Topic: Hudson Valley

James Madden explains that humans use available cultural categories to interpret encounters with the Uber-Umwelt. He notes that in the 1950s, witnesses saw militarized aircraft because of the recent world war, whereas medieval witnesses saw different forms. He uses the Hudson Valley UFO incident to illustrate how two people can witness the same event but perceive entirely different objects based on their subconscious filters.

Author and screenwriter Bruce G. Hollenbeck joins the program to discuss his book, The Kinderhook Creature & Beyond. Hollenbeck, a resident of upstate New York, has authored several works on cryptozoology and film history, including Monsters of New York. The discussion focuses on the high strangeness and folklore surrounding the Hudson Valley and the Catskill Mountains.

While some activists are building autonomous farming and health communities in places like the Hudson Valley, McDowell believes others must directly confront power. She recounts her efforts to challenge Goldman Sachs representatives regarding surveillance in education. These alternative models provide a necessary counter-narrative to the prevailing technocratic storytelling.

Frater X details the 1826 disappearance of Captain William Morgan in Batavia, New York, which sparked the first third-party political movement in the U.S., the Anti-Masonic Party. He suggests that the modern emphasis on Masonic charities was originally a PR campaign to repair the organization's image after Morgan's abduction. The segment also covers allegations of internal corruption, nepotism, and the laundering of funds between various Masonic organizations.