1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. The American political circus is based on a 7 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: two party system and has been since the mid eighteen hundreds. 8 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: Republicans and Democrats each put up their candidates for election 9 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,599 Speaker 1: to various offices, and the American people vote for who 10 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: they'd like to represent them. However, other factions have formed 11 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: over the years to catch those who feel that neither 12 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: party deserves to represent their interest. From the Green Party 13 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: to the Working Class Party to the Alliance Party, these 14 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: splinter groups have become little more than a distraction. They 15 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: do earn several thousand votes each election, but they don't 16 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: amount to much overall. Almost nothing, ever, changes, But one 17 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: group did want to change things, and they almost did 18 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,639 Speaker 1: until the Bears moved in. It started when Yale student 19 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: Jason Sorens wrote an article for a niche political publication. 20 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: Jason was a libertarian who believed in small government, fiscal conservatism, 21 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: and free market capitalism with almost no oversight. Sorens fashioned 22 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: himself something of an activist, and he sought out other 23 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: like minded individuals to join him. He was starting a 24 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: brand new enterprise that would establish a community for people 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: who shared his ideas. His concept was centered on the 26 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: idea of secession, but rather than separate from the United States, 27 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: he would force a state to bend to his will. 28 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: He called it the Free State Project, and it was 29 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: started due to sorens frustration with the Libertarian Party, more 30 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: specifically it's inability need to get any of its candidates 31 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: elected to office, so he turned to the past for inspiration. 32 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: Like other extremist leaders who had come before him, Sorens 33 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: believed that an extreme act of migration was necessary to 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: achieve his goals. He planned on overtaking the politics of 35 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: a particular states and in turn swaying the country toward libertarianism. 36 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: After an unsurprising undemocratic vote, the Free State movement settled 37 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: on New Hampshire, thanks in large part to its live 38 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: free or die mentality. A subset of followers formed an 39 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: off shoot called the Freetown Project and moved into the 40 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: small town of Grafton. Now Grafton had a modest population 41 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: of just over eleven people before the Freetowners moved in, 42 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: a number that jumped up by another two hundred rather quickly. 43 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: They saw its low property tax rates and lack of 44 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: zoning laws as the signs of a perfect libertarian utopia. 45 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: The freetowners, mostly made up of white males, believed that 46 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: they were liberating Grafton with their wild new ideas about 47 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: how the government and run and how budgets should be spent. Instead, 48 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: locals greeted them with hostility, and that might have been 49 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: for a good reason. You see, the freetowners had come 50 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: with yrs, RVs and shipping containers, which became their homes. 51 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: One of the leaders of the movement, Larry pen Darvis, 52 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: had a strange agenda he was dead set on seeing through. 53 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: It included organ trafficking, old fashioned duels, and the right 54 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: to organize fights between folks without a home, presumably for 55 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: entertainment and betting purposes. He also supported what he called 56 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: consensual cannibalism, something he referred to as a victimless crime. 57 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: But not everyone shared pen Darvis's views. He eventually left 58 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: Grafton for Texas. But the freetowners didn't want a free 59 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: market system that embodied their libertarian ideologies either. All they 60 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: wanted was a smaller budget and lower taxes, which went 61 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: about as you might expect. Grafton suffered dearly after it's 62 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: yearly one million dollar budget got slashed to about three 63 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: quarters of that. Violent crime went up, while road repairs 64 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: went down. Domestic violence spiked, The Senior Citizens Council lost 65 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: its funding, and town employees could no longer afford to 66 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: heat their homes. As some people put it, the town 67 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: went feral, which probably explains what happened next. Farmers started 68 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: noticing that livestock was being taken from under their noses. 69 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: One woman's kittens were snatched and eaten while she was 70 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: still playing with them on her lawn, and neighbors began 71 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: getting strange visitors on their porches. These weren't religious preachers 72 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: or even girls scouts selling cookies. They were far more menacing. Grafton, 73 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: New Hampshire, had been invaded by bears, black bears, to 74 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: be exact, which normally didn't bother people. However, now the 75 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: animals that had been keeping themselves in the woods were 76 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: taking over the town. But why well. One theory is 77 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: that the lack of funding for animal control and bear 78 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: proofing garbage cans led to the incursion. Another is that 79 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: the influx of outsiders encroaching on the bears domains results 80 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: to them seeking other places to unwind, like swimming pools 81 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: and decks. Some people even fed the bears, which may 82 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 1: have kept them coming back for more. Whatever the cause, 83 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: the bears did more than rereak havoc on Grafton. They 84 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: drove the freetowners apart, with many fending for themselves and 85 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: leaving their neighbors to figure things out on their own. 86 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,559 Speaker 1: And soon enough, the freetown projects simply died off, well, 87 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: more like it was absorbed. The free state movement that 88 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: had started it all took control as more and more 89 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: freetowners opted to live without regulations or rules, and Grafton 90 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: has shared its town with the libertarians ever since. But 91 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: you might be wondering when all this occurred. Clearly, a 92 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: town overrun with anti government cultists seeking political freedom couldn't 93 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: happen