After Dark: Recent Episodes
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After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez is back with tons to talk about today including all the news on yesterday's congressional UAP hearing, and where you can go to find out a ton more. Then, we've got part two of our interview with AP Sylvia talking VAMPIRES. Nosferatu, the Wolfman, Voodoo, locations of lore and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez is back with another fun show featuring part 1 of an interview with AP Sylvia, author of Vampires of Lore: Traits and Modern Misconceptions, and the locationsoflore.com website! VAMPIRES! Plus, all the news including a game cam capture of an alleged Bigfoot. A fun show as always so check it out~!
After Dark Radio is back with our HALLOWEEN EDITION, and it's a big one! We've got spooky stories from listeners, a legitimate medical study on the past life experiences of children, some other crazy news including Tucker Carlson getting attacked by a DEMON, then part 2 of our Eric Harrelson interview talking The Exorcist Effect, the Satanic Panic of the 80s and 90s, urban legends and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez is back with a fun show! We're joined by Eric Harrelson, co-author of the Exorcist Effect, to discuss how movies like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby impacted an entire generation and influenced everyone from charlatans to serial killers, and gave rise to everything from the Satanic Panic to QAnon. Plus, all the news of the weird and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez is back with tons to talk about including the latest news on the search for ETs, THE MERMAN, a ten-foot alien in Las Vegas and more! Then, we are joined by Loyd Auerbach for part two of a great interview discussing all aspects of the paranormal, hauntings, telekinesis, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez is back with tons to talk about in part one of our interview with special guest Loyd Auerbach, who literally has a DEGREE in Parapsychology and teaches courses on it. Hauntings, poltergeists, ESP, telekinesis, ghost hunting, and tons more. Plus, news, emails and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez is back with tons to talk about including the weekly news, Bryan's trip to a Sasquatch festival where he got a two-hour private meeting with a top investigator, then part 2 of our interview with John Milor talking Christian UFOlogy! A fun show as always so check it out~!
After Dark Radio with Bryan Alvarez returns with tons to talk about including all the latest paranormal news, how you can get hold of us to tell your story on the show, and then an interview with John Milor as he discusses UFOlogy from a Christian perspective, aliens, demons, the Bible and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
AFTER DARK RADIO WITH BRYAN ALVAREZ IS BACK! In today's soft-launch episode, we'll tell you all about the show and its history, what we have planned for the future and what is still to be determined, and then get into the meat of it, a look at the Chehalis UFO party, UFOs in Washington State, the Maury Island Incident, the NIMITZ tic tac, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
When It Was Cool Dark looks back at 1939's Universal Monster movie Son of Frankenstein where the son of the original Dr. Frankenstein comes to claim his family estate and discovers The Monster has been saved by Ygor (played by Bela Lugosi of Dracula fame) and is being used as a weapon against Ygor's enemies. Karl and Tonya (from When It Was Cool website) discuss the movie and the changes in macabre films over the years and what are the modern equivalents of this type cinema.
Karl Stern discusses the mysterious Alaska Triangle where supposedly nearly 20,000 have gone missing. There are also reports of UFOs and UAPs and even its own native Bigfoot like creature, the Wendigo! Planes have vanished without a trace and even a high-level U.S. Congressman has gone missing. Is there something going on in this vast stretch of Alaskan wilderness or is this just another mystery that isn't really that mysterious? There is one very strange case in the Alaska Triangle that seems to defy explanation. Join us as we discuss the Alaska Triangle. Support us on Patreon!
If the headlines of today's newspapers sudden screamed "The United States in Possession of Alien Spacecraft!" the world would go crazy. The 24 hour news stations would leap on the story (until the next crisis came along or could be invented) but it was be... well... big news. Yet, it has already happened. Thanks to archives of Newspapers.com, podcast host Karl Stern digs into the start of the "Flying Saucer" sensation that gripped the United States (and later the world) around the time of the reported Roswell, NM UFO crash.
