Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

The History of F@!#%$g Profanity

It's a god#%m mothe$#@king s*#tshow on this week's episode as the guys explore the history, purpose, and benefits of profanity. Keep it classy, Insomniacs. 
 
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In this episode:  
Profanus: Outside of Temple
Zounds
Osculation
Sl*tty Tummies
The Overton Window
Modern Profanity: Racism, Sexism, and all the other isms
The Problem With Time Machines
The Home of Profanity: The Right-Brain Limbic System
Aphasia
International Restrictions on Speech
Obscenity Laws
The Miller Test (The 3-Pronged Obscenity Test)
Averages and Community Standards
Lenny Bruce
Jim Morrison, Hugh Hefner, and Mae West
George Carlin's "7 Dirty Words"
Eddie Murphy's "Delirious"
Telegraph, Radio, and Television
The Radio Act of 1912 
The Federal Radio Commission
The Radio Act of 1927
The Federal Communications Commission
WBAI 
John Douglas Goes to the Supreme Court
The Code of Practices for Television Broadcasters
The Fairness Doctrine
The Hays Code (The Motion Picture Production Code)
The MPAA and Arbitrary Ratings
Steven Pinker and the 5 Functions of Swearing
Cathartic, Dysphemistic, Emphatic, Idiomatic, Coprolalia
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Galactic Warlords, Billion Year Contracts, and a Modern American Space Cult: The “Church” of Scientology

What do celebrities, sex magic, and the antichrist have in common? Find out in this week's all-clear, billion year, intergalactically cult-ilicious episode of MFFI. 
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In this episode:  
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard
Going Clear
Celebrity Members (Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Giovanni Ribisi, Elisabeth Moss, Michael Pena, etc)
Margaret Louise "Polly" Grubb
Hubbard in the Navy
Jack Parsons, Thelema, OTO, and Aleister Crowley
The Moonchild (Antichrist)
Marjorie Cameron 
Sarah Northrup
Engrams
Auditors
E-Meters
Scientology vs Psychiatry
The Reactive vs. The Analytical Mind
The Tone Scale
Founding of Scientology
The Sea Org
The Bridge (Ladder) to Total Freedom
Operating Thetan Levels
The Purification Rundown
OT3, Xenu, Teegeeack, Glycol, DC-8s, Super Colossal Screens
Hubbard Discards His Body
David Miscavige, Sleazy Diminutive Sociopath
Suppressive Persons
7th Floor of the Hollywood Headquarters
Pre-Clear Folders
The Office of Special Affairs
Scientology vs. the IRS
Michele "Shelly" Miscavige
Scientology Television Network
Meet a Scientologist, Freedom TV, Voices For Humanity
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Epic Rivalries, Famous Feuds, and Bitter Beefs

In this first episode of the Epic Rivalries series, the boys opt for a (mostly) lighthearted introduction to the world of legendary grudge-matches. Enjoy!
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In this episode:  
Coke Vs Pepsi
Hatfields Vs McCoys
Pat’s Vs. Geno’s
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Best of MFFI: The First 100 Episodes

Ready for a trip down memory lane? No? Well, it's happening, and it's all Duncan's fault. The plague monkey strikes again. (Thanks a lot, omicron.) But luckily the first long-distance episode ended up being a rollicking good time. Listen along as the boys revisit everyone's favorite and most inappropriate moments from the first 100 episodes. Trigger warnings and NSFW tags apply. Enjoy!
 
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We’re All Mad Here: The History of Asylums (100th Episode Extravaganza!)

It’s the MFFI 100th episode extravaganza!! Announcements, podcast Q&As, plus a supersized topic: the History of Asylums. Support the show by becoming a Midnight Minion, Menace, or Maniac, and unlock exclusive bonus content over at PATREON
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In this episode:  
The Moonstruck Etymology of "Lunatic"
The 21st-Century Language Act of 2012
Mental Healthcare Pre-Asylums
Bedlam: The Bethlehem Royal Hospital
The Mad Doctors Munro
Alienists
Hydrotherapy
Rotational Therapy
Blistering 
Evacuation
 Venesection 
Scarification
Mercuric Chloride
James Norris and Edward Wakefield
The Quakers
William Tuke & Hannah Mills
The York Retreat
 Public Institutions 
County Asylums Act
The Lunacy Act of 1845
Utica State Hospital
Thomas Story Kirkbride
The Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason
Friends Hospital
Dorothea Dix
Nellie Bly, Redux
Henry Cotton
Julius Wagner-Jauregg
Malaria Injections
Insulin Coma Therapy
Lobotomies, Redux
Electroconvulsive Therapy, ECT
Ugo Cerletti
Straight Jackets
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
Domestic Trouble
Sterilization
The Rise of Antidepressants and Antipsychotics
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After Midnight (Full Episode): The Top 5 Holiday Movies of All Time

Although many of you Insomniacs have probably been naughty this year, MFFI is releasing a full After Midnight episode to the regular feed just in time for the holidays. It's a Christmas miracle! From historical classics to modern classics to Die Hard 2, Shane and Duncan debate the best holiday movies of all time. What's in your top 5? Tell us in the MFFI Discord...
 
