A sequel of sorts to our Wonderland Cave episode (44), we look at the planned use of caves in the Ozarks as bomb shelters during the Cold War. Also, a short history of Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, Missouri, and we read a couple of listener emails and reviews
In a podcast first, we conduct an interview. Hope Ray & Jameson Hall are the co-owners of Handshake, a restaurant opening on December 6, 2025 in the Fayetteville Public Library. They tell us their origins, both as people and as business partners, and the pros and cons of opening a private business in a public space, among other things. After the interview, Jameson guests on a standard script about the salt industry during the frontier days of Missouri. We talk about salt a lot. And do an awful lot of bad math
This week we talk about Lizzie Rubart Gibson, a woman who received international acclaim for her clay model fruits, used in science classes across the country. We also discuss an old Harrison Boys stomping ground in Pilot('s) Knob. Gus's computer is dying so in case you think something is wrong with your listening device, it's actually on our end.
Song at the end was composed and recorded by our very own Ray. It's called "Pilot's Knob". Find more and dadweight.bandcamp.com
Sharp and Ray review the wonderful, new book Faith, Family, and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America by Joanna Dee Das. This was an earnest (and first) attempt at a book review on the podcast, but it ultimately turned into an extended conversation about Branson, The Ozarks, and how different aspects of culture are viewed from the perspective of the local and the outsider
The life and death of Nimrod Menifee, an early influential white settler into the southern fringes of the Arkansas Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley who was really, really into dueling
Song at the end used with permission
We discuss a potential Fort Smith mayoral candidate recently profiled in a Southwest Times Record article. We do not endorse. This Special Report also has a mini regular episode inside it, with some quick stories about several previous mayors of Fort Smith. (Akin to what you can find on our Patreon). Also, a lot of talk about TikTok grifters
https://www.patreon.com/c/WeAlwaysLietoStrangers
The story of David Walker, an influential early settler into Fayetteville, Arkansas and Arkansas Supreme Court Justice, among other things and titles. This episode could also easily be subtitled "An Incomplete History of Slavery in Fayetteville"
On the finale of WE ALWAYS LIE ABOUT BIGFOOT we find out the easiest route to home ownership in Fayetteville, Arkansas is finding Bigfoot. Find out how a news website comment section dispute escalated into a wager that would catch the attention of some of the most prominent voices in Bigfoot Hunting and Cryptozoology in Episode 4: BIGFOOT HOUSE
On part three of our miniseries we travel to one of the most popular destinations on the Buffalo River to find Bigfoot, but find some fines instead. Sasquatch and event permits contend this week in BIGFOOT CREEK, the Expedition of Steel Creek
This episode, Part 2 of our October miniseries, Gus leads us out of The Ozarks for a primer on one of the organizations dedicated to the hunt for Bigfoot. What does an expedition entail? We'll find out. What does this have to do with The Ozarks? We'll get there in the end
October becomes Gustober, as Gus leads us through a 4-part series (at least) on Bigfoot in The Ozarks and the men that search for them. This week, we look into the Camp Orr legend of Smokey Joe, the last of the untouched (by us) Bigfoot-adjacent lore of The Ozarks proper, and touch on a couple of other historical wildman tales and the possibility that maybe.. it could just be bears
The story of the Taum Sauk Reservoir in southeast Missouri and the time the walls came tumbling down
A supplemental episode from our previous Governor Isaac Murphy series, the story of the Elkhorn Tavern at Pea Ridge National Military Park
The conclusion of the Missouri & North Arkansas Railroad strike in Harrison, Arkansas. It gets pretty dark
One of America's longest railroad strikes took place in The Ozarks and you've probably never heard about it. Maybe privatizing public goods ism't the best idea
We look at corn cob pipes, from their patenting in the northern Missouri Ozarks, to a small day to day look at a former factory in Everton, Arkansas
The life story of B. Dean Brown and the Branson Cross
We discuss the New York Times article that was released today about that racist intentional community near Ravenden, Arkansas that's trying to expand into Missouri and across elsewhere in the South
The story of a Bigfoot-type monster supposedly near War Eagle, Arkansas
In a podcast first, we have guests in the wonderful Beyond the Breakers podcast. Normally ones to focus on shipwrecks and maritime disasters, we pull them onto land and discuss one of the wackiest incidents in Springfield, Missouri history, The Cobra Scare.