Episode 124: Off Trail

In this episode, I sit down with Susannah Cahalan—American journalist and bestselling author of Brain on Fire, The Great Pretender, and most recently, The Acid Queen. We discuss her harrowing experience with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a rare brain inflammation that led to seizures, vivid hallucinations and hospitalization during a month long psychotic episode. This ordeal that ultimately sparked her deep interest in psychology and neuroscience. Susannah also shares insights from her latest work, offering a compelling look into the life of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, a central figure in the 1960s psychedelic movement and the wife of Timothy Leary from 1967 to 1976. Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After their work shifts at the local pizza parlor, Dylan and his friend Brandon would often hang out and drive around their small town of Pleasantville, Ohio. One seemingly ordinary afternoon, their routine took a bizarre turn when they passed a massive, otherworldly creature with apparent cloaking abilities. Driven by curiosity, they turned the car around to take a closer look. Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the morning of a road trip, Amy wakes from a vivid dream of being chased by a man in a red and black checkered shirt—only to encounter a real-life stranger eerily matching the description on a desolate forest road. Meanwhile, Chris lives though a terrifying and violent train crash only to come to as if nothing happened. Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While on their usual weekend drive to the family home in Door County, Wisconsin, Susan and John suddenly find themselves engulfed by a mysterious and blinding light. Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early 1990s at UC Berkeley, a woman is followed by a stranger who she believes may have somehow melted her engagement ring with his mind. It all starts with a quiet evening of reading and waiting for her fiancé—but takes a bizarre turn when a nervous guy approaches her out of nowhere. To hear the full episode, sign up for the Otherworld Patreon To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode features Sean in New Jersey and Delaney in Oklahoma, who each have chilling encounters during afternoon walks in the woods with their exes. Sean and his ex-girlfriend witness a glowing entity that may have been trying to deliver a message. Delaney and her ex-boyfriend are preyed upon by an inhuman creature —an experience made stranger by her father’s unsettling reaction when she tries to tell him about the experience. Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Myself, Theo and Theo head into the desert to meet a man named Don McKinney who owns a massive archive of George Van Tassel's recordings, photos, writing and even the original blueprints and models of The Integratron. In the last episode, Daniel Paul introduced us to Don, and we learned that he needed help digitizing his vast collection. I thought this was a great way for the show to use its resources to preserve paranormal history—and before we knew it, we were on our way to spend the week helping Don with his incredible collection. The full episode about our trip is available on the Otherworld Patreon. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After hearing Dave's story in the previous episode and the profound similarity between his UFO experience in Ojai and his meditation at the Integratron, we wanted to learn more about the strange history of this building. But what started out as an effort to learn more about this place ended up turning into a bit of an adventure. In this episode, historian Daniel Paul joins to tell the story of The Integratron and the man who built it, George Van Tassel. Van Tassel was an aerospace engineer who became a UFO pioneer after claiming contact with extraterrestrials in California’s Mojave Desert. He lived under Giant Rock, a 7-story boulder in the desert where he operated an airstrip and café. His life’s work was the Integratron, a domed structure he built based on channeled communications with a group of aliens called the Council of Seven Lights —and, more specifically, an individual being named Solganda. After this interview, we traveled to the desert to meet a man named Don McKinney, who owns a massive archive of George's recordings, photos, and the original blueprints of the Integratron. If you want to hear about that trip and our effort to help Don preserve this archive, it will be available on the Otherworld Patreon next week. Daniel's Historical Proposal for The Integratron George Van Tassel's FBI File Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dave and his high school friends take their first solo camping trip together out in rural Ojai. What begins as any normal night suddenly changes when the group is awoken by an unearthly sound. Years later, during his visit to the Integratron, Dave gains insight on what might have happened to him and his friends. Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reece, a freelance filmmaker, is hired as a gaffer for a documentary exploring psychics and energy vortexes in Sedona, Arizona — a topic he has little to no personal interest or experience in. During filming, Banah, a local vortex tour guide, leads the crew up a small hill for a brief meditation, where Reece is unexpectedly met by an otherworldy spirit. Check out our Merch⁠⁠ Follow us on:⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠,⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠,⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠ For business inquiries contact: [email protected] If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠[email protected] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices