Fascinating Nouns

Weird Documentaries: The Golden Age of Paranormal Cinema — 1970 to 1981 I’ve been fascinated by the paranormal since I was a kid, and this episode of Fascinating Nouns finally gave me the language to describe why — because I grew up watching weird documentaries. In this Halloween episode, I sit down with film historian, author, and professor Gary D. Rhodes to explore his book Weirdumentary, published by Feral House, which chronicles the remarkable subgenre of paranormal documentary films that dominated American cinema and television throughout the 1970s. The weird documentary was born in 1970 with the theatrical release of the documentary adaptation of Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods — which was nominated for an Academy Award that year — and culminated in 1981 with Orson Welles hosting The Man Who Saw Tomorrow for Warner Brothers. In between, a brilliant Utah-based company called Sun Classic Pictures four-walled theaters across America, bringing family-friendly films about ancient aliens, Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness Monster, near-death experiences, and telekinesis to mainstream audiences who were genuinely willing to ask the question: what if? The genre had three defining ingredients: fringe topics at the edges of accepted science, celebrity hosts like Leonard Nimoy, Rod Serling, and Orson Welles who lent credibility and gravitas, and low-budget dramatic recreations that somehow felt completely convincing to a generation of kids watching in movie theaters. It was also backed by real academic interest — parapsychology programs at Stanford, Duke, and UCLA were actively studying these phenomena in the same era. This conversation covers the Bermuda Triangle and the Bimini Wall, Legend of Boggy Creek, Mysterious Monsters, the In Search Of television series, the end of the genre around 1981, its modern revival through Ancient Aliens and The Unexplained, and the broader question of why healthy skepticism and genuine open-mindedness are both necessary — and increasingly rare. Gary on Social Media Website Purchase “Weirdumentary” Support the Show Merch Patreon Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

Nathalie not only provides psychological services for cannibals, but she also has a cinema club!  We discuss some of the movies she shows which include Peeping Tom, Henry:  Portrait of a Serial Killer, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.  We also discuss Psycho VS Peeping Tom, and how Bernard may in fact be a werewolf.

I Ate His Heart: A Forensic Psychologist’s 12 Years Treating a Cannibal What does a forensic psychologist learn after more than a decade treating a man who killed another person, cut out his heart, cooked it with onions and canned vegetables, and performed a Catholic-inflected ritual over the body? In this Halloween episode of Fascinating Nouns, I sit down with Dr. Nathalie Von Zelowitz — author of I Ate His Heart, published by Feral House — to find out. Von Zelowitz has spent 30 years working in the French prison system, treating some of the most dangerous and psychologically complex individuals in the country. Her book follows her work with Bernard, a man whose crime was rooted not in psychopathy but in a deeply primitive response to perceived threat — a belief that by consuming his victim’s heart, he could absorb his power and neutralize the danger of the “evil eye.” It is a story about the origins of civilization, the psychology of taboo, and what it actually means to rehabilitate someone who has done the unthinkable. The conversation covers the Armin Meiwes case and consensual cannibalism, Freud’s Totem and Taboo and the founding myths of human civilization, the surprising parallels between cannibalism and Catholic transubstantiation, the ethics of AI as a safe outlet for dangerous urges, and whether Bernard — now approaching possible release to a halfway house — is truly a changed person. I Ate His Heart is available now at feralhouse.com and wherever books are sold. Nathalie on Social Media Instagram Purchase “I Ate His Heart” Support the Show Merch Patreon Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

At one point in time, slide charts were so popular that they popped up in many Hollywood films!  Listen as Nanette and I discuss the charts in Plan 9 From Outer Space, Dr. Strangelove, and Ocean Pacific.  For those keeping score, that’s Ed Wood, Peter Sellers, and John Wayne all holding “perrygrafs”.  Plus we discuss a few of the ones commissioned by the biggest con artist in American history.

