Are You F*&#ing Sh!#%@ng Me?

Superfans of the true crime podcast "My Favorite Murder" call themselves Murderinos. On this episode Apryl and Rachael meet a couple of the founders of the LA Murderino group and find out why true crime is so popular — especially among women.

In this Very Special Minisode RUFSM, Apryl and Rachael let you in on a secret which will give you untold POWERS! Okay, maybe not untold powers, but certainly a decent chance at having your voice heard and being accurately represented by your elected officials. And for you living in Los Angeles District Assembly 51, this is time sensitive knowledge - so listen up!

This week Apryl and Rachael announce plans for the 2018 season of RUFSM and give a sneak peek of what's in store. Learn about one of the early shapers of Los Angeles, Charles F. Lummis, and join A and R on a visit to his rustic, handmade house and to the museum he created to preserve and highlight Native American art and artifacts, the Southwest Museum.

Today we take a magical journey. Figuratively, of course. Join us as we travel from the somewhat hazy origins of the word Abracadbra to modern day magic. Our very special guest today is Siegfried Tieber, a delightful (and talented!) close up magician who also happens to be a performer at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles.

We're in the middle of the holiday season and, frankly, things have been crazy busy in our world. BUT we didn't want to leave you hanging, so we've decided to re-air one of our favorite episodes. Come along for the ride! Please note: We include a clip of sound bath audio in this episode. The use of crystal bowls in sound baths have been known to create binaural beats. While binaural beats have been shown to reduce anxiety in pro-op for surgery, they can also have a hypnotic effect and may cause seizures for people with epilepsy or certain heart conditions. If you have either of these conditions, please consult a doctor before listening to the sound bath audio or skip past that section.

From Beaver Butts to Cat Island, Rachael and Apryl lean into the rando in this third installation of Rando Facto.

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a Super Ager! For some people over 80, their memory and cognitive skills are as sharp as ever. They are called Super Agers. We spoke with neuroscientist Emily Rogalski to learn more about the amazingly youthful brains of these folks. 

This week, in honor of Thanksgiving, you'll learn about turkey dumping (it's not as gross as it sounds), find out what families in New Orleans do on Thanksgiving Day, and hear Rachael's favorite family holiday memories, as RUFSM features the one and only episode from Apryl's old podcast, The Family Jewels.

Marlon Brando is a known entity. Or, is he? For some, he was the genius who changed acting. For others, he was the mad man who didn't bother to deliver a line the way it was written. While both of those things may be true, it turns out there was much more to him. Come along as Austin Wilkin, Archivist for the Marlon Brando Estate, talks to us about Brando the Activist and Brando the Environmentalist and, yes, Brando the Actor.

This week we share one of our new favorite podcasts with you — Desert Oracle. Listen in as host Ken Layne takes Apryl and Rachael on a hypnotic journey through the secret underbrush of Yucca Valley and beyond.

This week we find out about Dia de Los Muertos from archaelogist Kirby Farah. Do you know who the patron saint of this holiday is — and, more importantly, how to pronounce her name? Join us as we learn all about the hauntingly beautiful traditions.

Vamps, werewolves and zombies have been fascinating mankind for a long long time. What is it with monsters? Why are we obsessed with them? Join us as we find out why from the author of Deadly Powers: Animal Predators and the Mythic Imagination, Paul A. Trout.

This week Apryl and Rachael talk to Jennifer Morton, a paranormal investigator from American River Paranormal. Jennifer talks about some of her eeriest investigations, the equipment she uses, and what the heck she thinks might be going on. She also shares her top 3 most haunted places. Get spooky with us!

It's Halloween Month and we're kicking it of with some real life ghost stories! C'mon along as we spend the month exploring spoooooOOOOOOOOOooooooky stuff.

In honor of the box office and critical success of Wonder Woman this summer, we are re-releasing one of our most popular episodes. That's right, the Amazons are back!

