A backyard. Two countries. One unbelievable story.

Most people think of the U.S.-Canada border as quiet, friendly, and uneventful. But behind a quirky bed-and-breakfast in Blaine, Washington, one of the strangest border stories in modern North American history was unfolding.

This week, Shea sits down with author Reece Jones to discuss his new book Smuggler: Drugs, Gangs, and Refugees at America's Northern Border. What begins as the story of a roadside inn quickly turns into a tale involving smugglers, asylum seekers, Border Patrol agents, underground networks, and a Supreme Court case that continues...

Jody's Back, Baby!

Good news, rabbit holers: Jody is officially back.

After taking time away to focus on family, travel, and life outside the studio, she's rejoining Shea behind the microphones. But this isn't just a welcome-back episode. It's a look at where Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is headed next and why the show is evolving.

After three years of producing episodes, meeting incredible listeners, and building a community neither host expected, Shea and Jody are making some changes designed to keep the podcast fun, sustainable, and full of the stories they love...

Klondike Kate, The Woman History Forgot

Recorded live before a packed audience at McMenamins Elks Temple's Spanish Ballroom in Tacoma, Washington, this episode follows the remarkable life of Kathleen Eloisa Rockwell, better known as Klondike Kate, one of the most colorful and influential figures of the Klondike Gold Rush.

While history remembers theater magnate Alexander Pantages, few remember the woman whose talent, charisma, and financial support helped launch the beginnings of his empire. Tonight, we're fixing that.

From Spokane to New York, from Chilean convents to Yukon dance halls, Kate's life was a...

A Murder Case Everyone Wanted to Abandon

What do you do when witnesses vanish, evidence disappears, and corruption reaches into the courtroom itself?

Former Cook County homicide prosecutor Gregg Owen faced exactly that challenge.

In this episode of Rainy Day Rabbit Holes, Gregg joins Shea to discuss his upcoming true crime book, Convergence, which chronicles an extraordinary double murder prosecution that unfolded during one of the most corrupt periods in Chicago's history.

But Gregg's story is anything but ordinary.

Before becoming a prosecutor, he spent years as a professional...

Did Nuclear Testing Change Every Piece of Steel on Earth?

What if one of humanity's biggest technological achievements accidentally altered the materials we use every day?

In this Rabbit Hole short, Shea welcomes back her brother Jason to uncover a bizarre scientific mystery involving nuclear bombs, radioactive contamination, sunken warships, and some of the most sensitive scientific instruments ever built.

The story begins with the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico in 1945. While the world focused on the dawn of the nuclear age, very few people were thinking about steel. Yet the...

Snake Oil, Opium Eaters, and the Original Wellness Grifters

What do nineteenth-century snake oil salesmen, opium-laced medicines, and today's wellness trends have in common?

More than you might think.

In this special crossover episode, Shea from Rainy Day Rabbit Holes joins forces with historian Kenyon Payne, host of the Outcasts of the Earth Podcast, to explore the fascinating and often bizarre world of patent medicines, miracle cures, and the people who made fortunes selling hope in a bottle.

Shea uncovers the story of Clark Stanley, the legendary "Rattlesnake King" whose famous...

🐪 RERUN ALERT: One of Our Most-Downloaded Listener Favorites Returns!

Some episodes are simply too weird, too wonderful, and too delightfully Western to stay buried in the archives. This week we're bringing back one of our favorite listener-favorite episodes: The Red Ghost of Arizona.

What happens when a terrifying monster stalks the Arizona desert for nearly a decade, leaves giant hoofprints, carries a decaying corpse on its back, and inspires stories of demons, ghosts, and curses? The answer turns out to be even stranger than the legend.

In this unforgettable episode, we dive into one...

The Vietnam War is usually remembered as a conflict fought half a world away. But for the Pacific Northwest, especially the communities surrounding Fort Lewis, the war wasn't something happening "over there." It was happening right at home.

In this episode, Shea is joined by historian, retired Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel, former Lewis Army Museum Director, and current battlefield historian Erik Flint to explore how the Vietnam War transformed Washington State, the U.S. military, and the South Sound.

From counterinsurgency training exercises in Washington forests to anti-war movements inside the military itself, Erik reveals...

What If We've Been Counting Farts Wrong Our Entire Lives?