American Slide Chart: The Carol Stream, Illinois Company That Has Been Quietly Running the Analog World Since 1970 Most people have never heard of American Slide Chart. But if you’ve ever spun a cocktail mixing wheel, used an HVAC sizing chart, or received a popup college acceptance letter, you’ve almost certainly held one of their products without knowing it. In this episode of Fascinating Nouns, I finally fulfill a 14-year obsession by sitting down with Nanette Keir, the creative force and public face of American Slide Chart, to explore the full history of the company and the industry it inhabits. From Perrygraf — founded in 1934 by Lester Perry in Maywood, Illinois, and so synonymous with the product that “perrygraf” became the generic term for a slide wheel — to the bootstrap founding of American Slide Chart by James E. Johnson in 1970, to the moment in 1988 when American Slide Chart became so successful it bought back its parent company and became the largest producer of slide charts in the world. Along the way the conversation covers the Oughtred Society (the secret underground organization dedicated to the preservation of slide rules and calculating devices), the surprising and poignant story of company president Julie Anne Johnson, the tactile analog comeback driven by digital fatigue, and why volvelles and popup polyhedrons might be having their moment again. This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in print history, information design, Chicago business history, analog technology, or the quiet persistence of companies that do one thing extraordinarily well. Support the Show Merch Patreon Nanette on Social Media Website X Bluesky Instagram American Slide Chart on Social Media Website Spin Slide Pop Website YouTube Instagram Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

In this bonus episode, Scott and I discuss the importance of Fire Walk With Me, how Mark and David timed The Return to debut almost 25 years to the day after the finale of season 2, the hidden darkness of Twin Peaks, and how Mark Frost is a prolific sports writer.

Twin Peaks Untold: The Real Story Behind TV’s Most Influential Show Few television shows have left a mark on popular culture as deep and lasting as Twin Peaks. Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost and premiering on ABC in 1990, Twin Peaks didn’t just tell the story of who killed Laura Palmer — it rewrote the rules of what television could be, pioneering serialized storytelling, dream logic narratives, and the kind of obsessive audience engagement that defined prestige TV for the next three decades. In this episode of Fascinating Nouns, I sit down with Scott Meslow — senior editor at The Week, culture contributor at GQ and New York Magazine, and author of A Place Both Wonderful and Strange: The Extraordinary Untold History of Twin Peaks — to explore the real behind-the-scenes story of the show: how Sheryl Lee was hired as an extra and became the soul of the series, how the Red Room was invented out of a contractual obligation (and a hot car), how ABC forced the reveal of Laura Palmer’s killer before the creators were ready, and whether David Lynch and Mark Frost actually knew who the killer was from the very beginning. Whether you’re a longtime Twin Peaks fan, a student of television history, or simply curious about the show that inspired everything from The Sopranos to Lost to Severance, this conversation is essential listening. A Place Both Wonderful and Strange is available now wherever books are sold. Support the Show Merch Patreon Scott on Social Media Website Bluesky Instagram Purchase “A Place Both Wonderful and Strange” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTub

In this bonus episode, we discuss the Albert Belmont, the 1800’s version of George Costanza, how the sex party in Eyes Wide Shut was actually based on a real Rothschild ball, and the origins of Jewish Space Lasers.

What if the world’s most famous conspiracy theory is built entirely on myths, misquotes, and a pamphlet from 1846? In this episode of Fascinating Nouns, host Daniel J. Glenn sits down with author Mike Rothschild — yes, that Rothschild — to dig into his book Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories, and trace the Rothschild myth from a Frankfurt Jewish ghetto all the way to Jewish space lasers and Alex Jones. Mike Rothschild — former conspiracy theory researcher, debunker, and author of The Storm is Upon Us about QAnon — walks through the real history of the Rothschild banking family: how a family living in a walled ghetto used a loophole in medieval Christian lending law to build one of the most powerful financial empires in European history, how they helped finance the defeat of Napoleon, and how a fictional pamphlet from 1846 invented the story that Nathan Rothschild manipulated the London Stock Exchange after Waterloo — a story that became the foundation of nearly every modern anti-semitic conspiracy theory. They also get into Art Bell and Coast to Coast AM, Alex Jones and his pivot from folksy truth-seeker to conspiracy profiteer, the Iraqi dinar scam, why the Kitty Genovese myth matters, QAnon’s debt to 19th century pamphlets, Bohemian Grove, Jekyll Island, and why the real power brokers aren’t secret at all — they’re hiding in plain sight. Support the Show Merch Patreon Episodes We Discussed Tea Krulos’s book/Documentary American Madness The Lost (and fake) Continent of Lemuria Mike on Social Media X Bluesky Patreon Purchase “Jewish Space Lasers” Fascinating Nouns on Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube

In this bonus episode, Eddie and I discuss the Zodiac ciphers, his possible identity, and the existence of the REAL Zodiac killer, a guy who killed by using astrology.