What do Flying cars, Robotron, and AI in common? This week's guest, that's what. Join us as we talk to Judy Bogart about the maze that is the tech world and what it's like navigating it as a woman.

Ever heard of the Great Beer Flood of 1814? Or know about the longest baseball game ever? Neither did we. Find out about these weird history facts and more — plus cocktails! — with Dinner Party Download's Rico Gagliano.

The Aztec Empire is the stuff of Legends and seems so distant from the world of today, yet their civilization was at its peak relatively recently. After an article in the Smithsonian placed the beginning of the Aztec civilization at 1325 AD, we realized we knew very little about their dynamic history. We brought in expert Dr. Kirby Farah to school us on all things Aztec. Join us as we learn what happened to the empire that once dominated the Mexican basin.

In honor of Labor Day, Apryl and Rachael talk to immigrant Dietmar Quistorf about working in the US vs Germany. They were surprised to find out how much time off is mandatory in Europe -- and also to learn where Dietmar would rather work. Take a listen!

Join us as we sneak into the abandoned subway tunnels under Los Angeles and find out what they were all about. Hint: it turns out prohibition drove the LA nightlife and crime syndicates literally underground. 

On August 19th, we participated in the 5th annual KCRW 24 Hour Radio Race. We got the theme at 10 AM on Saturday and we had until 10 AM Sunday to decide on a subject, research that subject, and record, edit and produce a 4 minute radio ready segment on that subject. This is what we came up with. We hope you enjoy it!

This week Apryl and Rachael talk to doula Ruth Lundsten (Apryl's mom) and learn about birth coaches, midwives, labor and new research about the biological bonds between mothers and babies. In a total RUFSM moment, they also learn what doctors aren't taught about the birth process. What they found out will probably astound you, too.

Ready for another dose of random facts? We are, too. This week Rachael and Apryl share their latest favorite obsessions. Apryl gives the low-down on a new species of shark that has an amazing super power. And Rachael introduces us to the longest song ever composed, which is being played right now. Plus, you get to hear her play one of John Cage's greatest hits.

We're not gonna lie, we love a heist story. Movies like the Thomas Crown affair and How to Steal a Million Dollars paint a picture of mystery and romance around the world of art crimes. Is it really filled with as much intrigue and such ridiculously beautiful people, though? We reached out to Dr. Noah Charney, leading expert in art crime, to find out what the world of art heists is really like.

Mary Shelley was Goth as f*ck. There's no disputing that. But did you know that she was a heroine in her own right? How about the fact that she was daughter to the incredible Feminist Philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft? This week we speak with Charlotte Gordon, author of Romantic Outlaws about the parallel lives of The Marys.

Before there were Deadheads or Trekkies, there were Wagnerites. Maybe the first fanboys, Wagnerites are diehards for the (often controversial) German opera composer Richard Wagner. This week Apryl and Rachael talk to Tano Sokolow, whose dad was a raging Wagnerite and passed on his love of the composer -- and opera -- to his family.

Grandmother Ayahuasca has the power to change lives and we got to talk to two people who have had front row seats to this power. As a result of her own personal experience, our first guest, Dr. Rachel Harris, was inspired to research how this plant medicine was being used in North America. Her findings were spectacular and she shares them with us. Our second guest, Chelsea Lockwood, talks with us about how ayahuasca helped with her depression and Grandmother Ayahuasca's foretelling of an illness that was yet to come.

This week Apryl and Rachael head out to Yucca Valley and Landers, near Joshua Tree, to find out the history of a super gigante rock, a building that was built to save humanity (or travel through time (or both)). They learn who built the odd structure and share a mind-blowing experience — taking a dip into a sound bath. Come along for the ride! Please note: We include a clip of sound bath audio in this episode. The use of crystal bowls in sound baths have been known to create binaural beats. While binaural beats have been shown to reduce anxiety in pro-op for surgery, they can also have a hypnotic effect and may cause seizures for people with epilepsy or certain heart conditions. If you have either of these conditions, please consult a doctor before listening to the sound bath audio or skip past that section.

