Weird Island

NEW Episode!

Oscar seemed like an ordinary kitten when he was adopted by Steere House Nursing & Rehabilitation center in Providence. But the staff and residents at Steere House quickly suspected Oscar had a unique ability. He seemed to be able to predict when someone was going to die.

Thank you to and for joining me to chat about cats and speculate on why Oscar might have had this rumored ability!

And thank you to everyone who continues to stick around and support the podcast, even though I'm on a little break! 💚 you all!

Have you ever noticed this beautiful stone ruin at Scarborough Beach and wondered what it was?

Well, it turns out it’s the remnants of an old carriage house that once stood beside this 21-room mansion overlooking the water. The mansion was called Windswept, but locally it was known as the house built with Painkiller money.

It was owned by a family who made their fortune selling an over-the-counter medicine called “Perry Davis’s Vegetable Pain-Killer,” remembered today as the first-ever nationally advertised remedy for chronic pain.

Check out this week’s episode to find out more!

RI Statewide Scavenger Hunt day 1 was a blast!

Swipe for Bizzy The Dog’s ™️ exhausted little face. Thanks for a great day!

Super excited to have the podcast featured in the ! Thank you !

August 20, 1890 - H. P. Lovecraft was born in Providence, RI. He spent almost his entire life in the city and though he was a prolific writer, he died in relative obscurity at the age of 46.

Today he's remembered as the master of weird fiction, and tons of famous writers, including Stephen King, credit Lovecraft as an influence. And in RI, he's become kind of an icon. His grave in Swan Point even reads, "I am Providence."

I dragged my family along to find his grave, and I swear it was in the last spot we checked! The first pic is of his fan-erected headstone. The second is the family monument where his name was placed after his death. The third is my elated look at finally finding it!

Check out this week's episode to learn more!

This summer has raced by! And while I'm a little bit sad that we're already halfway through August, I'm excited to let you know that Weird Island is back with a new episode! Surprise! Season 2 is starting now. And I’ve got a fresh icon update to celebrate.

With this upcoming weekend and birthday, I’ve just released a new episode on the man who literally wrote the book on weird. Check it out at the link in my bio.

Hey, all! I've missed putting episodes out and connecting with people! I'm still on a bit of a break, but my goal is to post here a little bit more going forward!

The lovely shared with me a map she compiled of historic houses and buildings all over Rhode Island, and I've been trying to turn walks with the dog into mini adventures to find all the ones nearest to me. This is my favorite so far! The Nathaniel Daggett House, 74 Roger Williams Avenue in East Providence.

It's called "The House that Never Moved," because it has been in three towns and two states throughout its history, without ever moving from its original site.

It's one of the oldest existing homes in East Providence (1680-1690). When Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he first settled in what is now East Providence. But Plimoth Colony warned him that he was still within the bounds of their land, and he picked up and moved across the Seekonk to form Providence. Williams' first settlement was just near where this house is today - There's a plaque marking the spot just across the street. And some historical records suggested cellar holes of the settlement could seen on the Daggett property into the late 1800s.

Missing Weird Island this week?

Well, I miss you all, too! I already can’t wait to come back with new episodes at the end of the summer.

But in the meantime, check out my guest appearance on this week - a podcast put out by the awesome people

Hear about what I’ve been reading and watching on TV. And about which Weird Island episodes have been my favorite to put together.

New Episode!

In Smithfield, out in the middle of the woods, there are the remains of a colonial village that disappeared over 100 years ago. A ghost town known as Hanton City. Today, the only evidence of the village's existence are a few stone structures, like this stone cellar Bizzy the Dog™️ is standing in front of.

In addition to cellars and foundations, you might find an old well, a crumbling dam, a small cemetery, or stone walls crisscrossing through the woods.

People are captivated by the mystery of Hanton City. Who lived there and where did they go?

New Episode!

The surprising and entertaining history of the Providence Performing Arts Center.

