Too Close to Home Podcast
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© Jennifer Davis, Becky Johnson
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Too Close To Home sticks its nose into every creepy orifice on this crazy planet we call home. With foul mouths, dark humor, and irresistible charm, Jenn and Becky cover the true crime of now and yore, the supernatural, and the unknown terrors which could be lurking near your very doorstep. Stay safe, keep your head on a swivel, and don’t bring it Too Close To Home!
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www.tooclosetohomepodcast.com
Platforms/Social Media/Merch:
www.tooclosetohomepodcast.com
111 Episodes
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It was the night that changed everything. A devastating fire in a rural home in Tennessee resulted in the death of the children's grandparents, but there was no trace of Chloie or Christopher's remains. The event which sparked the longest running Amber alert in Tennessee history continues to draw questions, and TBI is no closer to solving the mystery of their disappearance. Did they run off into the woods, was kidnapping or foul play involved, or did the fire destroy the children's remains? We take a look at the prevailing theories and question what outcomes seem most likely based on anecdotal and forensic evidence.
We are continuing our trek through the Hawaiian islands by discussing a major part of their folklore... the Menehune! The Menehune are diminutive beings that were, and are still, believed to inhabit Hawaii, even predating the Polynesian migration to the islands. Nocturnal by nature, the Menehune are renowned for their feats of engineering and their mischievous nature, and structures purported to be built by them, such as the Kikiaola Ditch and the Alekoko Fishpond, still survive to this day. Are they firmly rooted in folklore, or are they a very real race of pygmy humans?
The hit song "Stairway To Heaven" isn't the only thing with that name to be forbidden; take for example the Haiku Stairs, or Stairway To Heaven, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Once the home of secret United States Navy communication facilities, the Haiku Stairs used to be a popular hiking trail until its permanent closure in 1987; however, this didn't stop 18 year old Daylenn Pua from attempting the illegal hike in 2015. What follows next is a mysterious missing persons case that still remains unsolved to this day. What was the cause of Daylenn's disappearance? Was it due to a fatal fall from the stairs, or was it something more supernatural in nature?
We open this closing chapter on the murder of Emmitt Till with the quick indictment of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, the individuals responsible for his brutal murder, and what David Halberstam called "the first great media event of the civil rights movement". Their subsequent acquittal and admittance of guilt in Look magazine caused tremendous outcry, led to Mamie's career in education, and influenced the actions of notable civil rights individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. We then see the karmic justice of the perpetrators and other involved individuals, and discuss reparations and the legacy that Emmitt Till left behind; a legacy that is still felt in the United States today.
We pick up Emmett Till's story with his journey from Chicago to Mississippi, where he learns very quickly that life is quite different, and the sharecropping life is not for him. In a time of kids being kids, a fateful decision to visit Bryant's Grocery would lead to a sequence of events which are still discussed and debated on today. We try to find the truth as we cover Emmett's last days and the murder which sparked the flames of the Civil Rights movement.
We pick up where we left off with the infamous formation of everyone's most hated wizards, the Ku Klux Klan, during the Reconstruction era; this movement sparked a rise in hate crimes and lynchings for decades to come. As we enter the Jim Crow era, we see state and local laws worsen the societal divide by enforcing racial segregation and discrimination. The Great Migration sees the movement of African Americans from the South to the bustling cities of the West and the North, including Emmitt's mother Mamie, though it is not all sunshine and rainbows in these areas either; prejudice runs rampant, and Emmett Till's family is about to be at the center of it all.
The infamous 1955 murder of Emmett Till rocked the Mississippi Delta region, and was a strong catalyst for the later phases of the Civil Rights movement. Importantly, his brutal murder brought renewed spotlight to the history of violent persecution of African Americans. We start this story by going all the way back to the beginning of the slave trade in 1619. We later see how slavery evolves over the next couple hundred years, taking us to the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction Era. In order to comprehend Emmett's death, we first need to understand the abridged history which led to its occurrence.
We have more fun cryptid surprises in store for you this week with a short yet sweet episode! Today we talk about the bipedal, wand-waving, small-town local legend by the name of the Loveland Frog! First spotted in Loveland, Ohio, the Loveland Frog is a famous and beloved mascot for its eponymous town. Remaining elusive with just a few claimed appearances since the 1950's, this amphibious wizard (likely a Hufflepuff) is sure to bring a smile to your face as we discuss its origins, sightings, and the parades and festivals the curious cryptid inspired.
Imagine you are playing outside an elementary school, when suddenly a bright light flashes across the sky and crashes into a nearby hillside. When you go to investigate, you discover something terrifying... something otherworldly. We are talking about the Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia: A cryptid of an... "alien" nature. The stories surrounding this mysterious entity have captured the imagination of residents and businesses around Flatwoods for decades. But what exactly is the Flatwoods Monster? A barn owl? An extraterrestrial? Is it the butt-probing kind or the more friendly kind? Come and get wild and wonderful with us!
