It was a cold April day in 1943 when four boys stumbled upon something horrifying in the woods—a skull hidden deep inside a hollow wych elm.

The police came, a body was pulled from the tree… and then, nothing. No answers. Just a message that began appearing on walls across England:

“Who put Bella in the wych elm?”

No one knows who Bella was—or why she was buried inside that tree.

Was it espionage? Witchcraft? Or something even stranger?

Grab your trench coat and your tinfoil hat, today on Prying Minds, we’re digging into one of Britain’s eeriest unsolved mysteries.

Imagine taking a boat out to a remote island. It's the kind of place that looks straight out of a travel brochure. Turquoise water, dramatic cliffs, a little bit of mystery. You’re thinking, wow, this is going to make the best Instagram post ever.

But then you notice… the ground is kind of hissing. The air smells like eggs that lost a fight with the sun. And your tour guide says something like, “Don’t worry, it’s mostly safe.” That’s when you start wondering if this island might be a little too alive.

And then, in an instant, paradise turns into panic. The sky darkens, the air burns, and suddenly you’re not thinking about selfies anymore.

This is the story of a group of travelers who came face to face with nature at its most unpredictable... and somehow, some of them survived.

Today, we’re diving into what happened on that island, the unbelievable ways people fought to stay alive, and why this trip definitely didn’t get five stars on TripAdvisor.

Welcome to the story of Whakaari.

We’re Liss and Bee, and this is Prying Minds.

Imagine being so sad that a doctor suggests sticking an ice pick in your brain. No, literally through your eyesocket! Welcome to the world of lobotomies, One of the most infamous "medical breakthroughs" in history.

We’re talking about a procedure that promised to erase mental illness… but sometimes erased a lot more than that. For decades, lobotomies were performed on women, men, even children often without their knowledge or consent — all in the name of science… and sometimes, spectacle.

And spoiler alert: things got messy! Like, your brain might now function like a two-year-olds, or you might have the sudden urge to steal pens messy.

In this episode of Prying Minds, we’re diving deep into the history, the horror, and the weirdly fascinating rise and eventual fall of lobotomies. We're Liss and Bee and this is Prying Minds.

Ice picks at the ready? Let’s do it!

They say if you go out into the woods, you’d better be prepared for bears, bugs… maybe even Bigfoot. But Travis Walton? He came back with a story that was out of this world. Literally.

In November of 1975, a logging crew in the Arizona wilderness witnessed something they couldn’t quite log away in their memory banks. A flash of light, a man knocked to the ground, and then—poof—no Travis. Just empty pine needles and a whole lot of panic.

On this episode, we’re cracking open the case of Travis Walton and the now-infamous “Fire in the Sky.” Buckle up, keep your arms and legs inside the beam at all times, and remember what happens in the mothership doesn’t always stay in the mothership.

Imagine you're nobility in the 1500s. You're rich, you're powerful, your face is caked in lead, and you smell like a haunted cupboard because you've bathed, like... twice this year. In this episode, we're diving nose-first into the gross, grimy, gloriously weird history of hygiene. We're talking poo sponges on a stick, lice wigs, perfumed everything, and the long, splinter-filled road to modern toilet paper.

Why did people think water would kill them? Why was brushing your teeth with wine a thing? And how did Versailles manage to be both luxurious and absolutely covered in human waste?

Spoiler: everyone smelled bad, really really bad!

Join us as we unravel centuries of filth and full-body funk — and finally answer the question: How did we go from wiping with stones… to pink quilted clouds of two-ply heaven?

Wash your hands, light a candle, and get ready to gag. This is Prying Minds — where the past stinks, and we're still nosy enough to sniff it.

Today we’re going BIG! That’s right, we’re diving into the world of… giants.

We’re talking massive myths, towering truths, and elevated enigmas from every continent. From the biblical Nephilim to the Quinkin of Australia, and everything in between.

Are these tales just exaggerated campfire stories? Symbolic metaphors? Or could there be something monstrously real behind humanity’s obsession with giants?

Grab your magnifying glass—or maybe a ladder—because we’re chasing shadows that cast very long footprints. This isn’t your average bedtime story, folks. This one’s off the scale.

He called himself The Great Beast 666. The tabloids called him the wickedest man in the world. And we just call him... a hot mess. A chaotic, magical, drug-fueled mess.

We're talking about none other than, Aleister Crowley.

He was a poet, a mountaineer, a ceremonial magician, and a drama queen! He claimed to have summoned demons, channeled Egyptian spirits, wrote questionable poems, and even got himself kicked out of Italy for being too weird.

But was he a dark prophet of a new age… or just a dramatic dude with too much money and too much access to hallucinogens?

So grab your velvet cloak, light a black candle, and join us as we descend into the life and legacy of the man who made Victorian England clutch its pearls.

Fire purifies. Fire destroys. For thousands of years, humans have turned to flames in death rituals, beliefs, and final sendoffs in smoke and ash. But what happens when the fire comes from within?

Today, we’re poking at the coals of cremation rituals from around the world- some sacred, some strange, and some... still burning with mystery. And then we’re taking a sharp left into one of the weirdest, most unsettling phenomena out there: spontaneous human combustion.

Is it divine retribution? A medical mystery? Or just a really unfortunate cigarette? Whatever it is, it’s left scorched rooms, untouched furniture, and a whole lot of questions.

So light a candle—or maybe don’t—and join us as we explore the fire that humans control… and the one that might be lurking inside us all.