WEBVTT 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.599 From the unexplained to the mundane, come join 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:16.160 us on a Journey to the Fringe. Hello and welcome 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:18.859 to Journey to the Fringe, where sometimes we 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:22.179 follow up very vaguely on old episodes that we 00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:26.059 do and Chelsea. Turns out he went to Bahrain 00:00:26.059 --> 00:00:31.350 to become an oil intermediary. Yeah, yeah, he 00:00:31.350 --> 00:00:34.289 had no job prospects and he had just been disgraced. 00:00:34.369 --> 00:00:36.649 So it's like I'm gonna get into the oil business 00:00:36.649 --> 00:00:40.649 Oh fuck. Are you serious? Yeah, I knew that sounded 00:00:40.649 --> 00:00:46.549 vaguely familiar. It didn't go well What a jackass 00:00:46.549 --> 00:00:49.420 yeah Anyhow, we are your podcast host Taylor 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:51.679 and Chelsea. Here today, apparently doing a two 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:54.380 parter on something. That's all I know. And it 00:00:54.380 --> 00:00:56.740 starts off on a bright note for some that follow 00:00:56.740 --> 00:00:59.159 us regularly. Anyhow, I'll let Chelsea take it 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:02.380 from here. This week, I'm covering an asshole 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:07.359 of a totally unheard of different kind for this 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:10.959 podcast. More of a fun, lovable asshole. And 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:14.599 I know with this sentence, your mind must just 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:18.879 be reeling. Wondering what kind of asshole I'm 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.620 covering Taylor, right? Well, I would assume 00:01:21.620 --> 00:01:24.040 it's a British Andy episode. You would assume 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:29.099 based on that intro. Yeah. I think that's what 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:31.700 you were assuming. I'm going to be hitting you 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:35.620 with some cold hard facts this week as I cover 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:39.599 a leader in tabloid journalism that will undoubtedly 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:43.200 give you a heavy dose of nostalgia. And the question 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:47.390 is not. Who is the asshole? But what is this 00:01:47.390 --> 00:01:50.829 asshole? As we take a look into the enchanted, 00:01:50.829 --> 00:02:01.810 wonderful world of the Weekly World News. There 00:02:01.810 --> 00:02:03.769 was some sort of weird synchronicity and can 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:07.709 I just ask you please to give me the facts in 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:11.750 like a warm, soft style? I don't, I just feel 00:02:11.750 --> 00:02:13.810 like that's gonna feel better. I don't know, 00:02:13.810 --> 00:02:15.729 but I don't want to be hit by cold heart. I want 00:02:15.729 --> 00:02:18.750 soft and warm. Okay, warm, soft facts. Yeah. 00:02:18.969 --> 00:02:22.289 Okay. Okay. Well, here's the first warm, soft 00:02:22.289 --> 00:02:27.349 act. The Weekly World News launched in 1979 by 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:31.830 Generoso Pope Jr. How's that name for you? Do 00:02:31.830 --> 00:02:34.490 you like it? I was not expecting it to go the 00:02:34.490 --> 00:02:39.389 way it did after Generoso. Like every word after 00:02:39.389 --> 00:02:41.330 that is a surprise. There's only two. I know. 00:02:41.449 --> 00:02:44.650 It just kept going too. Undoubtedly, one of the 00:02:44.650 --> 00:02:46.770 strongest names I think I'll ever hear in my 00:02:46.770 --> 00:02:51.000 life. He founded not only the Weekly World News, 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:53.860 he also founded the National Enquirer, go figure. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.840 No way. I know, right? And you've never heard 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.939 of Generoso Pope Junior? No. You would think 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:03.830 he would be a common household name. The magazine 00:03:03.830 --> 00:03:07.229 represented the extremes of checkout counter 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:10.789 attention -grabbing tactics for nearly 30 years, 00:03:11.050 --> 00:03:14.090 renowned for its outlandish cover stories often 00:03:14.090 --> 00:03:17.750 based on supernatural or paranormal themes and 00:03:17.750 --> 00:03:21.310 an approach to news that teetered on the satirical. 00:03:21.629 --> 00:03:23.550 I remember it from the checkout lines growing 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:26.110 up and there was only something going on with 00:03:26.110 --> 00:03:28.770 Batboy. I totally remember seeing these going 00:03:28.770 --> 00:03:31.509 to the grocery store as a kid. I don't know that 00:03:31.509 --> 00:03:34.180 I actually ever picked one up and looked at it 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.139 and do you ever remember seeing it outside of 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:40.240 the grocery store never not well sorry there 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.180 i remember it distinctly in the movie so i married 00:03:44.180 --> 00:03:48.719 an axe murderer yes the mom yes that's where 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:51.710 the axe murder story comes from See that was 00:03:51.710 --> 00:03:54.110 my only reference and I'm thinking like did I 00:03:54.110 --> 00:03:56.770 ever go to someone's house and like see it in 00:03:56.770 --> 00:03:59.830 their pile of newspapers or anything? Never once. 00:04:00.009 --> 00:04:02.409 It is very nostalgic to think back that people 00:04:02.409 --> 00:04:04.969 did in fact used to have magazine stacks. Yep 00:04:04.969 --> 00:04:06.949 they sure did. You do not see those anymore. 00:04:07.110 --> 00:04:10.169 You really don't and it's very sad when I look 00:04:10.169 --> 00:04:12.310 back that I don't even think I grabbed one and 00:04:12.310 --> 00:04:15.349 now that I'm old enough to go to the grocery 00:04:15.349 --> 00:04:17.930 store and do my own shopping I don't remember 00:04:17.930 --> 00:04:20.389 the demise of it. I don't have a hard memory. 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:22.259 of going to the grocery store and being like, 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:25.199 oh, that's not there anymore. I would welcome 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:27.519 seeing one of these at the grocery store checkout 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.879 now. Yeah. And just, if you guys ever feel nostalgic 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:32.980 for it and you want to do it the cheap way, I 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:34.779 am just going to give you this life hack. Your 00:04:34.779 --> 00:04:37.500 local library has basically a subscription to 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:39.839 every magazine you could want. So just go get 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:42.459 a copy there. Nice. I do know that my library 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:44.439 has them. You're not allowed to check them out 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:46.680 though. And I just don't feel like going that 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:48.740 weekly world news is definitely not something 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:51.480 they have. So you see that, but I don't know 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.240 if you ever looked. I have looked. Oh, okay. 00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:56.160 Definitely no weekly world news. Was that part 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.279 of your research for this episode? Yes. Okay. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.300 No, I've looked at the magazines. I would know 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:05.740 the weekly world news is there. Do you like recall 00:05:05.740 --> 00:05:09.839 when you stopped seeing them? No, it might just 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:12.810 be when we stop shopping with our parents. I 00:05:12.810 --> 00:05:16.029 feel like there's a large gap in time where I 00:05:16.029 --> 00:05:18.509 was just not at grocery stores. I don't know 00:05:18.509 --> 00:05:21.670 what I was doing in life at that point but I 00:05:21.670 --> 00:05:25.209 feel like there's a young version of myself where 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:27.610 I was just not at grocery stores. Basically when 00:05:27.610 --> 00:05:30.029 we reached adulthood was the introduction of 00:05:30.029 --> 00:05:32.310 the self checkout and there is not magazines 00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:35.430 in the self checkout line. That's true. And for 00:05:35.430 --> 00:05:38.129 a long time, I did the self checkout line because 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:41.470 I was without child and cares and worries and 00:05:41.470 --> 00:05:45.050 I was looking to be expedient. Yes. Yeah. OK. 00:05:45.250 --> 00:05:47.389 And you're dealing with life's ethical issues 00:05:47.389 --> 00:05:50.509 of I can't find the specific barcode. Maybe I 00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:52.490 just pretend it's a different apple that's 50 00:05:52.490 --> 00:05:54.990 cents less per pound. But I could go to jail. 00:05:55.730 --> 00:05:59.579 So. In my memory, I don't have a specific one 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:02.879 where I'm like, huh, it's not there any longer. 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:05.399 And I do go to the regular checkouts now because 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:07.500 I have to have a fairly large grocery shop and 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.019 I can't say. I remember seeing the weekly world 00:06:10.019 --> 00:06:11.600 news there. I definitely remember seeing like 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.560 the National Enquirer or things along that. Oh, 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.040 everything there. Those are still there. Yeah. 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:19.560 There's totally nothing I actually want to pick 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.079 up and take a look through. Not at all. Celebrity 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.800 gossip. Not bad boy. Not bad boy. Oh, I would 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:28.180 be all over bad boy if bad boy was there. And 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:30.800 I probably would pick up a copy. I'm not going 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:33.480 to lie. I would be the person that would have 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.600 a copy of that magazine if I was old enough. 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:39.279 Though I don't remember. when I was a kid being 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:41.540 like compelled enough to be like can you buy 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:45.980 this for me? No, even as a kid I was barely certain 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:50.639 it was fake. Yeah, oh yeah. And as interested 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.480 as I always was in the paranormal I never really 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.540 wanted a weekly world news. It's all very interesting 00:06:56.540 --> 00:07:00.319 psychological stuff. Anyhow, it was reporting 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:04.199 mostly fictional news. stories in the United 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:09.120 States from 1979 to 2007. To be fair, how is 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:10.899 that different from any of the assholes that 00:07:10.899 --> 00:07:14.459 we've covered? No, it's true. And it is mostly 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:16.839 fictional news that most of the assholes are 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:18.740 covering as well. Yeah, they just think they 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:20.819 can tell when it's fictional and you don't need 00:07:20.819 --> 00:07:24.259 to know. Yeah. So as I was saying, this is in 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:27.040 the time that I wouldn't have been accompanying 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:30.220 my parents on grocery trips where it falls off 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:32.800 the map and you're not seeing it in grocery stores 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:35.319 anymore into my young adulthood where I'm also 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:38.339 not frequenting grocery stores. In the 2000s, 00:07:38.420 --> 00:07:41.160 the circulation of the weekly world news peaked 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:45.220 at 1 .2 million per issue, which is pretty good 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:47.959 for... That is really good for just making the 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:51.000 shit up as you go. Yeah. We'll get into exactly 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.180 what was going into it, but it's pretty high. 00:07:54.990 --> 00:07:58.569 especially for me, like not having anyone in 00:07:58.569 --> 00:08:01.810 particular where we can place having bought one 00:08:01.810 --> 00:08:04.370 of these. And Chelsea, I don't know if this was 00:08:04.370 --> 00:08:06.430 part of your research, but I am curious. Do you 00:08:06.430 --> 00:08:08.730 know how much it costs an issue? I really don't. 00:08:08.769 --> 00:08:11.180 Like the times I remember seeing it. Currency 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:14.300 was not something I really valued. No, and I 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:16.519 don't know it wasn't a part of my research But 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.660 I would put it on par for probably it was probably 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:22.480 the same price as most magazines, right? No, 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:24.720 I would or do you think it's cheap? This is just 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:27.620 me speculating. It was published entirely in 00:08:27.620 --> 00:08:31.079 black and white So it was probably just higher 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:34.179 than a newspaper I don't know that I would put 00:08:34.179 --> 00:08:37.799 it as high as an like a people magazine or something 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:40.399 like that But I could be wrong When I look at 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.740 magazines now, highly unaffordable to my overall 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:46.200 budget. Magazines back in the day were like three 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:49.059 or four bucks or something. And I know that because 00:08:49.059 --> 00:08:54.100 I bought like J -14. Why? What was it? Why something? 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:56.720 I don't know. I used to buy GQ because I thought 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:01.240 it was incredibly suave and cool and fashion 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.480 forward as a as a young man. Mine's more teenage 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.259 girls. I used to buy Mads and Cracks too. Why 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:11.480 four maybe? Yeah, GQ is just like the Mads and 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.340 Cracks. Yeah, same thing. What's the difference? 