Best St. Fortune Podcasts (2025)

This year, in the tradition of Halloween fortune-telling, we have an interactive divination game you can play at home. It comes from aa 19th-century book on cartomancy called, The oracle of human destiny: or, the unerring foreteller of future events, and accurate interpreter of mystical signs and influences; through the medium of common cards. TO P…

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Mr. Ridenour’s Haunted Basement

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5d ago

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If you’ve been curious regarding Mr. Ridenour’s and Mrs. Karswell’s troubles with anomalous events in the house, this short episode should answer some of your questions as Dr. Bartusch and crew attempt to restore order.By Al Ridenour

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The Irish in Wisconsin 48:50

6d ago48:50

48:50

Wisconsin isn't the first state that springs to mind when it comes to the Irish American Diaspora. But though often more associated with Germans (and German beer!), Wisconsin had a notable Irish presence. Today, Milwaukee is even home to Irish Fest, the largest Irish festival in the United States. In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Tim McMa…

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Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Frankenstein, Blue Moon, Shelby Oaks, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, Last Stop Rocafort St. 40:05

8d ago40:05

40:05

Monsters, rockers, spooky season fun and more this week!By The Screening Room

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S2E47: Trump meets Xi: Who'll win the China-US tussle; impact on Asia 26:15

9d ago26:15

26:15

A grand bargain will be hard to strike at the upcoming US-China presidential summit, says a top trade expert. Synopsis: Every third Friday of the month, The Straits Times gets its US Bureau Chief to analyse the hottest political and trending talking points. In this episode, former US trade negotiator Wendy Cutler - who was recently a panellist at S…

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S2E46: Anwar’s Asean chair year: From geopolitics to fiscal finance, how did he fare? 23:31

10d ago23:31

23:31

Fresh off tabling Budget 2026, Malaysia is set to host world’s superpowers during the Asean Summit in KL starting Oct 26. For our October episode, ST’s Malaysia bureau chief Shannon Teoh and host Zurairi A.R. are joined by Tony Pua, an ex-member of Parliament from DAP, and previously a political secretary for former finance minister Lim Guan Eng. P…

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#175 Collision with the future: The Masks of Time (1968) by Robert Silverberg 7:48

12d ago7:48

7:48

The definitive time travel story, H. G. Wells' The Time Machine (1895), focuses on a protagonist who visits the extremely far future. Across over a century of time travel tales, in most cases it is the people of our own time who visit either the past or the future. Rather less commonly, the contemporary world plays host to a visitor from another er…

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Update: GO LOOK AT THE GRAVE! 4:07

12d ago4:07

4:07

(SPOILER ALERTt: Do not listen to this until you have heard Episode 146 “Urban Legend”.) This is a short postscript to our “Urban Legend” episode based on feedback from a listener. It has to do with a very curious grave in Chesterton, Indiana, which may be related to our story. And here is the grave:…

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Irish Placenames in the USA 40:13

13d ago40:13

40:13

In this episode, Fin and Damian trace the Irish legacy scattered across the American map through the placenames they left behind. The journey takes them from Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill, named for a Wexford battlefield in hopes of attracting Irish immigrants, to Menlo Park, California, the major tech hub with roots in a Galway inspired ranch. They unco…

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Urban Legend

14d ago

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A 1968 Halloween “Spook Show” in the Midwest left an unsettling heritage of urban legends possibly rooted in even more unsettling facts. What little is definitively known regarding this event comes from the newspaper archives of the Danville News-Gazette, in which we find a short October 28 promo piece in the “Entertainment” section featuring this …

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Black Phone 2, Good Fortune, After the Hunt, Other, The Twits 32:08

15d ago32:08

32:08

Some spooky stuff, comedies and more out this week!By The Screening Room

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The Red Branch: Dynamite, Death & Diaspora in 1880s San Francisco 54:24

20d ago54:24

54:24

In the early 1880s, crates of California dynamite found their way to London — not for trade, but for terror. Irish revolutionaries in the United States were plotting bombings in the heart of the British Empire, and San Francisco, with its deep Irish roots, became a key outpost in the transatlantic campaign. In this episode, we speak with renowned a…

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#174 Reign of evil: Swastika Night (1937) by Murray Constantine 8:50

22d ago8:50

8:50

Published in 1937, Katharine Burdekin's Swastika Night is a chilling depiction of a far-future fascist dystopia, in which the triumph of Nazism also represents oblivion for humanity and freedom. A precursor to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), this is an under-recognised and chilling vision of the future which is troublingly relevant today. Get…

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S2E45: Behind that 100-part bicycle: Asia’s shifting supply chains 22:04

23d ago22:04

22:04

How geopolitics is pushing manufacturers from China to South-east Asia and India. Synopsis: The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 40 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests. In this episode, Ravi hosts Mridula Iyer, Asia South Head of Services at Citi, the global financial services firm, on shifts in …

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America's Most Notorious Grave Robbery: Patrick Jones & the AT Stewart Case 55:00

27d ago55:00

55:00

In 1878, one of the most infamous crimes in Gilded Age America stunned and captivated the nation: the corpse of Alexander Turney Stewart — an Irish immigrant turned millionaire merchant — was stolen from its grave in Manhattan and held for ransom. What followed was a drawn out saga that dragged another Irishman into the spotlight: Patrick Henry Jon…