For years, scientists believed the average person passes gas about 14 times per day. It turns out that number may have been dramatically underestimated.

In this bonus episode, Shea dives into a wonderfully bizarre study where researchers developed wearable "smart underwear" capable of detecting intestinal gas. The device allowed scientists to measure real-world gas production more accurately than ever before, and the findings were both surprising and hilarious.

But that's only half the story.

Once we're done discussing wearable fart technology, we...

🎙️ LIVE SHOW – SEPTEMBER 16TH IN TACOMA!

Join Shea Drury and Jody Shaw of Rainy Day Rabbit Holes for a special live podcast recording at the historic McMenamins Spanish Ballroom inside the Elks Temple in Tacoma, Washington.

Long before Tacoma's Pantages Theater lit up Broadway Avenue, a woman known as Klondike Kate ruled the dance halls of the Yukon. She was the "Queen of the Gold Rush," a vaudeville performer, businesswoman, and according to some accounts, a key figure behind the early rise of theater mogul Alexander Pantages.

Follow Kate's story from the chaos of the...

Hey, it's Shea, popping in for a quick update about what's coming up on the show, and some exciting events!

Come see us LIVE! Wednesday September 16th at the McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma Washington.

https://www.mcmenamins.com/events/274791-klondike-kate-and-the-pantages-theater

Check out the Bootleggers Ball! Friday, October 16th in Seattle, Washington.

https://www.strangertickets.com/events/185904773/bootleggers-ball

Want to get in touch? Email me at [email protected] or reach out on Instagram @rainydayrabbitholespod

Thank you to all of the...

🎤 LIVE SHOW ALERT: KLONDIKE KATE IN TACOMA

Before we get into this week's episode...

Join us on September 16 for a special presentation of Klondike Kate and the Pantages Theater at McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma.

Klondike Kate was one of the most colorful figures of the Yukon Gold Rush era, and this live event explores her remarkable story and connection to Pacific Northwest history.

🎟️ Tickets and event details:

Klondike Kate and the Pantages Theater

🚨 NSFW Warning: This episode contains discussion of an adults-only event and mature...

Blade Runner: Humanity, Memory, and Replicants in the Rain

This week on Rainy Day Rabbit Holes, we're turning the tables a bit. Instead of our usual deep dive, we're featuring a special crossover appearance from the Midday Movies podcast, where Shea and her brother Jason joined hosts Laura and Stephen to discuss Ridley Scott's groundbreaking 1982 sci-fi masterpiece, Blade Runner.

Set in a rain-soaked, neon-lit Los Angeles of the future, Blade Runner is far more than a detective story. It's a philosophical exploration of what it means to be human, how memories shape...

🚨 NSFW WARNING 🚨

This episode contains discussion of a legendary rock-and-roll wardrobe malfunction, adult language, and way more giggling than is medically recommended. If you're listening at work, around children, or while giving a serious presentation, maybe save this one for later. Consider yourself warned.

Sometimes the world is a lot. Sometimes you need a break from the news, your responsibilities, and the relentless march of reality.

This is one of those times.

On this week's 5-Minute Friday, Shea reads Jody an absolutely ridiculous article from Vice celebrating the anniversary of one of the...

🔥 Join us LIVE for a Rainy Day Rabbit Holes experience! 🔥

Step into the shadows of Pacific Northwest history with us for a special live show featuring unforgettable stories, strange characters, and wild twists you won’t hear anywhere else.

🎭 Klondike Kate at the Pantages Theater

📍 Tacoma, WA

👉 Get tickets & event details

https://www.mcmenamins.com/events/274791-klondike-kate-and-the-pantages-theater

Don’t miss your chance to experience the rabbit hole in real life…

What if someone on stage knew your deepest secret before you even asked the question?<...

NSFW / Listener Discretion

This episode contains explicit language, frank discussion of anatomy, bathroom humor, and references to medical complications involving enemas and rectal injury. It is intended for mature audiences.

Also: we are not medical professionals. This episode is not medical advice. It is a humorous commentary episode in which we react, recoil, and repeatedly ask how humanity got here.

We love coffee. We love podcasts. We love asking weird questions.

What we do not love is discovering that somewhere, somehow, people looked at a perfectly good beverage...

