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The Box of Oddities

The Box of Oddities

By: Kat & Jethro Gilligan Toth
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The Webby Award-winning “Box of Oddities" is a podcast that delves into the strange and mysterious aspects of our world, exploring topics ranging from bizarre medical conditions to unsolved mysteries, and from paranormal phenomena to strange cultural practices from around the world. With a focus on oddities, curiosities, and the macabre, each episode is a journey into the unknown, where hosts Kat and Jethro Gilligan Toth share their love for unusual stories and inject their humor and commentary. From the strange history of medical practices to chilling true crime stories, to natural (and unnatural) events, "The Box of Oddities" satisfies your thirst for the weird and the unusual, offering an informative and entertaining look into the dark and mysterious corners of our world. JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC-TV says, "Should you be the type who has an interest in weird stuff, this is a fun thing to allow in your head!" “Truth is stranger than fiction, and the Box of Oddities is the strangest of all!” -SLUGGO, SIRIUS XM LITHIUM “Kat & Jethro wring humor from bizarre, macabre and perplexing places.” -BOSTON MAGAZINE© 2023 Eleven Eleven llc Biographies & Memoirs Social Sciences True Crime
Episodes
  • The Devil’s Book, the Zodiac’s Name, and Other Unsettling Truths

    The Devil’s Book, the Zodiac’s Name, and Other Unsettling Truths
    Jan 14 2026
    What if two of America’s most infamous unsolved murders were never separate at all? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Jethro explores a startling new claim that uses artificial intelligence, cryptography, and old-fashioned detective work to suggest a single suspect may link the Zodiac Killer and the Black Dahlia—two crimes long thought to belong to different eras and different monsters. At the center of the theory is the Zodiac’s infamous Z13 cipher, a short, taunting code that promised to reveal the killer’s name and resisted decryption for more than 50 years. A self-taught cold-case researcher applied AI-driven computation to generate and eliminate more than 70 million possible name combinations, cross-referencing them against military records, census data, timelines, and geographic constraints. The result? A single identity with chilling connections to Elizabeth Short, the victim known as the Black Dahlia. Retired detectives and former intelligence cryptography specialists weigh in on why this approach is different—and why it may be the closest anyone has come to a real answer. But that’s only part of the journey. Kat and Jethro also dive into a collection of real human facts that sound completely fake—from the faint light emitted by the human body, to phantom limbs that can feel wet, to why eyewitness memories are far less reliable than we want to believe. Along the way, a Freak Family email reveals how deeply The Box of Oddities can rewire your brain (sometimes permanently). Finally, Kat closes the episode with one of history’s most unsettling books: the Codex Gigas, the largest medieval manuscript ever created. Said to contain the entire Bible, medical texts, exorcisms, and forbidden knowledge—and famously featuring a full-page illustration of the devil—the manuscript’s uniform handwriting and impossible scale raise an ancient question: was this the work of a single monk… or something else entirely? True crime, forbidden manuscripts, unsettling science, and the quiet moment when coincidences stop feeling accidental—this is The Box of Oddities doing what it does best. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    36 mins
  • Shocking Carnival Exhibits and Cambrian Nightmares

    Shocking Carnival Exhibits and Cambrian Nightmares
    Jan 12 2026
    What do carnival sideshows, government paperwork, and half-billion-year-old nightmare creatures have in common? In this episode of The Box of Oddities, Kat and Jethro explore three very different corners of history where certainty was offered in place of understanding—and where things were far stranger than advertised. First, they step into the vanished world of early 20th-century hygiene exhibits: traveling carnival attractions that promised education but delivered fear. Set up alongside Ferris wheels and midway games, these sterile tents used wax models, shock imagery, and moral absolutism to teach the public what would happen if they failed to behave “correctly.” Disease was framed as punishment. Fear wasn’t a side effect—it was the lesson. Then, in a Thing in the Middle, the focus shifts from bodies to paperwork. Kat and Jethro examine bizarre bureaucratic oddities: citizens declared dead while still alive, laws that regulate technologies no longer in use, records preserved on media that can no longer be read. It’s a reminder that systems meant to create order can quietly lose track of reality. Finally, the episode dives deep into the Cambrian Explosion, a brief moment in geological time when life experimented wildly with form. From five-eyed predators to spined worms reconstructed upside-down for decades, these ancient creatures reveal a world where evolution hadn’t settled on any final draft yet—and where “normal” hadn’t been invented. Across carnivals, governments, and deep time, a pattern emerges: confidence without nuance, spectacle over explanation, and the human desire to make complicated worlds feel simple. The tents are gone.The paperwork remains.The creatures are fossilized. But the urge to replace understanding with certainty is still very much alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    38 mins
  • Inbox of Oddities #70

    Inbox of Oddities #70
    Jan 9 2026
    Inbox of Oddities is back with another lovingly chaotic collection of listener stories, strange coincidences, quiet creepiness, and accidental comedy. In this episode, Kat and Jethro share a perfectly timed real-life oddity involving a disappearing blood bus, because sometimes the universe has a sense of humor—and it’s not always kind. From there, the Freak Fam delivers. A childhood bedroom that made everyone feel watched—but never threatened. A night security guard who hears a humming tune no one else should know. A smart speaker that apologizes unprompted at 3:14 a.m. A Nevada rest stop that leaves footprints where no one was standing. And a Maine hunting trip that ends with three missing days, clean boots, and a man who never went into the woods again. There’s also talk of misheard song lyrics, imaginary dream logic, family phrases that make no sense to outsiders, mysterious radio cutouts in hospital parking lots, and the oddly comforting ways this show has woven itself into listeners’ daily lives—from late-night drives to chemo appointments. No monsters. No jump scares. Just rooms that don’t want company, places that feel… aware, and moments that refuse to be explained. Exactly the way we like it. If you enjoy subtle paranormal experiences, uncanny coincidences, listener mail, strange comfort, and humor that sneaks up on you, this one’s for you. Fly that freak flag proudly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    27 mins
All stars
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I love the Box of Oddities Podcast! It's very entertaining and true facts! Kat and JG state where their facts come from. They really do their research.

The best in odd true stories!

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The always make me laugh, and the stories are always interesting, and presented in a fun, engaging way. I listen at work, and they make the time pass quickly.

Love these guys!

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I generally hate Couples, but Kat and Jethro are charming and adorable. Content is almost always interesting. I love That Thing in the Middle. I am always sad when each episode ends.

My favorite podcast ever

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Love the banter and the stories, especially the historical and unexplained mysteries. Keep up the great job.

Listener for a year

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Its always a great time listening to the podcast. The two host keep you hooked and intrested threw their wired and odd topics.

Great podcast.

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