Speaker 2: 0:21

Welcome to One Good Thing Media, your official podcast review channel. We search the vast digital landscape on a daily basis to discover the best shows that podcasters have to offer. Are you ready to discover new favorites to add to your playbook? Stay tuned and listen to host Gerald Spears' latest podcast reviews.

Speaker 1: 0:56

Hello everyone, I am so happy to be back with you for yet another episode of One Good Thing Media. For those of you who are new to our channel, my name is Gerald Spe and I am the host of One Good Thing Media. If you have FOMO, like I do, that's fear of missing out. Perhaps you're bored with your current playlist or maybe you're just looking for your next binge-worthy show. You've come to the right place. Each week, I feature new and newly discovered podcasts that all of our eclectic listeners want to hear more about. This week, I'll be sharing two new podcasts with you, plus great insights into several other shows that I've selected for Season 2, episode 31.

Speaker 1: 1:39

And although we always have a variety of shows that we share with you, there is an emphasis this week on investigative programs. But first here is a word from our sponsor, who Gives a Crap, the cleanest, greenest personal use paper product maker on the planet. Did you know that you can support us by supporting who Gives a Crap, a company that really does give a crap? We've been a loyal customer of WGAC for five years. They produce the greenest toilet paper and paper towels on the planet, have a microcarbon footprint and donate 50% of their profits to help underdeveloped countries safely manage human waste. Fyi, I recommend the bamboo toilet paper. It's three-ply soft and because bamboo is a grass, you're helping to preserve our forests. Please give a crap by clicking on the sponsor's link in our show notes and go even greener, starting today.

Speaker 1: 2:47

Alrighty, then let's get on with the show. Welcome to our news highlights and updates segment. In the news for this episode, ashley Flowers, the host and creator of Crime Junkies and the Deck, to name just two programs, has reinvented her Supernatural podcast and, like its original podcast, so Supernatural deals with unexplained occurrences that could be interpreted as, hmm, otherworldly events. I heartily recommend so Supernatural to everyone who's like me and is drawn to stories about voices from the other side, ghosts, real spiritual connections, ufos and alien visitations, cryptids and much more. Congratulations, ashley, on a great refresh and show. Here's the trailer from so Supernatural.

Speaker 4: 4:36

You're not imagining this, you're not sleepwalking or having an out-of-body experience. It's really me, ashley Flowers Flowers, and this really is supernatural. I am back and I'm taking this to a whole nother level, which is why we're now calling this show so supernatural. You guys, I have so much to get into, not least of all today's story. But before we begin, I have to tell you why I'm here, because I've missed this show like so, so much.

Speaker 4: 5:09

And for anyone new listening, if you don't know me, I mostly talk about crime. Like, hi, it's kind of my thing, Nice to meet you. But there is a whole nother side of me that loves aliens and time travel and paranormal stuff, basically anything weird or unexplained. And that's what this show is. Call it a passion project, one where I explore stories of the paranormal UFOs, bizarre legends and what it all says about what lies beyond our realm. And now that so Supernatural is back, you can expect more wild stories and some fun surprises in the coming episodes, but for now I just want to stop the small talk and jump in, if that's okay with all of you.

Speaker 1: 5:59

So Supernatural drops a new show every Friday and, for the binge babes like me, there are also over 100 Supernatural stories from years past, making this podcast a binger's paradise. And speaking of the Supernatural, are you a fan of Parkdale Haunt? It's a supernatural series about a young woman who inherits a house in the Parkdale neighborhood of Toronto, and she inherits this house from a family member that she never knew she had. Sounds kind of suspicious, don't you think? If you're a fan of the supernatural and haven't listened to it yet, all I have to say is this is your lucky day. Written by Emily Kellogg and Alexuting on the Parkdale Haunt feed on September 27, 2024. And like Parkdale Haunt, it takes place in Toronto and there's at least one overlapping character, and that is the psychopathic realtor Austin Bird. And like the Parkdale neighborhood of Toronto, season four takes place in Woodbine, a newer area in the same beautiful city. At the time of this recording, the information is sparse, almost secretive. Here's a clip from the city.

