MisInfoNation

Latest Episodes:

Italy: MisInfoNation - Exorcists, The Mafia, and Italian Weather Girls Nov 17, 2020

Show notes

Guisepe Verdi said, you can keep the universe, just give me Italy and if you’ve ever been, you know instantly what he means. Italy seems to have it all. The madness and romance of Rome. The pristine, perfectly colour coded class and style of Milan. The rugged and rich and endlessly tasty islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Cliché wise, Italy is a glaringly obvious choice for one of our MisInfoNation episodes. The whole world thinks it knows exactly what Italy is like. But those clichés can’t all be true. Can they? Is Italy really a country full of tall, dark, mafia-connected, passionate people who love pasta and make some of the best food on earth?

To find out, we’ve called in Milan-born photographer, Dario Flores D’arcais to help us sort through the facts and fiction (stylish fiction, but fiction nonetheless) of that big old beautiful boot jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea - Italia.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit https://www.frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Portugal: Wine, Women, and Resilience in the Douro Valley Nov 10, 2020

Show notes

Portugal’s Douro Valley is one of the toughest places on the planet to grow wine. Steep, terraced hills, treacherous river rapids, and blistering hot summers are a sharp contrast to the rolling hills of Spain’s Rioja or the Cypress-lined country roads of Tuscany. And yet, the Douro is actually the oldest demarcated wine region in the world. And even though a vine plague in the 1800s nearly wiped out every vineyard in the region, the Douro survived.

That’s because the people here are famed for their resilience and ability to repeatedly outsmart nature, no matter what it throws at them. And that goes double for the women. In fact, it was one of the valley’s daughters that saved wine in the region. Who are these remarkable women? What makes the Douro Valley, and its world-class wine scene, so special?

And will the threat of climate change - and now Covid - finally be their undoing?

Passport’s Jennifer Carr invites you to open a bottle and discover a place for wine lovers, warriors, and the women who are changing the face of winemaking - one glass at a time.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit https://www.frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Passport Goes to the Polls Nov 03, 2020

Show notes

The 2020 US presidential election is probably the most important in a century. Everything is at stake: from the health of the world’s most powerful nation to the very nature of truth in the modern world. It’s been a frantic race, with many despairing at the divisiveness of modern US politics. But elections don’t always have to be doom and gloom. This week on Passport we take a look at two elections from around the world which tell us a lot about each country and prove the true power of democracy.

First, to the UK, for a bizarre story about election night, satire and two intergalactic space lords vying to become Prime Minister. In 2019, a character from an obscure 1980s Star Wars spoof known as Lord Buckethead - picture a budget Darth Vader - was resurrected to stand for election. But he had cylindrical headed competition: Count Binface. In a tale which highlights bizarre copyright law and some absurd quirks of UK politics, these two joke candidates faced off against Boris Johnson, proving British comedy goes all the way to the top, and that satire is the best way to bring politicians down to size.

And next, to Uruguay, a tiny country on the Atlantic coast of South America. Well, to a tiny farm in the grasslands outside the capital Montevideo, really. It’s not the most obvious place to look for someone who genuinely changed the world, but on this farm you’ll find Pepe Mujica - an old farmer who ran the country from 2009 - 2015. His story, which saw him transform from anarchist guerilla to peace-loving man-of-the-people president, shows what can happen when pragmatism meets progressive politics.

So, if you’re nervously watching the polls or want some respite from it altogether, come on a journey around the world to see what really happens when the smallest of people speak truth to power.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Stanley Hotel - Part 2: King, Kubrick, and 45 Years of The Shining Oct 29, 2020

Show notes

45 years later, the effect of The Shining on pop culture is undeniable. From writers, to musicians to filmmakers, comedy, and every facet of the artistic world. It’s been praised, parodied, sequeled and more. So in this, the concluding episode of our two-part Halloween stay at the Overlook Hotel, we look at just how far it has gone.

The frontmen of Muder By Death and Devotchka tell us about their surprising musical connection to the novel and the hotel. Historian of hauntings, Rebbeca Pittman, returns to tell us about working there, Room 237 director Rodney Ascher tells us a story you wouldn’t believe, and horror legend Mick Garris tells us about the version of The Shining unfairly forgotten by the world…

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Stanley Hotel - Part 1: The Shining, King, and Kubrick Oct 27, 2020

Show notes

In 2006, Passport host Neil Innes found himself outside the house of Stephen King in Bangor Maine. He didn’t get to meet King that day… but it didn’t change how he felt about his work. A lifelong fan of King and Kubrick, The Shining has always held a special place in his heart. And so this Halloween, Passport traces the legacy of a single nightmare - one that still echoes 45 years later - all the way back to the place it all began: The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.