00:09:14.940 --> 00:09:18.539 Yeah. OK, so Weekly World News went on to thrive 00:09:18.539 --> 00:09:22.539 online between 2009 and 2015. Get out of here. 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:25.580 Did it become a cult? No, we're going to talk 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:28.000 about that a little more in a little bit. But 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.679 the Weekly World News was first published going 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:33.639 back all the way to the beginning. and take a 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:35.860 guess take a guess where do you think oh what 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:39.419 what country city where no sit let's go with 00:09:39.419 --> 00:09:41.539 state what state was it first published in i'm 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:45.200 gonna say new jersey florida okay makes sense 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:48.139 yeah it makes sense first published in lantana 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:51.480 florida it moved to boca rattan in the late 90s 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:54.720 which would explain a lot it was unique as a 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.460 tabloid because it was printed entirely in black 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:00.090 and white The Weekly World News traditionally 00:10:00.090 --> 00:10:03.950 claimed that it always printed the truth, but 00:10:03.950 --> 00:10:07.409 many stories appeared to have comedic intent, 00:10:07.870 --> 00:10:11.149 more so as time went by. I guess this was a time 00:10:11.149 --> 00:10:14.110 that you were able to get away with things like 00:10:14.110 --> 00:10:16.830 that, saying that they're true and they're 100 00:10:16.830 --> 00:10:20.950 % not. As recalled by Joe Berger, a former White 00:10:20.950 --> 00:10:24.269 House correspondent who served as a Weekly World 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:28.980 News editor, from 1981 to 2001, which is a weird. 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:31.620 You got involved like politically, like fairly 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:35.570 high up. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, totally weird sentence. 00:10:35.970 --> 00:10:39.970 He said, quote, about 80 % of the stories were 00:10:39.970 --> 00:10:43.149 clipped from newspapers. We had three or four 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:45.629 clippers who were surrounded by mountains of 00:10:45.629 --> 00:10:48.350 newspapers. We spent the day looking at newspapers 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:50.789 throughout the world clipping weird stories. 00:10:51.110 --> 00:10:52.889 OK, that makes sense where the name came from 00:10:52.889 --> 00:10:57.190 then. Yeah, about 50 % were about people narrowly 00:10:57.190 --> 00:11:00.110 escaping death, someone falling off a cliff or 00:11:00.110 --> 00:11:02.509 hanging off a tree branch for four days until 00:11:02.509 --> 00:11:06.259 they were seems to me where they kind of got 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:10.059 their start was looking at oddities around the 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:13.299 world, which I can totally get behind. I can 00:11:13.299 --> 00:11:15.559 totally get behind the whole thing to be honest 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:17.759 with you, but they're kind of taking stories 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:20.460 from everywhere. It's just like these are weird. 00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:23.379 Let's put them in our little publication. The 00:11:23.379 --> 00:11:26.539 Weekly World News never publicly contradicted 00:11:26.539 --> 00:11:30.700 the accuracy of its own stories until 2004 when 00:11:30.700 --> 00:11:34.570 it began stating, the reader should suspend disbelief 00:11:34.570 --> 00:11:38.759 for the sake of enjoyment." And I just love that 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:41.419 we grew up in a world where we can see this on 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:46.460 a newsstand and it was sold as the complete truth. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.899 Whereas today all you're hearing is fake news 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:54.600 and what's AI, what's not. You can't tell the 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.200 truth. You have AI warnings and you don't know 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.460 what to believe sometimes. But this is just on 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:03.899 the shelves. The weekly world news could not 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:07.000 exist in the way it did today. No, not at all. 00:12:07.179 --> 00:12:11.379 There's no room for it, no. Which is, it's like 00:12:11.379 --> 00:12:14.659 a little bit, it's sad, but it's also like a 00:12:14.659 --> 00:12:17.659 little bit gives you like the warm fuzzies inside. 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:21.779 But no, it would have a bad following today if 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:25.460 it existed today. Like it would be on par with 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:28.240 what's going on. Oh, totally. The weekly world 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.700 news ran strange but true stories such as, quote, 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:35.340 devote Christian attacked and he's the one fined. 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:38.710 referring to British street evangelist Harry 00:12:38.710 --> 00:12:41.850 Hammond. Other verifiable stories printed by 00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:44.710 the tabloid included those of a giant mutant 00:12:44.710 --> 00:12:47.649 hog monster attacking Georgia and the arrest 00:12:47.649 --> 00:12:50.570 of Tallahassee Florida man whose pants were on 00:12:50.570 --> 00:12:52.710 fire at the time. Chelsea, I'm just going to 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:55.210 say those articles all actually sound like they 00:12:55.210 --> 00:12:57.769 did in fact happen. See, here's the thing. It 00:12:57.769 --> 00:13:00.629 started with articles that were true, which is 00:13:00.629 --> 00:13:03.049 nice. Yeah, you raise a fair point there. Yeah. 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:06.639 Yeah, it sounds like work. publications from 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.980 all these other different world newspapers at 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:11.559 the time. But that does sound like work, you're 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:14.799 right. Yeah, it also reported on the discovery 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:18.159 of an infant dragon preserved in formaldehyde, 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.200 proving the existence of dragons, although this 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:25.000 was later proven to be a hoax, I guess. It also 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:28.759 quoted Vatican exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:32.139 on Pope John Paul II's battle with Satan and 00:13:32.139 --> 00:13:35.960 ran a story on the trademark between O, the Oprah 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:39.379 Magazine, and the German erotic periodical also 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:45.240 named O. Oh. I wish I would have taken a look 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:49.320 at that one, honestly. Which one? The O one. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.539 The clear choice of those two. Other common weekly 00:13:55.539 --> 00:13:58.080 world news stories involved alien abductions, 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:01.440 the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, time travel, 00:14:02.019 --> 00:14:04.340 predictions of an oncoming depression or the 00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:08.100 apocalypse, or other newly found lost prophecies 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:11.600 or religious relics. There were also characters 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:15.240 who in later years became stock pictures in weekly 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.889 world news stories, most famously Batboy. A half 00:14:18.889 --> 00:14:22.129 -bat, half -boy discovered in West Virginia caverns. 00:14:22.149 --> 00:14:24.429 Did not fight a single crime, unfortunately. 00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:29.289 And P. Lod, an extraterrestrial who became involved 00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:31.710 in Earth politics and had an affair with Hillary 00:14:31.710 --> 00:14:34.909 Clinton. Since the weekly world news began to 00:14:34.909 --> 00:14:37.190 publish online, its stories have occasionally 00:14:37.190 --> 00:14:40.610 been treated as legitimate news stories by readers 00:14:40.610 --> 00:14:43.710 unaware of the nature of the publication. More 00:14:43.710 --> 00:14:47.799 about it going online in a moment. In late 2010, 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:51.220 the Weekly World News ran a satirical story written 00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:54.600 by Frank Lake indicating that the Los Angeles 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.559 Police Department intended to purchase 10 ,000 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:02.039 jetpacks at a total cost of $1 billion. The story 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:05.799 was reported as fact by the Fox and Friends Morning 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:09.759 News Show. I love this. Yeah, that sounds like 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:13.169 Fox. That does sound like them. I know. They're 00:15:13.169 --> 00:15:16.330 like the start of fake news, I think. The Weekly 00:15:16.330 --> 00:15:20.049 World News reported twice, once in 2011 and once 00:15:20.049 --> 00:15:23.710 in 2012, that the social media website Facebook 00:15:23.710 --> 00:15:27.029 would shut down. Both times the claim was interpreted 00:15:27.029 --> 00:15:29.970 by some as genuine. The second time Facebook 00:15:29.970 --> 00:15:32.690 issued an official reply to the technological 00:15:32.690 --> 00:15:36.330 blog Mashable stating, quote, the answer is no. 00:15:36.549 --> 00:15:39.190 So please help us put an end to this silliness. 00:15:39.669 --> 00:15:42.230 We didn't get the memo about shutting down and 00:15:42.230 --> 00:15:44.830 there's lots to do. So we'll just keep cranking 00:15:44.830 --> 00:15:48.519 away like always, end quote. Whether partially 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:52.360 fictional or wholly true the writing style remained 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:58.679 as fact -based as possible end quote Whether 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:01.840 partially fictional or wholly true the writing 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:05.019 style remained as fact -based as possible Bob 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:08.100 Lind a writer at the weekly world news recalled 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:10.919 for mental floss quote We wrote these things 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:13.759 straight for people who wanted to believe these 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.639 things we wrote it like a news story end quote 00:16:16.830 --> 00:16:20.769 February 1989, Weekly World News published real 00:16:20.769 --> 00:16:23.629 graphic photos on its front page of the post 00:16:23.629 --> 00:16:28.870 -autopsy body of executed serial killer Ted Bundy, 00:16:29.009 --> 00:16:32.929 which is pretty intense. yeah yeah that's uh 00:16:32.929 --> 00:16:35.570 that is real news though they're not making that 00:16:35.570 --> 00:16:38.769 up that is crazy that they did that though front 00:16:38.769 --> 00:16:43.750 page and they're the only ones yeah yeah managing 00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:47.250 editor eddie klontz defended his decision to 00:16:47.250 --> 00:16:49.710 run the photos claiming that he hoped that such 00:16:49.710 --> 00:16:52.929 images would deter other murderers as if they're 00:16:52.929 --> 00:16:55.549 going through grocery store self checkouts being 00:16:55.549 --> 00:16:58.620 like you know what well they all did Technically, 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:02.639 I think. Maybe? I don't know. They could have 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.299 just be getting food at like the local 7 - Well, 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.519 they had magazines too, I think. As if they would 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:10.960 see that and be like, you know what? I don't 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:14.599 think I'm gonna do it. Yeah. And also, serial 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:17.660 killers are not the only people who get autopsied. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:21.079 That's true. Like regular people do as well. 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:25.079 That's true. You could say mathematician with 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.319 the same impact. That's true. That's very true. 00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:32.990 I guess nobody even thought about that. Angry 00:17:32.990 --> 00:17:36.569 and surprised officials in Florida vowed to catch 00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:40.369 the person responsible, that is for the autopsy 00:17:40.369 --> 00:17:43.369 photos of Ted Bundy on the front page, eventually 00:17:43.369 --> 00:17:46.869 arresting a low -level employee of the Alichua 00:17:46.869 --> 00:17:50.230 County Florida Medical Examiner's Office and 00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:52.710 charging him with taking the photographs and 00:17:52.710 --> 00:17:54.970 selling them to the Weekly World News. Do you 00:17:54.970 --> 00:17:57.640 think he was wrong? Well, he did sell them. so 00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:01.140 kind of like if he just gave them for free do 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:03.099 you think it would be less of a i would think 00:18:03.099 --> 00:18:05.119 ethically there's more of like these are things 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:07.559 that should be seen as opposed to like i could 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.200 make money off of this that that's true i mean 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.420 he is just living in a capitalism society though 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:18.549 yeah Yeah, and a libertarian would say, yeah, 00:18:18.630 --> 00:18:21.589 I think. Unless he was under contract, which 00:18:21.589 --> 00:18:24.349 is the weird side of that. Like, I don't know 00:18:24.349 --> 00:18:27.049 where that falls. Like, was he wrong? I don't 00:18:27.049 --> 00:18:29.289 know. Is that not a thing you can do? I think 00:18:29.289 --> 00:18:31.910 ethically as like a mortician, right? That's 00:18:31.910 --> 00:18:34.829 what he is. I don't think you're supposed to 00:18:34.829 --> 00:18:37.250 sell pictures of people you're autopsy -ing. 00:18:37.269 --> 00:18:40.869 Do you think, no? I have no idea about what morticians 00:18:40.869 --> 00:18:43.309 can and can't do. Do you think they can't do 00:18:43.309 --> 00:18:46.210 that? No, you know what? Sorry. I do think ethically 00:18:46.210 --> 00:18:48.809 it's wrong because the only reason he went to 00:18:48.809 --> 00:18:51.230 sell it is because this person was famous. That 00:18:51.230 --> 00:18:53.650 is true. You wouldn't just... He wouldn't normally 00:18:53.650 --> 00:18:56.490 sell these photos to other people. Yeah. No, 00:18:56.769 --> 00:18:59.529 no, you couldn't. There's no market for anyone 00:18:59.529 --> 00:19:02.269 that's not Ted Bundy, probably. Well, there might 00:19:02.269 --> 00:19:05.930 be further. OK, OK, I can get behind that. As 00:19:05.930 --> 00:19:08.970 other supermarket tabloids switched to celebrity 00:19:08.970 --> 00:19:12.069 gossip, not sure what they switched from at this 00:19:12.069 --> 00:19:14.490 point, the Weekly World News remained devoted 00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:18.289 to its original content, refusing to fact check 00:19:18.289 --> 00:19:22.289 its way out of a sensational story. Or as Lane 00:19:22.289 --> 00:19:25.769 Calder, Weekly World News co -founder and inquirer, 00:19:25.930 --> 00:19:29.990 editor -in -chief from 1973 to 1977, told Mental 00:19:29.990 --> 00:19:33.589 Floss, quote, We'd say Elvis was still alive 00:19:33.589 --> 00:19:36.079 and run a picture of what Elvis would have looked 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:39.539 like at the time. Oh yeah. Like many times. Totally. 