For several years now you may have been periodically reading headlines like, "Harvard Professor Believes Object Traveling Through Solar System is Alien Space Craft", or recently, "Harvard Professor Discovers Remains of Alien Technology on Earth". So who is this Harvard Professor? He is Avi Loeb and he is, in fact, a Harvard Professor. But what's his deal? If a Harvard Professor has, supposedly discovered all of this why has the world turned upside down at his "discoveries"? Let's dig deeper into who is this Alien discovering Harvard professor and why does his name keep coming up in the news and... has he discovered evidence for aliens?
We need to be able to trust the gatekeepers of science. Science and scientific ideals are at the center of modern political warfare and science should be held to the course of political winds. We need science to be firm and accountable. But what happens when the very process that oversees acceptable science becomes corrupted. There is an outcry among the scientific community that this may well be happening due to a corruption of the peer review process. What is peer review and how could it be manipulated? That is the topic on this edition of the DragonKing Dark Podcast.
DragonKing Dark continues to explore the greatest mysteries of the universe (and, perhaps, beyond) and this episode host Karl Stern takes a look at Satan or, The Devil. It's almost irrelevant if you believe in The Devil or not because billions of other do and those people make up large portions of the government you are under, the places you work, and the people that surround you. So, your life is influenced by The Devil whether you believe in it or not. But you might be surprised that a lot of what you think you know about the ultimate evil is not actually written in religious cannon. This week we look at misconceptions about the devil and what the texts really say.
How did life begin? The prevailing scientific consensus presents us with a primordial soup a few billion years ago which coalesced into life. But wait, the science is not as settled as you might believe. There are problems with that model and some leading scientists are challenging that model. What even is "life"? Even that definition is not as clear in 2023 as one might think. Today at When It Was Cool Dark we will look at some of the latest questions being presented to origin of life researchers. No, we aren't talking creationism either, but the straightforward science.
You can't turn on the news these days without being inundated by news about UFOs or (UAP as they are now branded). The military is seeing them, Harvard (no less) professors are seeing them, the public is seeing them- it's madness! Or it would have been in the 1950s, you would have been branded a lunatic. Now, however, the cat is out of the bag. Something is out there, the question is what? Are we alone in this vast, vast universe? Or is it something else? Today we examine the UAE-UFO phenomenon.
The newly revamped When It Was Cool Dark begins our new podcast journey looking at the mysteries of the universe. The unexplained. The unknown. And we aren't just going to take your word for it. We are going to examine these mysteries and ask ourselves what the evidence says, are we being mislead, what inputs are biased? Today we begin with the first and greatest mystery... how did we get here to begin with. This podcast isn't for everyone. Only you can decide if you WANT to KNOW or if you want to be TOLD. There is a difference. Zero politics. Zero biases.
Our 100 darkest moments in pop culture series concludes with a trio of scandals involving WWE head honcho Vince K. McMahon. Host Karl Stern takes a look at the assault of Rita Chatterton, the 1990s steroid trial, and the multiple payoffs scandal which, temporarily, removed him from power... only to come back richer. Vince McMahon is not only Teflon when it comes to scandals, he somehow escapes any karma and comes back more powerful and wealthy. A supervillain Lex Luthor would be proud of.
The band Fishbone quickly became one of the most influential and inventive bands in all of popular music during the 1980s. However, the bizarre story of band member Kendall Jones threatened to derail this eclectic group. Not only did he allegedly join a cult but another band member, determined to save him from himself, launched a plot to kidnap him. This is the strange journey of Fishbone.
Have you ever seen a show with fellas on the mic with one minute rhymes that don't come out right? Well, pioneering rapper had a lot of things that didn't come out right. Mostly, the U.S. government hated him and sought him out at every turn. This is the story of Slick Rick and he makes the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history because, well, his bodyguard tried to kill him so Slick Rick grabbed a gun, as rappers sometimes do, and went out and managed to shoot a couple of the wrong people. The government then spent decades trying to deport him like Tony the Tiger. Word.
Thomas Ince was the father of the Western movie genre. During his career in the pioneer days of film making he produced around 800 movies. Thomas Ince also was the first person to build their own movie studio. So how did this influential and pioneering film maker end up on the list of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history? Because of legendary historical figure and media mogul William Randolph Hearst, legendary actor Charlie Chaplin and a hole that, may or may not, have been in the head of Thomas Ince.
