Katharine tells Lorien about a seasonally appropriate phobia, and then grants her an honorary doctorate that they're sure is legit.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_clown_sightings#:~:text=The%202016%20clown%20sightings%20were,stunt%20for%20a%20horror%20film.
• https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21835-coulrophobia-fear-of-clowns
• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-weird-reason-were-afraid-of-clowns/
• https://time.com/4518456/scary-clown-sighting-attack-craze/
• https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/oct/31/the-great-clown-panic-of-2016-a-volatile-mix-of-fear-and-contagion#:~:text=It%20began%20in%20the,for%20adults%20and%20children%20alike.
• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/10/03/merrimack-college-lockdown-reports-blame-armed-clown-sightings/91511098/
• https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/clown-mask-prank-may-have-led-to-deadly-stabbing-of-teen/
• https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2016/09/nine_clown_arrests_so_far_in_a.html
• https://www.clickorlando.com/news/2016/11/02/man-recounts-halloween-night-attack-at-hands-of-costumed-mob/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy

It's October! So Lorien tells Katharine some theatre ghost stories.

Sources:

• https://www.shakespearetheatre.org/watch-listen/feeling-superstitious-ghost-lights-and-whistling-backstage/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_light_(theatre)#cite_note-1
• https://www.nida.edu.au/news/ghost-lights-asks-the-world-to-interact-and-keep-the-spirit-of-theatre-alive/
• https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/a-ghost-light-has-brightened-the-stage-for-more-than-a-month-at-the-royal/article_600d04b1-5859-54f9-a8ce-ac35da5f4483.html
• https://www.news-press.com/story/entertainment/2020/08/12/covid-florida-ghost-lights-keep-burning-at-theaters-in-fort-myers-naples-cape-coral/5500672002/
• https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney/entertainment/article/leave-ghost-light-me-age-old-theatre-tradition-illuminating-sydneys-stages-during-coronavirus-era
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam_Theatre
• https://www.wnyc.org/story/ghost-olive-thomas/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Thomas
• https://www.onstageblog.com/editorials/2020/3/25/the-history-of-the-ghost-light
• https://ny.curbed.com/2016/10/19/13333506/haunted-nyc-palace-theatre-broadway
• https://afterthefinalcurtain.net/2020/10/31/haunted-theatres/
• https://www.americantheatre.org/2019/10/31/5-tales-of-haunted-theatres-to-give-you-a-fright/
• https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/10/31/phantoms-of-the-theatre/
• https://www.cabq.gov/artsculture/kimo/history-of-the-kimo/kimo-history/ghost
• https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal/15197249/?locale=en-US
• https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-kimotheatre/
• https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/is-albuquerques-kimo-theatre-haunted/
• https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-kimotheatre/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KiMo_Theater
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Theatre/comments/1c8swcr/appeasing_the_theater_ghosts/

Katharine channels her inner Sarah Koenig to answer serious questions about a wild animal sighting.

Sources:

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/gray-wolf
• https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-wolf-that-changed-america-wolf-wars-americas-campaign-to-eradicate-the-wolf/4312/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Ellis_(wolf_researcher)
• https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livewith.wolves#:~:text=Don't%20run%2C%20but%20act,using%20the%20wildlife%20encounter%20form.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDhIkoigl-Q
• https://wolf.org/wolf-info/factsvsfiction/are-wolves-dangerous-to-humans/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_attack#:~:text=Wolf%20attacks%20are%20injuries%20to,predatory%2C%20agonistic%2C%20and%20defensive.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenrir

Lorien takes Katharine back to the 1900s for a story of bad science, good journalism, and...soliciting blood at a child' s birthday party.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_MMR_autism_fraud
• https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa021134
• https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/revealed-mmr-research-scandal-7ncfntn8mjq
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8481583.stm
• https://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm
• https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/31/andrew_wakefield_vaccine
• https://pauloffit.substack.com/p/the-rfk-jr-playbook
• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/us/politics/rfk-science-vaccines.html
• https://www.brookings.edu/articles/rfk-jr-s-history-of-medical-misinformation-raises-concerns-over-hhs-nomination/
• https://www.nytimes.com/article/rfk-conspiracy-theories-fact-check.html
• https://ca.news.yahoo.com/rfk-jr-doesn-t-medical-142823533.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/history.html
• https://www.idsociety.org/ID-topics/infectious-disease/measles/know-the-facts
• https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/03/vaccine-autism-rfk-jr-how-science-proves-vaccines-do-not-cause-autism/
• https://apple.news/AV5bUl2rwQr-Y3oS_9JmG9Q
• https://apple.news/AkXiB-2SYSIax-BASG39_3w
• https://apple.news/AkXiB-2SYSIax-BASG39_3w
• https://www.startribune.com/cdc-leaders-who-resigned-said-rfk-jr-undermined-vaccine-science-risking-lives/601463373

Katharine has big concerns about tiny plastics.

Sources:

• https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
• https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/microplastics-everywhere
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
• https://apple.news/AlNT07D-cT-K1KiKXlFz1Lw
• https://www.wired.com/story/this-startup-promises-to-clean-your-blood-of-microplastics-clarify-clinics/

Katharine tells Lorien not about that one other podcast but about the red scare in the US in the 1920s, 40s, and 50s (we were a little busy in the 1930s).

Sources:

Sources:

• https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-democrats-enemies-within-rcna175628
• https://www.newsweek.com/trump-reacts-zohran-mamdani-nyc-mayor-primary-win-2090781
• https://apnews.com/article/trump-communist-judges-tariff-china-russia-cae626a3699a5411841f646a847c2c7b
• https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/retread-scare-trump-and-other-republicans-evoke-another-era-by-calling-democrats-communists
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/12/trump-rally-vermin-political-opponents/
• https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/mccarthyism-red-scare#:~:text=%5BThe%20American%20Heritage%20Dictionary%20gives,in%20order%20to%20suppress%20opposition.%5D
• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mccarthy-more-than-just-a-man/#:~:text=For%20several%20years%20before%20Joseph,Supreme%20Court%20Justice%2C%20William%20O.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_R._Murrow
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcuYybbehAo
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

Lorien and Katharine explore all the cutesy ways we talk about email scams; Katharine plans her own Ocean's 11; she's Danny Ocean.

Sources:

Sources

• https://www.phishing.org/what-is-phishing
• https://www.phishing.org/history-of-phishing
• https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/social-engineering
• https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/business-email-compromise
• https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-reference/spear-phishing
• https://www.upguard.com/blog/types-of-phishing-attacks
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2016/02/08/how-a-tech-billionaires-company-misplaced-46-7-million-and-didnt-know-it/?sh=33fec58550b3
• https://us.norton.com/blog/emerging-threats/cybersecurity-statistics
• https://www.bluevoyant.com/knowledge-center/8-phishing-types-and-how-to-prevent-them
• https://www.checkpoint.com/cyber-hub/threat-prevention/what-is-phishing/
• https://www.websterfirst.com/blog/what-the-2024-ftc-data-tells-us-about-scam-trends/#:~:text=Fraud continues to be a,compared to the previous year.
• https://www.paubox.com/blog/elara-caring-phishing-attack-exposes-100000-patients-data
• https://www.bluevoyant.com/knowledge-center/8-devastating-phishing-attack-examples-and-prevention-tips
• https://www.hempsteadny.gov/635/Famous-Phishing-Incidents-from-History
• https://www.securityweek.com/us-government-is-investigating-messages-impersonating-trumps-chief-of-staff-susie-wiles/
• https://www.cybsafe.com/value/simulated-phishing/