None of these are the fever Peggy Lee was singing about.

Sources:

• - https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/25/health/congo-mystery-illness/index.html

  - https://www.wired.com/story/race-to-identify-drcs-mystery-illness-slowed-by-us-aid-cuts-democratic-republic-congo-usaid/

  - https://www.science.org/content/article/mysterious-congo-outbreak-likely-linked-contaminated-water-researchers-say

  - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congo-mystery-disease-deaths-who-investigation-deepens/

  - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mystery-disease-congo-what-we-know/

  - http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-monitoring-unknown-disease-congo/story?id=119395101

  - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congo-war-m23-rebels-rwanda-goma-un-warns-gang-rape-summary-executions/

  - https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/ebola#:~:text=What%20is%20Ebola%3F,leaks%20from%20small%20blood%20vessels.

  - https://www.cdc.gov/ebola/about/index.html

  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola

  - https://www.cdc.gov/ebola/outbreaks/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/history/chronology.html

  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hot_Zone

  - https://newshour-classroom-tc.digi-producers.pbs.org/uploads/app/uploads/2014/09/Excerpt-from-The-Hot-Zone-for-PBS-NewsHour-Education-Random-House.pdf

  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marburg_virus_disease

Lorien talks about literal ticking time bombs.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordnance
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_explosion
• https://apple.news/AT8BA2xInTWeIMDQUDcddTA
• https://www.epa.gov/fedfac/military-munitionsunexploded-ordnance
• https://www.icrc.org/en/law-and-policy/explosive-remnants-war
• https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24441427
• https://abcnews.go.com/International/160-unexploded-bombs-world-war-ii-found-childrens/story?id=118724569
• https://abcnews.go.com/International/160-unexploded-bombs-world-war-ii-found-childrens/story?id=118724569
• https://www.hi.org/en/news/landmines--22--more-victims-in-one-year#:~:text=Published on 20 November, the,of the victims were civilians.
• https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135252

Black mold, and radon, and asbestos, oh my!

Sources:

- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24862-black-mold

- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323419#Symptoms-of-black-mold-exposure

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachybotrys_chartarum

- https://www.webmd.com/lung/can-black-mold-kill-you

- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/radon-and-health#:~:text=Radon%20is%20a%20radioactive%20gas,and%20produces%20further%20radioactive%20particles.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon

- https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/millions-in-u-s-exposed-to-dangerous-radon-study-finds/

- https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/radon-the-odorless-invisible-threat

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#:~:text=Asbestos%20(/%C3%A6s%CB%88b,%2C%20asbestosis%2C%20and%20lung%20cancer.

- https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tysonbottenus/black-mold-growing-toxic-brain-vacation

- https://www.asbestos.com/news/2025/01/10/raging-california-wildfires-may-spread-toxic-asbestos/

- https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/protect-your-family-exposures-asbestos

- https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/how-toxic-mold-cost-one-austin-family-their-home-health/

In this podcast we hate otters but we love octopuses.

Sources:

• https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/the-many-plurals-of-octopus-octopi-octopuses-octopodes
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_attack
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkorokamui
• https://www.ibtimes.com/8-foot-octopus-wrestles-diver-calif-coast-rare-encounter-caught-camera-video-1556415
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_blue-ringed_octopus
• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/01/new-york-staten-island-ferry-octopus-attack-fake-monument
• https://nycurbanlegends.com/octopus-disaster
• https://octonation.com/are-octopuses-dangerous/
• https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/giant-pacific-octopus
• https://www.mysticaquarium.org/animals-and-exhibits/our-animals/giant-pacific-octopus/
• https://oceanconservancy.org/wildlife-factsheet/giant-pacific-octopus/
• https://www.livescience.com/55478-octopus-facts.html
• https://www.livescience.com/animals/octopuses/octopuses-rewire-their-brains-to-adapt-to-different-ocean-temperatures
• https://www.si.com/more-sports/2021/10/12/seattle-kraken-octopus-wrestling-daily-cover
• https://blog.animalogic.ca/blog/octopus-wrestling-the-lost-and-ancient-sport

Art imitates life imitates art.

Sources:

- https://www.stylist.co.uk/books/handmaids-tale-true-story/130001

- https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/margaret-atwood-handmaids-tale-testaments-real-life-inspiration

- https://www.businessinsider.com/handmaids-tale-based-on-real-world-origins-history-events-2019-8#the-forced-separation-of-mothers-and-children-continues-to-occur-in-modern-society-10

- https://www.history.com/news/chamberlain-kahn-act-std-venereal-disease-imprisonment-women

- https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/mary-webster-witch-hadley-survives-hanging/

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Webster_(alleged_witch)

- https://www.history.com/news/magdalene-laundry-ireland-asylum-abuse

- https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/22/us/roe-v-wade-overturned-2-years/index.html

- https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/conservatives-rebranding-pro-life-abortion-1235018370/

- https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/03/19/nx-s1-5312115/margaret-carpenter-indictment-telemedicine-abortion-louisiana-mail-mifepristone-misoprostol

- https://jessica.substack.com/p/republicans-are-redefining-miscarriage

- https://jessica.substack.com/p/after-trump-pardons-clinic-attackers

- https://time.com/7269263/bills-punishing-people-seeking-abortions/

- https://academic.oup.com/book/25660/chapter-abstract/193101621?redirectedFrom=fulltext

- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/25/roe-v-wade-abortion-christian-right-america

Lorien takes Katharine on a historical journey to a politically tense time they are not currently living through; in the process, Lorien Slendermans*

*A verb meaning to become so engrossed in a topic that the presenter speaks for far longer than the usual duration of the podcast .

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_Doctrine
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War#cite_note-1
• https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/cubanmissile
• https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-bay-of-pigs
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
• https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/cuban-missile-crisis
• https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis

They're not America's road rage therapists, so Katharine and Lorien would like to drag race you to the start of this episode .

Sources:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggressive_driving

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_explosive_disorder

- https://www.webmd.com/women/features/root-cause-of-road-rage

- https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/202309_2022-AAAFTS-American-Driving-Survey-Brief_v3.pdf

- https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/10/health/road-rage-survival-tips-wellness/index.html

- https://exchange.aaa.com/safety/driving-advice/aggressive-driving/#:~:text=Examples%20of%20road%20rage%20are,Ramming

- https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/08/road-rage-versus-reality/377156/

- https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gunman-who-killed-las-vegas-mom-four-road-rage-search-n699301 https://abcnews.go.com/US/las-vegas-road-rage-shooting-victims-kids-regret/story?id=36702212

- https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/15/593917420/road-rage-driver-who-killed-ex-nfl-player-sentenced-to-30-years-prison

- The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things. Barry Glassner, 1999.

Katharine does not leave five minutes into the podcast even though she briefly threatens to.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559026/
• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1300432/I-lay-paralysed-unable-speak-18-months--familys-unyielding-loved-brought-true-miracle.html
• https://www.unilad.com/community/life/richard-marsh-locked-in-syndrome-experience-218594-20241119
• https://brainandspinalcord.org/faqs/abi/how-many-people-are-diagnosed-with-locked-in-syndrome-each-year/
• https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23003-pons
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software)
• https://www.science.org/content/article/locked-patients-can-follow-their-noses
• https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/03/22/1047664/locked-in-patient-bci-communicate-in-sentences/
• https://theconversation.com/what-is-locked-in-syndrome-the-extraordinary-stories-that-help-us-understand-this-rare-condition-236371
• https://www.buzzfeed.com/kelley_greene/locked-in-syndrome-survivor-jake-haendel