What gives art its value? Is it beauty? Is it history? The artist’s signature? The fact that the piece is housed in a prestigious institution? Maybe it’s the story of the work of art and it’s creator. Maybe the legend of the art is as important as the work itself. Join us this week for the tales of art heists, forgeries, and true masters of their c…

Sometimes the character of a place is so apparent that one can help but feel the stories that formed it. Natchez, Mississippi is one of those places. History has always brought conflicted, complicated characters to this city on the bluffs, and it seems that those characters and the spaces that he inhabited are still around. Natchez held on tight to…

There is a time honored tradition in America of elevating the heroes amongst us, who are willing to take matters into their own hands. They quickly become legends. We seem to love an antihero, and at no time was this more apparent than in the 1970s. The heyday of the vigilante film, saw such classics as Shaft, Taxi Driver, Foxy Brown, and Dirty Har…

Rock and roll is here to stay, and that’s why some truly enduring urban legends have sprung up around the landmark hits and the bands that performed them. Before there was Instagram, or even MySpace; before AOL instant messenger, before MTV, or John Hughes; before arcades and shopping malls; before all that: there was rock and roll. For teenagers, …

Shadow People are an international phenomenon. As far as paranormal experiences go, seeing a fleeting dark figure in you peripheral vision, or waking up to a sensation of being unable to move as a dark figure stares at you, or seeing a dark silhouette in a spooky building; are very common happenings. However there is definitely more to these myster…

So often when we picture an enemy, a true threat; they become bigger, stronger, faster, or smarter in our mind’s eye. So it’s only natural that for thousands of years, the terrifying ‘other’ has been painted as more than a man, and the warrior on the opposing side has been given super powers, if only in the imagination of those opposing him. Super …

First of all, spoiler alert... content warning ... ick alert, we are actually going to be discussing necrophilia and its many forms on this charming episode of Just A Story. So, yeah. Join us as we discuss the historical accounts, legal statutes, and cultural interpretations of necrophilia. From Carl Tanzler to Karen Greenlee and beyond, we’ll ment…

Okay. We’ve finally done it. It’s Nessie’s turn for the Just A Story treatment. The Loch Ness Monster is said to occupy the vast expanse of water in Scotland, but alas, our dear lake monster remains in the realm of myth to this day. Of course there are numerous sightings each year, but there are not so much in the way of proof. This raises obvious …

Have you heard of that abandoned town in Ohio where absolutely every urban legend ever happened? No seriously. According to lore, Boston, Ohio (or Hell Town, if we are going with the lore) is home to all manner of phenomena and conspiracies. But what really happened there? And what happens when people on power act for the good of all, at the expens…

What happened to Olivia Mabel? The internet wants to know. Could grief and longing have created an entity that took on thoughts all its own; after the death of her son? Why would anyone believe that could happen? Well, as you might have expected, it’s kind of a long story. Join us this week as we explore the roots of Theosophy and its founder Madam…

When we close our eyes at night, we all become mysteries. Dreaming is one of the most miraculous and least understood things humans can do. It seems that many miraculous, misunderstood dreams have been spent on this man. Who is this man? Join us this week as we do our best to answer that question. For more on this week's episode, and every episode:…

So, how do we go from seeing disc in the sky (I hear it was all the rage in 1947); to spending time with aliens on their crafts and being probed? Seems quite a leap, no? Well brothers, sisters and gentle people of earth, it was a long strange trip. Join us this week as we talk about some truly historic abduction stories, like the one that started i…

When looking back to the Roswell Incident, it isn’t hard to imagine a cowboy with a thousand yard stare sitting next to his old friend with wraparound eyes surveying a southwestern scene, and saying, ‘So, this is where it all started.’. You see, once upon a time, in the lonely New Mexico desert all those years ago back in 1947, a flying saucer cras…

American tall tales are an odd branch of the folkloric family tree. Younger than fairy tales, but older than urban legends; they seem to have descended into a kind of awkward adolescence around the end of WWII. Yes, they’re stuck at the kids’ table within the collective unconscious, and they totally don’t get their younger cousins’ pop culture refe…

Everything you’ve ever heard about New Orleans Mardi Gras is true. The floats, the beads, the craven apocalypse party - that is all there. What’s more surprising, is that there are parts of Mardi Gras that you haven’t heard of. Join us this week as we explore the secretive culture of the Mardi Gras Indians, and their role in creating the unique cha…

Most of the authors we meet in school don’t stick with us as personalities. We remember the stories they create more than we remember them. That’s not true for dear Edgar. In fact the lines between fact and fiction become so blurry when he’s nearby that it’s no small task to keep the man and his work separate. And that’s just the way he wanted it. …

