Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

The Fiery, Pagan History of Halloween

Why do we wear costumes on Halloween? When did pumpkins and candy get involved? And how the heck do you pronounce "Samhain"?
Listen to find out...
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In this episode:  
Celtic Festivals, Gaelic Origins
Samhain and Beltane
Fairies (The Aos Si)
Bonfires, Livestock, Leaps
Liminal Celebrations
The Romans and Feralia
Pomona
Apple Bobbing? 
Feast of All Martyrs
Pope Boniface IV
Pope Gregory III
All Saints Day (All Hallows Day)
Feast of All Souls
All Hallows Day/Evening
Allhallowe'en
Souling and Allhallowtide
Soul Cakes
Souling Plays
Guising
Mischief Night
Jack O'Lanterns 
Stingy Jack
Turnip Lanterns
Trick or Treating
Candy Corn
Pet Costumes
Calorie Counts
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 
 
 

Lost Treasures: From Crown Jewels to Fabergé Eggs

After a series of deep-dive episodes chock full of useful information, the boys are back to form with an entirely off-the-rails and nonsensical romp through the history of some of the world's most famous, celebrated lost treasures. Pointless, silly fun. Enjoy!
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In this episode:  
The Scepter of Dagobert
The Three Brothers
Faberge Eggs
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The Fascinating History of Personality Tests

Are personality tests accurate? How were they developed, how reliable is the science behind them, and which are most respected? Most importantly: which developers of personality tests were sexy MFers and which of them wrote erotic fiction about old men? Follow along to discover the strange history behind personality tests. 
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In this episode:  
WW1 and Shell Shock (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
The Robert Sessions Woodworth Personal Data Sheet (WPDS)
Carl Jung's Psychological Types
Katherine Cook Briggs
Isabel Briggs Meyers
The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The 8 Functions
The 16 Types
The Forer (Barnum) Effect
CPP (Formerly Consulting Psychologists Press)
ENTJ, The CEO Type
Objective vs Projective Tests
Hermann Rorschach, Sexy Badass
Psychodiagnostik
Pareidolia
The Rorschach Test
Ink Blot Interpretation (Klecksography)
Gobolinks
The Five Factor Model (FFM, or the Big 5)
Enneagram
Type A and Type B 
The DISC Model
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The Pirate, the Silk Road, and the Dark Web: Ross Ulbricht‘s Empire

Ross Ulbricht created the most notorious website in history when he launched the The Silk Road in 2011. An online marketplace for drugs, guns, poisons, and explosives, the Silk Road would become synonymous with the Internet's lawless new frontier: the so-called "Dark Web."
But what really IS the Dark Web? And how did a middle-class suburban kid become the notorious criminal kingpin known as the "Dread Pirate Roberts"?
Fire up your TOR browser and cover your digital tracks as you follow Shane and Duncan into the darkest depths of the web for a fascinating true story of drugs, contract killings, and betrayal.  
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In this episode:  
Deep Vs Dark
Ross Ulbricht, Libertarian
TOR (The Onion Router) 
The Bitcoin Connection
'Shrooms
Altoid
Dread Pirate Roberts
Variety Jones
The Kingpin Statute
Gawker and Chuck Schumer
Julia and Erica
Ross's Rules and the "Nonaggression Principle"
DEA, FBI, and IRS
Agent Carl Force, aka Nob
Curtis Green, aka ChronicPain
Agent Shaun Bridges, Thief 
Assassinations
IRS Agent Gary Alford
Caught
Trial and Sentencing 
Carla Sophia, the "French Maid"
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Hunting for Easter Eggs: Secrets Hidden in Movies and Video Games

Ten episodes away from the big 1-0-0, the boys are hunting for the true origin story of the elusive video-game Easter egg. (Hint: Ready Player One got it wrong.) Follow along as Shane guides Duncan through some of the most famous, interesting, or pathetically failed examples of hidden content from movies and games. 
 
PS: is there an Easter Egg in episode 90? Guess you'll have to keep listening to find out...
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In this episode:  
Debunking Spielberg's Version of the First Easter Egg
Adventure, by Warren Robinett
Adam Clayton, Snitch
Not Fixed by Brad Stewart
Steve Wright and the Origin of the Term "Easter Egg"
Video Whizball and the First Name Drop
The True Origin: Moonlander, by Jack Burness
The DEC G40
Red Faction: Armageddon and Mr. Toots 
Stormtrooper Blooper and the Battlefront Homage
Resident Evil and the Jill Sandwich
Castlevania CD Remix
Doom II and John Romero's Head
Diablo's Nonexistent Cow-Level
Diablo II's Actual Hidden Cow-Level
Batman: Arkham Asylum and the Product-Placement Easter Egg
Konami, Solid Snake, Psycho Mantis, and the Creepiest of Easter eggs
The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Literal Easter eggs
Back to the Future and the Case of the Disappearing Pine
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Samuel L Jackson, Pulp Fiction, and Nick Fury's Tombstone
Ezekial 25:17, Murder Monologue
Big Kahuna Burger and the Tarantino/Rodriguez connection 
From Dusk Till Dawn, Reservoir Dogs, Four Rooms, Death Proof
Indiana Jones and Droid Hieroglyphs  (C-3PO and R2D2)
The Phantom Menace (Galactic Senate E.T.s)
Ready Player One and the Death of Easter Eggs
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Common Misconceptions about Animals

Do bears really hibernate? What does the color green look like to a cat? And most importantly, is ice cream flavored with beaver butts? Find the answers to these and other essential animal-related questions in this week's episode of MFFI. 
In this episode:  
Do Bears Hibernate?
Are Bats Blind?
Can Dogs and Cats See Color?
Can Owls Spin Their Heads Around?
Are Penguins Monogamous?
Is Ice Cream Flavored With Beaver Butts?
Do Cats Love Milk?
Have Primates (Like Koko) Actually Learned Sign Language?
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

Host Swap: Talking Slang

The word of the week is “tangent.“ This host-swap episode is supposedly about slang (like, for instance, “off the rails”), but it’s also about bees and legs and wives and Snoop D-O-Double-G. If you enjoy listening to the guys talk smack and ramble, enjoy. 
In this episode:  
Definition of Slang
History
Gig
Lit
23 Skidoo
Dumpster Fire
Salty
California Slang
Monkey's Uncle
The Bechdel Test
Inspo
Gucci
Mansplain 
Unplug
Ghost
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Unreal: The History and Secrets of Reality TV

Never say never. Shane swore that MFFI would never address the dreaded "K" family, but fate (and the Discord crew) had other plans. Join the boys for a fascinating dive into the putrid swamps of television history to learn how the scourge that is Reality TV conquered the entertainment world. 
In this episode:  
Reality Television VS Documentary Series
The Finances
SAG-AFTRA
Networks VS Production Companies
Writers Strikes
The History of Reality TV
American Family
Meet the Louds
Nummer 28
MTV
The Real World New York
Cast VS Editors
Expedition Robinson
Survivor Debuts
Types of Reality TV
Competition/Elimination Shows
Formatted Shows
Docu-Style Shows 
Soft Scripting
Story Narratives
Criticism and Controversy
Reality TV as Anthropological Experiment
Frankenediting
Joe Millionaire and the Slurp Heard Around the World
Liquor and Sexual Abuse Allegations
Product Placement
The Humiliation Factor/Shame TV
Tragedies
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Botched Coups and Failed Assassinations: The Bay of Pigs

You can’t win them all.
In 1961, America experienced the sting of its first truly humiliating public defeat, a debacle that played out in real time on the international stage. The bungled and bloody Bay of Pigs Invasion would mark the first major misstep of the Kennedy administration, and as “Operation Zapata” began to unravel in Cuba, the resulting scandal would undermine America’s carefully crafted image as a shining beacon of virtue.
In this episode:  
Fulgencio Batista
1933 Sergeants uprising
Mafia’s Playground
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
Che Guevara
The Movement
The Moncada Army Barracks
26 of July movement
Granma Yacht 
Brain Drain
Dwight D Eisenhower
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Operation Pluto
Phases One, Two, and Three
Operation Zapata
Sonic Booms
Brigade 2506
Carlos Rafael Santana Estevez
The Attack 
Mad Dog Flight
FAR T-33s
The Aftermath
Tractors 
Operation Mongoose
Poison Cigar
Exploding Mollusk
The Fountain Pen
Scuba Suit
Poison Pills
LSD Spray
Thallium Salts
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Crimes of the Century: The Lindbergh Baby, the Mona Lisa Heist, and the Fatty Arbuckle Scandal

Why have only a few particular murders and heists and scandals been immortalized in popular culture? Join Shane and Duncan for a dive into three famous capers of the 1900s to help uncover the x-factors that elevate a garden-variety crime to legend status. 
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In this episode: 
Charles Lindbergh
The Aerial Daredevil Lindbergh
Aviator Worship
Air Mail ServiceThe Orteig Prize
John Alcock and Arthur Brown
The Kidnapping of the Lindburgh Baby
The Ransom Notes
John Condon, Intermediary
The Body is Found
Gold Certificates Break the Case
Bruno Richard Hauptmann
The Trial
Theft of the Mona Lisa
The Louvre in the Early 1900s
Louis Beroud
Leonardo da Vinci and the History of the Painting
Francesco and Lisa Giocondo
Louis Lepine
Pablo Picasso, Suspect
Vencenzo Peruggia
Alfredo Geri and Giovanni Poggi
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Fatty, Chaplin, and the Keystone Kops
Memorial Day at the Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco
Virginia Rappe
Bambina Maude Delmont
The Death
First Trial
Second Trial
Third Trial and Exoneration
William B Goodrich
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~