Month: January 2017

There is something infinitely fascinating about the idea of children who have grown up outside of the constructs of society. These individuals have taken on legendary status over the centuries, from Romulus and Remus to Mowgli and Tarzan. Perhaps we imagine their connections to the natural world run deeper than those of us civilized people, or that they might have something to tell us about the essential nature of humanity. In some ways, people look to these wild boys and girls to exemplify the ‘noble savage’ archetype. We will explore the legend of children raised by animals as we examine “The Wolf Girl of Devil’s River.” We will also discuss the real world phenomena of feral children and their reintegration into society over the course of history, and ask that age-old question; just what is it that separates humans from animals?

Hint: it rhymes with smodcasting.

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Twitter: @justastorypod 

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Where do people go when they disappear? The idea that a person can just vanish is inarguably mysterious, and that element of mystery seems to capture the public imagination each time such an event is reported. One line of conjecture that inevitably ari… Read More …

Where do people go when they disappear? The idea that a person can just vanish is inarguably mysterious, and that element of mystery seems to capture the public imagination each time such an event is reported. One line of conjecture that inevitably arises in the wake of a person going missing is, ‘maybe they just left to start a new life.’ This idea seems to be something of an urban legend. In fact, there are many urban legends surrounding these mysterious missing persons cases. From alleged amnesia, to falsified ransom notes, there are many ways in which people who wish to start over justify their absences. Though the stories of missing persons are as varied as they are numerous, statistically speaking; these disappearances are much more likely to be the results of foul play or accidents, than carefully orchestrated schemes to start over somewhere new. Can a person just walk away from his or her life? Is such a thing even possible, especially in this day and age? This week we will examine the difficulty of leaving behind a well established life without a trace. We will explore the recent case of someone who seems to have successfully hit the reset button, and left the world guessing at her reasons and methods, Lori Erica Ruff. We will also take a look at some extraordinary stories of historical incidents of staged kidnappings and high profile disappearances (and reappearances). We’ll conclude with a discussion of the very strange case of mystery author, Agatha Christie. 

For more on this week’s episode, and every episode: justastorypod.com

Twitter: @justastorypod 

Instagram: justastorypod 

Leave a voicemail on the Urban Legend Hotline 1-(512)-222-3375 Read More …