KEEP CLAM AND CARRY ON

What happens when a prankster, folk singer, and restaurateur accidentally gets elected to public office… and wins? Meet Ivar Haglund—the man who turned Seattle’s waterfront into a playground of clams, chaos, and community.

🌊 Seattle’s Strangest Success Story

(Facts)

Ivar Haglund wasn’t just the founder of Ivar’s Seafood—he was a full-blown Seattle phenomenon. From opening Seattle’s first aquarium to launching the iconic Acres of Clams restaurant in 1946, he built an empire rooted in humor, storytelling, and seafood culture.

He m...

Please join us at McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma on September 16, 2026!

https://www.mcmenamins.com/events/274791-klondike-kate-and-the-pantages-theater

This week’s episode is a little different—and a lot more personal.

Jody and Shea sit down for a vulnerable, honest conversation about what it really takes to create Rainy Day Rabbit Holes. From the behind-the-scenes work that makes the show possible to the incredible community that’s grown around it, this episode pulls back the curtain in a way we never have before.

We also share something difficult: after a lot of reflec...

A Forgotten Life Hidden in Seattle’s History

Seattle is full of legends—underground tunnels, ghost stories, cryptids—but this episode explores something far stranger:

👉 a real historical figure whose story was nearly erased

Moses Seattle, the grandson of Chief Seattle, lived a life that sits between recorded history, oral tradition, and unsettling mystery. His story raises difficult questions about how—and why—some histories are remembered while others are buried.

And the person bringing this forgotten story back into light?

➡️ Historian, filmmaker, and author David Norman Lewis

👉 Explore David...

🧠 Ever Wondered What Happens When the FBI Investigates Bigfoot?

Spoiler alert: it does not end in a dramatic Sasquatch reveal.

In this Five Minute Friday episode, we dig into the FBI’s real-life Bigfoot files—yes, those exist—and unpack one of the strangest (and funniest) government investigations you’ve probably never heard of.

From mysterious hair samples to very polite scientific disappointment, this is the story of how Bigfoot almost became official… and then immediately didn’t.

🕵️ The FBI vs Bigfoot (A Very Polite Letdown)

Back in the 1970s, a cryptozoology g...

Welcome to the Intergalactic House of Pancakes

👽 Pancakes from a UFO?

When you think of UFO encounters, you probably imagine abductions, bright lights, and terrifying alien experiments. But what if one of the strangest alien mysteries ever recorded involved… pancakes?

In this episode of Rainy Day Rabbit Holes, host Shea Drury is joined by Amanda and Trevin from the Live, Laugh, Larceny podcast to explore one of the most bizarre, weird, and outrageous UFO encounters in history. Check out their show here:

👉 https://www.livelaughlarceny.com/

🛸 The 1961 Wi...

What if you turned on a trusted news broadcast… and it told you spaghetti grew on trees?

Sounds ridiculous today—but in 1957, millions of people believed it.

In this hilarious Five Minute Friday episode, Shea walks Jody through one of the most legendary April Fools’ Day pranks ever aired: the BBC’s infamous “spaghetti tree” hoax. And honestly? It reveals more about human psychology than you might expect.

Fact: On April 1, 1957, the BBC aired a segment showing a Swiss family harvesting spaghetti from trees.

The report looked completely legitimate:

In 1803, Japanese fishermen spotted something strange bobbing in the Pacific Ocean—a round, sealed vessel unlike any boat they’d ever seen. Inside was a woman with red hair, pale skin, unfamiliar clothing, and a mysterious box she refused to let go.

This episode dives into the legend of the Utsuro-bune, often called Japan’s earliest “UFO” story. Recorded decades after the alleged event in Edo‑period collections of strange tales, the story has been cited by everyone from folklorists to modern UFO enthusiasts. But what really happened on that beach in Hitachi Province?

Was it an alien...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

Join us Wednesday, June 3rd at the McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma (Spanish Ballroom) for a live Rainy Day Rabbit Holes event exploring Tacoma’s own overlooked UFO story—the Maury Island Incident. Weeks before Roswell made headlines in 1947, Tacoma was already grappling with reports of flying saucers, mysterious Men in Black, and a federal investigation that raised more questions than answers. This special History Pub presentation features storytelling from Shea Drury and Jody Shaw, historical context from Chris Staudinger of Pretty Gritty Tours, and an in-depth look at the case from filmmaker Steve Edmiston, crea...

