American Esoterica

15/07/2025

In what is becoming a yearly and ever-less random trend, Management is taking an episode cycle off to rest and recover from an attempt to paint a house that resulted in a case of a full-body poison ivy rash, prescription steroids, and a definitely not all the way painted house. There will be no new episode this week so that Management can rest and reconsider poor life choices.

04/07/2025

You know what you should be listening to today, on this most patriotic of days? DAMN RIGHT, this podcast.

03/07/2025

Here's another round of lightning-fast-ish presidential trivia, from the devil to the Beast and everything in-between, and the dog demanded to be in the recording booth with me for this one. Out Now - Episode 78 - A Second Non-Consecutive Term of Presidential Potpourri, available at the streaming places and also at www.americanesoterica.com.

19/06/2025

Even though the Civil War had informally ended through Lee's surrender to Grant in April of 1865, pockets of Confederate states dug in and responded by moving enslaved folks further and further out. Ever since the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863, Union troops had been delivering the news to enslaved folks in captured territory, so keeping their enslaved away from emancipation - or even the idea of it - was a high priority for Confederate slaveholders. On June 19, 1865, two thousand Union troops rode into Galveston Bay, Texas, to deliver the news of emancipation to some 250,000 people still in bo***ge.

The 13th Amendment would be ratified that December, officially ending slavery throughout the entire nation, but to many, June 19th, 1865, marks an Independence Day for those who weren't guaranteed their freedom on July 4th, 1776. It's a day when the country came just a hair closer to living its ideals, and it has been celebrated on its anniversary every year since.

For more information on Juneteenth, visit https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth.

Juneteenth is an often overlooked event in our nation’s history. On June 19, 1865, Union troops freed enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay and across Texas some two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

19/06/2025

The tip of Lake Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg that spins out into a war between the states. Two states, that is. Out now - Episode 77 - Holy Toledo, available on all streamers and a website in disputed territory, http://www.americanesoterica.com.

19/06/2025

Just a note that Definitely Not Just A Closet Studios got a slight upgrade finalized-ish last weekend. Management is still chasing a few frequencies down, but this week's episode is the first done with everything mostly in place.

16/06/2025

BIZARRE QUESTION, but a serious one - I've been contacted by an agent for someone looking to get booked on podcasts. That someone is alleging that the failure to release more JFK documents is part of a CIA coverup and that the agency is trying to hide covert sabotage and surveillance programs and wants to be interviewed about it. By...uhh, me. For some reason. This person has appeared on ABC, CBS, and Tucker Carlson.

So I don't think my last attempt to interview a live human went particularly well, and I'm not interested in this show becoming a platform for conspiracy theories. I AM interested in odd and obscure bits of American history, however, and despite a literal personal struggle to NOT just do Lincoln episodes, the show has yet to even mention the Kennedy assassination.

So - let's put it to the three people who will actually see this post - what do YOU think? Yes, book him? No, stick to what works?

13/06/2025

In a world overflowing with Artificial Intelligence, come here to get your fill of Natural Stupidity.

06/06/2025

THIS ONE'S GOT IT ALL, FOLKS - hucksters, country music, goat testicles, pirate radio, patent medicines, wire fraud, William Jennings Bryan...you name it! This is the bizarre story of how rural America fell in love with country music. Out now - Episode 76 - How We Went Nuts for Country, streaming all over the place and also at www.americanesoterica.com.

05/06/2025

Just...siiiigh. Sorry, everybody. It wasn't the computer's fault this time - it was the idiot recording engineer who selected the wrong mic input for recording so that the entire session for tomorrow's episode didn't actually record. That guy is so fired...or would be, were he not also the writer, editor, composer, social media manager, and host. It's unfortunately too late to do another session tonight - this is an unusually long episode (for this show, anyway), which makes losing the session audio even more hilariously tragic.

Rest assured, it's worth waiting for - it's been a few episodes since the story has been this big of a corker, and you're gonna love it. But Management is old, and it's almost bedtime.

29/05/2025

A sad note: Episode 22 - Grandpa Tenth President is officially incorrect with the news this morning that Harrison Ruffin Tyler has passed away at the age of 96.

The Richmond resident, preservationist and chemical engineer, for whom William & Mary’s history department is named, also had the distinction of being the grandson of a man who became U.S. president in 1841.

22/05/2025

Meet Herman Hollerith - the founder of your digital world and archnemesis to The Count on Sesame Street. Out Now - Episode 75 - Counter Proposal, available on the things that send ones and zeroes to your airpods in streaming fashion, and also at www.americanesoterica.com.