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, this week we look at the shocking and tragic death of actor Chadwick Boseman who appeared as the Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, including his own critically acclaimed Black Panther solo movie. The world was shocked when, unknown to virtually everyone, the actor died from complications of colon cancer. Today we remember Chadwick Boseman.
In 1997 one of the most bizarre moments in boxing and pop culture took place when, during the second Mike Tyson verses Evander Holyfield fight, Tyson viciously bit the ear of Holyfield not once, but twice! Tyson earned himself a disqualification and tons of negative publicity. This strange incident was a real black eye (err... ear) for boxing and stands as one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history.
Look, ok, Mel Gibson is a very good actor. I like numerous Mel Gibson movies. He is certainly famous: Mad Max, Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, Passion of the Christ, and on and on it goes. But there have been enough maniacally outburst to wonder what exactly is going on inside Mel Gibson's head. Apparently, he really hates Jews (and others) and has expressed this in the most vile of terms.
Whitney Houston was one of the most recognized and successful voices in any era of music. She had chart toping hit after chart topping hit. However, a toxic relationship and a reality show with hip hop artist Bobby Brown brought attention to darker problems lurking in the life of Whitney Houston. She would sadly be dead before the age 50 and an iconic voice would be silenced. One of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history.
You probably didn't expect the face of evil to look like a geek eating a footlong did you? Yet, here he is: Jared #@$%ing Fogle. Why this goof became pop culture famous is beyond me, I mean, literally for eating sandwiches and losing weight, yeah I guess, but he's sitting in prison now, apparently, according to reports, the king of the pedophiles. Yeah, there's literally nothing good about this story and it's certainly one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history. LISTERN DISCRESSION ADVISED.
Actor Robert Blake was best known for his time as the 1970s TV Detective Baretta. However, in 2002 Robert Blake's wife was shot and killed in the parking lot of a restaurant in Los Angeles and Blake was charged with her murder. Robert Blake was acquitted in the criminal trial but was found liable in a civil trial for her death. This is the story of dark moment in pop culture history.
Lance Armstrong is far and away the most famous cyclist that has ever lived. He dominated the Tour de France and many other world class level cycling events. He was pop culture famous in the United States and beyond… however, that much domination, especially in sports, invites questions about performance enhancing drugs and, in Lance Armstrong's case, it ruined the career of one sport's most famous athlete.
One of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series. This week, our show has a twist. Yes, it was a tragedy that 26 year old singer-songwriter Graham Parsons died. Like many music deaths, it was likely caused by the usual suspects. But what happened next is... bizarre. The story involves a stolen hearse, fake morticians dressed like cowboys, a gallon of gasoline, and a flaming casket in the middle of the desert. Yeah, this one is dark but in a different way.
Our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series begins winding down and this week we take a look at the domestic violence scandals of music artists Chris Brown. Chris Brown has been hugely successful and award winning and one of the most influential and important artists of the modern era. However, multiple allegations of battery against women have followed him throughout his career including the infamous assault of fellow music artist Rihanna. On episode 358 of When It Was Cool Dark we take a look at this troubling story.
The 100 darkest moments in pop culture history rolls on and on this episode we return to the world of professional wrestling with, arguably, the first place many people think of when they think of a lot of young deaths in wrestling- the Dallas, Texas based World Class Championship Wrestling. WCCW saw many wrestlers die young, the Von Erichs infamously of suicide (mostly), but there were multiple cocaine overdoses, and more. Let's look back at the dark side of World Class Championship Wrestling.
One of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture series. Tommy "The Duke" Morrison was a rising boxing star in the late 1980s into the early 1990s who famously held a version of the World Boxing Championship, defeating George Foreman. Tommy Morrison also got a break in acting by appearing as the character Tommy "The Machine" Gunn in Sylvester Stallone's 1990 Rocky V movie. But Tommy Morrison's lifestyle caused his star to tumble and a failed HIV test effectively ended his boxing career despite the fact that Morrison protested and denied having HIV or AIDS up to his death at age of 44 in 2013.