Join us Wednesday, June 3rd at the McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma Washington (Spanish Ballroom) for a live Rainy Day Rabbit Holes event exploring Tacoma’s own overlooked UFO story—the Maury Island Incident. Weeks before Roswell made headlines in 1947, Tacoma was already grappling with reports of flying saucers, mysterious Men in Black, and a federal investigation that raised more questions than answers.

This special History Pub presentation features storytelling from Shea Drury and Jody Shaw, historical context from Chris Staudinger of Pretty Gritty Tours, and an in-depth look at the case from filmmaker Steve Edmiston, creator of T...

At the dawn of the 20th century, radium was not feared. It was celebrated. Marketed as a miracle of modern science, this newly discovered element promised vitality, beauty, and better health. Companies sold radioactive clocks, cosmetics, medical devices, and even drinking water, all proudly glowing with progress.

In this episode of Rainy Day Rabbit Holes, Shea sits down with the creator behind Radiant Radium, a collector and historian who specializes in household and beauty products from the radium craze of the 1910s through the 1930s. Drawing from his extensive personal collection, Radiant Radium walks us through a...

“Here are the first toilet preparations to embody actual radium, an astonishing new force for betterment, applied as an aid to beauty.”

The early 20th century was a strange and optimistic time. In the years following Marie and Pierre Curie’s discovery of radium, the world became obsessed with this mysterious, glowing element—and before long, that obsession made its way into everyday life.

During the height of the Radium Craze, companies sold beauty products that claimed to contain real radium, promising smoother skin, renewed vitality, and a healthy glow—sometimes quite literally. Creams, powders, and cosmetics were marke...

What happens when a city decides kindness is better than cruelty?

In this special crossover episode of Rainy Day Rabbit Holes, we’re joined by the incredible gals from PNW Haunts & Homicides to explore one of the strangest—and most unexpectedly heartwarming—stories in American history: Joshua Abraham Norton, the self‑declared Emperor of the United States.

Born into loss, fortune, ruin, and obscurity, Norton reemerged in 1859 with a bold declaration that could have ended very badly… except San Francisco leaned in. What followed was a twenty‑year “reign” filled with proclamations, public appearances, political commentary, and...

Today’s episode is a special feature from Dark History: Where the Darkness Sees the Light, a podcast that’s part of our Umbrella Podcast Collective.

Hosted by Rob Bradley, Dark History explores the uncomfortable, often unsettling stories we like to believe are safely buried in the past—and then shows how they still shape the world we live in.

In this episode, Rob takes a deep dive into the history of snake oil: the miracle cures, the confident sales pitches, and the long tradition of selling certainty to people who are scared, sick, or search...

In this collaborative episode, Rainy Day Rabbit Holes joins forces with Caitlyn and Cassie from PNW Haunts and Homicides to explore one of the strangest modern treasure hunts in history: Forrest Fenn’s hidden chest.

Presented by Caitlyn, the story follows art dealer and Vietnam veteran Forrest Fenn, who in 2010 announced that he had hidden a bronze treasure chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains—worth millions—and released a cryptic poem meant to lead seekers to it. What began as a whimsical riddle quickly spiraled into a decade-long obsession involving online sleuths, wilderness expeditions, lawsuits, environmental damage, and tr...

This week on 5 Minute Friday, we’re still joined by Caitlyn and Cassie from PNW Haunts and Homicides, but this time the chaos is airborne.

Shea reads a truly unbelievable—but very real—news story out of China, where a farmer attempted to transport a pig using a drone… and accidentally knocked out power to an entire village. The pig became tangled in high‑voltage power lines, leaving it suspended midair and thousands of residents without electricity for roughly 10 hours.

We break down how the incident happened, why drone use has become common in mountainous rural regi...

Claudette Colvin: The Teenager Who Refused to Move

Before Rosa Parks became a household name, a 15‑year‑old girl in Montgomery, Alabama, made a decision that helped crack the foundation of Jim Crow segregation.

