The Webby Award-winning “Box of Oddities" is a podcast that delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. With a focus on oddities, curiosities, and the macabre, each episode is a journey into the unknown, where hosts Kat and Jethro Gilligan Toth share their love for unusual stories and inject their humor and commentary. From the strange history of medical practices to chilling true crime stories, to natural (and unnatural) events, "The Box of Oddities" satisfies your thirst for the weird and the unusual, offering an informative and entertaining look into the dark and mysterious corners of our world.
JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC-TV says, "Should you be the type who has an interest in weird stuff, this is a fun thing to allow in your head!"
“Truth is stranger than fiction, and the Box of Oddities is the strangest of all!” -SLUGGO, SIRIUS XM LITHIUM
“Kat & Jethro wring humor from bizarre, macabre and perplexing places.” -BOSTON MAGAZINE
All content for The Box of Oddities is the property of Kat & Jethro Gilligan Toth and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
The Webby Award-winning “Box of Oddities" is a podcast that delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. With a focus on oddities, curiosities, and the macabre, each episode is a journey into the unknown, where hosts Kat and Jethro Gilligan Toth share their love for unusual stories and inject their humor and commentary. From the strange history of medical practices to chilling true crime stories, to natural (and unnatural) events, "The Box of Oddities" satisfies your thirst for the weird and the unusual, offering an informative and entertaining look into the dark and mysterious corners of our world.
JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC-TV says, "Should you be the type who has an interest in weird stuff, this is a fun thing to allow in your head!"
“Truth is stranger than fiction, and the Box of Oddities is the strangest of all!” -SLUGGO, SIRIUS XM LITHIUM
“Kat & Jethro wring humor from bizarre, macabre and perplexing places.” -BOSTON MAGAZINE
In this episode of The Box of Oddities, JG resurrects one of America’s strangest carnival legends: the so-called “Mummy of John Wilkes Booth.” What begins with a mysterious deathbed confession unravels into a 60-year sideshow tour involving embalmed drifters, Civil War conspiracy theories, broken limbs, arsenic preservation, and a carnival circuit that cashed in on America’s morbid curiosity. Was the assassin of Abraham Lincoln secretly living under an alias in Texas? Or was his mummified “corpse” just another brilliant piece of ballyhoo? JG digs into eyewitness accounts, bizarre examinations by 1930s physicians, and the odd legacy of Memphis lawyer Finis L. Bates—whose obsession might have created the blueprint for modern macabre tourism.
Then, Kat travels to Bern, Switzerland, to explore one of Europe’s most unsettling—and surprisingly misunderstood—public monuments: the 16th-century Kindlifresserbrunnen, the “Child-Eater of Bern.” Is this towering baby-devouring ogre a warning rooted in antisemitism? A Renaissance reinterpretation of the Greek titan Cronus? Or simply a nightmare-inducing way to keep children from misbehaving? Kat dives into competing theories, Renaissance symbolism, and the long, strange history of fear-based folklore carved into stone.
Stick around for weird Google search stats, existential cat-judgment queries, and why Icelandair may be your gateway to ogre-themed tourism. It’s history, horror, hilarity, and human oddness—exactly what you come here for.
This Box contains the following ingredients: John Wilkes Booth mummy, Finis L. Bates, David E. George, carnival sideshow history, American oddities, Kindlifresserbrunnen, Child-Eater of Bern, Swiss folklore, Cronus statue, Renaissance sculpture, weird history podcast, bizarre monuments, true oddities.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Box of Oddities
The Webby Award-winning “Box of Oddities" is a podcast that delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. With a focus on oddities, curiosities, and the macabre, each episode is a journey into the unknown, where hosts Kat and Jethro Gilligan Toth share their love for unusual stories and inject their humor and commentary. From the strange history of medical practices to chilling true crime stories, to natural (and unnatural) events, "The Box of Oddities" satisfies your thirst for the weird and the unusual, offering an informative and entertaining look into the dark and mysterious corners of our world.
JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC-TV says, "Should you be the type who has an interest in weird stuff, this is a fun thing to allow in your head!"
“Truth is stranger than fiction, and the Box of Oddities is the strangest of all!” -SLUGGO, SIRIUS XM LITHIUM
“Kat & Jethro wring humor from bizarre, macabre and perplexing places.” -BOSTON MAGAZINE