Stephen and Tabitha King only spent one night in The Stanley - The only guests in an old hotel the night before it closed for the winter. That night, King awoke from a nightmare, smoked a cigarette, and outlined The Shining - one of the biggest horror novels of all time. But that’s not all that happened. King’s The Shining changed the genre, Kubrick’s film adaptation changed horror cinema. But The Stanley has a remarkable story of its own.

In part 1 of Passport's 2-part Halloween special,Neil checks into The Stanley to investigate that story with the people who know it best - historian and writer Rebecca Pittman and filmmaker and paranormal expert Karl Pfeiffer. It’s a ghost story that stretches from 1909 to King’s only night in the infamous Room 217. And for those of you wondering about Room 237, Neil and Andrés also journey into the hedge maze of the definitive adaptation - Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oaxaca: The Day of the Dead, Santa Muerte, and The Witch Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

On this episode of Passport, we go to Oaxaca, the heart of Mexico, to find out what the Day of the Dead really is. It’s history, it’s present and it’s future.

We’ll sit at the dinner table with spirits. We’ll dive into folklore, fables and rituals to see how this celebration has lasted so many life times, through so much hardship, and repression. We’ll hear the stories of the people closest to the festival and discover the power of storytelling, and reinvention of stories in Mexico, that have kept the festival alive. But how can death be so celebrated in a country with such a high mortality rate? And why do people look to this hub of culture, history and creativity for inspiration in dark times, for better or worse?

Plus, we’ll meet a witch who has drawn from the history, used the spirits, a forgotten tradition and the folk music of Mexico to turn it into a powerful forward thinking statement about sex, death and gender.

La Bruja De Texcoco.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vienna: Timothy Leary's Long Strange Trip Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

Vienna is a city of Old World baroque charm, cafés, and waltzes. It consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the world. It’s the city of Mozart, Freud, Klimt, and Strauss. Except this story is less Blue Danube, more Orange Sunshine.

This week, Andrés and guest producer Aisha Prigann plunge into a 1970s acid flashback and return with a tale of mind-expansion, revolutionary politics, and the dangers of meeting your idols. It’s the story of a group of accidental filmmakers getting caught up in a psychedelic act of diplomacy starring the Chancellor of Austria and Timothy Leary, the high priest of LSD on the run from the law. What kind of mad chemistry could have made this happen? And how did the manic sparkle of the 1970s transform Vienna into the city it is today?

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Texas & SpaceX: The Doorstep to Mars Oct 06, 2020

Show notes

On the southernmost tip of Texas, where the US and Mexican borders meet the sea, sits the tiny town of Boca Chica. Surrounded by nothing but wild open scrub land, eight miles of virgin beach and a rich array of wildlife, the twenty-something residents of Boca Chica live in peace and disconnection. Away from the noise of the modern World.

It was that peace and disconnection that Maria Pointer, AKA Boca Chica Maria, and husband Ray sought when they made their plans to settle down and retire in Boca Chica. But dreams of a quiet retirement are to be thrown out the window when new neighbors SpaceX move into town, right outside their bedroom window.

In today’s episode of Passport, we take a very special look at one of the most important journeys we may ever take via a quiet town in the South of Texas. A town which has become the launch pad to new possibilities and discovery for the human race.

The launch pad to Mars.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dubai: The End of ‘The World’ as We Know It? Sep 29, 2020

Show notes

Super Skyscrapers, Lamborghini police cars, streets where it rains 24/7 in the middle of desert… Welcome to Dubai, the UAE’s most populous city and one of the richest and most absurdly ostentatious places in the world. Those stories of diamond encrusted Hummers? They’re all true. It’s the epitome of luxury.

And nowhere is this more true than in the city’s islands. Well, artificial islands to be exact. Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, loves them, and in the mid 2000s he built his most ambitious to date. We’ve been around the world on Passport but now we’ve found the world in one place. ‘The World’ islands, a 300 island archipelago off the city’s coast.

It’s one of the most ridiculous pieces of architectural engineering you’ll ever see, but the story behind them is equally absurd, and incredibly dark. This week we’re headed to Dubai for a story about obscene luxury and how it all gets paid for. The answer? Corruption. On a big, big scale.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Peru: The Real X-Files Sep 22, 2020

Show notes

Peru has everything. Dense jungles, imposing mountains, and a long coastline. A rich history that combines breathtaking Incan archeological sites with the original seats of colonial power on the southern continent. But people also treasure Peru for something else: UFOs.

To those in the know, Peru is the Mecca for unidentified flying objects. Peru’s capital, Lima, even has its very own X Files-style UFO investigations office -- an official department in the Peruvian air force.

Recently the Pentagon released footage of US air force pilots tracking mega-fast unidentified objects that left no vapor trails -- this has been stirring up a lot of mainstream interest.

In Peru, they don’t need much convincing. UFOs are already part of the national psyche The reason? Just the sheer number of sightings and weird goings-on. So are UFOs really visiting Earth? And if so, why have they singled out Peru?

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected