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41. Re-Minded: Samhain
45:32||Ep. 41This episode is a Messy Re-Minder! We're kicking off spooky season by reaching back through the thinning veil and dragging one of last year's Halloween episodes back into the land of the living. Originally released in 2025, this episode explores Samhain, its traditions, folklore, and its connection to the Halloween we know today.It's Halloweens origin story! Ever wonder why we carve faces into vegetables, hand candy to small pirates, and light fires to celebrate the dark? Turns out, Halloween didn’t start with chocolate — it started with Samhain, a Celtic festival where the veil thinned, the fairies roamed, and people wore disguises just in case something noticed them back.In this episode, I tumble headfirst into the weird, wonderful history of Halloween — from druids and divine wars to bonfires, banshees, and the night the fairies basically handed humanity the keys to the world. Grab your pumpkin spice and a flashlight — things are about to get folklorically flammable.https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcasthttps://www.instagram.com/messymindedpod/https://www.tiktok.com/@messymindedpodhttps://www.youtube.com/@MessyMindedPodSources:Encyclopædia Britannica, “Samhain” – britannica.com/topic/SamhainRonald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996)National Museum of Ireland, “The Festival of Samhain” – museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Country-Life/Exhibitions/Folklife-Collections/The-Festival-of-SamhainLibrary of Congress, Headlines & Heroes Blog: “The Origins of Halloween Traditions” – blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/10/the-origins-of-halloween-traditionsHistory.com Editors, “History of Halloween” – history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloweenWikipedia, “Samhain,” “All Saints’ Day,” and “Cottingley Fairies” – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_FairiesBBC, “The Truth About the Cottingley Fairies” – bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42456384Leeds University Library Galleries, The Cottingley Fairies: A Study in Deception – artsandculture.google.com/story/lgVB6Ceti9WVAwMusic by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Sosin Mykola "Halloween Spooky Eerie Music", Mykola Sosin "Mystery Mystic Mystical Music" and "Eerie - Wizard Mystery Music", MMAudio for "Chasing Faries", Hits Lab - Levgren Poltavsky " Halloween Background Music" and War Battle Military Drums", "Hunters of darkness epic and mystical fantasy music", Leigh Robinson " Alban Arthan (The Druids Christmas", scary horror creepy music, "Secret Room"#Samhain #HalloweenHistory #Celtic #Folklore #Halloween #SpookyHistory #SpookySeason #MessyMindedPod
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40. The Little Prince
46:53||Ep. 40In this episode, Jess revisits Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince—a deceptively simple children’s story about imagination, loneliness, love, grief, and the peculiar little prisons adults build for themselves.We’ll consider what the prince learns from his rose and the fox, how Saint-Exupéry’s turbulent marriage and dangerous life as an aviator may have shaped the story—and whether the Little Prince was ever really there at all.This episode began with a well-loved family copy of the book that has already passed through several hands and will someday be read to another generation—complete with memories, inscriptions, Cheeto-dusted fingerprints, and an original rock song tucked inside.Note: This episode discusses the complete story, including its ending, as well as themes of death and grief.To hear William Lorentz's full song "Kate", follow this link: https://youtu.be/3E3OxV7xMdo?si=Qix1Tz-Bu6gtMLYiBig thank you for the artist who allow us to borrow their talent for music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Tunetank for "Quirky Children Music", Alex Grohl for "Tension", The Mountain for "Quirky Sneaky Comedy" "funny Comedy Kids", Geoff Harvey for "Spellcraft", Nikita Kondrashev for "Cosy, Quirky, Comedy", and of course - William Lorentz for "Kate".39. The Great Emu War
22:29||Ep. 39In this Messy Morsel, Jess explores the true story behind Australia’s Great Emu War, including the desperate former soldiers farming difficult land during the Great Depression, the military operation that became a national embarrassment, but also a fun story for ages!Have a strange, overlooked, or completely ridiculous true story you’d like Jess to research? Send it to MessyMindedPod@gmail.com. If it becomes an episode, you can be credited for the idea on the show.Follow Messy Minded for curious true stories, historical oddities, deep dives, Messy Morsels, and the occasional guest—with the odd side quest.Sources and further readingNational Archives of Australia: Environmental issues from the not-so-distant past — “Emu wars”Murray Johnson, Journal of Australian Studies: “Feathered Foes”: Soldier Settlers and Western Australia’s “Emu War” of 1932Australian Geographic: Looking Back: Australia’s Emu WarsNational Library of Australia, Trove: “War on Emus,” October 21, 1932National Library of Australia, Trove: “Emu War,” November 7, 1932National Library of Australia, Trove: “Emu War Still On,” November 9, 1932National Library of Australia, Trove: “New Strategy in a War on the Emu,” July 5, 1953Big thank you for the artist who allow us to borrow their talent for music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", The Mountain for "Quirky Sneaky Comedy" and "Quirky Sneaky", Hits Labs for "War Battle Military Drums" , and Geoff Harvey for "Busy Bees"38. The Georgia Guidestones
40:38||Ep. 38Jess is joined by the ever-inquisitive Lolo to dig into the strange history of the Georgia Guidestones: the anonymous people who paid for them, the controversial messages carved into the stone, the conspiracy theories they inspired, and the still-unsolved bombing that finally brought them down.Who built the Georgia Guidestones—and what exactly were they trying to tell us?Music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Nikita Kondrashev for "Cosy, Quirky, Comedy", “Podcast Music good vibe” by Studio3DMusic, "Tension" by Alex Grohl, “Soft Music” by Hits Lab, "Funny and Weird" by epic_musictracks, and "Spellcraft" by Geoff Harvey37. Ota Benga
24:36||Ep. 37In 1906, Ota Benga—a young man from what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo—was exhibited at the Bronx Zoo alongside primates. It sounds impossible. It isn't.We trace his story from the atrocities of the Congo Free State and the rubber boom to the rise of pseudoscience and one of America's most shameful public spectacles. It's a short episode, but it's one that stuck with me.36. Crack Babies | Messy Morsel
19:33||Ep. 36In the 1980s and early '90s, America was warned about a coming "lost generation."The media told us that babies exposed to crack cocaine before birth would grow up violent, intellectually disabled, and destined for lives of crime. The phrase "crack baby" became part of our vocabulary almost overnight.But then...We stopped talking about them.Researchers, however, didn't. They followed these children for decades.In this Messy Morsel, Jess revisits one of the biggest medical and media scares of her childhood to ask a simple question:Whatever happened to those kids?Along the way, we'll explore how early science became front-page certainty, how fear can outrun evidence, and why the full story turned out to be far more complicated than anyone expected.As always, this episode discusses historical events and scientific research and is not intended as medical advice.Topics CoveredThe crack epidemic of the 1980sWhere the term "crack baby" came fromEarly medical studies and media coverageWhat decades of follow-up research foundFetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)Poverty, bias, and the limits of early scienceWhy scientific understanding changes over timeSources & Further ReadingFrank, D. A., et al. (2001). Growth, Development, and Behavior in Early Childhood Following Prenatal Cocaine Exposure: A Systematic Review. Journal of the American Medical Association.Coles, C. D., & colleagues. Long-term studies on prenatal cocaine exposure and child development.National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): Research on prenatal cocaine exposure.American Academy of Pediatrics: Guidance on prenatal substance exposure.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Information on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs).If you enjoy curious true stories with the occasional odd side quest, follow Messy Minded wherever you get your podcasts.And if someone comes to mind while you're listening, share the episode with them. Word of mouth is still the best way for independent podcasts to grow.35. The Odyssey
01:25:42||Ep. 35This week on Messy Minded, we're setting sail into one of the greatest adventure stories ever told: Homer's Odyssey.Join me as we follow Odysseus, the clever King of Ithaca, on his legendary journey home after the Trojan War. Along the way we'll meet unforgettable figures from Greek mythology, including Circe, Polyphemus the Cyclops, the Lotus Eaters, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, Calypso, Aeolus, Hermes, Athena, and Poseidon.We'll explore what these myths meant to the ancient Greeks, the symbolism hidden inside many of the stories, and why The Odyssey continues to influence literature, film, psychology, and popular culture nearly 3,000 years later.Along the way we'll also talk about:The Trojan HorseAncient Greek monsters and mythologyThe Underworld and TiresiasPenelope's famous weaving trickArgos, perhaps literature's most heartbreaking dogHospitality (xenia) in ancient GreeceWhy Odysseus is one of history's most complicated heroesHow later writers, including Madeline Miller, reimagined Circe and other mythological figuresWhether you're brushing up before Christopher Nolan's upcoming adaptation, revisiting a favorite classic, or just curious why everyone keeps talking about "being caught between Scylla and Charybdis," this episode has you covered.So grab an oar, avoid mysterious fruit, don't taunt Cyclopes, and maybe think twice before accepting wine from immortal witches. The Odyssey, Homer, Greek mythology, Odysseus, Iliad, Trojan War, Trojan Horse, Circe, Cyclops, Polyphemus, Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, Calypso, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Lotus Eaters, Aeolus, Tiresias, Penelope, Telemachus, Argos, Greek gods, Greek monsters, ancient Greece, mythology podcast, literature podcast, Homer Odyssey explained, Epic poems, Epic poetry.