One of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series. Johnny Lewis played the fan favorite character "Half Sack" on the popular Sons of Anarchy TV series portraying the role of a motorcycle gang prospect in the first season, and full member in the second. Fans were stunned when he was killed off the show in season two and no one seemed to know why. This was just the first example of the extremely erratic behavior that would plague Johnny Lewis from then until it finally ends in murder and his own death at the age of 28.
One of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series. Michael Richards played the quirky character Cosmo Kramer on the popular Seinfeld television sit-com. Kramer was a fan favorite character eliciting cheers every time he popped in the door. After Seinfeld ended its run, while still an incredibly popular show, Michael Richards took a try at standup comedy... then it went wrong. Very... very... wrong.
100 darkest moments in pop culture history series continues and this week it is dark in many ways. The master of dark literature, Edgar Allan Poe, died under the most mysterious of circumstances. The famous writer was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, MD in dire straits, mumbling and dressed in someone else's clothing. There are a number of theories about the death of Edgar Allan Poe and we will discuss a few of them this week on DragonKing Dark.
Ernest Hemingway literally changed the entire genre of popular literature. Preceded by the flowery and verbose language of the previous era, Ernest Hemingway wrote in a more straightforward style, often holding back and allowing silence of action to speak loudly in a story. His novels are still read and reviewed in virtually every schoolroom in the United States. However, Ernest Hemingway battled mental demons throughout his life and ultimately they caught up to him in 1961. The death of Ernest Hemingway is one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history.
In this week's installment of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, host Karl Stern takes a look back at the March 20, 1991 death of classic rock legend Eric Clapton's four year old son, who died from falling out a high rise window in New York. From this tragedy, Eric Clapton penned one of his most famous and award winning songs: Tears in Heaven.
In 1999 television viewers tuned into the story about an out of control jet plane flying across the country from Florida toward Canada. The unresponsive plane was tailed by military jets across the country, failing to make contact with any ground control. Military pilots observed the windows of the jet frosted over indicating that the cabin had lost pressure. Adding to the intrigue was that onboard the jet was a famous sports personality- PGA Golf champion Payne Stewart. Part of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture series.
The latest edition of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history takes a look at a football rivalry gone too far in my home state- the Auburn University Tree Killings. Why does the killing of a set of trees in downtown Auburn, Alabama rank as a dark moment in pop culture history? Because it was all about football fandom. The trees, used to celebrate Auburn football victories, were poisoned to death by a crazed Alabama fan who confessed to it on a national radio show.
One of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, 7th Heaven was a sappy moralistic drama series which ran ten (!) seasons on the CW Network famous for launching the career of Jessica Beal. The story revolved around a Christian family doing Christian things in a sugary sweet world where everything works out fine. Then the actor who played the father (and Minister) did some stuff. Some very bad stuff.
Inarguably, one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history was the 2000 Paralympic Games where, brace yourself, Spain competed in basketball with players representing themselves as mentally handicapped who weren't. Yes, you read that right. They also won the gold medal and thus outed themselves once it hit the newspapers. The Paralympic sports committee obviously punished someone for this embarrassing atrocity right? Yes... the mentally handicapped who they banned from competing in future games. This one folks, will make your head melt.
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history we examine the trading card bust of the 1990s. For generations sports fans, especially baseball, collected trading cards. In the past, these cards packaged often with bubble gum, often also increased in value, especially for rookie players who became big stars. Enter the speculators who were then feed by massive over production. By the early 1990s every sport (including pro wrestling, football, hockey) and even pop culture properties (comic books, TV shows, and movies) had multiple card sets. Over supply lead to a crash in values and once the speculators fled, millions of people were left with boxes of worthless cards.
The 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series continues as we examine the terrorist assault and murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, Germany. Germany, wanting to put the stain of the past behind them, had strongly pushed the "smiling Olympics" and despite warnings, failed to take precautions against a terrorist attack. Then, to make matters worse, they totally botched the response resulting in multiple deaths.
