Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

Before the breakout of COVID-19, Ben, Matt and Noel predicted a pandemic was on the way. Fast forward to 2026, and many of the same experts the world earlier ignored are raising new alarms: across the world, multiple infections may break through the old checks and balances of evolution to create new pandemics. Some of these could be far deadlier than COVID... and humanity is thoroughly unprepared for a new disaster. Tune in to lear...

In this week's listener mail segment: Colin inspires a conversation about the nature of understanding the news -- and why 'triangulating' conflicting news sources remains crucial. Newly-hired to Illumination Global, Unlimited, Calamatiy Chris weighs in with some work notes. Dory plays ShotSpotter. A Certain Chef walks through the science of cooking tacos with salamanders. In response to the guys' two-chapter on series on Flock, W.M...

Here's the story: In October of 1943, hundreds of people watched a top secret experiment go horribly wrong. The US Navy, attempting to create a kind of invisibility cloak for ships, accidentally transported the USS Eldridge through time and space, with disastrous consequences for the crew. It's a thrilling tale, but how much of it is true? Tune in as the guys explore the origin of this bizarre legend (and bust some myths about crea...

Earth is teeming with life, and despite these billions of organisms seeming so different -- it turns out that pretty much all life has surprising commonalities science still hasn't figure out. All our molecules follow the same basic 'directions'. And, recently, experts realized it may be possible to 'flip' these directions, and create cells with opposite or mirrored directions. This could provide massive medicinal and research bene...

In this week's strange news segment: thousands die in the ongoing European heat wave. Sony removes films people already paid for without a refund. Poop crimes abound! Astrophysicist Avi Loeb heads the White House's new UFO council. Tech companies continue the 'AI' debacle, and the world collectively wonders: "Who is 'Mexican Batman'?" Tune in for all this and more.

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Numbers stations' are hard-core spy stuff, dating all the way back to the first World War. The gist: you can create a radio station that broadcasts encoded messages to assets. Anyone can tune in and hear the full audio -- yet only listeners with a specific, disposable guide can decipher the actual contents. For a long time, this was just another curiosity of conflicts past. Yet as Ben, Matt and Noel discover in tonight's episode, n...

In this week's listener mail segment: one of the Bills in Colorado (Ben thinks there are at least twelve) prompts a conversation about the nature of worship vs. belief. Salamander Taco details a tragic saga of Steve Eimers's righteous one-man mission to fight against improperly-installed guardrails. PCC38Lightning thanks Ben, Matt and Noel for their upcoming episode on the U.S.S. Liberty -- while also warning that making this futur...

At some point in their lives, most U.S. residents have at least daydreamed of moving to another country. And it seems that every time one politician or another wins an election, some group of Americans says they're finally going to take the leap. With growing chaos at home and abroad, more and more people in the U.S. may actually move. But how does it actually work? Join Ben, Matt and Noel as they get to the bottom of leaving the U...

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a relatively tiny, remote place -- it's about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, with nothing but ocean on the horizon. And, for decades, this nation has been home to a terrifying secret. As the world entered the atomic age, the United States realized it needed a place to test its new weaponry, and to store the waste these nuclear experiments left behind. Tune in to learn more about US nuc...

In this week's Strange News segment: a Canberra resident gets a world record for being the loudest guy ever. A retelling of previous conversations about non-US people encountering a condiment known as ranch. Data centers and detainment centers encounter public backlash. Write to Ben, Matt, and Noel, and remember: your response to a weekly segement may inform an actual Episode in the future.

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Throughout history, war has continually resulted in hostages -- these could be soldiers, spies, or civilians. And, even in the heat of conflict, opposing forces will often agree to exchange prisoners through various agreements. On paper, it sounds downright civilized. However, as Ben and Matt discover in tonight's episode, that's often not the case. Tune in to learn more about the controversy and conspiracy surrounding 'prisoner sw...

For many, the story began with the receipt of a mysterious card, which led them to a nondescript address in San Francisco. From there, new members of the Latitude Society found themselves living through a complex, enigmatic adventure in a secret society somewhere between a philosophical group, a city-wide theme park and a real-life conspiracy. But what exactly is The Latitude Society? What are its real origins, and where are the me...

How much personal privacy would you be willing to sacrifice for the Greater Good of stopping crime? The breakout surveillance company Flock Safety claims their nationally-intergated monitoring network can eventually stop all crime. And investors are listening. In the second chapter of this special two-part series, Ben, Matt and Noel fly further into the strange saga of Flock -- and ask whether there's an ulterior motive at play.

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How did a handful of otherwise unremarkable stocks become some of the most closely watched things on Wall Street? In today's episode, the guys explore the strange series of events that led to massive price fluctuations in GameStop and more. The media portrayed this as the 'little guys' -- amateur traders -- banding together to take revenge on heartless hedge funds. But how much of this is true? What's the real conspiracy, exactly? ...

In this week's strange news segment: after a quick update on the cartoonish Iran-US negotiations (which we're sure will age well), Ben, Matt and Noel explore China's explosive accusations that other nations are weaponizing animals like sea turtles and fish for spying. AI goes increasingly rogue. Peter Thiel's secretive ‘Dialog’ society gets hacked. Stay tuned for the very end of this weekly segment to get a sneak previe...

In less than a decade since its formation in 2017, Flock Safety has exploded across the United States, with thousands of surveillance cameras in every state except for Alaska. Fans of Flock praise its potential for preventing crime -- but critics are seriously concerned this is just one more step toward a surveillance state. In the first part of this two-part episode, Ben, Matt and Noel explore the great dilemma (and alleged conspi...

In tonight's listener mail segment: a professional NHS investigator responds to the Ben, Matt and Noel's earlier interview segment about the Lucy Letby case. Frog Daddy prompts a conversation about surveillance and META glasses. One Eyed Cyclops shares a terrifying experence with AI-powered scams. Hit up Ben, Matt and Noel -- your appearance on our listener mail segment may just become an episode in the future.

They don't want you t...

As one of the most high-stakes, ambitious operations in all of military history, the D-Day invasion of World War II remains a thrilling -- and terrifying -- tale, constantly retold and reexamined by Hollywood and historians. But there's another strange, oft-ignored story in the D-Day narrative, something Uncle Sam would still prefer we all stop thinking about. Join Ben, Matt and Noel as they dive into the disastrous events of Exerc...

Inspired by a listener mail, the guys explore an enduring, disturbing mystery from across the Atlantic: Between 1993 and the late 1990s, multiple women disappeared in an 80-mile area outside Dublin, which came to be known as the "Vanishing Triangle." But what led to these disappearances? Could one or more of them be connected? Tune in to learn more.

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