Speaker 5: 8:06

If you're looking to find a place or to sell your own. Remember no one makes a nest like a bird. Even those enshrouded in darkness know that. In hang on the spaces under the bed, the cracks in the doorframe. The eyes will watch you, the vampires within the city. Do not walk again. They never left. They are here and waiting. Miranda, did you write this? What's this supposed to mean? I told you we should never have done this. Live God. An absolute waste of $1,500. Is this your little fan fiction? You shouldn't be going through your vampire phase in your 30s. You know it's embarrassing For all of us.

Speaker 3: 8:57

The voice on the radio feels too loud to me these days. Everything feels like too much, from the seatbelt tied against my chest to the weight of the air on my skin. I am filled with worry, doubt, but not fear the man on the radio. He doesn't believe what he speaks of, but I know that he speaks the truth, that there are monsters out there, that the undead walk among us, that they need help and that I am one of those who's tasked with helping them, not because of any particular calling or destiny. It is my day job. Well, night job. Now my boss Grace. She's the one who brought me into this world, one I never thought could be real and I know this because I died and she brought me back from the darkness into a whole world of night.

Speaker 6: 10:01

From the creators of Parkdale Haunt comes Woodbine, a podcast about monsters, mystery and new beginnings, coming September 27th, distributed by Realm.

Speaker 1: 10:30

I have a great update for you regarding our upcoming podcast, skirting Danger. For those of you who are new to our One Good Thing Media podcast, we are launching our second show, skirting Danger, on October 1st. Skirting Danger will be focusing on women and how they can navigate this upside-down world safely and freely. Behind the scenes, I've been consulting with and interviewing experts, including psychologists, including psychologists, police and private detectives, cyber security experts, travel professionals and even reformed criminals. We'll be covering a wide variety of topics, ranging from how to protect your purse and travel safely to how to Prevent a Deranged Criminal from Trying to Carjack your Vehicle. Here's a promo clip from our upcoming show.

Speaker 1: 11:40

You may already be comfortable in your own skin, but do you feel the same way about your safety? Has your home been violated? Have you been followed or harassed? Are you friends with women who have found themselves in dangerous situations? If you're nodding your head right now, you aren't alone. Skirting Danger was founded to help all women live their life safely and freely. To do this responsibly, the Skirting Danger team has assembled a host of crime experts who provide safety tips for everything from how to vet someone you just met, how to secure your home, going to work, going out at night and while traveling. Make your safety your priority and don't allow anyone to steal your possessions, your peace of mind or your well-being. Follow Skirting Danger wherever you, listen to your podcasts and check out our posts on Instagram, facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.

Speaker 2: 12:58

Gerald.

Speaker 1: 13:00

Oh, no, not you again. What are you listening to? Are you spying on me? Oh, ais, you can't trust them. But yes, welcome to. What Are you Listening To?

Speaker 1: 13:13

A segment where I share what I've binged this week, and it's a good one. This week I fell down the rabbit hole and didn't see daylight until I listened to all eight episodes of Hysterical, a true investigative podcast by Pineapple Street and Wondery. It's a recent podcast that started this past July and ended in late August of this year. Hysterical involves a mystery illness with severe symptoms that afflicted at least 25 people 24 females and one male in a small town in upstate New York in 2012. After extensive investigation by authorities and medical experts, one question still lingered Was it real, or were those affected by this mystery illness, which in many ways mimicked Tourette's syndrome, actually suffering from some form of mass hysteria? Anytime a firm diagnosis proves elusive and all medical and clinical tests prove negative, the debate between a real illness and an imagined one isn't unusual.