First we puff, puff, pass while providing a basic education on legal and illegal hemp qualities and strains, talk about the crackdown on drug operations with CAMP, "Campaign Against Marijuana Planting", and then we get right into the star of the show: the supposed murder of 3 trimmigrants by our boy Sassie. We follow journalist David Holthouse's investigation into that fateful night in 1993, with places and interactions which are sometimes humorous, and sometimes very dangerous. From old hippies, to weed kingpins, to Hell's Angels members, each story brings us closer to the truth and the answer to the ultimate question: Should Bigfoot be convicted or vindicated?
In part 2 of our series, we start by getting a lesson on biomechanics and species divergence: two things which help us understand how ol' Sassie could potentially be a real, living being. We then take a massive detour and talk about the history and criminality of marijuana, the back to the land movement of Northern California, and how the conditions of the area make it perfect for high quality cannabis cultivation. I know what you're asking: how is this related to Bigfoot? It may be standing in the shadows of the cannabis farms of the not-so-peaceful Emerald Triangle, and maybe... just maybe... it has a violent appetite.
Time to pass the dutchie 'pon the left hand side, and straight into the hands of probably the most famous cryptid in the world... Bigfoot, or the Sasquatch! We go way back to the beginning with the origins of the Bigfoot legend as described in Indigenous American oral history, and go forward in time to the stories and evidence presented during the modern era within the Emerald Triangle and beyond. Does Bigfoot really exist? Is it a protector figure, or is he a ferocious beast capable of violence... even murder? In order to understand Bigfoot's link to the world's superhighway of the finest quality ganja, we first have to understand the misunderstood beast itself.
We jump right into the investigation into the murders, and Lawrence is quickly identified as a number one suspect, and the search of his home yields many discoveries... some hilarious and some disturbing. Following some robbery and car chase shenanigans, Rodgers is also quickly apprehended. In the trial that comes, is it determined they are just mentally ill and didn't have their faculties about them? Or did they know exactly what heinous acts they were committing?
In this listener request series, we shed light on a little known yet brutal series of murders which occurred in the small town of Milton, Florida in 1998... one that our own Becky actually grew up in! We jump straight into the crime spree of perpetrators Jeremiah Rodgers and Jonathan Lawrence, beginning with the murder of Lawrence's cousin Justin Livingston. Following some 3D Doritos and small-town petty drama, we arrive at the day of Jennifer Robinson's date with Jeremiah Rodgers... the last day she is seen alive.
Just imagine for a second that you are an innocent beaver... hiding away in your dark, wet habitat... when all of a sudden, you are exposed to a beast with a voracious appetite... one that loves to eat beaver. Now get your mind out of the gutter! We are referring to the giant sloth-like cryptid: The Yukon Beaver Eater! If we stop laughing long enough, we may even talk about its history, sightings, and some science. Come join us for some much needed mind bleach!
As a member of the WVHA, Rudy had unfettered access to everything involved in the concentration camp system, and it was his expertise that led him to spearhead Operation Hoess: The mass deportation and execution of Hungarian Jews. During this time, however, the Allies have successfully invaded Europe and the time of the Third Reich is nearing its inevitable end. We then touch upon the aftermath, the Nuremberg Trials, and the poetic justice which befalls Rudy as he is executed on the very grounds of Auschwitz he helped create.
With the Final Solution well underway, we first start by discussing the role of Sonderkommandos: Jewish prisoners who were responsible for the "dirty" work involved in the mass killings, and the horrors they had to perform and endure. During the miserable expansion of Auschwitz, we also take a detour into Rudy and his wife Hedwig's personal life, his scandalous "affair" with a prisoner servant, and Rudy's eventual promotion to the WVHA
The life of a concentration camp prisoner is something most people could never truly fathom. In part 3 of this series, we discuss a small part of what that was like; we touch upon the role of music, the conditions the prisoners and guards deal with, the advent of Zyklon B, and Hoess’ transition of Auschwitz into a death camp to answer the question to the Final Solution. We are truly fixing to enter the darkest period in the history of humanity, and Rudolph Hoess is engineering and observing, front and center, with gas mask donned.
We pick up Rudolph Hoess' story from his beginnings at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, to his promotion to commandant, to the chaotic construction of the "zone of interest" which would grow into the most infamous concentration camp of all time under his leadership. At this time the evil machinations within Auschwitz are starting to become underway, and prisoners come to understand exactly what "Arbeit Macht Frei" means in the eyes of the Nazi regime.
We are beginning perhaps the darkest series we have ever produced: the rise of Rudolph Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz, and the countless atrocities performed under his ever watchful gaze. In the first part of this series, we explore Rudy's idyllic yet stern childhood, the birth of his ideologies, his time as a soldier and prisoner in World War 1 and beyond, and how a developing friendship with Heinrich Himmler in the Artmanen League would be the lynchpin that leads to him donning the SS uniform.
Warning: Please be advised that these episodes will feature suicide, abortion, death, desecration of bodies, political extremism, violence, genocide, human experimentation, cannibalism, starvation, anti-semitism, homophobia, religious intolerance, and harm to children.
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