HYPERFOCUS: A Podcast for Chaotic Minds

Angel of Death or Furry Grim Reaper? In today's episode, Lauren tells the story of Oscar, a therapy cat who is able to predict death even more accurately than the medical staff who work with him, providing comfort and cuddles to people as they pass. Join Lauren and Rachel as they discuss his life, work, and theories about where he gets his special powers.

Sources:

https://www.steerehouse.org/shoscar_landing

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp078108

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5624465/

https://www.crossroadshospice.com/hospice-palliative-care-blog/2016/april/11/meet-oscar-the-cat-that-predicts-death-and-provides-comfort/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/furry-angel-of-death-meet-oscar-the-cat/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cat-death/doctor-casts-new-light-on-cat-that-can-predict-death-idUSTRE6115QB20100202

https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/oscar-nursing-home-therapy-cat-predicts-death

https://www.browndailyherald.com/2010/02/10/david-sheffield-11-a-skeptics-response-to-oscar-the-cat/

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BIRDS AREN'T REAL! Okay but actually...birds are government drones. Or, at least, they almost were at one point in history. This week, Rachel tells Lauren about how psychologist B.F. Skinner worked to make pigeons into bomb pilots during World War II.

2 things to remember:

(1) Write a review of HYPERFOCUS and get a free sticker! AND

(2) The birds work for the bourgeoisie.

Sources:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/bf-skinners-pigeon-guided-rocket-53443995/

https://www.bfskinner.org/project-pigeon/

https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/10/24/238466/pigeon-pilots/

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Happy Easter, babes! We love ya! But will Rachel and Lauren ever make up? Will they ever make more episodes after this devastating fight? Only time will tell...

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This one goes out to all our psych nerds with a deep appreciation for Dr. Elizabeth Loftus and memory research! In today’s episode, Lauren and Rachel host a discussion about TGA (Transient Global Amnesia), a state of amnesia that lasts up to 24 hours.

Sources:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1941874420953323

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/magazine/transient-global-amnesia.html

https://connect.uclahealth.org/2021/02/24/transient-global-amnesia-is-scary-usually-not-dangerous/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/memory/disorders-memory

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33675214/

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/brain,-spinal-cord,-and-nerve-disorders/brain-dysfunction/transient-global-amnesia

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-ooze/201902/my-experience-transient-global-amnesia-tga

https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/fulltext/2020/10080/recurrent_transient_global_amnesia_is_more_common.4.aspx

https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/studying-amnesia-helps-researchers-understand-memory/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210310150347.htm

https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/memory-manipulated

https://www.ithaca.edu/academics/school-humanities-and-sciences/professor-finds-emotion-makes-memory-unreliable

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In episode 7, we take a look at the people who danced themselves to death in the 16th century. There are so many weird details and horrible government decisions in this story, and Rachel (for some reason) claims that this is one of her favorite historical events. It shows.

Sources:

The awesome book! https://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Plague-Strange-Extraordinary-Illness-ebook/dp/B003L203L0/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=John+waller&qid=1616118599&s=digital-text&sr=1-2

Strasbourg History - French Momentsfrenchmoments.eu › ... › Grand Est › Alsace

https://www.britannica.com/event/dancing-plague-of-1518

https://www.history.com/news/what-was-the-dancing-plague-of-1518

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161028-the-town-the-nearly-danced-itself-to-death

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_plague_of_1518

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/jul/05/bizarre-dance-epidemic-of-summer-1518-strasbourg

https://youtu.be/2MZZrDA-I4M

History of Strasbourg - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › History_of_Strasbourg

Timeline of Strasbourg - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › Timeline_of_Strasbourg

https://medium.com/@jessicasecmezsoyurquhart/unbelievable-history-the-1518-dance-plague-3aaef198eddb

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Join Lauren and Rachel as they discuss the facts, theories, and opinions regarding Marilyn Monroe’s suspicious death. Her involvement with the Kennedy’s and connection to many other notable people make the circumstances surrounding her suspicious death even more specific, although it was ruled a suicide… so what really happened?

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaP5MN9DthM

https://www.rd.com/article/marilyn-monroe/

https://www.newsweek.com/why-conspiracies-theories-about-marilyn-monroe-are-resurfacing-1452610

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marilyn-monroe-is-found-dead

https://www.biography.com/news/marilyn-monroe-final-days

https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2017/07/24/4-conspiracy-theories-about-death-marilyn-monroe

https://www.businessinsider.com/bobby-kennedy-marilyn-monroe-jfk-files-fbi-warned-affair-book-2017-10

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/28/jfk-files-fbi-warns-robert-kennedy-book-alleging-affair-marilyn-monroe/809992001/

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32423593.pdf

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7868835/Campaign-Marilyn-Monroes-death-certificate-changed-probably-suicide-murder.html

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Let's talk about death, baby! This week, Rachel takes Lauren on a journey through the funeral traditions of the Torajan people, including extravagant funerals and living with corpses. Spooky! But maybe also beautiful...? Listen and let us know what you think!

TW: Death, Animal Slaughter

Sources:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/toraja-death-ritual

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torajan_people

https://random-times.com/2019/03/27/the-manene-festival-in-indonesia-the-mummies-of-the-dead-return-to-visit-their-loved-ones/

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Lucky or unlucky? Violet Jessop lived an incredible life, surviving the Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic shipwrecks! We are so excited to tell you her beautiful and inspirational story of bravery, danger, and a bit of luck.

Sources:

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/titanic/stories/violet-constance-jessop.htm

https://thecatholicspirit.com/commentary/twenty-something/how-to-be-a-survivor-the-faith-of-violet-jessop/

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/04/13/violet-jessop-the-nurse-who-survived-all-three-disasters-aboard-the-sister-ships-the-titanic-britannic-and-olympic/

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/irish-immigrants-survived-titanic-britannic-olympic-disasters

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/violet-constance-jessop.html

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-57409-035-2

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/61663/unsinkable-violet-jessop

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/archive/irish-nurse-violet-jessop-survived-both-titanic-and-britannic-sinking-35231252.html

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If you like psychology, personality tests, science, or Criminal Minds, then this episode is for you!! This week, Rachel explains the new psychological idea of a Dark Empath. It's deep, it's cutting-edge, it's a little bit dark, and a big bit interesting.

Dr. Brenner's Article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/202008/introducing-the-dark-empath-0

The Dark Empath Study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886920303615?via%3Dihub

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Tune in this week as Lauren leads a discussion of viking marriage traditions, including their rights for women, beautiful vows, and grave robbing! We are excited to take you back to the 12th century with us.

Sources:

https://www.ancient.eu/Saga/

https://www.vikingsbrand.co/blogs/norse-news/viking-wedding-history

https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/the-people/women/

https://historycollection.com/eight-facts-love-marriage-viking-style/6/

https://www.history.com/news/what-was-life-like-for-women-in-the-viking-age

https://www.alehorn.com/blogs/blog/5-beautiful-viking-wedding-ceremony-scripts

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/viking-wedding-0010657

https://www.ranker.com/list/viking-wedding-traditions-and-rituals/lyra-radford

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