Speaker 1: 14:31

Some skeptics routinely cite the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a prime example of mass hysteria in America. Others refer to an event that happened in 1994, after a beautiful 31-year-old woman with terminal cancer was rushed to the ER in severe pain. Several female nurses were treating her when suddenly many of them became dizzy and extremely nauseous. In fact, their symptoms were so severe that several of them ended up becoming patients themselves, with one staying in the hospital for two weeks. Unfortunately, the cancer patient died soon after this event, and after many tests that all came back negative, the affected nurses were collectively diagnosed with mass hysteria. Needless to say, they were confused and more than a little bit resentful.

Speaker 1: 15:37

Like most women, I view these types of diagnoses through a filtered lens. It stems from being all too aware of the history of women and hysteria. During the Victorian period, for instance, which lasted until the early 20th century, a husband could commit his wife to a mental institution because she was too emotional, aka hysterical, depressed or suffered from being strong-willed. And even in the not-so-distant past, when a physician couldn't find a physical reason for a woman's complaints, they often attributed it to her imagination and recommended psychiatric care. Were they right Sometimes? Were they always right? Nope, should a man ever tell a woman to calm down? Not if they're smart.

Speaker 1: 16:35

It's also why I was on the fence about a mass affliction with facial and body tics eye blinking, grimacing and grunting that affected 23 girls, one boy and one female nurse. Naysayers maintained it was the result of mass hysteria because, as some so-called experts pointed out, belief is always more powerful than truth. But, countering that conclusion, many citizens cited a mass poisoning that occurred when a train derailed in the 1970s and thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals poisoned their water table, at least two factories that dumped toxic chemicals into an area canal, ironically called the Love Canal, that caused severe, sometimes lethal, health problems, plus the seven natural gas wells that surrounded this school, where most of these health events occurred. Whether you agree with the conclusion or not, hysterical is an excellent show with insightful and in-depth reporting. The narrator that you're about to hear is Dan Taberski, who was the writer, director and the investigative journalist who was tasked with unraveling this mystery.

Speaker 7: 18:02

As the weather grew colder in Leroy that fall, the symptoms continued to come to life. A thrashing junior one week, a couple sophomores the next, an irregular heartbeat finding its rhythm, but all still unofficial. The school's not talking about it publicly, the town isn't acknowledging it, parents are just kind of watching this thing happen.

Speaker 8: 18:22

I just kept thinking what's going on. I didn't have any clue, I just was like there's got to be an answer, there's got to be something at the root. You know, what's the common denominator? Was basically all I kept thinking is what's the common denominator?

Speaker 7: 18:34

here the soccer moms and dads would hash out theories on the sideline. One of the first students to fall ill was on the soccer team, so at first there was some suspicion that maybe the coach was pushing them too hard. Soccer team.

Speaker 8: 18:46

So at first there was some suspicion that maybe the coach was pushing them too hard, but then maybe a few weeks later, then it's another girl. Well, she's not on the soccer team.

Speaker 7: 18:53

What's going on with her? In fact, that first girl was also on the cheerleading squad. Three weeks later, her best friend on the squad came down with symptoms and as the sound of ticks and barks grew louder in the school.

Speaker 8: 19:06

I thought it had to be something to do with the school or the school grounds only, because that was the only thing everybody had in common is they went to the same school and they were female.

Speaker 7: 19:20

The focus for some turned to the athletic fields where the kids played and practiced. The fields become notorious for being repeatedly soaked with flood water from heavy rains. There would even be complaints from students about an orange ooze coming up from the grass there that stuck to their sneakers and clothes. Then there was the question of why just girls so far?

Speaker 4: 19:42

At first it was whispers. It was like, oh, it's this one girl, like we don't know what's going on, like blah, blah, blah and the next thing I know it's like doubling and tripling and it's all these girls.

Speaker 7: 19:51

This is Rose, another eighth grader at Leroy that year.

Speaker 4: 19:54

I remember hearing at some point, since it was all girls, it must be a bad batch of tampons.

Speaker 7: 20:01

And I'm just like what? Did the school give you sort of marching orders about how to deal with this?

Speaker 8: 20:08

Yeah, yeah. They said, like you know, we're handling it, and they basically just wanted everybody to keep quiet.

Speaker 9: 20:14

There's a mystery in Leroy that no one seems to be able to solve In.

