Timesuck with Dan Cummins

byDan Cummins

ComedyEducationSocietyCulture

Jump down new rabbit holes with Timesuck, the weekly podcast that takes you on a fascinating and bizarre journey through history’s darkest corners, most shocking conspiracies, and wildest true stories. Hosted by acclaimed standup comedian and storyteller Dan Cummins, each episode blends dark humor with deep research to uncover hidden truths about infamous historical figures, unsolved mysteries, notorious serial killers, and more. If you crave the weird, the wild, and the unexpected, Timesuck is your next obsession! And check out the Short Sucks, a new series of 40-60 minute episodes two Fridays a month. These bite-sized stories are perfect fo...

Episodes(40 episodes)

Short Suck 62: From Mom-and-Pop to Mega-Corporations: The Transformation of America’s Food Industry

How did a nation built on local farms and family businesses become dependent on a handful of massive corporations for most of its (now mostly processed) food? In this week's Short Suck, we investigate the surprising evolution of the American food industry over the past century, from mom-and-pop markets to mega-distributors, exploring how convenience, consolidation, and ultra-processed foods quietly transformed what ends up on all of our plates. For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information...

Published: Jul 24, 2026Duration: 1h 7m 16s

516 - Murder at 100 MPH: The Mackenzie Shirilla Case

A quiet Ohio suburb is shattered when a 17-year-old girl, Mackenzie Shirilla, drives nearly 100 miles per hour into a brick wall, killing her boyfriend and a close friend while somehow surviving herself. Was it a tragic accident, a medical emergency, or a carefully calculated act of murder? This week, we examine the evidence, the trial, the toxic relationship at the center of it all, and the questions that continue to divide people over the case. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of...

Published: Jul 20, 2026Duration: 2h 21m 50s

515 - Fort Hood: Murders, Mysteries, and Silence

For years, Fort Hood has been plagued by an unsettling string of murders, disappearances, suspicious deaths, and allegations of institutional failure that have left grieving families searching for answers. This week, we dive into the history of one of America's largest military installations, explore the cases that brought it under national scrutiny, and examine the competing theories—from leadership failures and violent crime to cartel rumors and even whispers of something more sinister. What's been going on at Fort Hood... and why? Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v <p...

Published: Jul 13, 2026Duration: 2h 31m 45s

Short Suck 61: Why Are Nordic People So.... Happy?

For over a decade, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden have consistently ranked among the happiest nations on Earth—but why? We dig into the research behind the World Happiness Report, separate fact from political myth, and explore whether strong social safety nets, low governmental corruption, public trust, and the Nordic model of government really do create happier lives. Along the way, we also examine the decades of propaganda, misconceptions, and ideological battles that have shaped how many Americans think about Scandinavia—and ask what lessons, if any, the United States should take from the world's happiest people. Fuck yeah...

Published: Jul 10, 2026Duration: 1h 5m 12s

514 - Carl Tanzler: Romantic... Necrophiliac?

In Key West, Florida during the Great Depression, an obsessed German radiology technician, Carl Tanzler, became convinced that a dying young woman named Elena de Hoyos was his supernatural soulmate. After her death, his delusion led him to commit one of the most bizarre and disturbing acts of grave robbery in American history. We explore the strange intersection of obsession, tuberculosis, embalming, mental illness, and necrophilia in yet another dark, weird, and fascinating episode. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of th...

Published: Jul 6, 2026Duration: 2h 58m 36s

513 - The Dark Strangler: Serial Killer Earle Nelson

For at least sixteen months in the 1920s, Earle Nelson terrorized North America, murdering at least twenty-two women while drifting from city to city under false identities. Known as the Gorilla Man and the Dark Strangler, Nelson was a deeply disturbed sexual predator whose life was marked by childhood tragedy, mental illness, brain injury, prison sentences, and multiple escapes from psychiatric institutions. This is an especially wild one. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to...

Published: Jun 29, 2026Duration: 2h 26m 4s

Short Suck 60: The Mystery of the Yuba County Five

In February of 1978, five friends left a college basketball game in Northern California and seemingly vanished into thin air. Months later, four of them were found dead deep in the wilderness, miles from their abandoned car, while the fifth remained missing. Nearly fifty years later, the Yuba County Five remains one of America's strangest unsolved mysteries—a baffling case filled with unexplained decisions, bizarre clues, and theories ranging from tragic misadventure to murder and conspiracy. For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz co...

Published: Jun 24, 2026Duration: 1h 0m 4s

512 - The Stonewall Riots

On June 28th, 1969, New York City police expected another routine raid on a gay bar. Instead, they found a community that had finally had enough. This week, we explore the long history of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution in America, the explosive events of the Stonewall Riots, and how a few nights of resistance helped ignite the modern fight for queer liberation. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" to...

Published: Jun 22, 2026Duration: 2h 41m 34s

511 - The 1991 Austin Yogurt Shop Murders

On a December night in 1991, four teenage girls gathered at an Austin frozen yogurt shop for what should have been an ordinary evening of work, pizza, friendship, and weekend plans. Instead, they became the victims of one of the most brutal and baffling crimes in Texas history - a case that shattered Austin's sense of safety and led to further tragedy. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the...

Published: Jun 15, 2026Duration: 2h 36m 50s

Short Suck 59: The Alligator Man aka The Butcher of Elmendorf

Long before serial killers became podcast and true crime doc celebrities in the US, there was Joe Ball: a bootlegger, bar owner, womanizer, and suspected murderer who kept a pit full of hungry alligators behind his Texas tavern. In the late 1930s, as women connected to Ball began disappearing one after another, rumors spread that "The Alligator Man" wasn't just feeding stray animals to his reptiles—he might have been feeding them people... For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pc...