I think most people would assume an old theater might become a movie theater, not the opposite way around. But when PPAC first opened in the late 1920s, it showed movies! On opening day in 1928, over 14,000 people showed up -- mostly to check out the elaborately decorated building!

You'll want to listen to this one! It's full of quintessentially Rhode Island stories involving a certain mayor and a daring plan to move a wall by 12 feet--and save the theater in the process.

Wow! Check out this awesome fan art from listener Kylie. This was done FROM MEMORY! I think drawing anything from memory is the ultimate talent. Thanks, Kylie! This made my day.

Speaking of talent, the original art was done by my brother !

New Episode out today!

In South Kingstown, there’s an odd monument hidden away in the bushes off Tower Hill Road. I drove right by it 2 or 3 times and didn't spot it!

It’s a four-sided granite pillar covered, from top to bottom on all sides, in a written inscription. And this inscription tells a story. But not one of a famous battle or prominent leader or politician or historical landmark. It tells the story of a gruesome murder that took place here.

Check out this latest episode on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!

And, yes, the location is correct! The monument is basically in the parking lot of Koch Eye Associates.

I've been making the podcast for a full year! This is crazy. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I recorded the very first story and told myself I'd wait until I had some episodes banked before I started posting them... And then I immediately posted my first episode because I was too excited.

Thanks for being along for the ride! I've learned a lot about podcasting, now time to work on my social media skills, because, I mean, look at this image ^ It's the best I could do 😂

Check out today’s episode (and stories) for some fun facts about me. And I’ll be back next week with a big 30 min episode of stuff I learned along the way that didn’t make it into the final episodes.

People began eating turtle soup in the 1700s, and they kept eating it through the early 1900s. Companies like Campbell’s and Heinz made canned turtle soup (and something called mock turtle soup). And it wasn’t just available. It was a real culinary obsession.

In the early days, there would be these big, elaborate parties, called Turtle Frolics, where people would get together to enjoy it. Including a notable Turtle Frolic in Newport, prepared and served by a talented chef named Cuffy Cockroach.

Check out Weird Island on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

Well, I missed a week last week, but I'm back!

Do you know how the Turk's Head building got its name?

In early America, shopkeepers used pictures or symbols instead of street numbers to identify their businesses. The Turk's Head skyscraper was built on the site of a house and store that had an unusual sign mounted outside--a wooden carving of an Ottoman Sultan. The store became known as "at the Sign of the Turk's Head."

Listen to Weird Island EP45 for the full story!

NEW Episode! And it's one that I'm guessing a lot of you have been waiting for.

Edgar Allan Poe never lived in Providence. But at the end of his life, he spent some time here while "courting" a local poet named Sarah Helen Whitman.

The two would often meet in the --I mean, can you picture a more perfectly literary place?? During one visit, Whitman asked Poe if he had read this new poem that had been published anonymously. It turns out, not only had he read it, he had written it. He signed his name in pencil beside the poem, and years later, Whitman went back and found it. That signed poem is in the Athenaeum's Special Collections today.

Snow day!

Who's going sledding? It's the perfect snow for it! Or, the perfect day to sit inside, drink hot chocolate, and listen to an episode. I didn't post about it on social, so maybe you missed EP40 - The Polar Express. Listen by a window while the snow falls for the perfect experience ❄️☕️

Also, funny story. I was totally tricked by this sign and said, “Cool, they encouraging sledding!” out loud before I realized the G was a sticker 🤦‍♀️

Oct. 23, 1978 | Frosty the Polar Bear escaped from Slater Park Zoo.
May 22, 1979 | Frosty the Polar Bear escaped again.
Jan. 5, 1986 | More than two dozen animals, including deer, sheep and mules, escaped from their pens at Slater Park Zoo.
What the heck was going on?

Listen to Weird Island on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Did you know the Big Blue Bug was originally painted purple?
Episode 39 brings you everything you need to know about Rhode Island's favorite roadside attraction!
https://weird-island.simplecast.com/episodes/39-rhodeside-attractions-the-big-blue-bug
Listen to Weird Island on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Pop Quiz!
Which President received the first presidential telephone call?
If you asked me to list all the presidents I could think of, I probably wouldn't have remembered Rutherford B. Hayes. But in 1877, while attending a clambake at Rocky Point Park, he received the first presidential phone call--from Alexander Graham Bell.
https://weird-island.simplecast.com/episodes/38-firsts-the-first-presidential-phone-call
Check out this week's episode to hear more! Weird Island is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

NEW episode! Rhoda the Sea Lion
In this week's episode, I explore the rumor that a sea lion once escaped from Roger Williams Zoo and made it all the way to the ocean. Spoiler alert: It's true!
https://weird-island.simplecast.com/episodes/37-animal-escape-rhoda-the-sea-lion
Listen to Weird Island on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!

No new episode today!
I needed a mental health break this week. I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk, whether it's for work or working on the podcast. And I'm trying to find a better balance.
That might mean that my cadence for releasing episodes is a little more scattered between now and the end of the year as I take a breath and prioritize myself, my relationships and my dog (Don't tell her, but she needs to walk more. She's getting fat!)
But I've got a good episode lined up for next week (or maybe later this week). It's a story I'd never heard before, about the far-reaching impact of the sinking of the Titanic and a railroad that never came to be.

Happy Halloween! Hope it's weird... in a good way!
In celebration, I'm dropping this week's episode a couple of days early. It's about giant pumpkins... because nothing will draw attention, stop traffic, or bring a smile to people’s faces like a pumpkin will.
Hear about how a Rhode Islander grew the first pumpkin in the world to weigh over 2,000 pounds... and how he plans to be the first to break 3,000.
https://weird-island.simplecast.com/episodes/35-giant-pumpkins-and-the-ri-grower-who-squashed-world-records
Listen to Weird Island on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

NEW Episode! Haunted Ramtail Mill
Out in Foster, a ghost is rumored to haunt the place of his death. A factory that once stood along the Ponaganset river. And his presence has been noted so often and for so long in this place that it actually became Rhode Island’s only officially documented haunted location.
https://weird-island.simplecast.com/episodes/34-haunted-ramtail-mill
Listen to Weird Island wherever you get your podcasts.

NEW Episode! HAUNTED: Newport's Belcourt Castle
Belcourt was designed as a bachelor pad for a man and his horses, with 60 rooms but only one bedroom, one bathroom and no kitchen.
Later owners would come to believe the place was haunted.
Check out this week's episode for more!
https://weird-island.simplecast.com/episodes/32-haunted-newports-belcourt-castle

Have you ever wondered about this house on Broadway in Providence? It's called Barnaby Castle, and its unusual design was influenced by owner J.B. Barnaby--a prominent store-owner, self-made millionaire and larger-than-life personality.
While the story of J.B. and the house is interesting enough on its own, it's actually his death that launches the craziest part of this story--because it set off a series of events that resulted in a murder...
Check out episode 30 of Weird Island to hear the full story!

If you're interested in tuning in, I'll be doing a zoom presentation with the East Greenwich Historic Preservation Society TONIGHT at 7:30 all about my podcast, how I started it, what goes into making it, and some of the stories I've covered. As well as a brand new story I haven't shared yet.

7:30PM on Zoom!

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87321822088?pwd=RExnMDZZaVN1SVpQTFBzeEhSZVg2Zz09

Meeting ID: 873 2182 2088
Passcode: 222915

In case you missed it, there's a new episode out today! It's a mini episode on downtown Pawtucket's Walk of Fame.
I don't recommend going out of your way to see this one, but it's definitely a weird story!
Listen to Weird Island on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
https://weird-island.simplecast.com/episodes/29-mini-episode-pawtuckets-hollywood-walk-of-fame