Plot Twist Podcast: A Grave Affair
A podcast about everything that happens the funeral home and beyond- death, decomposition, and the macabre. We’re digging deep into stories you’ve never heard before, visiting unique burial sites, and shining light onto funerary scandals. And there may or may not be a little bit of wine involved...
S3 E1: When Death Does NOT Us Part
We're starting out season 3 with a (very belated) Valentine's Day tribute to two couples whose deaths did not separate them. We visited the grave of the tallest couple on record, and we're also diving into an ancient love story with a terrifying ending. You'll also get to hear about the bizarre adventure we're starting out on for 2024...
S2 E14: Cadaver Dogs
If you listen to enough true crime podcasts, you've probably heard multiple cases where cadaver dogs played a role. But we wanted to know what happens before a dog even gets to its first case... we're looking into how they're trained and some examples of how cadaver dogs fit into the justice system.
Resources:
Cid Torrez vs. State of Florida, casetext.com
"Cadaver detection dogs: A review of their capabilities and the volatile organic compound profile of their associated training aids" by Rushali Dargon and Shari L Forbes, WIREs Forensic Science
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S2 E13: Eternal Tenure- University Cemeteries
American universities are giving a new meaning to dark academia with the rise of on-campus burials. We’re discussing our feelings about spending eternity at our alma maters, and revealing a conspiracy behind a historical college cemetery. Don’t miss our stories about the people who never left their college campus!
References:
“College Campuses with Cemeteries”, collegetimes.co
“Fordham University History”, Fordham.edu
“Jesuit Cemetery, Fordham University” by Mary French, New York City Cemetery Project
“Who’s Buried at Fordham?” by Bob Fetterhoff, The Ram Newspaper
“A Grave Place, ISU’s Cemet...
Mini Episode: Graveyard Ghost Stories
For our second annual Halloween mini episode, we brought our friend John along for the cemetery shenanigans as we try to out-spook each other with (somewhat) true ghost stories.
S2 E12: Green Cemeteries- A Forest of Graves
How can we make the funeral industry more environmentally friendly? We took a trip to one of only ten conservation cemeteries in the United States to find out! Morgan will go over some of the most glaring problems when it comes to human burials, and Jenelle will explain some greener options (and debunk some myths too).
S2 E11: Breaking Story- Body Snatcher Suspect Arrested
An underground body snatching ring revealed? The body snatching story we covered in episode 9 goes deeper than we thought. We have some inside information as a recent suspect in the case has been right under our noses all along.
References:
"Bullitt County Man Arrested and Charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon" Press release from U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Kentucky
"Harvard Medical School Morgue Manager Sold Body Parts, U.S. Says" by Michael Levinson, New York Times
"Families sue Harvard over theft of body parts...
S2 E10: Radioactive Corpses
Ever wonder how bodies are handled after a nuclear accident? Radioactive corpses may be more common than you think, with certain cancer treatments leaving patients with radiation in their bodies after death. We're looking into guidelines for handling these situations, and what happens when they're not followed.
Resources:
"Here’s why you shouldn’t cremate radioactive dead people" by Beth Mole, ArsTechnica
"Radiation Contamination Following Cremation of a Deceased Patient Treated With a Radiopharmaceutical" by Nathan Y. Yu, MD1; William G. Rule, MD1; Terence T. Sio, MD, MS1; et al- Journal of the Amer...
S2 E9: Body Snatchers 3: A Social Media Scandal
We're back with another corpse stealing scandal! A man was selling human remains on a social media page, and it turns out they were sourced from a mortuary worker who was harvesting them directly from the bodies she worked with. We infiltrated some online oddities groups to see if we could find some human remains for sale- and we were surprised by what we found.
Resources:
"Historical skulls, other body parts being sold on Facebook — report" by TOI staff, Times of Israel
"Sicko sold stolen body parts on Facebook: cops" by Snejana Farberov, Ne...
S2 E8: Colorado’s Fire and Ice Funerals
Inspired by our trip to Colorado, we looked into a couple of post- mortem options that are unique to the state: fire and ice. Learn about the Frozen Dead Guy Days and the United States’ only public open-air cremation site in this episode!
Resources:
frozendeadguydays.com
“Frozen Dead Guy/ 100 Wonders/ Atlas Obscura”, Atlas Obscura on YouTube
crestoneendoflifeproject.org
“Crestone End-of-Life Project”, Atlas Obscura.
“Crestone End-of-Life Project”, fourcornersgeotourism.com
“How did the Vikings Honor their Dead?” by Thaddeus Morgan, history.com
“Bronze Age Cremation Burials and Funeral...
S2 E7: Taxidermied People
This episode, we're talking taxidermy- human taxidermy. We'll be covering two of the most famous examples of human taxidermy attempts in recent history, and discussing the ethics of the practice. "English Philosopher’s Dressed-Up Skeleton Goes on View in New Glass Display" by Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine"El Negro reburied in Botswana", news24.com"Auto-Icon"- Bentham Project, ucl.ac.uk"The History of Taxidermy", all-taxidermy.com"The Man Stuffed and Displayed like a Wild Animal" by Frank Westerman, BBC"Why Philosopher Jeremy Bentham's Severed, Stolen, and Poorly Preserved Head is Back on Display", CBC.ca"Why are there No Hu...