On March 1, 1932 one of most sensational crimes ever to grip America occurred- the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping and Murder. The son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, aged 20 months, disappeared from his crib upstairs and was, apparently, held for ransom, which was paid. However, just over two months later the child's body was discovered in the woods near the home. What happened? Why? Who did it? It was America's first truly big true crime story.
The only Major League Baseball player to be killed during a game was Ray Chapman and it happened in 1920. The story is tragic even beyond what was likely an accident. Likely, because, well, the player who threw the pitch had a reputation for hitting batters, on purpose, and after hitting Ray Chapman with the fatal pitch did himself no favors by continuing to be a pretty unlikable fellow. And... that's not all. Ray Chapman's wife was pregnant at the time and neither she nor her child make it out of this story alive either. Truely one of the saddest sports deaths ever. One of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series.
DragonKingKarl Presents - the 2022 DragonKing Dark Halloween Special, hosted by Dirty Dawg Darsie and joined by Kid Zombie and the Desert Rat of WhenItWasCool.com and Joe Drilling and Eric Allen of OnTheStick.com to talk all things spooky! Wrestling Halloween stories, UFO encounters, a Roanoke Dogman encounter on the "These Woods Are Haunted" TV show, clips of the 2001 Ghost to Ghost AM with Art Bell, and so much more!
It's the ghost with the most. This week continues our month long celebration of Halloween as Karl and Tonya take a look back at the 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice! An all-star cast battles with the afterlife in this late 1980s classic, fun for everyone on your Halloween playlist! Beetlejuice is a cult classic movie that has actually aged pretty well. Just don't say the title three times!
We continue celebrating Halloween all month long here at WhenItWasCool.com and this week Karl and Tonya discuss the classic 1982 horror movie Poltergeist. Into the pop culture lexicon entered the eerie phrase, "They're here!" And, beyond the storyline itself, the movie was followed by the tragic death of its young star. Poltergeist gave birth to multiple sequels and remains a staple of must-see horror Halloween classics.
We are celebrating Halloween all month long at When It Was Cool and we will return in November to our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series, but today we take a look at a real life monster. In fact, a new controversial Netflix series called Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story is currently one of the most popular streaming series of the year. Karl and Tonya from When It Was Cool have watched it and this is our review. We understand there is a lot of negative feelings toward this series and we try to address those as honestly as possible.
We interrupt our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series for the month of October as we are celebrating Halloween all month long. So, this episode, host Karl Stern (DragonKingKarl) is joined by his wife Tonya from WIWC to discuss one of the most iconic horror movies ever- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) which gave us a young Johnny Depp and one of the greatest monster horror characters ever in Freddie Kruger! One-Two-Freddie's Coming For You!
Who was Fatty Arbuckle? Besides having a hilarious name he was the first big Hollywood scandal. Yes, the sad tale of Fatty Arbuckle is a cautionary tale for the movie industry still to this very day. Fatty Arbuckle was a silent movie era star until his career was destroyed by an allegation that he raped and killed a Hollywood actress. It took three trials with wildly varying verdicts to finally proclaim him, not only not guilty, but the jury issued him a written apology as well. This is the tragic story of Fatty Arbuckle.
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series. You know your life has taken a bad turn if the government has to name a law after you. Yeah, probably not a good sign. Nor was it for child actor Jackie Coogan, who, after gaining huge success in Charlie Chaplin films, went on to even greater notoriety as Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. So, what is so dark about Jackie Coogan? It is a cautionary tale for all child actors, Hollywood, and human nature.
We continue our series of 100 darkest moments in pop culture history by taking a look at the supposed curse of The Little Rascals / My Gang group of actors. Did many of them meet an untimely demise? We will discuss. One thing is certain, however, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer's story does not end well. We take a look at the facts surrounding the supposed curse of The Little Rascals and sad end for Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer.
Part of our on-going 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series. Michael Hutchence of INXS was found dead in his hotel room in 1997 and you may think you know the reason why. But did you know that most of what you think you know about the death of Michael Hutchence is probably wrong and taken out of context? Today we'll discuss how one interview, taken out of context, provided the narrative of Michael Hutchence death, a death that the coroner's inquest revealed had no basis in fact or evidence.
