THE UNKNOWN: Dancing Plague

For centuries, farmers have awakened to find large, elaborate geometric patterns pressed silently into their fields overnight—no footprints, no witnesses, no explanation. The phenomenon spans more than 50 countries, with some of the most striking formations appearing in the shado ... Show More

Around the 1820s, New Orleans residents whispered of a mesmerizing hairdresser turned Voodoo Queen named Marie Laveau. Legends claim she bewitched judges to halt convictions, performed love spells from her candlelit altar, and healed the sick with her mystical powers. And some sa ... Show More

In 2018, researchers at MIT unveiled an artificial intelligence so disturbing it earned a name straight out of a psychological thriller: Norman (as in Bates). Unlike typical AIs, Norman was exposed to some of the darkest corners of the internet, causing it to see horror in the mu ... Show More

Uncover the bizarre 1518 outbreak in Strasbourg where hundreds danced uncontrollably for days. Was it a disease, mass hysteria, or something darker? Find the full transcript of this episode and learn more about it on https://englishpluspodcast.com/the-dancing-plague-of-1518-when- ... Show More

<p>When people think of Medieval diseases, hysterical dancing is not usually what first comes to mind. Yet in 14th and 15th century Germany, dozens of ordinary people claimed to be infected by the ‘dancing plague’. What was this mysterious phenomenon? What caused it? And was it e ... Show More

It’s 1987, and the Chippendales dancers are packing nightclubs across America with their sold-out male exotic dance shows. As crowds of women scream for the mullets, the spandex, and the tans...a shocking event about to change the course of the brand and its booming business fore ... Show More

One night in 1817, a woman appeared in the village of Almondsbury, in England. No one could figure out who she was. But everyone wanted to solve the mystery. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and r ... Show More

In 1518 a strange sight could be seen all over the town of Strasbourg. Crowds of people dancing unceasingly, unable to control their movements, seemingly heedless of their blistered and bloodied feet. As the contagious dance grew, so did the body count as the frenzied dancers suc ... Show More

School dances can be a lot of fun, assuming you don't almost die in one! This week, Ben relives the time he thought it was a good idea to dress up as a bunch of grapes for a Halloween school dance and try to ask his crush for a slow dance. From the start, things didn't go as plan ... Show More

When a toymaker and a doctor teamed up to make the world’s first CPR doll, they decided to make the doll’s face look like one specific woman – a woman who they thought had drowned. People call her l’Inconnue de la Seine, or the Unknown Woman of the Seine. Say hello on Twitter, Fa ... Show More