Speaker 7: 20:18

November, one of the girls finally goes public with her symptoms on local news, but she hides her identity. She's backlit by the setting sun, so you just see her silhouette this is my eighth or ninth day straight ticking and doesn't stop.

Speaker 9: 20:33

For 17 year old michaela, as we've chosen to call her, sleeping is the only form of relief she has from the uncontrollable ticks that constantly shake her head I felt like linda blair in theorcist.

Speaker 4: 20:47

I remember exactly like getting out and just like standing there staring at the cameras like holy shit, like what the hell is going on.

Speaker 8: 20:53

There's just a history in the US of women being dismissed by doctors. Hysteria, it's all in your head. Oh my gosh, you're exaggerating.

Speaker 10: 21:00

There is something actually happening to their bodies, Something I believe is coming from the outside the environment somehow.

Speaker 1: 21:08

I could live with conversion disorder. I could not live with the environment did it to me. That, to me, was terminal.

Speaker 7: 21:18

State and school officials came to believe that this whole thing was a mass psychogenic illness, a mass hysteria, and that nothing else made sense, until, that is, someone slipped a document and a note under the doormat of one of the affected families. The details of how this went down are sketchy. The note was anonymous and we still know nothing about the messenger, except they clearly had a sense for the drama of the moment. But the note said basically, if you're looking for the cause of the outbreak, go back farther. Go back to something that happened 40 years ago, to an event that was huge at the time but that everyone seems to have forgotten it was December 6, 1970.

Speaker 11: 21:59

Somewhere around 3.30 in the morning, a Lehigh Valley train I think there were 25 cars cars on it derailed and emptied two tons of cyanide crystals and 30 to 35 000 gallons of trichloroethane solvent. I mean, everybody knew what cyanide was, nobody knew what trichloroethane was trichloroethylene is a degreasing solvent used in manufacturing.

Speaker 7: 22:29

35,000 gallons of it went into the ground that night and into the groundwater, and it's still there. Long-term exposure to TCE has been known to cause dizziness, nausea, headaches, liver damage, several forms of cancer and neurological complications. What is in the water in Leroy, new York? And if poisons are bubbling up from the ground beneath your feet, why would you ever believe the people telling you? It's all in your head.

Speaker 1: 22:58

Why, indeed, if you love mysteries, then you're going to love this podcast Hysterical. It's time for our favorite segment, where I review two podcasts that I am absolutely over the moon about, and I think you will be too. Before I get going with my first review, I just want to say that, as a journalist, I have been reporting on different topics for health, beauty and lifestyle for longer than I care to admit, but that's softball reporting when you compare it to investigative journalism, and even though I didn't get involved in the latter, I am still a fan of that genre. It's one of my favorite types of movies, novels, podcasts, you name it. That's why, when I discover a well-done investigative podcast, I'm generally hooked right away, and this is why the podcast I'm going to be talking about today, hooked, took me by surprise. I'm constantly scouring podcast news sites to find compelling new, or at least newish, shows to bring to you. But Hooked, which is an Apple original show with investigative journalist Josh Dean and if you ever look up Josh's body of work, anything that he's involved in, you know I'm there. But oddly, hook dropped in 2021, and somehow it slipped completely off my radar. To be honest, I was really shocked because I wasn't familiar with Hook until I started looking for podcasts that had to do with opiates, started looking for podcasts that had to do with opiates After the surprise started wearing off. Like me, I didn't know about that. I reminded myself. With over 350,000 podcasters, I was fortunate to have found it at all.

Speaker 1: 25:23

Hooked is about a man named Tony Hathaway, the most prolific bank robber in American history. But who Tony was before he turned to crime and how he views his exploits today will definitely surprise you. Fyi, tony didn't grow up as an abused and neglected child. He wasn't raised in poverty. He didn't graduate from petty theft to burglary before robbing banks. In fact, the only life altering event he ever experienced was severely injuring his back, having two back surgeries. Having two back surgeries and being prescribed opiates to help him deal with the pain.