Published: Jun 12, 2026Duration: 49m 59s

510 - Black Death: The Bizarre Kidnapping of Chloe Ayling

A young British glamour model flies to Milan for what she believes is a routine photo shoot in 2017 — and vanishes into one of the strangest kidnapping cases in modern true crime history. Drugged, stuffed into the trunk of a car, and allegedly marked for sale on a dark web sex auction by a shadowy group called “Black Death,” Chloe Ayling’s story quickly spiraled into an international media frenzy filled with bizarre twists, contradictory behavior, and public skepticism. Was she the victim of a real human trafficking plot, the target of a delusional criminal fantasy, or part of an elaborat...

Published: Jun 8, 2026Duration: 2h 21m 32s

509 - 13 Hours of Terror: The 2020 Nova Scotia Massacre

In April of 2020, while the rest of the world fixated on the terrifying early days of the Covid pandemic, a 51-year-old denturist in rural Nova Scotia launched one of the deadliest mass shootings in North American history — murdering 22 people across 13 horrifying hours while disguised as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. We dive deep into the shocking failures, bizarre details, and devastating human stories behind these attacks: a case involving fake police cars, burning homes, biker gang rumors, domestic violence, smuggling, and a law enforcement response so chaotic it still fuels outrage and conspiracy theories years later. Me...

Published: Jun 1, 2026Duration: 2h 19m 34s

508 - John of God: Ghosts, Grift, and Psychic Surgery

For decades, hundreds of thousands of desperate people (maybe even millions) traveled to rural Brazil seeking miracles from João Teixeira de Faria — better known as “John of God” — a self-proclaimed psychic surgeon who claimed spirits healed others through his body. But behind the stories of supernatural cures, celebrity endorsements, and spiritual enlightenment lurked allegations of fraud, manipulation, and horrific abuse. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious"...

Published: May 25, 2026Duration: 2h 28m 43s

Short Suck 58: Roaring! Spinning! Winning! The Rise of the Big Wheel

Before helmets, hoverboards, and helicopter parenting… there was the Big Wheel. Louis Marx and Company turned a low-slung plastic tricycle into one of the most iconic - and unexpectedly controversial - toys in American history. From glorious downhill drifts and neighborhood wipeouts to lawsuits, broken bones, and adult underground Big Wheel racing leagues, this is the wild story of the toy that taught generations of kids that danger and fun were sometimes the exact same thing. For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an Ad...

Published: May 22, 2026Duration: 58m 30s

507 - Finding The Lost City of Z: Percy Fawcett's Suicide Mission

What began as a search for a mythical city hidden deep within the Amazon became an obsession that consumed famed British explorer Percy Fawcett. In 1925, convinced that an advanced lost civilization known only as “Z” truly existed, Fawcett led a small expedition that included his oldest son into one of the deadliest environments on Earth… and vanished forever. What happened to them? And does Z exist? Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and sear...

Published: May 18, 2026Duration: 3h 12m 2s

506 - The Charmer: Serial Killer George Russell

Big episode today! There were just too many interesting details out there about George Russell to cut out. Such a strange, unique, and ultimately terrible human being who is alive and in prison right now for some brutal murderers he committed in the summer of 1990 in Bellevue, Washington. Also, if you're a fan of Black Angus steakhouses, you will never think of them the same way after this week. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go dir...

Published: May 11, 2026Duration: 3h 7m 35s

Short Suck #57: Return to the Land: The Ravenden Experiment

Deep in the Ozarks, outside a tiny Arkansas town, a group of white nationalists believe they’ve found a legal loophole to resurrect segregation in America. They call it Return to the Land — a “traditionalist” community built around shared values, shared land… and shared race. Will they be shut down? Or will the be allowed to have, essentially, a new Sundown town? For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal da...

Published: May 8, 2026Duration: 1h 9m 21s

505 - Drowned by the Horizon: Japan’s 2011 Tsunami Nightmare

On March 11th, 2011, the ground beneath Japan didn’t just shake—it unraveled, releasing one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. Minutes later, the ocean rose in response, surging inland with unstoppable force, swallowing towns, families, and entire futures in a matter of moments. What followed was not just a natural disaster, but a cascading nightmare of water, fire, and radiation that left a nation forever changed. This is the story of the day the horizon turned against humanity—and the terrifying cost of underestimating nature. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https...

Published: May 4, 2026Duration: 2h 17m 39s

504 - Blizzard of Lies: The Karen Read Murder Trials

A blizzard, a body in the snow, and a case that’s divided a town—and the internet. In this episode, we break down the mysterious death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe and the explosive murder trials of Karen Read, where accusations of drunken rage collide with claims of a massive police cover-up. What really happened on Fairview Road… and who, if anyone, is telling the truth? Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v Want to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly t...

Published: Apr 27, 2026Duration: 2h 44m 22s

Short Suck #56: Triple Axel, Triple Chaos: The Rise and Fall of Tonya Harding

Tonya Harding went from landing one of the hardest moves in figure skating history to being at the center of a real-life “what the hell were you thinking?” crime. This episode unpacks her rough upbringing, explosive relationships, and the unbelievably sloppy plot that turned Olympic dreams into tabloid infamy. Talent, dysfunction, and absolute chaos—this story's got it all. For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advert...

Published: Apr 24, 2026Duration: 1h 6m 17s