It’s the 1920s: an Arizona rancher lets his donkey nap in a bathtub, a sudden flood turns a sleepy scene into a chaotic rescue, and a costly retrieval sparks a town ordinance banning dozing equines in tubs. The tale—part history, part folklore—traces how one small, messy problem became a cautionary legend carried far beyond its prairie roots.

Along the way, meet Mojave County’s wink-worthy fixes—laws about stolen soap and frontier-style punishments—and the very real public-health rules about feeding garbage to pigs to stop disease. This episode threads humor and hard sense into a portrait of how local headaches become lasting law. Arkansas is up next.

Imagine owning a bar where nobody's allowed to be... drunk. In this episode we follow the absurd-sounding Alaska rule that a drunken person may not remain where alcohol is sold, and meet the staff and officers who treat the law as public-safety gospel rather than punchline.

What reads like a cartoon ordinance is actually a tool to prevent over-serving and keep people safe — selectively enforced, often laughed about online, but with real consequences on the ground. We trace how a blunt line on a page becomes a quietly practical policy in smoky bars and midnight patrols.

Then we chase folklore: the infamous “don’t drop a moose from a plane” tale gives way to the real law against harassing wildlife, and the whispered myths about hunting etiquette reveal an underlying safety culture. By the end you’ll hear why Alaska’s stranger-than-fiction rules are less about whimsy and more about keeping people — and animals — out of harm’s way.

Step into a wagon of wonder and danger: this episode unspools the American love affair with miracle cures, from 19th‑century medicine shows to the cold logic of eugenics. You'll meet charismatic hucksters, desperate families, and doctors whose theories did more harm than good.

Through vivid stories—bleeding halls, opiate‑laced tonics, targeted ads, and forced sterilizations—we trace how bad science, entertainment, and prejudice fused into policies that shaped lives for generations.

As the hosts untangle placebo effects, racial and gendered exploitation, and the social roots of mistrust, they invite you to listen with curiosity: learn how to spot red flags, why skepticism matters, and how history still echoes in today’s wellness culture.

This podcast is a work of historical interpretation. While we strive for accuracy, some aspects of history are open to interpretation and debate. Thank you for listening.