Messy Minded Podcast

About Messy Minded Podcast

Messy Minded is a podcast for curious people with slightly chaotic minds. Hosted by Jess — researcher, overthinker, and your cartoon-brained friend — each episode dives into a weird, true story that hijacked her attention for the week. From internet scams and historical fraudsters to Viking settlers, liars, secret societies, and secession attempts, Messy Minded blends real research with offbeat storytelling. To start, you’ll get episodes on: The Founders of Iceland Lying Internet Scams US Secessions Attempts Secret Societies and more recently: The Digital Afterlife Axolotl’s and UAP’s! Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Messy Minded

Category

comedy · education · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Jun 2025

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

43 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Re-Minded: Samhain

   This episode is a Messy Re-Minder! We're kicking off spooky season by reaching back through the thinning veil and dragging one of last year's Halloween episodes back into the land of the living. Originally released in 2025, this episode explores Samhain, its traditions, folklore, and its connection to the Halloween we know today. It's Halloweens origin story! Ever wonder why we carve faces into vegetables, hand candy to small pirates, and light fires to celebrate the dark? Turns out, Halloween didn’t start with chocolate — it started with Samhain, a Celtic festival where the veil thinned, the fairies roamed, and people wore disguises just in case something noticed them back. In this episode, I tumble headfirst into the weird, wonderful history of Halloween — from druids and divine wars to bonfires, banshees, and the night the fairies basically handed humanity the keys to the world. Grab your pumpkin spice and a flashlight — things are about to get folklorically flammable. https://shows.acast.com/messy-minded-podcast https://www.instagram.com/messymindedpod/ https://www.tiktok.com/@messymindedpod https://www.youtube.com/@MessyMindedPod Sources: Encyclopædia Britannica, “Samhain” – britannica.com/topic/Samhain Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996) National Museum of Ireland, “The Festival of Samhain” – museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Country-Life/Exhibitions/Folklife-Collections/The-Festival-of-Samhain Library of Congress, Headlines & Heroes Blog: “The Origins of Halloween Traditions” – blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/10/the-origins-of-halloween-traditions History.com Editors, “History of Halloween” – history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween Wikipedia, “Samhain,” “All Saints’ Day,” and “Cottingley Fairies” – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies BBC, “The Truth About the Cottingley Fairies” – bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42456384 Leeds University Library Galleries, The Cottingley Fairies: A Study in Deception – artsandculture.google.com/story/lgVB6Ceti9WVAw Music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Sosin Mykola "Halloween Spooky Eerie Music", Mykola Sosin "Mystery Mystic Mystical Music" and "Eerie - Wizard Mystery Music", MMAudio for "Chasing Faries", Hits Lab - Levgren Poltavsky " Halloween Background Music" and War Battle Military Drums", "Hunters of darkness epic and mystical fantasy music", Leigh Robinson " Alban Arthan (The Druids Christmas", scary horror creepy music, "Secret Room" #Samhain #HalloweenHistory #Celtic #Folklore #Halloween #SpookyHistory #SpookySeason #MessyMindedPod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   17 Sept 2026

   The Little Prince

   In this episode, Jess revisits Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince—a deceptively simple children’s story about imagination, loneliness, love, grief, and the peculiar little prisons adults build for themselves. We’ll consider what the prince learns from his rose and the fox, how Saint-Exupéry’s turbulent marriage and dangerous life as an aviator may have shaped the story—and whether the Little Prince was ever really there at all. This episode began with a well-loved family copy of the book that has already passed through several hands and will someday be read to another generation—complete with memories, inscriptions, Cheeto-dusted fingerprints, and an original rock song tucked inside. Note: This episode discusses the complete story, including its ending, as well as themes of death and grief. To hear William Lorentz's full song "Kate", follow this link: https://youtu.be/3E3OxV7xMdo?si=Qix1Tz-Bu6gtMLYi Big thank you for the artist who allow us to borrow their talent for music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Tunetank for "Quirky Children Music", Alex Grohl for "Tension", The Mountain for "Quirky Sneaky Comedy" "funny Comedy Kids", Geoff Harvey for "Spellcraft", Nikita Kondrashev for "Cosy, Quirky, Comedy", and of course - William Lorentz for "Kate". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   3 Sept 2026

   The Great Emu War

   In this Messy Morsel, Jess explores the true story behind Australia’s Great Emu War, including the desperate former soldiers farming difficult land during the Great Depression, the military operation that became a national embarrassment, but also a fun story for ages! Have a strange, overlooked, or completely ridiculous true story you’d like Jess to research? Send it to MessyMindedPod@gmail.com (mailto:MessyMindedPod@gmail.com). If it becomes an episode, you can be credited for the idea on the show. Follow Messy Minded for curious true stories, historical oddities, deep dives, Messy Morsels, and the occasional guest—with the odd side quest. Sources and further reading National Archives of Australia: Environmental issues from the not-so-distant past — “Emu wars” (https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/environmental-issues-not-so-distant-past) Murray Johnson, Journal of Australian Studies: “Feathered Foes”: Soldier Settlers and Western Australia’s “Emu War” of 1932 (https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ%3A265257) Australian Geographic: Looking Back: Australia’s Emu Wars (https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/nature-wildlife/2016/10/australias-emu-wars/) National Library of Australia, Trove: “War on Emus,” October 21, 1932 (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/214640132) National Library of Australia, Trove: “Emu War,” November 7, 1932 (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/179536818) National Library of Australia, Trove: “Emu War Still On,” November 9, 1932 (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128938827) National Library of Australia, Trove: “New Strategy in a War on the Emu,” July 5, 1953 (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18516559) Big thank you for the artist who allow us to borrow their talent for music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", The Mountain for "Quirky Sneaky Comedy" and "Quirky Sneaky", Hits Labs for "War Battle Military Drums" , and Geoff Harvey for "Busy Bees" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

296

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 28 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

17

Social presence

0

YouTube

64

Engagement

32