Why do we like to imagine that the world was once full of giants? All cultures seem to have a version of a myth or legend that mentions that how much bigger our ancestors were once upon a time. Is it the idea that our human history was once part of something bigger and more fantastic? Sure, that is basically all nostalgia is, when you put it like t…

This week we put together some new stories that tie to some of our early episodes. We really just wanted to send the year out by looking back at what we’ve put together so far, and finding even more to explore. Maybe we all just want to catch our breath before we dive headlong into a whole new year. So we’ve taken the opportunity to revisit the sto…

No one in the history of Christmas has ever truly wanted nothing from Santa but their two front teeth. No, no, no, kids want toys. The modern contract between parents, children, Santa, and his army of elves is centered on this basic truth. But which toys? Should kids get only wholesome, politically correct playthings? Should boys and girls receive …

Playing detective is all fun and games until you uncover a real clue. Story-lovers have few universal traits. But for the most part, we love a mystery. We love to see disjointed snippets of information begin to form a meaningful picture, so of course we love to think we could solve a real case. And sometimes we get so carried away with that idea th…

Each time a new media technology arises, people fear what it will mean for our culture. It’s as if the new platform threatens to melt away all our credulity and healthy skepticism melt away in the burning rapture of our wonderment. Whether it’s genre fiction, radio, television or social media - we were told to approach with caution when each arrive…

Ever have a blemish that just seems ... weird? Worse than usual? Maybe it hurts or makes the entire area around it red, or it almost itches... whatever the case, once you’ve noticed it; you can’t forget it’s there. You know you shouldn’t pick, but you just can’t help yourself, and when you do ... OUT RUSH A HORDE OF BABY SPIDERS!! OH MY GOD! NO! I …

Delivering mail is not exciting. It’s certainly not fascinating. No, It’s definitely not in the business of providing thrills and changing history. And while you may not have picked up on my tone, I am being sarcastic; surprisingly enough. The story of mail delivery is the story of ideas being shared. So, from the early days of colonial era, the po…

Once upon a time a very rich beer brewer had a son and locked him away in the tippy top floor of his mansion. He didn't let him play with other boys or girls. He didn't let him out into the sunlight. He didn't eve let him exist in any official records. No, this boy was a secret, but one day, he would make himself known. This is the story of the Mon…

Picture it. You come upon a vehicle, maybe a limo, marooned alongside the highway. You offer your assistance, just because you’re a nice person. Sometime later on you receive a letter saying that you’re mortgage has been paid off; or a check with your name on it is dropped off at your house; or you learn you’ve been named in the will years later. T…

Can objects be cursed? Haunted? Possessed? Can they kill people just by being nearby? Join us this week as we dive into two urban legends that begin in two very unlikely places. First, we’ll go back to a time when Jennifer Love Hewitt was America’s sweetheart and the biggest national debate we had going was over Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC, it was a …

Is there more to the story of the Sacrifice Sect and Clementine Barnabet? Join us for this extra from our Patreon show where we dive into the story of the Axe Murder Jake Bird. Could he have been the Human Five? ***Please listen to episode 101 prior to this Extra****Af Just A Story Urban Legend Podcast

Somewhere between the bayou and the Bywater; somewhere between Congo Square and the Cathedral; somewhere between Bourbon Street brochures and Big Chief's secrets, between what you imagine the Crescent City to be and what you cannot even imagine, hiding in Pirate's Alley, or buried in St Louis No 1, through wrought iron and sweet jasmine, clinging t…

As we celebrate a true milestone moment, our 100th episode, we would like to invite you all to join us in exploring a cultural crossroads that has inspired our love of stories from the beginning. Join us this week as we discuss Vodou, the lore and legend which surrounds it and it’s deep connections to the island of Haiti. Did the revolution truly b…

It’s ‘I Put a Spell on You’ Month all October! Happy Halloween?? There is an ancient legend that proclaims: “Darkness falls across the land/ The midnight hour is close at hand/ And whosoever shall be found/ Without the soul for getting down/ Must stand and face the hounds of hell/ And rot inside a corpse’s shell/ The foulest stench is in the air/ T…

It’s ‘I Put a Spell on You’ Month all October! Happy Halloween?? When you really think about it, we all live in mystery houses. Secrets and blood are two things that really help shape our notions of ‘family’. Perhaps the most well known mystery house of all, that of Widow Winchester in San Jose, California had one more feature that helped define it…

Whether it's a ghostly double staring at you from across the street, or a mirror image whose expression doesn't quite match your own; finding 'twins' in unexpected places is quite unsettling. Having an experience like this can make us confront aspects of ourselves we'd really like to ignore; unmoor relationships with reality; and send even the most…

How can the adoration of a traitorous act against the US sit side by side with American patriotism? What are the intentions behind the lofty monuments and wistful narratives constructed in the south after the American civil war. Join us this week as we dive into a land where cotton was king, the belles were pure, the bondsmen were happy, the yankee…

