Listeners, it has been way too long since we've talked about aliens. Let's fix that! In this episode, Meagan is joined again by Substitute Sister and astronomer, Dr. Allison Kirkpatrick, to talk about the Fermi Paradox, which asks us to consider why we haven't heard from any intelligent extraterrestrial life yet, especially given the likely large number of habitable planets in our own galaxy that could host it. ** Allison can be found on Twitter @AkAstronomy. The Drake Equation and another...

Can it be? The third and final part of our series on the Salem Witch Trials has arrived! You'll have to excuse the delay, we probably had sleepy sickness. In this episode we talk about the scientific/medical explanations that have been proposed for the events in Salem, and share a little about our own experiences visiting the Witch City! ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod ** Links to our...

Welcome to Part II of our three-part series on the Salem Witch Trials. In this episode, we discuss the specifics of the events of 1692-1693, coming to the completely logical conclusion that people generally suck. If the word "suck" bothers you, this episode is not for you. ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod ** Links to our social media & more: Linktree:...

Almost four years into our time as the Spooky Science Sisters and we are finally delivering on our promise of talking about the Salem Witch Trials. What we thought would be one of our original set of episodes back in 2020 was pushed back, along with our own trip to the Witch City. Well, in September 2023, we finally took that trip, and we are so excited to share our thoughts about Salem with you! We promise the wait was worth it.  ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our Patreon,...

Another Christmas episode!? What a merry surprise. Grab some nog and join us to hear about a few spooky Christmas traditions we weren’t able to get to in our 2022 episode. Happy Holidays, and we’ll see you in the New Year! ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod ** Links to our social media & more: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/spookyscipod TikTok:...

A lot of you have probably come across social media posts and even news articles that the holiday we know as Christmas is just ripoff of Pagan mythology and traditions. Meagan is joined by Substitute Sister Tyson Kemp to discuss and debunk many of these claims. ** You can find Tyson telling wonderful, well-researched spooky and skeptical stories @tysonunkempt on TikTok and Instagram! To read more about debunking the Pagan origins of Christmas, we recommend you check out blog posts by Spencer...

Welcome to our fourth (!!!) volume of Halloween Listener Stories. Yes, we know it's almost a month after Halloween, but it's always Halloween in our hearts, right!? Listen to hear us try to debunk three creepy tales featuring a haunted (?) hotel room, mysterious nocturnal jewelry removals, and a phantom smell. Have your own story to share? Be sure to send it to us any time to hear it debunked next Halloween! ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our Patreon, where you can get ad-free...

Let's talk about death, baby! Burying and memorializing the dead is typically thought of as a distinctly human (or at least hominid) act. In this episode, Meagan is joined by Substitute Sister and history teacher, Amy Manlapas, to talk about what that has looked like for the last few hundred thousand years (we've been digging graves for a long time!). Starting with the 400,000 year old (and pre-burial-practices) Sima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones) in Spain, we dig through the history of graves...

Meagan is joined by Substitute Sister and Professor for the History of Science at Kean University, Dr. Brian Regal, to talk about the O.G. spooky science - alchemy and its influences on science as we know it today. Although alchemists came to be associated with gold, mysticism, the Philosopher's Stone, and in some cases, fakery, many were careful experimentalists who made significant discoveries in the areas of metallurgy, chemistry, distillation, and more. ** You can get in touch with Brian...

Meagan is joined by Substitute Sister and host of the Just the Zoo of Us and Spellbound & Gagged podcasts, Ellen Weatherford, to discuss the man, the moth!?, the legend - Mothman! Join us to hear all about the history and science behind one of America's coziest cryptids, and get our thoughts on important questions such as "Is Richard Gere actually Mothman," and, "is Florida the Carboniferous Period 2.0?" ** You can find Ellen on TikTok @ellen.weatherford, or on her podcasts, Just the Zoo...

It is time for our fifth round of Short & Spooky stories, which, according to The Fast and the Furious franchise naming scheme, must be called Short Five. This also means that we are bringing you five spooky stories and each one has to have some aspect including or related to the number five. There's a little bit of everything here from alien encounters, to haunted dolls, to cursed phone numbers, and more! ** Here is a link to the bridge video Paige references:...

Struggling to figure out who you are in this world? Never fear - there's a test for that! In fact, there's A LOT of them. In this episode, we discuss the historical origins of personality tests, and discuss two popular ones available today - the MBTI and the Big Five - with a focus on what's "real" and what's pseudoscience. You'll even get to hear our results! ** The free MBTI we took: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test The Big Five test we took: https://bigfive-test.com/ A...

Several times throughout human history, people have experienced extreme events that made them believe their world might be coming to end. In this episode, we discuss two of these terrifying times, the Late Antique Little Ice Age that began around 536 CE, and the Dust Bowl that plagued American and Canadian prairies from 1930-1936. We then journey further back in time to discuss the mass extinction events that have occurred several times across Earth's history, and take a look forward at what...

In this episode, Paige and Meagan are joined by Tanner and Taylor of the Beyond the Breakers podcast to talk about one of the worst environmental disasters in history - the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Because what's scarier than an enormous explosion on a deep-sea drilling platform and massive oil spill caused by the "gross negligence" and " willful misconduct" of one of the largest companies in the world? ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our launched Patreon, where you can get...

Join us for a discussion on all things fairies (AKA faeries, fae, fay, Little People, Wee Folk, Fair Folk, etc. etc., etc.). Turns out, when it comes to Celtic and western European fairy lore, pretty much EVERYTHING comes down to the fae, and they are not having it with our human sh*t. From changelings, to banshees, to boggarts, to brownies - Holy Cow - it's all fairies! ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more!...

In this episode, Meagan is joined by two Substitute Sisters - archaeologist and television producer, Annelise Baer, and the host of the podcast Digging Up Ancient Aliens (and also an archaeologist), Fredrik Trusohamn, to talk about everything Ancient Aliens. Our discussion includes the origins of the ancient astronauts hypothesis that inspired it, behind the scenes info from Annelise's time as a researcher for the show, and the not-so-extraterrestrial origins of some of the Ancient Aliens...

In this episode, Meagan is joined by Substitute Sisters Tyson Kemp and Jeremy Foster, both residents of Appalachia, to talk about the internet phenomenon that is Appalachian folklore. We discuss the history of the region, America's long-standing fascination with its folklore, and how stereotypes about Appalachia and its people have developed and evolved over the past 300 years. ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes &...

It's time for our fifth installment of spooky true crime stories! This episode kicks off with a discussion about sensationalism surrounding the crimes of infamous serial killer Herman Webster Mudgett, AKA H.H. Holmes. We then recount the tale of the Hammersmith Ghost, who terrorized a small village on the outskirts of London for two months in the winter of 1803, and try to answer the question, "Is it murder if you thought you were shooting a ghost?" ** Want to listen without the ads? Check...

Meagan is joined by Substitute Sister and astronomer Dr. Allison Kirkpatrick for a discussion on all things spooky (or, more accurately, completely terrifying) about space. We cover rogue black holes and planets, asteroid deflection, gamma ray bursts (oh hey Betelgeuse!), and the mysterious Great Attractor (is it God!?). ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod ** You can find...

Word on the street is that triangles are the spookiest shape, so let's talk about some famous ones! Turns out, there are a whopping twelve triangle-shaped, paranormal regions across the globe. In this episode, we'll debunk the most popular of them all, the Bermuda Triangle, as well as triangles in Lake Michigan, off the coast of Japan, and even one on land in Massachusetts! ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more!...

Dr. Rebecca Gibson joins Meagan for a discussion on robots, artificial intelligence, and simulation theory for our first ever Substitute Sister episode! We talk about why robots sometimes freak us out, why you shouldn't be too worried about an evil AI taking over the world, and why Meagan now thinks she might not be real. ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more! https://www.patreon.com/spookyscipod ** You can find...

Our fourth volume of Short & Spooky stories is here, and you know the drill! This episode features three stories that are too short for a full episode, but that we really want to share with you. In this installment, you can hear about recent Yellowstone volcano fearmongering, James Dean's cursed Porsche, and Benadryl-induced visions of the mysterious Hat Man. ** Want to listen without the ads? Check out our newly launched Patreon, where you can get ad-free episodes & more!...

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Good Yule, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays! We're glad you're here with us on the other side of the Long Night (i.e., the Winter Solstice). For this year's Christmas episode, we're talking about spooky, or just plain quirky, Christmas traditions primarily from across the pond. Listen to hear about the origins of Krampus, the villainization of Frau Perchta, the terrifying Gryla the Giantess and her mischievous sons, and, finally, an oddly...

Join us for this discussion on Ancient Egypt, mummies, and a deep dive into the life and death of Tutankhamen (AKA King Tut), including the finding of his supposedly cursed tomb. For this episode, we are joined by archaeologist and producer Annelise Baer. ** You can find links to Annelise's work and social media on her website: https://annelisebaer.com/ ** You can find our sources at spookysciencesisters.com. Promo in this episode comes from the Aloreing Podcast. ** While you’re here, we’d...