Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

The Weird, Uncomfortable, Creepy History of Clowns

Few characters from pop culture are as divisive as clowns. Simultaneously endearing and terrifying, the archetype of the clown has persevered throughout the ages despite being reviled by a significant portion of the world’s population. There’s even a word for the fear of clowns: coulrophobia.
So how did ancient jesters and tricksters evolve into the unsettling, white-faced, crazy-haired clowns of today? And what makes the figure of the clown so durable? Find out in this week’s buffoonish, pratfalling, skin-crawling episode of MFFI.
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In this episode:  
Ancient Egypt and the "Dangas"
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome and the “Stupidus” 
Court Jesters and Fools
Loki
The Hayuka
Carl Jung's "Trickster" Archetype
Commedia dell'arte
The Pierrot
The Harlequin
Joseph Grimaldi ("Joey")
Philip Astley and the Circus
The Whiteface, the Auguste, the Character and the Hobo
Emmett Kelly’s “Weary Willie”
Charlie Chaplin (Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr.)
Music Hall and Vaudeville
Marcel Marceau, Michael Jackson, and the Art of Mime
Bozo the Clown
Fear of Clowns: Coulrophobia
The Joker
Stephen King's It
The Clown Panic of 2016
Insane Clown Posse and the Jugallos 
Terrifier 2 and "Art the Clown"
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Animals with Superpowers

Super strength, super hearing, the ability to fly; many of the standard superpowers from comic books are commonplace in the animal kingdom. But those abilities barely scratch the surface when it comes to the awesome potential of evolutionary adaptation. In this latest episode, Shane schools Duncan on the most unique and powerful critters in the animal kingdom.
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In this episode:  
The Ninja Slug (Ibycus rachelae)
Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus)
Mimic Octopus and Wunderpus photogenicus
Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae)
Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)
Flea (Siphonaptera)
Frog Hopper (Cercopoidea)
Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus)
Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii)
Electric Eel (Electrophorus Electricus)
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Mummies and Death Rituals

Every society faces an inevitable dilemma: what to do with dead bodies? Join Shane and Duncan as they travel across the globe and throughout history to explore Sky Burial, plastination, "Dancing with the Dead," and the most famous death ritual of all: mummification. 
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In this episode:  
The World's Oldest Known Burial Site: Qafzeh
Death Rituals Around the World
Famidihana: Dancing With the Dead (Turning of the Bones)
Buddhism and "Sky Burial"
Viking Funerals
South Korean "Death Beads"
Western Funerals
Mummification
Autolysis and Decomposition
Putrefaction
Intentional vs Unintentional Mummies
Otzi the Iceman
Juanita, the Peruvian Sacrifice
Egyptian Mummies
The Book of the Dead
The Ka, the Ba, and the Akh
The Journey Through Duat
The Hall of Maat
The Judgment of Anubis
Heart-Weighing
Ammit
The "Most Perfect Method" 
King Tut (Tutankhamun) 
Howard Carter and the Discovery of King Tut's Tomb
The Death Mask
The Legacy of Mummification
Plastination
Vladimir Ilyach Ulyanov Lenin
Summum: The Mummy Cult
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Filth and Fury: The History and Legacy of Punk Music

Which famous foursome is considered the first punk band? What did CBGB stand for? In what city did punk originate? What was the wild television moment that made The Sex Pistols a household name? 
From the first on-stage snarls to punk's final wheezing gasps, follow along with Shane and Duncan as they trace the rise and fall of punk music.
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In this episode:  
Redefining Rebellion
The Evolution of Punk
60s Garage Rock: MC5 and the Kinks
Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The New York Dolls
1970s Socioeconomics
Hilly Kristal and CBGB
Hillbilly Poetry
Wayne County/Wayne Richards/Jane County
The Revalons, Television, Patti Smith
PUNK Magazine 
The Ramones
Danny Fields and His Mom
Malcolm McLaren, Vivian Westwood and SEX
The Sex Pistols are Assembled
Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious
The Infamous Bill Grundy Show Meltdown
The Sex Pistols Tour the American South
The Demise of the Pistols
Sid and Nancy
Punk Factions: Hardcore, Political, Pop
Political: The Dead Kennedys
Hardcore: The Bad Brains, Black Flag, Minor Threat, the Germs
Horror Punk: The Misfits
Pop Punk: The Stiff Little Fingers, The Descendants, Bad Religion
The Rise of Skate/Surf Punk: Offspring, NOFX, Green Day, Rancid
Riot Grrrls: Bikini Kill, Buggy Bear, Slant 6, Bratmobile
The Warped Tour and the Death of Rebellion
Punk Goes Full Pop: Blink 182, Sum 41, Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance etc 
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The Skeptic’s Guide to Astrology

