Ready for stories of the Bruin mysterious...the Bruin marvelous...the Bruin macabre? Unlock the UCLA College and UCLA Newsroom's original oddcast "Cabinet of Curiosities"...if you dare!
Don’t play dead or get lost in the dark! Join UCLA doctoral candidate Shanti Lindberg — a modern-day Lorax who speaks (and accessorizes) for the critters — as she guides your “Cabinet of Curiosities” co-hosts Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs through the midnight secrets of the unfairly maligned opossum.
Serving North America’s-only-native-marsupial realness, the adorable opossum and its relatives around the world deserve more respect and love. (Not only did their relatives outlast the dinosaurs, sweetie, but their marsupial movie cousins delivered the world’s wildest werewolf film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D4wwf9R4lg) Down Under or anywhere else.)
What are you waiting for? Turn the key!
Hosts and writers: Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs
Guest: Shanti Lindberg
Engineer: Álvaro Castillo
Producer: Trever Ducote
Design: Tina Hordzwick
Original Music: Roger A. Martinez (https://rogeramartinez.com/)
Narration: Alize Francheska Rozsnyai (https://www.alizesoprano.com/)
Learn more about Shanti Lindberg’s work in the lab of UCLA professor Karen Sears (https://www.searslab.eeb.ucla.edu/)
Explore the UCLA College (https://www.college.ucla.edu/) and UCLA Newsroom (https://newsroom.ucla.edu/)
24 Aug 2026
Library Ghosts of Los Angeles
The UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (https://clarklibrary.ucla.edu/) is haunted…in all the best ways.
Grab a cobwebbed candelabra and follow head librarian and UCLA alumnus Derek Christian Quezada Meneses through its stacks, specters and stories.
See you at the pet cemetery (or sematary in the King’s English (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMao8sg4DPA)) for a phantasmagorically good time with your “Cabinet of Curiosities” co-hosts Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs.
What are you waiting for? Turn the key!
Hosts and writers: Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs
Guest: Derek Christian Quezada Meneses
Engineer: Álvaro Castillo
Producer: Trever Ducote
Design: Tina Hordzwick
Original Music: Roger A. Martinez (https://rogeramartinez.com/)
Narration: Alize Francheska Rozsnyai (https://www.alizesoprano.com/)
Explore the UCLA College (https://www.college.ucla.edu/) and UCLA Newsroom (https://newsroom.ucla.edu/)
25 Jun 2026
‘Trans, Body, Horror’
Your mileage may vary, but one thing we all have in common is the experience of having a body (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NbpHP0dDA0). And few things are a better reminder of this than a good (or bad)horror movie.
Learn more about the intersection of horror and humanity — and much more — from UCLA doctoral candidate and artist Wesleigh Gates, creator of the popular “Trans, Body, Horror” course in UCLA LGBTQ Studies.
Take a sip of “The Substance” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNlrGhBpYjc) alongside Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs as they get a “Cabinet of Curiosities” master class in terror.
What are you waiting for? Turn the key!
Hosts and writers: Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs
Guest: Wesleigh Gates (https://www.wesleighgates.com/)
Engineer: Álvaro Castillo
Producer: Trever Ducote
Design: Tina Hordzwick
Original Music: Roger A. Martinez (https://rogeramartinez.com/)
Narration: Alize Francheska Rozsnyai (https://www.alizesoprano.com/)
Explore the UCLA College (https://www.college.ucla.edu/)and UCLA Newsroom (https://newsroom.ucla.edu/)
16 Dec 2025
Holidays
Across time and cultures, holidays offer a fascinating mirror into our own humanity…and maybe a melted face or two (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MnaYzBhx0A) along the way.
Hear from UCLA distinguished professor emeritus and world-renowned scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly about some surprising holiday origins—Geoffrey Chaucer is responsible for Valentine’s Day?!—and from UCLA alumna and staff member Andrea Corrales on meaningful traditions she continues every Día de los Muertos.
Come away inspired to write your own obituary—it’s a good thing, we promise!—alongside Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs in their second journey into the UCLA College/UCLA Newsroom's "odd"-cast "Cabinet of Curiosities."
What are you waiting for? Turn the key!
Hosts and writers: Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs
Guests: Henry Ansgar Kelly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_A._Kelly) and Andrea Corrales
Engineer: Álvaro Castillo
Producer: Trever Ducote
Design: Tina Hordzwick and Katie Sipek
Original Music: Roger A. Martinez (https://rogeramartinez.com/)
Narration: Alize Francheska Rozsnyai (https://www.alizesoprano.com/)
Check out Professor Kelly’s self-penned obituary (https://english.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Proleptic-Obituary-Autobit.pdf), UCLA faculty page (https://english.ucla.edu/people-faculty/kelly-henry-a/) and acclaimed scholarly publication Satan: A Biography (https://www.amazon.com/Satan-Biography-Henry-Ansgar-Kelly/dp/0521604028)
Explore the UCLA College (https://www.college.ucla.edu/), UCLA Humanities (https://humanities.ucla.edu/) and UCLA Newsroom (https://newsroom.ucla.edu/)
16 Oct 2025
Bat Boy(s)
Bats won't get tangled in your hair, a dog is more likely to give you rabies and they work hard literally every night making the world a better place for humans.
Christina's flying cousin Chiroptera Aguilera was right: Bats are beautiful in every single way.
Learn more about these winged wonders from UCLA bat researcher Joey Curti and filmmaker Aaron Lemle as they discuss their award-winning short film "Bat Boy," the power of combining science and art, and why bats are definitively better than birds...except maybe quail.
Join (na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na) bat-fans Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs for their first adventure into the UCLA College/UCLA Newsroom's "odd"-cast "Cabinet of Curiosities."
What are you waiting for? Turn the key!
Hosts and writers: Madeline Adamo and Jonathan Riggs
Guests: Joey Curti (https://www.josephcurti.com/) and Aaron Lemle (https://www.aaronlemle.com/)
Bat Supporting Actress: Hazel (https://www.losangelesbatrescue.org/)
Engineer: Álvaro Castillo
Producer: Trever Ducote
Design: Tina Hordzwick and Katie Sipek
Original Music: Roger A. Martinez (https://rogeramartinez.com/)
Narration: Alize Francheska Rozsnyai (https://www.alizesoprano.com/)
Learn more about "Bat Boy" the film (https://www.batboyfilm.com/) and watch it here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmVPnBfMDsQ)
Check out Los Angeles Bat Rescue (https://www.losangelesbatrescue.org/)and the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve (https://stuntranch.ucnrs.org/)
Explore the UCLA College (https://www.college.ucla.edu/) and UCLA Newsroom (https://newsroom.ucla.edu/)
(https://www.college.ucla.edu/)
(https://newsroom.ucla.edu/)
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