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.920 We'd get dozens of phone calls if someone calls 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:46.740 and says, I saw Elvis. You didn't try to disprove 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:49.619 the headline. End quote. I love that. I would 00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:52.039 love to work in a place like this. This would 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:55.740 just be my groove. I feel like I would be totally 00:19:55.740 --> 00:19:58.980 in my element. We don't fact check. Fact check 00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:02.039 is beyond us. It doesn't even exist at this point. 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:05.000 I will say, sadly, I'm also seeing like the start 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.339 of the far right that we see today and the conspiracy. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:12.880 side of it. I can, but I don't think that that's 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.980 something that actually existed at this time. 00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:17.059 No, it didn't. But like, I'm seeing the anti 00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:20.039 -vax thing sprouting from this. Do you? Yeah. 00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:23.640 We don't fact check. We just have people liking 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:25.799 and calling us and saying that you're right. 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:32.890 I love it. I'm fresh off. like a five -hour listen 00:20:32.890 --> 00:20:38.829 of Alex Jones. Alex Jones would use people just 00:20:38.829 --> 00:20:42.410 emailing him to him as saying, like, have you 00:20:42.410 --> 00:20:44.990 ever looked into this conspiracy theory? And 00:20:44.990 --> 00:20:47.190 he would use it as a fact. He would just lie 00:20:47.190 --> 00:20:50.130 and say, yeah, I came up with this. No, he would 00:20:50.130 --> 00:20:53.069 use it as a source. He would say, my sources 00:20:53.069 --> 00:20:56.299 tell me. And I just feel like that's what I'm 00:20:56.299 --> 00:21:00.460 getting from them. But to a lesser extent, it 00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:03.579 very well could have inspired others. I didn't 00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:07.579 quite get to that point of that, what it inspired 00:21:07.579 --> 00:21:11.240 from this, but it's definitely in a world where 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:15.200 fact checking didn't exist. Really? It probably 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:18.089 did because you're in the media. You kind of 00:21:18.089 --> 00:21:20.210 got to do a little bit of due diligence there, 00:21:20.210 --> 00:21:23.250 but not to the extent that we see it today because 00:21:23.250 --> 00:21:27.609 we see so much AI and so much fake news, I guess. 00:21:27.829 --> 00:21:30.769 Did we see fake news before? Probably. But we 00:21:30.769 --> 00:21:33.250 just trusted the media. We didn't have Facebook 00:21:33.250 --> 00:21:36.269 where people were just saying anything and people 00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:39.329 were taking it as fact. And it just kind of all 00:21:39.329 --> 00:21:41.990 the media didn't exist until the late 2000s. 00:21:41.990 --> 00:21:44.890 Yeah. And I would say this is probably the very 00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:47.730 beginning of it. I would go on. I don't know. 00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:51.089 Outside of this, I think of Alex Jones as like 00:21:51.089 --> 00:21:53.690 one of the first. And this would have been after, 00:21:54.109 --> 00:21:56.970 or before, sorry. Wait before, because Alex was 00:21:56.970 --> 00:22:03.130 like 94, 95. Yeah, so it's refreshing. What's 00:22:03.130 --> 00:22:05.589 the other Bill? It's Bill Moore and Bill something, 00:22:05.829 --> 00:22:08.130 the one who got like gunned down. Bill Cooper, 00:22:08.490 --> 00:22:11.200 yeah. He was kind of the first, but like he would 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.660 be right around the same time and nowhere near 00:22:13.660 --> 00:22:16.180 as popular as Weekly World News. Oh, no, not 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:19.859 even close. So I just kind of find it nostalgic 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:23.279 that this is where we grew up. This is kind of 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.319 and it was the environment. It didn't seem political. 00:22:26.460 --> 00:22:28.619 They were not. And something like this would 00:22:28.619 --> 00:22:32.059 be so attacked now. But there was room for it 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:34.700 back then. It was just like, uh, whatever. Just 00:22:34.700 --> 00:22:36.579 don't pay attention to it if you don't believe 00:22:36.579 --> 00:22:39.099 it. Right. And today it would have been a So 00:22:39.099 --> 00:22:41.380 it just I don't think you even talk to your friends 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:43.140 about it. Like it was just something you did 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:46.019 on your own Yeah, it was just it. I think at 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:48.740 that point. It's just something that you understood 00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:54.400 to be Crazy because it had bad boy, right? Yeah, 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:57.119 you just understood that it wasn't though at 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:01.380 they were taking actual And I never got past 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:03.420 the headlines, because I never actually picked 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:05.460 it up and looked. So I never actually looked 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:07.240 at the stories from other places. No, it was 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.099 just like, oh, that seems fun. Yeah, exactly. 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:13.279 And then you move on. Yeah, it's just a super 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:16.119 like, kind of nostalgic thing of the times that 00:23:16.119 --> 00:23:19.319 something like this that could exist where it 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:22.339 couldn't exist like that anymore. So Derek Lang, 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:25.299 a stringer for the paper, I don't know what that 00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:28.019 means, could be a typo, could not be. He said 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:30.609 that, quote, Everything in my stories was fake, 00:23:30.789 --> 00:23:33.990 you know, depending on how you define fake in 00:23:33.990 --> 00:23:37.670 quotes. There were regular columns that were 00:23:37.670 --> 00:23:41.150 included in the newspaper. This included Ed Anger, 00:23:41.269 --> 00:23:44.670 who was an opinion article. There was first Dear 00:23:44.670 --> 00:23:48.529 Babs and later Dear Doddy, who were outspoken 00:23:48.529 --> 00:23:52.150 advice columnists. High Dolly was relationship 00:23:52.150 --> 00:23:55.789 advice. Horse Sense, which was a medical advice. 