Speaker 1: 26:17

Tony's story that was eventually turned into the Hooked podcast unfolded over three years of prison interviews and, even though what I'm about to tell you will sound bizarre, tony comes off as an affable suburban dad as he tells about robbing 30 banks within a 30-mile radius of his home and how much fun it was to do it. And despite having no criminal experience prior to becoming hooked on opiates, he also relates how he managed to stump several police departments and the FBI before finally being apprehended. I also enjoyed this podcast because, in true Josh Dean style, hooked also provides an intimate view of addiction, the opioid crisis and how, under certain circumstances, no matter how respectable we are and how many degrees we've earned, we could become hooked on opiates, just like Tony and millions of other Americans. Here's a clip from the show I'm Josh Dean.

Speaker 12: 27:24

I'm a journalist and the co-creator of both the Clearing and Chameleon Hollywood Con Queen. But I knew even before I made those shows that I wanted to tell Tony Hathaway's story. A few years ago I was poking around looking for stories about bank robbers, like really successful ones. I wanted to find someone who was gifted, I guess, at robbing banks and I stumbled across a small thing in the Seattle newspaper Local man robs 30 banks. Damn, I thought that's a lot of banks, like an in the record books kind of number Seemed like exactly the kind of story I was looking for, maybe even better. So I wrote to Tony, who was in prison at the time, and when he finally got back to me by email his response left me kind of speechless. Not sure how much of my story you're familiar with. He wrote, but in short, I worked for a very large commercial airplane company.

Speaker 13: 28:18

For 22 years as a technical designer and engineer airplane company. For 22 years as a technical designer and engineer. Injured my back, had two surgeries, then became addicted to oxycontin, then heroin robbed 30 banks in a year and now prison airplane engineer.

Speaker 12: 28:37

did he say heroin? And he robbed 30 banks. I mean what? I went in looking for a successful bank robber, found one like maybe one of the most successful ever, and it turns out that's not even the most interesting part of this story. In an instant, the story I thought I was looking for spiraled into something totally different, almost unbelievable. It wasn't just a tall tale about some ingenious bank robber. It was about a middle-aged dad with a comfortable career who became an ingenious bank robber. That's one hell of a midlife crisis. How does that happen? In his very next email, tony summed up his saga I guess you could call it as a quote painful story about a guy who pretty much had it made and lost it all because he became addicted to pain medication that he was prescribed by his family doctor.

Speaker 13: 29:32

What I didn't know at the time is what I was really being prescribed. I didn't realize that this is basically pharmaceutical heroin.

Speaker 12: 29:40

Tony obviously never thought he would become addicted no one does but it happened fast and it cost him everything His job, his savings, his dignity, everything. And his addiction still looms over him every day, which explains a lot, but it doesn't explain how he ended up wanted by the FBI.

Speaker 13: 30:01

I'm a heroin addict and I had to do something, you know, to not just feed my drug habit but to also help take care of my family. So for me, bank robberies was the easiest way to get money.

Speaker 12: 30:15

Well, easy until you get caught. This is Hooked, an Apple original podcast produced by Campsite Media, A story about cops and robbers, doctors and dealers and getting high versus getting by. Yeah.

Speaker 13: 30:38

I was a mess. I mean, I Overall I think I was a good person. You know, like to my friends and you know as far as like just being kind to people, but I'm robbing banks like crazy, which is obviously wrong.

Speaker 1: 30:59

My last podcast review for episode 31 is called Buried the Last Witness. It's by the BBC for Radio. It is a story about chemical poisonings and what can happen when companies put profits over people. Now, I'm not saying that all companies are villains, but there are certainly bad actors out there and, unfortunately, unless they're caught, it is the area people who pay the price. In the case of Buried the Last Witness witness.