We continue our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by taking a look at the death of one of the greatest vocalist of the 1980s-2000s, George Michael. Starting his career with the duo Wham!, George Michael rose to even greater success as a solo pop star during the late 1980s into the 1990s with a string of mega-popular albums and MTV video hits. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 53. This is his story.
Continuing our look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by looking at the death of pop music legend Prince. Prince died just over six years ago of a fentanyl overdose. Since then, fentanyl has been a scourge in American society, responsible for numerous overdose deaths. Prince was one of the most talented musicians of all time and his death at the age of 57 was one of pop cultures darkest moments.
The series continues: 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history, as we follow up on the story about Chester Bennington with the death of Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog front man Chris Cornell. The stories have a lot of similarities. Both battled depression, both were of the same era and musical genre. What was going on that so tragically effected so many stars of this era? Today we look at the life and death of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell.
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture series we take a look at the tragic death of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. Chester Bennington was one of a series of high profile musicians who died very young after a life of battling mental illness and addiction. The tragic story of Chester Bennington touched many in the entertainment industry and severely impacted the music scene. Here is his story.
We continue our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by looking at the recent death of country music star Naomi Judd. Yes, Naomi Judd was 76 years old, all of The Judds' hit songs were behind them, so in terms of effecting popular culture one might argue that this one doesn't effect the future much. I will argue differently, as the death of Naomi Judd has brought the very relevant topic of mental illness front and center, right where it needs to be.
In our continuing series 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history we take a look back at the 1997 death of folk and country music star John Denver who was killed in an experimental aircraft crash at the age of 53. While John Denver's career as a hit maker was probably over, he was still a successful touring musician, actor, and activist. His death was also completely avoidable for multiple reasons including his suspended pilot's license and a terrible aircraft design.
We continue our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history. This week we look at the destruction wrought by Warner Brothers against the iconic characters of DC Comics. Characters who have been around since the 1930s have been rendered generationally irrelevant by a terrible connected universe of movies, bad castings, awful scripts, and, oh yeah, Ezra Miller.
We continue our series 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history with a band that started off with a string of hit songs, signed to The Beatles' record label, with songs written by The Beatles with many people believing they might BE the new Beatles. But a rash of "whatever could go wrong will go wrong" events struck Badfinger leaving them broke, sidelined, and two members dead. This is the story of the classic rock band Badfinger.
We continue our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history and this week I am your father who is very disappointed in you. No, this week nobody died. No tragedy has befallen a cast member (aside from a few arrests) but the general state of show which was very popular predicated on laughing at the lowest common denominator. This show is truly one of the darkest moments in pop culture history. How did we come to this?
Where were you when JFK was assassinated? Elvis died? Man landed on the moon? Or... the OJ Simpson verdict came down? NFL football star and actor OJ Simpson was accused of murdering two people including his ex-wife. This case, has of course, been discussed a million times (or more) but here as part of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history we look at how the OJ Simpson case impacted pop culture.
Continuing our series look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history this show is the second one that examines the rise in popularity of the true crime documentary/TV Channels/Podcasts. Today we look back at the murder of six year old JonBenet Ramsey. We aren't going to dive into the details of the crime beyond the basics because this is a topic that has been covered thousands of times... and that's our point. The influence this case has had in the rise of the True Crime genre can't be understated.
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history we are beginning a three-episode run of tragic events to give rise to the true crime genre of documentaries, podcasts, and TV channels. The murder of Adam Walsh was a tragedy beyond comprehension. Yet, born out of that horrible event many incredibly good things came, including the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Adam's Law, and America's Most Wanted. In this episode we examine how this terrible story also influenced an entire sub-category of pop culture information.
DragonKing Dark Podcast continues its ongoing series of 100 of the Darkest Moments in Pop Culture History with a look at the movie scandal that spawned the #MeToo movement and the many crimes of producer Harvey Weinstein. Harvey Weinstein was a powerful movie producer in Hollywood who is accused of numerous heinous sexual assaults against a large number of actresses, including several top-level stars. Warning - In order to discuss this story some listeners may find the accusations triggering. Listener discretion advised.