MFFI DISCORD
 
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In this episode:  
3 Rounds of Midnight Madness
Thunderdome of Ideas (the Top 5 Five Holiday Movies), chosen from:
The Grinch
Love Actually
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Edward Scissorhands
Bad Santa
Scrooged
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Gremlins
It's a Wonderful Life
Just Friends
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Muppets
Miracle on 34th Street
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Die Hard 1 and 2
Elf
The Prince of Egypt
Lethal Weapon
Frosty the Snowman
The Christmas Chronicles
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Lasers, Steam, and Chrome: The History of Science Fiction

Who wrote the first ever science fiction novel? Why is Isaac Asimov hiding his middle initial? And which psychedelic author attempted to murder the most wives?
 
In the latest MFFI episode, Shane snd Duncan answer all of the burning sci-fi-history questions that you never cared enough to ask.
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In this episode:  
The Epic of Gilgamesh?
Johannes Kepler’s 1634 “Somnium” (The Dream)
Mary Shelly and the Mad Scientist Trope
Frankenstein 
The Last Man
Roger Dodsworth: the Reanimated Englishman"
(Another) Last Man: “Le Dernier Homme” by Jean-Baptiste François Xavier Cousin De Grainville 
“The Steam Man of the Prairies”
Johnny Brainerd, Ethan Hopkins and Mickey McSquizzle
Jules Verne and the
Extraordinary Voyages
HG Wells (Herbert George Wells)
Samuel Butler’s “Erewhon”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World
The Futuristic Tales of Rudyard Kipling
Edgar Allen Poe goes to the moon 
Edgar Rice Burroughs: Mars (Barsoom)
The Rise of the Pulps 
Amazing Stories
Astounding Science Fiction
The Big Three:
Robert A Heinlein, Arthur C Clark, and Isaac Yudovick Asimov
Rendezvous with Rama 
Stranger in a strange land
Nightfall
Ray Bradbury?
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis 
Art Deco, Googie, the Jetsons
The Pulp Films: It Came from Outer Space et al 
Science Fiction on Television: Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers
The Impact of the Bomb: How Nuclear Weapons Shaped Sci Fi
Kaiju, On the Beach
Richard Matheson and I Am Legend 
Planet of the Damn Dirty Apes
Frank Herbert and Dune
Phillip K Dick 
Harlan Ellison
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness
Soylent Green
Logan’s Run 
West World
Michael Crichton 
Orson Scott Card Saves the Day
Avoiding Star Wars 
Greg Bear’s Blood Music 
Cyberpunk
William Gibson’s Neuromancer 
Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson, Mirrorshades 
Richard Calder’s Dead Things
The Era of Schwarzenegger 
Dan Simmons Hyperion 
Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Series 
The Matrix etc 
YA: Divergent, Maze Runner, Ready Player One, Hunger Games 
Modern Sci Fi 
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Terrible Tools and Awful Inventions

Some inventions are commercial failures (see episode 45), and some are failures of such moral and/or epic proportions that the repercussions reverberate throughout history. These are those failures. 
 
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In this episode:  
Land Mines
Smell-O-Vision
Sony XCP
Zepellins 
Shutter Shades
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 
 
 

Host Swap: The Marriage Episode (Kidnappers, Bloody Sheets, and Evil Spirits)

In the wake of Shane's recent nuptials, Duncan takes the reins to explore the unsettling history and traditions of weddings. What was the original, sinister purpose of the "Best Man"? How are evil spirits related to Bridesmaid's dresses? And in what way is a honeymoon similar to fleeing a crime scene? Listen to find out...
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In this episode:  
Marriage/Ownership
Best Men/Kidnappers
Bridesmaids/Decoys
Wedding Party/Accomplices
Garters/Zombies
White Weddings
Cake Smushing
Wedding Traditions Around the World
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~
 
 
 

Death, Misery, Folly, and Ponies: The Chilling History of Polar Exploration

Who was the first explorer to reach the North Pole? How about the South? It turns out that at least one of those answers is complicated, and although the controversy may never be laid to rest, plenty of would-be arctic conquerors were themselves laid to rest during the golden age of polar exploration. Join MFFI for the fascinating, brutal, bloody, pony-packed tale of the race for polar glory. 
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In this episode:  
The "Top" of the World
Map Makers, Eurocentrism, and the West Wing
Polar Facts
90 Degrees Latitude
The Polar Day, the Tilt of the Earth, and Polar Seasons
Alert, Canada
Nautical Twilight
Thomas Nast and Santa Claus
Russia Claims the Pole
The Northwest Passage
Prices of Spices
Robert McClure and the HMS Investigator 
The Magnetic North Pole VS the True North Pole
The Lost Franklin Expedition of 1845
The Arsenic-Poisoning of Charles Francis Hall
The Crushing of George W Delong
The Crashing of Salomon August Andree
The Race Between Robert Peary and Frederick A Cook
The Contributions of Matthew Henson
Polar Bear Liver
The Race for the South Pole 
Roald Amundsum
Fridtjof Nansen and the Fram
The Night of the Ponies
Amundson Takes the Pole
Amundson Takes Another Pole
The Death of Amundson
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~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~