In this episode, Jody dives into the story of Claudette Colvin, a courageous teenager who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in March of 1955—nine months before Rosa Parks’ more widely recognized protest. Colvin’s arrest, trial, and testimony became a crucial part of the legal battle that ultimately ended bus segregation in the United States.

We explo...

⚠️ Not Safe for Work / Adult Content Warning ⚠️

Sometimes history refuses to stay in the past. And sometimes… it shows up in an emergency room.

This Five Minute Friday dives into a truly unbelievable modern news story involving a World War I artillery shell, one very bad decision, and a French hospital that suddenly had to take explosive history very seriously. It’s a reminder that just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s safe—and that curiosity without common sense is how you end up evacuating a building.

We ask the important question...

In the chaos of World War I, one unlikely soldier refused to stay behind. He didn’t carry a rifle, didn’t understand borders or politics, and technically wasn’t allowed to enlist—but he charged into danger anyway.

In this episode, we tell the true story of Sergeant Stubby, a Boston Terrier mix who became one of the most decorated heroes of World War I. From smuggling himself onto a troop ship, to warning soldiers of mustard gas attacks, locating wounded men in no man’s land, and even capturing an enemy spy, Stubby proved that bravery do...

Before we get into today’s rabbit hole, we wanted to share an exciting update — and a little behind‑the‑scenes honesty.

🛸 Join Us Live: Before Roswell – Tacoma’s Maury Island Incident

On June 3rd, 2026, Jody and Shea will be part of a McMenamins History Pub event in Tacoma, Washington, held at McMenamins Elks Temple in the historic Spanish Ballroom.

The program, Before Roswell: Tacoma’s Maury Island Incident, explores the strange, complicated, and often‑overlooked UFO case that put Tacoma at the center of flying saucers, mysterious men in black, and a federal investigati...

This week, Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is stepping a little off our usual path of unhinged history and strange stories—and doing so for a cause that means a lot to us.

In honor of Podcastathon, a global event where podcasters shine a light on causes that matter, Shea and Jody are dedicating this special episode to PACK (People for Animal Care and Kindness)—a volunteer‑driven nonprofit right here in our community that helps pets and the people who love them stay together during hard times.

Instead of rabbit holes full of chaos (don’t worry...

Last week we shared a strange little Victorian love poem about a cannibal bride.

This week… things escalate.

In this Five Minute Friday episode, Shea reads another cannibal-themed poem from the archives: “How Three Were Made One,” published in The White Pine News in 1891.

The poem features a love triangle, a violent rivalry, and a punchline that only Victorian newspaper readers could find amusing.

But it also reveals something interesting about the cultural moment that produced it. Nineteenth-century Americans and Europeans were fascinated with stories of “savages” and cannibals, and those ideas show...

Part 2 of 2

Alfred Packer should have been hanged.

The verdict was clear. The sentence was delivered with venom. The public was ready to watch justice swing from a rope. And then—everything fell apart.

In Part Two of the Colorado Cannibal story, the horror leaves the mountains and enters the courtroom, where legal loopholes, jurisdictional chaos, and a stunning legislative mistake derail what seemed like an open-and-shut case. As lawyers argue over maps, treaties, and vanished statutes, a convicted killer becomes something unthinkable: a celebrity.

What follows is a...

While researching our recent episode on Alferd Packer, the Colorado Cannibal, Shea stumbled across something unexpected while digging through nineteenth-century newspapers: romantic poetry… about cannibals.

Yes, really.

In this Five—okay, probably Fifteen—Minute Friday, Shea reads a bizarre little poem from the San Antonio Daily Light (April 1, 1889) titled “Love and Theology.” It’s a Victorian-era love story involving a missionary, a cannibal maid, and a romantic misunderstanding that ends… poorly.

Along the way we talk about why nineteenth-century readers were so fascinated with cannibal stories, how these tales showed up everywhere from travel writing...

Part 1 of 2

In the winter-shadowed mountains of 1870s Colorado, people disappeared with unsettling regularity. Most were claimed by weather, terrain, or bad luck. This story is different. Five men entered the high country chasing gold. Only one came back.

What followed was not a simple tale of survival. It was a cascade of contradictions, shifting confessions, scattered bones, and a discovery so disturbing it permanently renamed the land itself. Sketches published in a national magazine revealed a scene that suggested planning, patience, and something far darker than desperation.

As rumors...