logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2025
41m 23s

Dreaming of Coney Island's Dreamland

Eric Molinsky | QCODE
About this episode
Coney Island still has the classic amusements you’d expect today like roller coasters, water slides, and carnival games. But over a century ago, it looked more like a proto–Disney World, with multiple theme parks, colossal buildings, and wildly imaginative rides. The most extravagant park along the boardwalk was Dreamland. At Dreamland, you could take a trip ... Show More
Up next
May 20
The Father of Sword and Soul
Charles R. Saunders loved Tarzan as a kid, but he was also repulsed by the racism in those books since Charles was Black. So he created a counter narrative about a warrior named Imaro who lived in a fictionalized version of precolonial Africa. Charles had invented a new subgenre ... Show More
37m 32s
May 6
Many Faces of Jekyll and Hyde
Pop culture has been full of Jekylls and Hydes: Bruce Banner and The Hulk, Norman Bates and Mother, Walter White and Heisenberg, The Nutty Professor and Buddy Love. They all echo the archetype that Robert Lous Stevenson established 140 years ago in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll ... Show More
39m 50s
Apr 22
Holmes and Watson: True Crime Podcasters
John Watson is a former army doctor who became a true crime podcaster when he met a consulting detective named Sherlock Holmes. You can hear about the cases they’ve solved in the podcast Sherlock & Co. Sound familiar? Holmes and Watson may have been enshrined in pop culture for o ... Show More
43m 1s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2025
132. Abandoned Amusement Parks: Hauntings, Disasters, and more // DARK SUMMER VOL. 2
Go to https://kachava.com and use code HSP for 15% off on your subscription for a limited time! Head to https://www.tryfum.com/HEART and use promo code HEART to get your free gift with purchase and start the Good Habit today! Summer is the perfect time to visit an amusement park, ... Show More
40m 16s
Aug 2018
Tessa Fontaine, “The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts” (FSG, 2018)
Who doesn’t remember their first trip to the county fair? The greasy hotdogs and popcorn and cotton candy. The lights and sounds of the seemingly endless games and rides and shows on the midway. But maybe most of all, the sense of wonder inspired by real people who could contort ... Show More
48m 50s
Mar 2025
Fiction and the Fantastic: ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino’s novella Invisible Cities is a hypnagogic reimagining of Marco Polo’s time in the court of Kublai Khan. Polo describes 55 impossible places – cities made of plumbing, free-floating, overwhelmed by rubbish, buried underground – that reveal something true about every ... Show More
16m 20s
Aug 2024
The Sleepy History of Roller Coasters
Narrator: Thomas Jones 🇬🇧 Writer: Laila Weir ✍️ Sound design: roller coaster, theme park ambience 🎢🎠  Includes mentions of: Heights, Train, Carnival. Welcome back, sleepyheads. Tonight, we’ll be exploring the origins of one of the world’s favorite forms of entertainment – ro ... Show More
52m 30s
Sep 2025
How do you build a successful theme park?
Around the world, entertainment companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on shiny new theme park rides and attractions. It's a highly competitive market.They're big money-spinners for the owners and can help boost local economies too. We look at why a medium-sized t ... Show More
17m 29s
Aug 2025
Mysteries of New York City | Historical Mystery Stories
In these new mystery stories set in New York City, we will travel through time at different periods of the history of the city, from its foundation as New Amsterdam to our days. Stories include:- Captain Kidd's Treasure, which could be hidden somewhere on Manhattan, Long Island o ... Show More
1h 14m
Mar 2024
What Dreams May Come...Dream Decoder with Author Theresa Cheung
Dive into the enigmatic realm of dreams in this compelling episode of Truth Be Told, where Tony has the privilege of hosting Theresa Cheung, a leading authority on dreams and author of several groundbreaking books, including the acclaimed "Dream Dictionary" and "The Dream Oracle. ... Show More
57m 11s
Oct 2024
Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll ~ Full Audiobook [fantasy]
Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll audiobook. Genre: fantasy On a quiet afternoon, young Alice follows an unusually hurried White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole and tumbles into Wonderland, a place where logic bends, language plays tricks, and nothing stays the same size ... Show More
2h 50m
Nov 2024
Living the Dream: Island Escape
Dreaming of a well-designed, sun-drenched haven all to yourself, surrounded by the sea? On this special episode brought to you by Janus et Cie, Dan speaks with four incredible guests who know a thing or two about living well under the sun: an American interior designer who made t ... Show More
1h 1m