Speaker 1: 31:46

The poison chemical is called polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs. It's a toxic, fire retardant chemical or group of chemicals, I should say, that were used in everything from paint to paper to being used for insulating fluids and electrical equipment like transformers and capacitors. They were also used in, of all things, microscope oils and electric appliances like refrigerators and television sets, until they were banned in most countries in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The first series of Buried was a terrific investigative podcast that was done by environmental reporters Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor. It was a hit podcast. I know I listened to it twice. I haven't mentioned it on my show yet but I will in the future.

Speaker 1: 32:36

The second series, buried the Last Witness, the same pair of environmental reporters team up, but this time with Welsh actor Michael Sheen, and together explore a shocking story of the PCBs and how this particular chemical impacted lives, families and homes in the UK.

Speaker 1: 33:05

Whether or not it was planned I don't have any inside information on it it ended up going international when the team went to America, went to the deep south, where this chemical was also being manufactured, and discovered some heinous activity an ultimate triumph of the people who lived in that area. Back in 2017, michael Sheen was scrolling the internet when he saw a reference to this man called Douglas Gowan, a former National Farmers Union consultant, who had become concerned about the impact of PCBs leaking from landfill sites in South Wales, and how he spent years trying in vain to blow the whistle on the egregious behavior of the companies responsible for producing these chemicals. For producing these chemicals Buried Last Witness is really a testament to human spirit, human determination, bravery and the ability of even people who do not have a lot of clout they're not famous, they're not politicians to make changes for the good.

Speaker 14: 34:27

Here's a clip from the show. Late one night, I found myself staring at this diagram of a chemical two hexagons connected by a line. It was so simple, yet so elegant. The shapes were hydrocarbons and locked together they make a chemical that can withstand fire. I couldn't believe that something so tiny could be so transformative, and I knew nothing about it. Here's another thing I didn't know In the story of this chemical. There was a witness who stood in the way.

Speaker 13: 34:54

Greed and money will conquer just about everything.

Speaker 10: 34:59

A man who knew something I've seen the dark side. And left behind files of evidence that have never been seen.

Speaker 14: 35:17

That's how I find myself rushing to collect his lifetime's work. I'm going to take a turn down a road to an industrial estate with a box of secrets Before it's too late. Is this what we've been looking for? I've got it. I've got them. Just stuff them all in a bag for life and left.

Speaker 10: 35:41

Good, the way all good stories begin. Because that witness there was something he wanted us to know. The chemical we mentioned it not only affects fire, but also the human brain.

Speaker 14: 36:15

This is Series 2 of Buried. Welcome back. In the first series we dug into waste crime, but this is a new investigation, the story of a man who stumbled upon a chemical secret. You can't see it. It's a silent killer Buried in towns across the UK.

Speaker 1: 36:36

Horrify it.

Speaker 11: 36:37

Horrify it.

Speaker 14: 36:38

And the trials of going after the truth. Threatened, beaten up, A journey into a chemical with lethal power.

Speaker 10: 36:56

That drags everyone in, even a Hollywood film star. What do those in charge know?

Speaker 14: 37:05

Collusion conspiracy. I'm naming names, and could the witness be right? It's buried, isn't it? But it's going to come back that it wasn't just him under threat.

Speaker 10: 37:19

Just inserting the needle.

Speaker 14: 37:21

Trepidation.

Speaker 10: 37:22

I mean it's terrifying.

Speaker 14: 37:23

But all of us.

Speaker 10: 37:27

We're Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, and from BBC Radio 4, this is Buried, the Last Witness.

Speaker 1: 37:34

Buried. The Last Witness is so elegantly produced and the investigators are so relentless and courageous, so I know you're going to love this show. It does have some down moments, but the ultimate reward is that we do have the power to change things. It's a wrap for Episode 31 of One Good Thing Media. If you haven't had a chance already, please make sure to follow our podcast and if your heart is so moved, leave us a five star rating. Thank you so much for supporting us and listening to our program. We will see you next week and you know I love you. Bye.

Speaker 2: 39:04

One Good Thing Media is brought to you by our host and creator, gerald Spear, all things technical are by David Dodd and our announcer is Robert Spear. Our theme song for Season 2 is Force by HGST. Thank, you.