The secret to eternal life has long eluded all of us mortals. The secret to perpetual youth? Also a tricky thing to pin down. That has not stopped wild speculation about what these secrets might be, and who might know them. No, the gossip about immortals is as old as the fear of not being one of them. Lace up your best pair of wandering shoes, and …

When someone says, 'what is an urban legend?' Which story do you reach for to illustrate the concept. If you said, 'I just text them a link to your show,' you get a prize; but thats not the point. The point is, you probably, at some point in this hypothetical discussion, bring up the story of alligators in the sewers. Yes, this is, in many ways, th…

The boogeyman will get you if you don't mind your manners... or go to sleep... or listen to your parents. Everyone knows that. But who is he? Where did he come from? What does he want? This week we will look at the shadowy characters who keep children in line and seem to have a natural appetite for destruction. Join us as we discuss villains from E…

The Mandela Effect is a modern discovery that explains everything about why our current world has stopped making sense. It's a pretty great get-out-of-jail-free-card for the year 2017, which really does owe us all an explanation. What is the Mandela effect? You will have to join us to learn the mind-bending secrets of mysteriously changing vowels a…

It's that wonderful, whimsical twist you've been hoping for... Just A Story is once again becoming Just A Movie for one whole episode! This week we are taking a look at the spy who loved us all; drank martinis like it was January 28, 1919; and had license to both thrill and kill. We explore the legendary character James Bond and the man who dreamt …

What is it about ravens that captures the collective imagination? With their prominence in so many cultures, and importance in so many legends the raven is an iconic symbol, and revered, though sometimes feared, creature the world over. Join us this week as we search for answers to questions to the riddles of ravens? We'll ask; what happens if they…

We all know that Lizzie Borden took an axe. We know she gave her father forty whacks; her mother forty-one; and that she got away with murder. Or do we? Her father received under twenty axe wounds, her STEPmother under ten. The murder weapon was probably a hatchet; not an axe, but nothing rhymes with 'hatchet' in the same catchy way. If we are hone…

Cemetery memorials are synonymous with gothic horror. Dark, haunting and beautiful they capture the imagination of those who wander in their midst. Chances are, though, if you are wandering through a cemetery, you're likely to ponder the kinds of thoughts that belong there: life, death, and the things that slip in between. One particularly notoriou…

You may have noticed the irony that can be attached to the phrase, 'what do we have to lose?' So often things can go horribly wrong just after someone asks that fateful, seemingly rhetorical question. That's sort of what happened once people decided to stop just confining people with mental illness, and started trying to 'cure' them. Join us this w…

The Lunatic Asylum has loomed large in the public imagination since its very establishment as an institution. We have never been sure what to do with the mad, to use the vernacular of a bygone era. Despite our admitted ineptitude, we have been more than willing to try and do something with them for ages. Most of the things we did for most of record…

We, as humans, enjoy our place atop the food chain. Whether it’s true or not, we’ve done a great job convincing ourselves we are basically invincible when it comes to predators. Lions, tigers, and bears, oh, balderdash. However, what if it wasn't an animal that was pursuing us? Join us this week as we explore the myth of Man the Hunter; the story o…

Join us this week for a special broadcast from under the sea! We will be exploring the long history of people who live underwater and the various purported forms they've taken throughout history. From fish, to dolphins, to seals and even walruses; the human/animal hybrids who populate the seven seas are incredibly diverse, and we will discuss them …

In WWI an urban legend was born that has persisted for a century. Its parents? British intelligence officers. They spread a nasty story about the Germans turning their own war dead into soap. And it stuck. But have people been turned into soap? We'll examine the true stories of inhumane craft projects and the dirty secrets of notorious detergent-re…

Why do we tell jokes? They're sticky little stories with set-ups and punchlines, and they spread like wildfire. The epitome of the modern oral tradition, jokes have more to say than it might originally appear. Join us this week for a crash course in the history of gallows humor, and way it shaped the history of professional comedians in America. We…

Do you know why that house, school, building, fairground, place, etc. is haunted? It's because it was built atop an ancient Indian burial ground. Or at least that is what popular culture would have you believe. Especially in the 1970s. Why is that idea so, pardon the pun, haunting? We'll explore the origins of the notion, and the ways in which its …

It seems like the history of definitions and dictionaries might be a bone dry topic. However, things are seldom what they seem. Things are complex, and complicated, and dark and ill-defined. Until they are not. This is the story of how words come to have definitions; and the battles, and madness, and passions that have shaped the language and the m…

The monsters will get you, if you don't watch out. They're all around. They're just waiting for their chance to come out. Or are you waiting for yours? Join us this week for a series of strange cases as we learn that the worst place for monsters to hide, is inside. For more on this week's episode, and every episode: justastorypod.com Twitter: @just…