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Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

Announcement: After Midnight

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! ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ In this episode:   The Scepter of Dagobert The Three Brothers Faberge Eggs ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~  

Lost Treasures: From Crown Jewels to Fabergé Eggs

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.  ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ 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 ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~  

The Fascinating History of Personality Tests

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.   ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ 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" ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~      

The Pirate, the Silk Road, and the Dark Web: Ross Ulbricht‘s Empire

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...  ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ 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 ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~    

Hunting for Easter Eggs: Hidden Content in Movies and Video Games

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? ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

Common Misconceptions about Animals

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 ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

Host Swap: Talking Slang

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 ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

Unreal: The History and Secrets of Reality TV

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 ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~

Botched Coups and Failed Assassinations: The Bay of Pigs

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.  ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ 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 ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~  

Crimes of the Century: The Lindbergh Baby, the Mona Lisa Heist, and the Fatty Arbuckle Scandal

The largest cult on earth has over 25 million followers, the 4th largest army in the world, and a nuclear arsenal. It also has bowling alleys and karaoke bars, and regularly hosts international marathons. Under three generations of iron-fisted dictators, the so-called Hermit Nation disconnected from the rest of the world, but with the rise of western-educated Kim Jong-un, North Korea is rapidly modernizing. Is the country bracing for change? What is life like in an isolated, rogue state? And is there any point in negotiating with a hostile, nuclear-armed enemy? Join Shane and Duncan for a nuanced exploration of the most feared and vilified country on earth. ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ In this episode:  The First Sino-Japanese War The Military Police Reign Era Kim Il-sung, the Tiger Kim Joins the Soviet Army World War II and Pearl Harbor Establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea The Korean War, 1950 Armistice, 1953 Syngman Rhee and South Korea Juche Kim-Il-sung's Cult of Personality Kim and the Titanic The Rise of Kim Jong-il Cult of Kim Jong-il Mount Paektu Collapse of the Soviet Union North Korean Famine The Rise of Kim Jong-un Purging of Enemies The Execution of Jang Song-thaek The Murder of Kim Jong-nam North Korean Economy The Black Market The Drug Trade Counterfeiting Cyberwarfare Reforms  Sanctions Nuclear Capabilities Life in North Korea Life in Pyongyang The DMZ (the 38th Parallel) North Korean Myth Busting ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~      

The Most Dangerous Cult in the World: North Korea

From paper dresses to giant metal erections, MFFI explores some of the weirdest historical fashion trends.  ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ In this episode:  Hobble skirts Paper clothing Powdered wigs Codpieces Foot Binding Tudor Ruffs Crakowes Sabatons/Poulaines ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~      

Bizarre and Disturbing Fashion Trends Through the Ages

Only a sucker would believe that P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute." In the latest episode of MFFI, the boys once again undermine their own faith in humanity by exposing the inventors, scientists, authors, and orators who deserve none of the credit they've been given.  ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ In this episode:  Stigler's Law of Eponymy  Mark Twain and Helen Keller Halley's Comet The Pythagorean Theorum Hubble's Law (Edwin Hubble) Alexander Friedmann Georges Lemaitre and the Hubble Constant Hubble and the Nobel Prize Fermi Paradox Redux The Invention of the Automobile Henry Ford, William Klann, and the Assembly Line Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz Siegfried Marcus The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Carriages The Telephone Alexander Graham Bell vs. Elisha Gray Johan Philip Reis and the Singing Station Antonio Meucci and the Teletrophono Mark Twain Misattribution Albert Einstein Misattribution QAnon Misattribution (White Squall) Marie Antoinette Misattribution PT Barnum Misattribution Marilyn Monroe Misattribution  ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~  

Misattributed Quotes, Theories, Discoveries, and Inventions

Is it reasonable to believe that ghosts actually exist? From a scientific standpoint, are there any credible explanations for ghost sightings? In the latest MFFI host-swap episode, Duncan debunks his own sketchy theories and then regales Shane with some of the world's earliest ghost stories.  ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ In this episode:  SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) Franz Mesmer Animal Magnetism Electromagnetic Fields David Cohen and Heart Magnetism Ghost Tale from Ancient Egypt Ghost Tale from China (Mo-Tzu, Emperor Hsuan and Tu-Po) Ghost Tale from Pliny the Younger Ghost Tale from Plutarch (Damon and the Bath House) ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Shane's Comedy Schedule and Info ~ Podcast Website   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~  

Host Swap: The Science Behind Ghosts, Phantoms, and Apparitions

The boys take a break from espionage to explore bitcoin, the blockchain, and all things cryptocurrency. What even IS a Bitcoin, and how does it work? Is cryptocurrency a solid investment? Is Bitcoin really anonymous? And who the heck is Satoshi Nakomoto?  ~ Join the MFFI community and vote on episode topics via DISCORD ~ In this episode:  History of Currency Commodity Currency Representative Currency Fiat Currency The Silver Standard The Gold Standard Fort Knox Inflation Satoshi Nakamoto The White Paper The Genesis Block Laszlo Hanyecz and the Pizza Catastrophe Bitcoin Mining and the Blockchain Explained 51% Attacks Proof of Work Dongles and Bitcoin Wallets 21 Million Max Transaction Fees Pseudonymity   The FDIC Mt. Gox Fungibility and NFTs The Electronic Elephant in the Room  ~ Join the Midnight Masses! Become an Insomniac by dropping a review, adding us on social media, and contacting us with episode ideas.  And we now have Midnight Merch! Show your Insomniac pride and pick up a tee shirt or coffee mug to spread the word!  Midnight Merch  ~ Leave an Audio Message! ~  Instagram ~ Shane's Comedy Schedule and Info ~ Podcast Website ~ Episode Transcript   ~ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AND SLEEP IS OVERRATED ~  

Decrypting Crypto: Bitcoin and NFTs

More entertaining than bar trivia, comedians Shane Rogers and Duncan McEwan discuss the most fascinating and obscure facts from history, science, etc.

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Midnight Facts for Insomniacs

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