today. Right Wrong, This didn't happen in the seventeen hundreds, 94 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: or the eighteen hundreds, or even the nineteen hundreds. The 95 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: free state project was started in the early two thousands, 96 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: and it's still going strong twenty years later, although their 97 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: numbers aren't as high as they had hoped. Apparently, some 98 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: people find the idea of living in a town full 99 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: of potholes and wild animals to be well unbearable. It's 100 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: no secret that during World War Two, Adolf Hitler turned 101 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: to some unconventional methods to try and gain an edge 102 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: against Allied forces. There's potential evidence that the Nazi Party 103 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 1: itself was inspired by occult influences. Beginning in the nineteen twenties. Books, movies, 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: and television shows for the past seven decades have speculated 105 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: as to the efforts Hitler might have gone to in 106 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: order to create his master race, from mad scientists to 107 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: religious artifacts to Satan worship. The Third Reich didn't just 108 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: rely on tanks and guns to carry out its abhorrent agenda. 109 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: That attempted to reach over into other worlds and even 110 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: other dimensions for a leg up. For example, Heinrich Himler, 111 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: one of the main architects of the Holocaust, was an 112 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: unflinching zealot who spent much of his time on extracurricular 113 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: projects to help the Nazis one of which inadvertently ended 114 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: up as the plot of the third Indiana John's film. 115 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: Himmler was on a quest for the Holy Grail, hoping 116 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: to use it to give himself superpowers. But Hitler and 117 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: his stooges weren't the only one seeking out supernatural means 118 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: for success, because across the ocean, in the state of Maryland, 119 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: a young group of Americans were doing the same thing, 120 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: with one singular goal to take out the Furor with 121 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: a little witchcraft. William Seabrook born in Westminster, Maryland in 122 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four, held a number of jobs during his 123 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: sixty one years on Earth. He was a journalist and 124 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: adventurer who wrote about distant cultures. He had served in 125 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: World War One with the French Army, and most famously, 126 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: he was an occultist. In fact, he was good friends 127 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: with the prior addition to our Cabinet of Curiosities Alistair Crowley, 128 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: who stayed with Seabrook at his Maryland farm in nineteen nineteen. However, 129 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty one, the eccentric Mr Seabrook had found 130 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: a new cause to get behind. He saw what was 131 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: going on in Germany with Hitler's forces advancing across Europe 132 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: and knew something had to be done. This was almost 133 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: a full year before the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor 134 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: and thrust the country into war. Seabrook, along with a 135 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: cadre of young hopefuls, gathered at a cabin in the 136 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: woods belonging to a man named Charles Tupper. The group 137 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: had brought with them numerous tools with which to carry 138 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: out their spells, including tom tom drums, nails, axes, a 139 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: mannequin and a Nazi uniform, oh and lots of rum. 140 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: They fit the uniform on the dummy and drew a 141 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: toothbrush mustache under its nose, giving it a familiar appearance. 142 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: They had just made an effigy of Adolph Hitler. What 143 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: followed next was documented by Life magazine, which had tagged 144 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: along for what it dubbed as a hexane party. Seabrook 145 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: and his compatriots were preparing to carry out a massive 146 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 1: voodoo in canation on Hitler in order to stop him 147 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: from across the pond. As Seabrook himself wrote in a 148 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: newspaper article in n Let the doubters laugh at such 149 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,679 Speaker 1: things if they want to, I have lived with voodoo 150 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: priests and felt myself the awfulness of their strange powers. Personally, 151 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: I want no part of the danger that lies in 152 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: such sinister explorations. They propped up their Hitler effigy in 153 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: a chair as Seabrook coached one of the attendees on 154 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: how to play the correct rhythm on the drum. Then 155 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: the hexinge began. Each person took turns hammering nails into 156 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:39,079 Speaker 1: the dummies heart, all while clamoring you are Hitler, Hitler, 157 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 1: is you the woes that come to you, let it 158 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: come to him. There were also death dolls made a 159 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: fabric that looked like the furor, which the participants shoved 160 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: pins into throughout the night, before burying them face down 161 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: in the swamp outside. Hitler, who had been rumored to 162 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,959 Speaker 1: be paranoid and superstitious, was also said to have believed 163 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: in black magic. Perhaps all the damage done to the 164 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 1: dolls and the mannequin might have given him a headache 165 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: or a bit of heartburn, maybe a sore arm. Well, 166 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: it's doubtful, but Seabrook, Tupper and the others knew that 167 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: the effects of the incantation wouldn't be felt immediately. They 168 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: wanted word of their Hex Hitler event to find its 169 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: way to Europe to inspire others to carry it forward 170 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,839 Speaker 1: as well. The war continued on for another four years 171 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: after that, so it's probably safe to say that their 172 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: efforts weren't of much use. But buried somewhere in the 173 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: Maryland Woods are a bunch of pin riddled death dolls 174 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: that look an awful lot like Adolf Hitler, proof that 175 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: even though they didn't get any closer to stopping War 176 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: War two, they did put an end to a lot 177 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,840 Speaker 1: of their own stress and anxiety that night. Unusual, absolutely, 178 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: but also more than a little curious. I hope you've 179 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 180 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 181 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 182 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 183 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 184 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 185 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 186 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,