00:23:56.009 --> 00:23:59.549 Monkey Business, which was financial and business 00:23:59.549 --> 00:24:03.569 related advice and information, and Madame Melissa, 00:24:03.990 --> 00:24:06.890 who was a psychic. The most famous of these was 00:24:06.890 --> 00:24:11.690 Ed Anger, a character created in 1979 by staffer 00:24:11.690 --> 00:24:15.670 Raffy Klinger. Anger was perpetually an angry 00:24:15.670 --> 00:24:19.329 conservative. A typical column began, quote, 00:24:19.569 --> 00:24:23.720 I'm pig biting mad, end quote. who rallied against 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:27.119 illegal immigrants, women, speed limits, and 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:29.779 rainforests, among many other perceived ills. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:34.339 Anger, hated foreigners, yoga, whales, only one 00:24:34.339 --> 00:24:37.299 reason you could hate whales, speed limits, and 00:24:37.299 --> 00:24:40.920 pineapple on pizza. What a fucking son of a bitch. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:44.900 Wow. He likes vlogging, electrocutions, and beer. 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:48.480 This person happened to go on to become a beloved 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.299 children's musician. Who are you thinking about, 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:55.980 like, uh, Mr. Rogers? Rafi. Rafi, no. Okay. No. 00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:59.779 Different Rafi, got it. I did think, you know, 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.759 I'm gonna spoil something. I'm gonna read Ed 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:07.359 Anger Still Lives On on the weekly world news 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.809 online. I'm going to read the most recent. I 00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:13.069 was just going to pick one at random, but I think 00:25:13.069 --> 00:25:16.990 the most recent has immediately appealed to me. 00:25:17.269 --> 00:25:19.250 OK, I do think I screwed up because I thought 00:25:19.250 --> 00:25:21.190 that you mentioned a person named Raffy right 00:25:21.190 --> 00:25:26.670 before him. You did. OK. He was let me just think 00:25:26.670 --> 00:25:31.250 he was a character created in 1979 by staffer 00:25:31.250 --> 00:25:34.609 Raffy Klinger. OK, OK. That's a different. No, 00:25:34.609 --> 00:25:38.769 you didn't screw up. OK. I don't know if Raffi's 00:25:38.769 --> 00:25:40.930 name is Raffi Klinger. Could you imagine that 00:25:40.930 --> 00:25:42.690 would be such a twist? I'm going to make the 00:25:42.690 --> 00:25:46.109 angriest person to get all the rage out for so 00:25:46.109 --> 00:25:49.690 I can just do kid things. Yeah, you can exist 00:25:49.690 --> 00:25:51.690 in two worlds like that. I think there's nothing 00:25:51.690 --> 00:25:55.490 wrong with that. You totally can. One of the 00:25:55.490 --> 00:25:59.650 happiest people out there writes horror mangas 00:25:59.650 --> 00:26:02.650 in Japan. You can be both. Yeah, Junji Ito. Very 00:26:02.650 --> 00:26:05.130 happy person. One of the happiest people in Japan 00:26:05.130 --> 00:26:07.940 writes horror mangas. I love that. That's a dynamic 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:09.819 human being. Whereas even King used cocaine to 00:26:09.819 --> 00:26:12.500 do that. Yeah, exactly. I think he's still upset. 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:15.700 It's the difference. Yeah, so I'm gonna read 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:20.539 this not Rafi column. It is, who is it? Ed Anger's 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:24.400 column. His most recent, July 11th, 2025. I'm 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:27.720 madder than a bull in a bounce house about this 00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:31.079 Epstein client list cover -up. This is gonna 00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:34.329 be good. Yeah, I haven't even read this. No, 00:26:34.349 --> 00:26:37.509 would a bull in a bounce house be angry? It would 00:26:37.509 --> 00:26:40.869 definitely be confused. Okay, I've always heard 00:26:40.869 --> 00:26:44.690 that they're pissed in a china shop, so... No, 00:26:44.809 --> 00:26:47.190 but I have to assume, one, they're confused. 00:26:47.609 --> 00:26:50.390 Two, the bouncy castle can't support the weight 00:26:50.390 --> 00:26:52.369 of a bull. Okay, well then that's why he's mad. 00:26:52.369 --> 00:26:54.509 It would immediately deflate. That's why he's 00:26:54.509 --> 00:26:57.289 mad. Is it mad or is it confused and scared? 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:00.380 I guess what's the difference? Yeah, it's both. 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:03.779 It's definitely both I would be mad if I was 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:05.880 bouncing and having fun and then all of a sudden 00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:09.000 I'm not It never bounce it got in there and it 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:13.099 deflated and maybe he knew He should be bouncing 00:27:13.099 --> 00:27:15.079 balls can't have the concept of that It would 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:17.099 get in there not knowing the kids were having 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:18.859 a fun time in there and therefore it would have 00:27:18.859 --> 00:27:21.839 a fun time in there Just got in there lapsed 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.299 upon it We're turning too much where with the 00:27:25.299 --> 00:27:29.200 ball That's just sad. I just feel really sad 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.140 for the bowl. It's not angry. It's very confused 00:27:32.140 --> 00:27:37.180 and just scared. It's probably scared. But again, 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:40.920 what is anger? Anger is a mixture of confusion 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:44.140 and fear. Okay, here's what I think it is at 00:27:44.140 --> 00:27:47.900 this point. I think an anger is projecting his 00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:51.259 anger. If he is angry, at this point, it just 00:27:51.259 --> 00:27:54.480 seems like a last name. So people maybe make 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:57.599 assumptions about that. Maybe they just read 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:00.619 it in the wrong tone because the characters badly 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:03.759 bleed. It's true. They might. But let's see. 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:07.079 first Ed Anger column I've actually read. Let's 00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:10.759 get into it. Folks, I'm so steamed I could fry 00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:14.559 an egg on my forehead. The Jeffrey Epstein client 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:19.119 list, that filthy roster of high flying perverts 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:22.220 and power hungry creeps still hasn't seen the 00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:25.960 light of day. And I'm about ready to bust a gasket. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:29.119 This is the kind of thing that makes my blood 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:33.170 boil hotter than a Texas sidewalk in July. the 00:28:33.170 --> 00:28:36.470 FBI sitting on this list like a hen on a raw 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:39.849 egg. And I'm here to tell you it's time to crack 00:28:39.849 --> 00:28:43.190 it open and let the stench out. For those of 00:28:43.190 --> 00:28:45.690 you who've been living under a rock, bracket, 00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:48.609 and I ain't judging because rocks are probably 00:28:48.609 --> 00:28:52.130 cleaner than Washington DC, and bracket. Jeffrey 00:28:52.130 --> 00:28:55.769 Epstein was a slimy, jet -setting scumbag who 00:28:55.769 --> 00:28:58.990 ran a sicko sex trafficking ring for the rich 00:28:58.990 --> 00:29:02.490 and famous. We're talking politicians, CEOs, 00:29:03.009 --> 00:29:05.769 Hollywood bigwigs, the kind of folks who think 00:29:05.769 --> 00:29:09.529 laws are just suggestions. The feds raided this 00:29:09.529 --> 00:29:12.089 operation, grabbed his little black book, and 00:29:12.089 --> 00:29:14.890 now they're acting like it's the recipe for Aunt 00:29:14.890 --> 00:29:19.420 Mabel's secret meatloaf. Well, I say hogwash. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:23.259 The American people deserve to know who was pals 00:29:23.259 --> 00:29:27.339 with this creep and we deserve to know now. The 00:29:27.339 --> 00:29:30.400 FBI's got this list locked up tighter than Fort 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.019 Knox and it's driving me up the wall. What are 00:29:33.019 --> 00:29:35.500 they hiding? Who are they protecting? I'll tell 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:38.180 you who. They're buddies in the elite club of 00:29:38.180 --> 00:29:41.319 champagne sipping caviar slurping fat cats who 00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:43.799 think they're above the law. These are the same 00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:46.779 clowns who lecture us about transparency while 00:29:46.779 --> 00:29:49.420 they're covering up dirt that make a sewer rat 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:52.400 blush. If there's nothing to hide, then why is 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:54.819 the FBI acting like they're guarding the Holy 00:29:54.819 --> 00:29:57.869 Grail? Fill the beans, G -man, let's see the 00:29:57.869 --> 00:30:01.049 names. I can just imagine the excuses. Oh Ed, 00:30:01.230 --> 00:30:04.029 we can't release the list. It's an ongoing investigation. 00:30:04.369 --> 00:30:08.009 Bloney! This investigation's been ongoing, longer 00:30:08.009 --> 00:30:10.950 than a soap opera, and I'm sick of it. Or maybe 00:30:10.950 --> 00:30:13.569 they'll just say, releasing the list could compromise 00:30:13.569 --> 00:30:16.509 national security. Double baloney with a side 00:30:16.509 --> 00:30:19.390 of bunk. The only thing it'll compromise is the 00:30:19.390 --> 00:30:21.690 reputations of some big shots who thought they 00:30:21.690 --> 00:30:24.529 could party with Epstein and skate free. Well, 00:30:24.710 --> 00:30:27.529 I say it's time to name names and shame shames. 00:30:28.130 --> 00:30:31.250 And don't give me that privacy nonsense either. 00:30:31.690 --> 00:30:35.130 Privacy is for folks who pay their taxes and 00:30:35.130 --> 00:30:38.089 mow their lawns, not for creeps who allegedly 00:30:38.089 --> 00:30:40.859 hung out with a guy like Epstein. If you're on 00:30:40.859 --> 00:30:43.660 that list, you don't get the hide -behind due 00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:45.960 process while the rest of us are left wondering 00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:48.920 which of our so -called leaders was sipping martinis 00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:52.099 on Pedophile Island. The public's got a right 00:30:52.099 --> 00:30:54.680 to know if the people running this country or 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:57.359 starring in our movies or signing our paychecks 00:30:57.359 --> 00:31:00.880 were buddies with a monster period. It goes on 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.180 for a while. I'm actually quite surprised with 00:31:04.180 --> 00:31:06.660 how that was going, given what I kind of set 00:31:06.660 --> 00:31:09.039 up for what it was like. It seemed like he was 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:12.180 very conservative. Yeah. Conservatives really 00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:15.200 like, conservatives also really want the list 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:18.740 revealed. Some of them do. Yes. Yeah. And yeah, 00:31:18.740 --> 00:31:21.900 I think that is a misappropriation or a stereotype 00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:25.559 that somebody who is angry is a Republican. But 00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:28.059 also he might be a Republican and just like also 00:31:28.059 --> 00:31:30.769 really want the list. Yeah, no, that's true. 00:31:30.789 --> 00:31:32.910 We don't know for sure. That's just one he had. 00:31:33.029 --> 00:31:35.190 I mean, he's been going back for how many years 00:31:35.190 --> 00:31:38.869 now? A lot. That one caught my eye. I was going 00:31:38.869 --> 00:31:41.690 to choose from a different one. I mean, who doesn't 00:31:41.690 --> 00:31:44.589 want to hear about the Epstein list being released? 00:31:44.710 --> 00:31:47.490 Because let's not forget that that's a thing 00:31:47.490 --> 00:31:49.710 that's happening right now. We want the list 00:31:49.710 --> 00:31:52.809 to come out no matter who is on it. And Trump 00:31:52.809 --> 00:31:56.170 is probably on it. Allegedly? Do I say allegedly 00:31:56.170 --> 00:32:03.089 after that? I think so. Anyhow, beginning on 00:32:03.089 --> 00:32:06.789 May 9th, 2005, the Weekly World News went all 00:32:06.789 --> 00:32:09.769 new along with other tabloid papers such as the 00:32:09.769 --> 00:32:12.849 National Enquirer, which had become bigger, bolder, 00:32:12.990 --> 00:32:16.259 better. Okay, because it is the same group. I 00:32:16.259 --> 00:32:19.339 assume. Yeah, it is. In the new weekly world 00:32:19.339 --> 00:32:22.759 news, Serena and Sonya Sabak's psychic column 00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:26.700 was replaced by the horoscopes of Madame Malisa, 00:32:27.380 --> 00:32:30.259 and Dottie Primrose's Dear Dottie was supplanted 00:32:30.259 --> 00:32:33.160 by an advice column called Hi Dolly written by 00:32:33.160 --> 00:32:35.700 a middle -aged southern blonde woman. They did 00:32:35.700 --> 00:32:40.380 not change it. No. The Weekly World News included 00:32:40.380 --> 00:32:44.140 a weekly weird picture search by mad cartoonist 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:48.500 Sergio Arrejones. Other features included trivia, 00:32:48.920 --> 00:32:51.819 test yourself, jokes and misadventure aka the 00:32:51.819 --> 00:32:55.700 gayest American hero who has penetrated the mob, 00:32:56.099 --> 00:32:59.099 gone to Hollywood and fought Dracula traveling 00:32:59.099 --> 00:33:01.599 from the depths of the Earth's center to outer 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:05.759 space. Though it mainly featured offbeat stories, 00:33:06.099 --> 00:33:08.299 it also featured legitimate games and quizzes 00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:11.819 such as crossword puzzles, a segment called Bedside 00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:14.720 Matter where readers chose which celebrity is 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:18.240 best suited for the featured celebrity, and Mystery 00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:21.519 Eyes which featured photographs of five pairs 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:24.119 of eyes which belonged to celebrities and readers 00:33:24.119 --> 00:33:28.339 had to guess who they were. In 1999, David Pecker 00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:32.099 bought American Media Inc, which owned the Weekly 00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:34.779 World News. Within the next two years, many of 00:33:34.779 --> 00:33:37.680 the Weekly World News longtime writers and editors 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.960 were sadly gone. In a filing with the United 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:43.819 States Securities and Exchange Commission in 00:33:43.819 --> 00:33:47.359 March 2007, American Media said the sales of 00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:51.240 Weekly World News in 2006 were only $83 ,000 00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:55.119 per issue. Huge drop, not in its heyday. anymore. 