There's a saying that goes "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," but this week we learned that when in Ancient Rome, you may want to think twice.  In a fun and fascinating True or False session with Dr. E.Del Chrol, we found out about some of the stranger things happened in Ancient Rome. Let's just say things got weird back in the day.

In the final installation of our series on Psychedelics, we talk with Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. about the future of psychedelics. We learn about transpersonal therapy and mindbody states along with the exciting new concepts of mindapps and ideagens. 

This week, Apryl and Rachael talk to Jag Davies from the Drug Policy Alliance about the long, strange evolution of psychedelics in America -- from use by Native Americans in ceremony to breakthrough treatments for psychiatric disorders to mind-altering experiences to becoming front and center in the War on Drugs propaganda movement and back to a resurgence in research and treatment for PTSD, drug addiction and depression. They also look at the permeating influence of the War on Drugs and its devastating effects.

For 22 years Adrian struggled with opiate addiction. After countless efforts to kick only to return to using, he found himself at Death's door. Then he found Dr. Mash and the sacred shamanic plant medicine ibogaine and his world changed. This week Adrian takes us on his miraculous journey.

How does a field researcher/restoration ecologist go from saving Coho Salmon in the wilds of the Northwest to searching for Sasquatch on Reality TV? This week we talk with Ranae Holland, aka the Skeptical Scientist, about her synchronistic journey to Finding Bigfoot.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! As a holiday special, we're flying solo this week. No special guests, simply the two of us and a bunch of weird facts we wanted to share with each other. And also with you!

They say that laughter is the best medicine, but what do you do when it's actually a symptom? In 1962 Tanganyika (now Tanzania) a girls’ school broke into laughter and it wasn't funny. This week we talk with Christian Hempelmann of Texas A&M University to find out more about the Laughter Epidemic.

Before the film industry took over Los Angeles, the area was famous for another commodity -- oil. In this episode, Rachael and Apryl trace the history of oil in Los Angeles and meet an Angeleno who still owns oil rights.

This week Apryl and Rachael talk to wise and hilarious Ask Polly advice columnist Heather Havrilesky and find out just how f’d up they (and everyone else) are – or maybe aren’t.

The year is 1990 and Anwar Al Graishy, who was attending school in New York at the time, has returned home to Kuwait for his summer vacation only to find himself in the middle of a war just a few weeks later. That's when shit gets real. Join us as Anwar takes us on a journey like none we've taken before.

Once upon a time (it was the 1940s), there was an island nation in the South Pacific (Vanuatu, to be exact), who's people received a prophecy that foretold of America, refrigeration, and cargo. And so began the John Frum Movement, the rise of a cargo cult, and a return to custom and community amidst a background of missionary colonization. Join us as we speak with Jessica Sherry, director and producer of the beautiful documentary Waiting For John.

In the past ten+ years, there's been a staggering explosion of new species. It's even been named the "golden age of discovery." Apryl talks to her brother, marine biologist Lonny Lundsten, who is on the front lines of research and exploration at the Monterey Bay Research Aquarium Institute (MBARI), to find out what they've been finding and why this seemingly sudden proliferation.

Have you ever thought you were going to die. Like a for-real, no way around it, this is the end of the line, near death experience? If you had hours to contemplate your imminent demise, how would you handle it? Here's one man's account of his own mortality.

Dr. Amanda Foreman, writer and star of the four-part documentary The Ascent of Woman, talks with us about egalitarianism in Ancient Cultures. Together, we explore the question "Have men and women ever truly been equals?"

THE AMAZONS WERE REAL! THE AMAZONS WERE REAL! From Wonder Woman to Greek Mythology, Amazons have played a big part in the female mystique. But what is the truth about these legendary warrior women?

A look at the dark underbelly of U.S. elections: Gerrymandering. We spoke with Brian Cannon, Executive Director of OneVirginia2021, and Brian Olsen, creator an impartial automatic redistricting algorithm, to find out what we could about this nefarious practice.