Join two lifelong skeptics as they attempt to set aside their cynicism and immerse themselves in the mystical universe of Astrology and the Zodiac. (“Attempt” being the operative word. If you're a huge fan of Astrology, please take note: there will be some respectful debunking.)
Whether you're a fixed feminine water sign or a masculine cardinal air sign, whether your 8th house is in Pluto or Mars, you'll find something to enjoy in this week's cosmic, celestial, prognosticating installment of MFFI. 
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In this episode:  
Mesopotamia and the Babylonians
The "How" Problem
Constellations and the Zodiac
Mayan Astrology
Chinese Astrology
Sun Sign
The Elements: Earth, Wind, Air, and Fire
Fixed, Cardinal, and Mutable Signs
Rising Sign
Moon Sign 
Planets
Houses
The Infamous NASA blog
Ophiuchus: The 13th Sign
Joan Quigley and Nancy Reagan
Mercury in Retrograde
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Gladiators and the History of Human Combat

Did gladiators always battle to the death? Who was the most famous gladiator of all time, and why did he never step foot in the Colosseum? Were any gladiators women? What would a day at the Colosseum look and sound like? (Spoiler alert: music accompanied the fights.) Were all gladiators slaves, or could free citizens compete in the arena? 
Join Shane and Duncan as they explore the history and legacy of human combat in this week’s hacking and slashing, rough-and-tumble episode of MFFI.
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In this episode:  
How Combat Became Entertainment
Cultural Universals: Wrestling, Boxing, etc
The Etruscans and Campanians
Ludus/Ludi
The Gladius (Sword)
Funeral Ceremonies (Munus/Munera)
Female Fighters
Brutus Pera and Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva
Caesar's Munus
Venatio (Beast Shows/Animal Hunts)
Augustus Regulates the Munera
Trajan's Games
Marcus Aurelius
Commodus
Russel Crowe's Maximus
Myth Busting
Lucius Cassius Dio
The Colosseum
Gladiator Pairs
Gladiator Types: Retiaruus, Murmillo, Andabata, Thraex
Mimus (Horn-Blowing Chickens and Flute-Playing Bears)
Spartacus and the Third Servile War
Honorius and the End of the Games
 
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The Most-Frequently Misused Words in the English Language

What are the most consistently misused words and phrases in the English language? Find out in this week's nitpicking, pedantic, gloriously sesquipedalian episode of MFFI. 
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In this episode:  
Terrific
Queer
Ironic
Literally
Meretricious 
Irregardless
Disinterested
Electrocute
Refute
Fewer vs Less
Nauseous 
Nonplussed
Eggcorns
I Could Care Less
Shoo-In
For All Intents and Purposes
Piqued
Hunger Pangs
You've Got Another Think Coming
Dog Eat Dog World
Coleslaw
Buck Naked
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Deadly Plants: From Belladonna to the Gympie-Gympie

What’s the world’s most dangerous plant? Which notorious stinging nettle is capable of an aerial attack? And what the heck is a hemicryptophyte? 
Join Shane and Duncan as they explore the wild world of toxic foliage in this week’s lush, leafy, and lethal episode of MFFI. 
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In this episode:  
Atropa Belladonna (Deadly Nightshade)
Herbaceous, Perennial, Rhizomatous, Hemicryptophyte
Augustus and Livia
Atropine
Daffodil (Narcissus Poeticus)
Lycorine
Castor Bean (Ricinus Communis) 
1978 Umbrella Murder (Georgi Markov)
Ricin Poison
Gympie-Gympie (Dendrocnide Moroides)
Gubbi-Gubbi
Phototoxic Giant Hogweed (Heracleum Mantegazzianum)
Tangent: Corpse Bloom (Amorphophallus Titanium)
Hemlock (Conium Maculatum)
Socrates
Nerium-Oleander
The Deadliest Plant on Earth
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Alternate Histories: The End of the World as We Know It

On September 26, 1983, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet army saved the world.
When the Oko nuclear-warning system erroneously reported an incoming barrage of American missiles, Stanislov Petrov chose not to alert his superiors, and averted the apocalypse. But what if he had made a different decision? Would civilization still exist? What would the world look like today? 
Join the boys as they examine the uniquely human obsession with revising history, and take a journey down the "what if" rabbit hole.
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In this episode:  
The Roman Origins of Alternate History
Titus Livius's Ab Urbe Condita
Points of Divergence
Chaos Theory
The Butterfly Effect
Edward Norton Lorenz
"For Want of a Nail" 
Apocalyptic Futures
Lieutenant Colonel Stanislov Petrov
The Oko Warning System
"Launch on Warning" Protocol
Mutually Assured Destruction
Northern Hemisphere Effects vs. Southern
Fallout
Little Ice Age vs. Nuclear Winter 
What if the North Hadn't Won the Civil War?
Likelihood of a Northern Failure/Southern Stalemate
Abraham Lincoln and the Election of 1864
McClellan Negotiates a Ceasefire
Lincoln's Legacy
Slavery Continues
Southern Decline
Westward Expansion, Further Fragmentation
WWI in America
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*Full Episode* After Midnight: The Top 5 Greatest Movie Sequels

To make up for the lost episode due to Shane’s bout with COVID, MFFI is releasing another full, brand new After Midnight this week! Enjoy your favorite segments like “How Stupid Are We?” and “This Week’s Random Fact,” plus the greatest movie sequels of all time.
What’s in your top five? Tell us in DISCORD ...
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