Beyond the Norm

"We're back! Truth be told Stephen had covid and I had pneumonia."

Well hello once again to our Ghouls and Goblins. We've been out sick for a couple of weeks (but nothing is more terrifying than that sickly death feeling, so to us it feels like we never really left) but we're back just in time for Halloween to get into the spooky spirit!

To celebrate Christi has chosen highlight some local New Orleans hauntings she discovered...

"I'm living my true crime fantasy right now," remarks Stephen as like many of us it's easy to fall down a true crime rabbit hole. You click one YouTube video then the next thing you know you've watched 300 hours of police interrogation footage, watched whatever the latest Netflix thing is (anyone else watching The Menendez Brothers show?) and then turned around and further explored those topics on your own true-crime podcast. Well ...

"Do you know somebody by the name of Benjamin Franklin? Doesn't ring any bells." While it might be time for someone to go back to school to learn some American history, today's history lesson isn't something they taught you back in the day. On today's episode of Beyond the Norm we truly go outside of the norm and look at one of America's founding fathers through a new lens.

There are many words that one could use to describe Ben...

"They found like a gelatinous mass in the septic tank because all the body parts had fused into a clump. You're not allowed to say the words "gelatinous mass" again!" Christi is very upset with Stephen because when he's not intentionally messing up words to keep his husband on his toes he's either struggling to say the right words at all or he won't stop saying "gelatinous mass"! What stories might compel Stephen to repeatedly use ...

"We've all seen Poltergeist. Rule number one: leave Indian burial grounds alone!" While a good rule of thumb for all of our ghoulish listeners, unfortunately Poltergeist didn't exist in the 1800's or today's subject might have second guessed his decisions.

In part due to Stephen's love of the Haunted Mansion ride, as a kid he and his friends became obsessed with real life haunted houses and discovered that not too far outside of...

"Someone is going to jump off a building if Christi walks by," jokes Stephen, but as Christi is quick to point out in some cases that isn't too far from the truth! But could you imagine one of those incidents occurring at the "Happiest Place on Earth"? It's true, and it's just one of many creepy Disneyland occurrences we'll be covering on this week's episode of Beyond the Norm.

Now there is a surprising amount of haunted happeni...

"Pikachu?! It's Tinky-Winky! And actually Tinky-Winky was the purple one and Po was the yellow one. You are all over the place!" argues Stephen as Christi discovers if there's one line she shouldn't cross t's Stephen's nerdiness (it's ok Christi, Po was actually the red one!). An in depth-analysis of Tinky-Winky's purse might not be the spookiest topic to kick-off this week's episode, but trust us that once the actual topic gets un...

"I think people want to belong to something," Christi postulates as she picks up the pieces from last week's episode on cults to try and get to the heart of what makes groupthink tick. To better understand this phenomenon Christi has brought a true story for this week's episode that's sure to raise a few hairs every time you have to remind yourself that it really happened.

It's the 1960's and Ron Jones, a Palo Alto history teach...

"At one point if I was in that compound I'd be like, 'Look I get it. I'm your spiritual wife... but I gotta go.'" Stephen jokes, but it gets to the heart of the matter on what makes his chosen topic for this week episode, Cults, so fascinating. Why do people join and stay in cults? How do you convince 900+ people to take their lives for a stupid cause? Group think can be scary and that's what makes cults the scariest subject our wi...

"Florida, we need to have a talk." jokes Stephen as this week's story takes us to Key West where nothing ever wild happens! Just kidding, because even if nothing else weird ever happened in Key West this story would be enough to forever mark the city. It's certainly got both Christi and Stephen shaking in their boots as there's a level of macabre in this, very much true story, that's unforgettably creepy to its very core. We're of ...

"She literally shoved someone's head into the mirror and it cracked and fell off the wall; then the bar had to replace it. You took me willingly to this bar? Oh yeah it's great!" If there's one thing Christi and Stephen can't seem to avoid it's haunted bars and houses around New Orleans. It wasn't enough that there were vampires, but now there's ghosts in the French Quarter too?! We promise to cover other cities at some point, but ...

"When I did Christi's Couch, the most popular stories were always when I covered dark stuff," says Christi Lukasiak, though as a listener of Christi's Couch that may not come as too much of a surprise. You may know Christi as a Dance Moms OG, but she's also VERY into the dark and creepy side of things. What better way to explore those topics than with a podcast dedicated to them! Welcome to Beyond the Norm, a podcast dedicated ...

“I remember looking up at myself for the first time. And my cousin kept saying, ‘I’m going to fix this. I'm going to fix this.’ And I literally looked at her and I was like, ‘How are you going to fix this?’ That was the first time I realized my whole upper lip was not there,” shares Brooklinn Khoury, close family friend and professional skateboarder. In November of 2020, Brooklinn suffered a horrific dog attack that disfigured her ...

“We can't ever hate ourselves into a body that we love, but we can love ourselves into a body that we love,” shares Kelley Nemiro, certified holistic health coach, pilates instructor, and founder of Wellness by Kelley. Through her coaching membership program, Kelley helps women live healthier lives by teaching them how to balance their hormones from the inside out. In today’s episode, host Christi Lukasiak is joined in conversation...

“The more we bring everyone's gifts and potential into the world through giving them the tools that they need, the more we all benefit,” explains Briana Borten, Spiritual Mentor.  In today’s episode, host Christi Lukasiak is joined in conversation with Briana Borten to talk about the healing properties of energy work, listening to signs from the universe, and giving back. 

After graduating from high school, Briana experienced a h...