Bill Cosby was America's Dad. He was a mega-popular comedian and actor. His TV sitcom The Cosby Show was the biggest television show of the late 1980s. It all came crashing down a few years ago when allegations of rampant sexual misconduct and assault began to surface which, ultimately, saw Bill Cosby spend 3 years in prison... then his conviction was overturned. How and why on this edition of DragonKing Dark Podcast from WhenItWasCool.com
Our series - 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history continues with a look back at the 1994 sports scandal involving Olympic skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Harding was accused of being involved in a physical assault of Kerrigan in order to increase her Olympic medal chances. The attack was the darkest even in figure skating history and became an infamous moment in popular culture.
Our series - 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history continues with a look back at the 1994 sports scandal involving Olympic skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Harding was accused of being involved in a physical assault of Kerrigan in order to increase her Olympic medal chances. The attack was the darkest even in figure skating history and became an infamous moment in popular culture.
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, we return to the world of sports entertainment (pro wrestling) to find out how one company became the most profitable and successful wrestling company in the world and then sank over half of genre with it. It's an amazing account of how to literally run off half of an entire fanbase of a very popular pop-culture genre with a bad product. Comic book companies please take notes.
We continue our look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by looking at the late 1980s pop music act Milli Vanilli, who were busted as lip synching imposters after a hugely successful album and even a Grammy win. But, were Milli Vanilli the bad guys or victims? Don't most live acts lip synch anyway? The story is more complex than it might first appear.
NHL Hockey is a fast, high impact, and sometimes violent sport. So, you may be surprised to learn that only one hockey player has ever died as a direct result of the game. In 1968 Bill Masterton became the only NHL player to date to die as the result of injuries suffered during a game. His death eventually lead to rule changes but they were not quick in coming. This is the story of the death of Bill Masterton, one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history.
Another tragedy from the cast of Saturday Night Live and part of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series. This week we take a look at the domestic violence murder of comedian Phil Hartman. Phil Hartman was a popular SNL cast member, voice actor, and comedian who was killed by his wife in 1998 at the age of 49. We look at the tragic events that led up to this preventable tragedy.
Continuing our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history we take a look back at the death of young comedic star and a Saturday Night Live original John Belushi. Belushi was a star still on the rise with multiple hit movies and an iconic stint on SNL, however, drugs gained a hold on Belushi that he just couldn't break and it ultimately cost him his life.
100 darkest moments in pop culture history continues with another black eye for Major League Baseball - The Mitchell Report. This 2007 report was officially titled The Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball. It's pretty self-evident from the title that some baseball players are going to come out of this not looking so good.
If you know any big band swing music, then it is probably by Glenn Miller and his orchestra. Some of the most recognizable instrumental hits were arranged and recorded by the biggest pop star of the early 1940's, Glenn Miller. He was every bit as big a star as Elvis or The Beatles in that era. So, what happened to him? Where is he now? Nobody knows. At the height of his fame, he joined the U.S. Army Air Force in World War 2 and went missing somewhere between London and Paris. This is the story of pop mega-star Glenn Miller.
We continue our series on 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history. This week we look back at the 2017 Las Vegas concert massacre that took place on the strip in Las Vegas targeting a large country music festival. 61 people died during the attack. It remains the largest mass shooting conducted by an individual on American history.
Our series- 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history continues today with the death of Robin Williams. A comedic genius who first came to national attention on the Happy Days spinoff series Mork and Mindy. Robin Williams followed this up with a stellar music career both as a comedic actor and a dramatic actor as well as classic stand up comedy acts. In his last days, he was still churning out award winning movies but his brain was hiding a secret even he wasn't aware of.
In July 1982 while filming the Twilight Zone movie, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed by a crashing helicopter while filming a scene during the movie. The accident reveled numerous short-cuts were taken and safety protocols bypassed which contributed to the tragedy. The Twilight Zone movie disaster is one of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history.
Our next installment in our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history involves the story of NFL player Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez was an elite level football player whose off the field exploits landed him in prison and later dead. Despite being one of the best players on his National Championship winning team in college, the coach didn't want him back for his senior season so he entered the NFL draft where many teams wouldn't touch him. The Patriots finally did but a few murders later they regretted that decision.