00:33:55.420 --> 00:33:58.420 The times they are changing. Weekly World News 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:01.779 ceased its print publication in August 2007. 00:34:02.059 --> 00:34:05.440 It was then published as an insert with the Sun 00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:08.059 magazine with the new material being printed 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:11.059 alongside articles and columns from older issues 00:34:11.059 --> 00:34:14.940 until the Sun itself ceased publication in 2012. 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:20.079 In October 2008, Batboy LLC, a company started 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:23.440 by Neil McGinnis, bought Weekly World News. It 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:26.239 was relaunched as an online -only publication 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:30.929 in 2009. In January 2001, the Weekly World News 00:34:30.929 --> 00:34:34.309 was made available via an online paid subscription. 00:34:34.809 --> 00:34:37.909 The online edition was emailed to subscribers 00:34:37.909 --> 00:34:41.360 bi -weekly. The online edition closely resembled 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:43.780 the printed weekly world news in both appearance. 00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:46.820 It uses the weekly world news logo used from 00:34:46.820 --> 00:34:51.280 1979 to 2001. And subject matter, the first issue 00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:54.480 headline was werewolf Sue's airline overflight 00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:57.659 delay. So still staying true to the original 00:34:57.659 --> 00:35:01.949 stuff. In January 2013, Weekly World News announced 00:35:01.949 --> 00:35:04.409 that it would go behind a paywall. For those 00:35:04.409 --> 00:35:07.010 of you that are worried, it is no longer behind 00:35:07.010 --> 00:35:10.130 a paywall. That is why I had read to you from 00:35:10.130 --> 00:35:13.250 Ed Anger. Otherwise, we would have had to charge 00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:16.309 you to listen to this episode, sadly. Lucky for 00:35:16.309 --> 00:35:20.650 you, it is free. In August 2019, Greg De Alessandro 00:35:20.650 --> 00:35:24.090 took over as CEO, Editor -in -Chief with David 00:35:24.090 --> 00:35:27.150 Collins as President slash CFO. Not related to 00:35:27.150 --> 00:35:31.710 Lou Alessandro, is it? I know. No, it's De Alessandro. 00:35:32.510 --> 00:35:36.329 OK. Could you imagine if it was so? And then 00:35:36.329 --> 00:35:38.889 they only printed the UFO stories in the weekly 00:35:38.889 --> 00:35:42.590 world news. They relaunched the brand and began 00:35:42.590 --> 00:35:44.869 developing a number of projects with Hollywood 00:35:44.869 --> 00:35:49.269 producers. And on September 21, 2020, Weekly 00:35:49.269 --> 00:35:52.070 World News launched a Kickstarter campaign in 00:35:52.070 --> 00:35:54.610 an effort to expand reporting, graphics, and 00:35:54.610 --> 00:35:57.309 video production, as well as to get the tabloid 00:35:57.309 --> 00:36:00.190 back into print. The campaign was successful 00:36:00.190 --> 00:36:03.449 in reaching its financial goal. On March 21, 00:36:03.690 --> 00:36:07.309 2021, Weekly World News printed its first full 00:36:07.309 --> 00:36:10.079 -length print publication in 15 years. quote, 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:12.940 weekly world news, greatest covers was printed 00:36:12.940 --> 00:36:16.739 as a limited special edition, 5 ,000 copies, 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:20.420 which is nowhere near what it was selling in 00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:23.559 its heyday. Even when it stopped being printed. 00:36:23.659 --> 00:36:26.500 Yeah. Is that good for magazines these days? 00:36:26.519 --> 00:36:28.840 I don't actually know. Like they, they can't 00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:30.480 be selling anywhere near what they were in the 00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:34.360 early 2000. That's very true. And I didn't actually 00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:37.500 look at that. It may be a supply and demand so 00:36:37.500 --> 00:36:41.139 that they could. more it might yeah it might 00:36:41.139 --> 00:36:44.300 have been a way to make more money and that's 00:36:44.300 --> 00:36:48.380 just me uh speculating yeah and uh that's where 00:36:48.380 --> 00:36:51.599 i'm gonna leave it until our episode for next 00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:54.840 week do you have any comments it made me very 00:36:54.840 --> 00:36:58.380 nostalgic this episode i know and like not to 00:36:58.380 --> 00:37:01.019 like the actual magazine more so just like shopping 00:37:01.019 --> 00:37:04.059 as like a child i know you know there's only 00:37:04.059 --> 00:37:06.719 so many things that i remember shopping as a 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:11.670 child One, so delicious. And that's not so much 00:37:11.670 --> 00:37:14.329 shopping, so much as having them in my lunch 00:37:14.329 --> 00:37:17.449 as a child and really liking them. That and they're 00:37:17.449 --> 00:37:20.010 so much more open to kids eating the food while 00:37:20.010 --> 00:37:23.530 they shop than the adults. Yeah, totally. The 00:37:23.530 --> 00:37:27.449 other thing I specifically remember while shopping 00:37:27.449 --> 00:37:31.409 was I remember a big thing around the magazines 00:37:31.409 --> 00:37:35.429 and such when Princess Diana died. I don't know 00:37:35.429 --> 00:37:38.210 why that sticks in my memory so much, but that 00:37:38.210 --> 00:37:41.329 was a huge thing. And the other thing is the 00:37:41.329 --> 00:37:44.900 weekly world news. Like those are my three things 00:37:44.900 --> 00:37:47.539 that I can name off the top of my head about 00:37:47.539 --> 00:37:50.920 shopping as a child Oh, I always remember I always 00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:53.000 remember our mom picking up a people's magazine 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:56.679 like every shopping trip Oh every single time 00:37:56.679 --> 00:37:59.239 never a weekly world news though, and I don't 00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:02.599 know whether to be impressed by that or disappointed 00:38:02.599 --> 00:38:07.000 by that no, and People's is the one that still 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:10.980 exists. Yeah Yeah, well, in print, at least at 00:38:10.980 --> 00:38:13.980 the at the counter. We don't know if she subscribes 00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:16.800 to Weekly World News now. She very well might. 00:38:17.239 --> 00:38:19.980 I don't have suspicions. But yeah, we don't know 00:38:19.980 --> 00:38:23.440 for sure. Anyhow, with that, I have been Taylor 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:25.440 here with Chelsea. We are Jerry to the Fringe. 00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:27.019 Thank you all for listening. We'll see you next 00:38:27.019 --> 00:38:32.190 week. Bye. Thank you for listening to Journey 00:38:32.190 --> 00:38:34.530 to the Fringe. If you have liked what you have 00:38:34.530 --> 00:38:38.469 listened to, please like, share, subscribe, or 00:38:38.469 --> 00:38:41.309 follow depending on what venue you are listening 00:38:41.309 --> 00:38:44.150 to us through. Also, please, if possible, leave 00:38:44.150 --> 00:38:47.409 a five -star review as that really helps us in 00:38:47.409 --> 00:38:50.050 the algorithms. Should you wish to interact with 00:38:50.050 --> 00:38:52.650 us, please check us out on your social media 00:38:52.650 --> 00:38:55.670 of choice. I bet you we are there. And if you 00:38:55.670 --> 00:38:57.730 really want to communicate with us and give us 00:38:57.730 --> 00:39:00.409 ideas for new episodes or tell us that were wrong 00:39:00.409 --> 00:39:02.929 and terrible either way, please send us an email 00:39:02.929 --> 00:39:06.889 at journeytothefringe at gmail .com. For now, 00:39:06.989 --> 00:39:08.389 I'll see you in the next episode.