Speaker
Chuck
Appearances over time
5 episodes
Episodes
5
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Brunswick Springs in Vermont has six separate springs, each carrying different minerals including magnesium, sulfur, bromide, calcium, iron, and arsenic.
The 1964 Alaska Good Friday Earthquake measured 9.2, making it the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded, behind only the 1960 Chile earthquake at 9.5.
The Abenaki, an Algonquin-speaking tribe, had inhabited the Brunswick Springs area for roughly 12,000 years before European colonization.
Every single one of the ten largest earthquakes ever recorded has been a megathrust earthquake, where one tectonic plate locks with and then slips beneath another.
Of the 97 who died at Hillsborough, 37 were teenagers and 27 were parents, with the youngest victim being just 10 years old.
The Gray Hall, Christiania's largest theater — built by residents — seats about 1,500 people and has hosted acts including Bob Dylan, Metallica, and Rage Against the Machine.
During the 1964 Alaska earthquake, a region 500 miles by 125 miles suddenly lurched 30 to 60 feet in seconds — an almost incomprehensible scale of ground movement.
The Hillsborough Independent Panel found that 41 of the 96 victims had the potential to survive if the emergency response had been more organised.
Every resort built at Brunswick Springs burned to the ground — first in 1894, then twice more in 1929 and 1930/1931 — leading owners to abandon development entirely.
During peak summer vacation periods, Christiania receives as many as 10,000 tourists per day, which helped sustain the illegal hash trade on Pusher Street for decades.
Despite the lethal crush developing by 2:59 PM, the first ambulance did not arrive on scene at Hillsborough until 3:16 PM.
Copenhagen police estimated in 2016 that the drug trade on Pusher Street was worth approximately $100 million USD (1 billion kroner) per year, making it the world's biggest hash market.
Don LaFontaine died on September 1, 2008, at age 68 from a pulmonary embolism, about ten days after being hospitalised at Cedars Sinai.
Despite a 9.2 magnitude quake, only about 15 people were killed by the earthquake itself in Alaska; most of the 131 total deaths were caused by the subsequent tsunamis.
By 2004, reportedly up to 25% of Christiania's population was economically dependent on the drug trade centered on Pusher Street.
Jackie Chan has endorsed so many products in China that statistically, some had to fail — but the pattern is striking. A frozen dumpling company collapsed after a staph outbreak, a VCD company's CEO went to jail for fraud, an air conditioner unit exploded, and at the 2025 Australian Open, three finalists lost after shaking Chan's hand.
The Abenaki tribe considered Brunswick Springs sacred for 12,000 years. Every entrepreneur who tried to commercialize the site met the same fate: their resort burned to the ground. Three separate fires between 1894 and 1931 ended development forever — until the tribe bought the land back and put it in a trust.
Five of comedy's biggest names — John Belushi, Sam Kinison, John Candy, Chris Farley, and Phil Hartman — all died after separately being attached to the unproduced Hollywood script 'Atuk.' The movie still hasn't been made. No other unproduced script has a body count like this.
In 1941, Stalin ordered Soviet scientists to exhume the remains of Tamerlane — the 14th-century conqueror responsible for 17 million deaths. Two days later, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the largest land invasion in history. Stalin reportedly re-entombed Tamerlane around the time the tide turned at Stalingrad.
Tamerlane's conquests are estimated to have killed 17 million people — roughly 5% of the entire world population at the time. He sacked Moscow, Delhi, Damascus, and Persia, yet also left behind the ornate Timurid architectural style still visible in Samarkand today.
On October 6, 1945, Chicago bar owner William Sianis tried to bring his beloved goat Murphy to Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field. He was turned away. Philip Wrigley's reason: 'Because the goat stinks.' Sianis cursed the Cubs on the spot. They didn't win a World Series for another 71 years.
The Abenaki tribe eventually purchased the land around Brunswick Springs and transferred it to the state of Vermont to hold in trust. After centuries of attempted exploitation, the sacred site is now permanently protected from commercial development. The curse, effectively, won.
In 1994, screenwriter Michael O'Donoghue recruited John Candy for Atuk. Both men died that same year — Candy at 43 from a heart attack, O'Donoghue from a cerebral hemorrhage at 58. Two men. One script. One year. Zero movie.
In 2016, Sam Sianis rang the original Trocani Bell worn by Murphy during the 1945 World Series as the Cubs headed into extra innings in Game 7. The Cubs won. For fans who believe in the curse, the bell rang it out of existence after 71 years.
The Cubs' four postseason appearances between 1945 and 2016 — in 1984, 1989, 1998, and 2003 — all coincided with years Sam Sianis brought descendants of Murphy to Wrigley Field. The hosts argue this pattern, more than anything else, actually makes the curse feel real.
The famous tomb inscription warning against disturbing Tamerlane was never actually there. Soviet scholars copied every inscription and published them — no curse. The story appears to trace back to a 2003 Russian documentary citing an unnamed book. But the two-day timing of Barbarossa? That part checks out.
What started as casual hash sales in Christiania's 'Greenlight District' exploded into Pusher Street, home to 40 hash stalls and an estimated $100 million annual drug trade. The Hells Angels and BS Motorcycle Club fought a gang war there, leaving residents — ideologically barred from calling the police — largely powerless.
With no government oversight, Christiania's residents didn't stay chaotic for long. Their first rule was no violence; they enforced it through social pressure and shunning. Their second priority was garbage collection. Even radical anarchists, it turns out, hate litter.
Denmark repeatedly threatened to evict Christiania — setting deadlines, passing acts, and drawing up plans — but never followed through. Courts consistently ruled against the residents, yet authorities never removed anyone by force, leaving the commune in a perpetual legal grey zone.
John Belushi was attached to Atuk in 1982 and died of a drug overdose at 33 before filming began. Sam Kinison took over in 1988, actually got 8 days into filming before a lawsuit halted production, then died in a car crash at 38. Two stars, two deaths, zero movies.
Analysis
What they talk about
- TV & Film 22%
- Society & Culture 22%
- Science 17%
- Sports 11%
- Business 6%
- News 6%
- Technology 6%
- True Crime 5%
- History 5%
Connections
Shows they appear on and people they share episodes with. Drag to explore.
