?" Give it a listen and maybe get a little bit closer to something like an answer. PLEASE TO ENJOY!

    Email us!: kooksandcranks@gmail.com

    All music is copyright/license free from Pixaby.com


    SOURCES:

    Chafets, Z. (1990). Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit

    Detroit Fire Department (DFD) Historical Data & Annual Reports (1980–1995)

    Historical Municipal Archives: Office of Mayor Coleman A. Young & Office of Mayor Dennis Archer (1985–1997)

    Santino, J. (1994). Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life

    Tucker, E. (2007). Children's Folklore: A Handbook

    Opie, I., & Opie, P. (1959). The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren

    Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure

    Bakhtin, M. (1965). Rabelais and His World

    Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

    Postmes, T., & Spears, R. (1998). Deindividuation and anti-social behavior: An analysis

    O'Barr, J. (1989). The Crow (Comic Series) & Proyas, A. (Director). (1994). The Crow (Motion Picture). Miramax Films.

    Esham. (1993). "Devil's Night." On KKKill the Fetus [Album]

    D12. (2001). Devil's Night [Album]

    DeMonaco, J. (Director). (2013). The Purge (Motion Picture)

    Hamlin, M. C. W. (1884). Legends of Le Détroit


    If you are currently struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse issues, well...shit, we all gotta deal somehow? Right? But if you need immediate assistance, please dial 988. I love you. XOXOXO!

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • THE SPRINGHEELED JACK CONSPIRACY - "BLADERUNNER 1837"
    Jul 14 2026

    SUP KOOOOOOOOOOOKS! This episode we take a look at some of the less investigated aspects of the "Springheeled Jack" story! Specifically, that whole "secret cabal of bored, rich aristocrats" aspect that may make old Jack the actual Anti-Batman...even before there was a goddamn Batman! That, plus some considerations given to the potential technologies possibly involved in this tale, as well as how that very same secret technology might've also migrated to the U.S. and was maybe even used to make a straight up true, no shit, for real (probably) WWII superhero known for Mario Bros. jumping across Nazi noggins! ALSO! What's up with old Jack's "man/devil/bear" identity disorder? More evidence that there were multiple "Jacks" perhaps? Listen up & find out! PLEASE TO ENJOY!

    Email us!: kooksandcranks@gmail.com


    All music is license free/copyright free and obtained from Pixaby.com


    SOURCES:


    Dash, Mike. Spring-heeled Jack: To Victorian Bugaboo from Suburban Ghost (1995/2018 revised edition) - The definitive scholarly treatment of the subject

    Clark, Jerome. Unexplained! (1993) - Coverage of anomalous phenomena including Spring-heeled Jack

    Evans, Hilary. The Evidence for Phantom Hitch-Hikers (1984) - Comparative analysis of phantom attacker phenomena

    McNab, Chris. The Fortean Times Book of Strange Deaths (2003) - Coverage of the Thomas Millbank case and other obscure incidents

    Rose, Carol. Giants, Monsters, and Dragons (2000) - Encyclopedic entry on Spring-heeled Jack in folklore context

    Thompson, S.P. The Marquis of Waterford: A Biography (1923) - Source material on the aristocratic theory

    Hames, Peter. Czech Cinema (2005) - Analysis of the Perak animated film and its historical context

    British Newspaper Archive - The Times, Morning Chronicle, Illustrated Police News, Hull Daily Mail, Tunbridge Wells Advertiser (various dates 1838-2019)

    Stockton and Darlington Gazette (1838) - Captain Finch encounter report

    Louisville Courier-Journal (1938-1939) - American sightings coverage

    Houston Chronicle (1953) - Fifth Ward attacks coverage

    Metropolitan Police Archives, London - 1888 Ripper-Jack connection files (declassified 2001)

    Ministry of Defense Archives, Kew - "Operation Leaper" report (declassified 2005)

    Liverpool City Archives - William Morley report (1904, discovered 2015)

    Czech National Archives - German occupation reports on Perak (1940-1945)

    Russian State Archives, St. Petersburg - 1892 "leaping devil" report (discovered by Mike Dash, 2018)

    Fortean Times - Various articles on Spring-heeled Jack, tracer study (2010-2012), and modern sightings

    The Anomaly Archives (Austin, Texas) - Perak documentation

    Center for Fortean Zoology (Exeter) - Cryptid files on leaping entities

    Trinka, Jiri. Perak: The Springer (1946) - Animated film, first superhero animation

    Security camera footage analysis (Chicago, 2021) - disputed

    British Newspaper Archive (britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)



    If you are struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse issues, you're not alone. If you're inn the U.S. and need help, please dial 988.

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    55 mins
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