Free speech. Censorship. Right thinking. Moral Policing. All of these terms are hot button topics to various political and social groups. The more that things change, the more they stay the same, because in 1954 a holier than thou psychiatrist took on the comic book industry with his infamous book Seduction of the Innocent. No matter what segment of pop culture they are after, be it video games, TV shows, or books, the morality police are dangerous to free thinking but it's a double-edged sword.
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture series we take a look back at the video game crash of 1983. It was a moment in time where sub-par games were being produced in mass as a cash grab during a home video game boom. Juan Nunez wrote a tremendous article about this crash (and the one that preceded it) for When It Was Cool and this is that story.
Our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history continues with an entry you might not expect. In the late 1990s-early 2000, filesharing services like Napster and Limewire were all the rage. People justified stealing music by pointing out the hypocrisy and lavish indulgences of the big music companies. But caught in the crossfire were the artists and the music industry changed, and not necessarily for the better. Today we look at how the rise of Napster and filesharing both paved the way for streaming and podcasting but almost killed the music business at the same time.
We continue our series on the 100 Darkest Moments in Pop Culture by examining the death of action movie star and maybe the world's most influential martial artist- Bruce Lee. The name Bruce Lee stirs up almost mythological images. One of the most skilled martial artists ever, Bruce Lee was even more than that. He was an action movie star making an impact, a philosopher, an author, and at the young age of 32 mysteriously died just as his biggest movie was released.
We continue our series on 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history and this week's show is a little different. We take a look at the profound impact the AIDS epidemic had on pop culture in the 1980s into the 1990s. Numerous important pop culture figures like Freddie Mercury, Rock Hudson, Anthony Perkins, Arthur Ashe, Tom Fogerty, Eazy E, and others, died from causes liked to AIDS and HIV. How different might music, TV, movies, sports, and more have been if the AIDS crisis had not struck?
We pick back up our on-going series: 100 darkest moments in pop culture history and we travel back to the early 1990s. Comic books and trading cards were booming. Speculators were buying both in bulk with hopes of one day owning something valuable. The bubble was ready to burst when along came DC Comics with a publicity stunt that almost killed the comic book industry - The Death of Superman.
We take a one show break this week from our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history to reflect back on what I have learned after 300 episodes, so far, of the DragonKing Dark Podcast. Have any of our shows changed my opinion on UFOs, cryptids, ghosts, or societal issues? The answer is, yes! Yes, I do feel less convinced of some more convinced of others. Host Karl Stern takes a look back at some of the topics covered and where we stand now, plus the he names his most memorable segment of the show and replays the creepy news segment.
He was Superman for an entire generation. He's faster than a locomotive and can leap a tall building in a single bound but George Reeves was dead at the age of 45. There has been much mystery around the death of George Reeves, officially ruled a suicide many people skeptical and it seems like they may have had reason to be. This week as part of our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series, host Karl Stern takes a look at the death of Superman - George Reeves.
Who was Terry Kath? He was one of the most influential singers and guitarist of the early 1970s starring with the band Chicago. If all you know about Chicago are the Peter Cetera era ballads then let me introduce you to a time when they were experimental, influential, and lead by one of the most dynamic guitarists in rock. A guitarist who, none other than Jimi Hendrix said was better than him. Then, he was dead at the age of 31 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Why? And what might have been?
While this series is called the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, the death of Len Bias is even more than that. It is one of the 100 darkest moments in AMERICAN history because of what came next. I firmly believe this is one of the most important DragonKing Dark podcasts I've ever done and, after listening, I hope you agree. While many non-sports fans may not know who Len Bias was, his death greatly effected American culture and society in ways still felt today.
The rock music world was shaken in February 1980 when the distinctive lead singer of the rising rock group AC/DC was found dead in a car. The cause of death was apparently alcohol related, though specifically how has been debated for 40 years now. It seemed impossible that a rising rock group with such a distinctive sound could possibly carry on after the death of it's frontman, yet, the next album by AC/DC became one of the top 5 selling albums of all time. This is the story of the death of Bon Scott.