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Th Smashing Machine, Anemone, Good Boy, Bone Lake, Coyotes, VHS Halloween, The Ice Tower, A Savage Art, Steve, Killing Faith, Play Dirty, Scared Shitless 49:29

29d ago49:29

49:29

A dirty dozen new flicks to discuss this week! Come on in....By The Screening Room

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#173 Hanging by a thread: the Society of Time trilogy (1962) by John Brunner 11:30

1M ago11:30

11:30

Originally published in 1962, John Brunner's Society of Time stories are set in an alternate Britain in the 1980s. It is 400 hundred years since the Spanish Armada was not defeated, and the Catholicism of the Spanish Empire rules much of the world. The Empire possesses the gift of time travel, though only a new pope is given the ultimate privilege …

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S2E44: Church and fortune-tellers: Why Filipinos find solace in both 21:03

1M ago21:03

21:03

Asia’s only Christian nation, the Philippines, is devoutly Catholic. Yet, why do so many turn to peddlers of potions and talismans as well? Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times catches up with its foreign correspondents about life and trends in the countries they're based in. One afternoon, Philippines correspondent Mara Cep…

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Pumpkins, Turnips, and Spooklights 51:36

1M ago51:36

51:36

The Halloween Jack-o’-lantern, made from pumpkins in the US and originally turnips in the UK, began its existence as a wisp of glowing marsh gas or “spooklight.” We begin our episode with a montage of modern American spooklights including that of Oklahoma’s “Spooklight Road,” North Carolina’s Brown Mountain, and the flying saucers sighted in Michig…

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Heiresses of the Wild Atlantic Way: American Fortunes, Irish Families 47:14

1M ago47:14

47:14

When most people think of American heiresses marrying into the British or Irish aristocracy, they might picture Cora Crawley from Downton Abbey—the wealthy American who brought her fortune (and a bit of drama) to an English estate. But Cora’s story wasn’t entirely fiction. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scores of American women crossed …

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One Battle After Another, Eleanor the Great, The Lost Bus, Dead of Winter, Strangers Chapter 2, All of You 36:29

1M ago36:29

36:29

Some good flicks to choose from this week, let's discuss!By The Screening Room

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#172 The endless plain of fortune: Orbitsville trilogy by Bob Shaw (1975 - 1990) 11:55

1M ago11:55

11:55

It was British science fiction writer Olaf Stapledon, not US physicist Freeman Dyson, who first imagined the "Dyson sphere" - an immense macrostructure which would enclose and harness the entire energy of a star. Beginning with his BSFA Award-winning novel Orbitsville (1975), Northern Irish SF writer Bob Shaw explored this dizzying concept in a tri…

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S2E43: Tanks and missiles: The implications of China's grand military parade 22:42

1M ago22:42

22:42

Beijing’s message was clear: We are a great power and a force for good. Synopsis: Every fourth Friday of the month, The Straits Times will now analyse the hottest political and trending talking points, alternating between its Malaysia and China bureaus. For September, host and deputy foreign editor Albert Wai connects again with senior China corres…

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Transatlantic 3.0: Cracking the Consistency Code 13:29

1M ago13:29

13:29

We had an unplanned break in the show, but we’re back with a streamlined Transatlantic, having finally unlocked the secrets of recording across several time zones. Tune in to find out what we have planned! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Him, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Swipe, History of Sound, Megadoc, Waltzing with Brando, Night of the Reaper, London Calling, Another End, Just Breathe 45:22

1M ago45:22

45:22

Last weekend of summer! What's good to watch?By The Screening Room

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#171 Avatar of war: The Book of Elsewhere (2024) by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville 7:49

1M ago7:49

7:49

An unusual detour into contemporary SF, this episode is a look at the thoroughly strange The Book of Elsewhere (2024), a collaboration between Hollywood icon Keanu Reeves and British flag-bearer for the New Weird, China Miéville. The novel is a spinoff from Reeves' comic book series BRSRKR, about an immortal warrior with 80,000 years of bloodshed b…

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The Long Walk, Spinal Tap II, The Baltimorons, The Man in My Basement, Traumatika, Jester 2 39:25

2M ago39:25

39:25

Some good ones and one stinker this week! Sort 'em out with us...By The Screening Room

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S2E42: Xi-Modi sends powerful message to US and the world: Henry Huiyao Wang 22:35

2M ago22:35

22:35

Why it's significant that China and India declare they are not rivals but partners. Synopsis: Every second Friday of the month, The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 40 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests. In this episode, Ravi speaks with Dr Henry Huiyao Wang, co-founder and head of the Centre fo…

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#170 Solar Enemy Number One: The Stars My Destination (1956) by Alfred Bester 8:51

2M ago8:51

8:51

The Count of Monte Cristo make not seem like the likeliest template for an SF novel, but Alfred Bester was able to take this 19th century French classic and turn it into the basis for his 1956 book The Stars My Destination. This frenetic, fast-paced adventure also begins with a kind of parody of the opening to Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. It's a …

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The Conjuring: Last Rites, Splitsville, Hamilton, Lurker, Somnium, Love Brooklyn, Everything to Me 35:06

2M ago35:06

35:06

What's good in theaters and streaming? Let's talk!By The Screening Room