

Timesuck with Dan Cummins
Dan Cummins
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 for when you want a quick dose of Timesuck (or need more addictive content to consume while you’re waiting for your next Timesuck!)
And check out the Short Sucks, a new series of 40-60 minute episodes two Fridays a month. These bite-sized stories are perfect for when you want a quick dose of Timesuck (or need more addictive content to consume while you’re waiting for your next Timesuck!)
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 22, 2021 • 2h 18min
236 - The Yosemite Killer and the Abduction of Steven Stayner
We got a wild one today. Today's Suck is really three Sucks in one. There is the abduction of Steven Stayner, the backstory of a notorious pedophile, Kenneth Parnell, and the story of serial killer, Cary Stayner aka the Yosemite Killer. In late 1972, Steven was abducted on the way home from school, at the age of seven, and he wouldn't see his family for another seven years. And that entire seven years, he'd be assaulted by Parnell. And then, after escaping, he'd move back into the room he shared with his older brother, Cary. And years later, Cary Stayner would become a serial killer in Yosemite Park, where the Stayner kids often vacationed. A lot of moving parts in this story, and I think they all come together to form a compelling tale that also involves Bigfoot. Seriously. Thanks for helping Bad Magic Productions give $12,500 this month to the USC Shoah Foundation. Click the link to learn more: https://sfi.usc.edu/
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OGPK_BKuMBc
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Mar 15, 2021 • 2h 16min
235 - Ward MF'n Hall
Today we take a huge deviation for the type of topic we typically cover here on Timesuck. The Space Lizards on Patreon vote on two topics a month through the app, and for today, they voted in my grandfather who passed away back on December 23rd. Probably the most influential person in my life. Today, I cover how the Hall family ended up in Idaho which leads to a history of Idaho settlement. My great-great-grandfather was one of the area's first homesteaders. I also share a lot of stories from my childhood, about central Idaho, and of course Papa Ward. I take you on a timeline of this man's wonderful, inspiring life. He meant a Hell of a lot to me and always will, and I think you'll like the tale of his impressive life. Hail Papa Ward :) Thanks for helping Bad Magic Productions give $12,500 this month to the USC Shoah Foundation. Click the link to learn more: https://sfi.usc.edu/
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ns3yVzMB7Cc
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Mar 8, 2021 • 2h 25min
234 - The Elan School, the Cult of Synanon, and the Troubling Troubled Teen Industry
Founded in 1974 by a man named Joe Ricci, the Elan School was supposed to be someplace where you could send your troubled teen so they could be rehabilitated and put back on the right track. But in reality, it was a cruel and chaotic nightmare where students were constantly being pressured to confess to things they’d done “wrong,” called “guilts,” which often were things as silly and not-wrong as having a crush on someone or smiling too much. At Elan, student was pitted against student in insane psychological mind-games and also pitted against each other physically. And most all of this was perfectly legal. It was considered healthy rehab! And the Elan School wouldn’t close until 2011. Today we use the Elan School as an excuse to explore the rise of the troubled teen industry in the US and how it all sprung out of a cult called Synanon. We also explore how the notion of childhood and parenting has been constantly changing for centuries in an attempt to rationalize why anyone would send their kid to the living Hell of a place like Synanon. Thanks for helping Bad Magic Productions give $12,500 this month to the USC Shoah Foundation. Click the link to learn more: https://sfi.usc.edu/
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ha4MAnii1Yo
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Mar 1, 2021 • 2h 24min
233 - Blackwater and the US Private Military Industry
Blackwater. Now known as Academi. Once known as Xe Services. A private military company. One of many PMCs very active in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first decade of this century. One of many employers of "security contractors" contracted by the Department of Defense, or State Department, or the CIA to work alongside - or sometimes in place of - active military personnel in war zones around the world. What, exactly, do companies like Blackwater do? Is it a good or bad idea to privatize the military? Are PMCs a new thing? When did they become part of the military-industrial complex? We explore these questions and more and also dig into the life of Erik Prince and his family. Erik launched Blackwater, and he and his family seem to be just as controversial as the PMC he ran. A LOT to unpack here today. Hope you find it as interesting as I do. Thanks for helping Bad Magic Productions give $12,500 this month to the USC Shoah Foundation. Click the link to learn more: https://sfi.usc.edu/
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/etGJgW9ekTU
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Feb 22, 2021 • 2h 6min
232 - The Great Emu War
The Great Emu War! Such a weird and fun tale to tell. What an odd historical period. As World War I came to an end, Australia - whose economy was tanking, tried to figure out what to do with their returning veterans. They decided to give many of them parcels of land in Western Australia where they could grow wheat. And then the Great Depression hit. It hit countries all over the world, and few harder than Australia, and it hit few Australians harder than many of those veteran farmers. They now struggled to sell their wheat. And then, the emus started showing up and eating what little wheat they had left! Lots of emus. Around 20,000 of them. Australia’s national bird became a national pest, and desperate farmers reached out to the Australian government for help. They reached out to the Ministry of War. And the government sent them three soldiers, armed with two machine guns and a film crew. Probably should’ve sent in a lot more troops and a lot more guns - the emus were a much more formidable foe than anticipated. We return to the land down under today to suck Australia’s Great Emu War - on this bird-brained, machine gun, invasive creature edition, of Timesuck.Thanks for helping Bad Magic Productions give $12,200 this month to No Kid Hungry https://www.nokidhungry.org/ Click the link to learn more.
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0xFoD4MAMsY
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Feb 15, 2021 • 2h 34min
231 - Dante's Inferno
Dante's Inferno! One of the most influential literary works ever written. Put to parchment in the early 14th century, Dante's opening third of the Divine Comedy presented a clear vision of Christian Hell, wherein nine descending circles, Dante, guided by the ancient Roman poet, Virgil, witnesses various types of sinners receiving poetically fitting forms of punishment. In today's Suck, we learn about the nature of epic poems, layout several examples of epic poems that came before Dante, and learn about who Dante the man was, before accompanying him, circle by circle, on his descent into the underworld where he will eventually meet Lucifer. We also summarize what Dante will encounter in the second and third portions of his Divine Comedy. Getting literary today, on a fire and brimstone, gnashing teeth edition, of Timesuck. Thanks for helping Bad Magic Productions give $12,200 this month to No Kid Hungry https://www.nokidhungry.org/ Click the link to learn more.
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0O42keSWx2Y
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Feb 8, 2021 • 2h 29min
230 - Armenian Genocide
This might be the first episode to get me death threats. The Turkish government does NOT like being accused of genocide, and neither do many of its citizens. But during WW1, genocide is exactly what the Young Turks orchestrated. Roughly 1.5 million Armenians were killed. And between 1900 - 1923, up to 4.3 million Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, and other smaller ethnic groups of Christian were massacred by the Ottoman Empire and their successors committed to the racist and xenophobic ideology of Pan-Turkism. Today's story is a crazy one. The craziest part about it is that it is not more well known. And it is not well known primarily because of Turkey's consistent and constant denial that it ever happened. It is literally illegal in Turkey to accuse the Turkish government of having committed genocide. They have cut off relations with other nations for accusing them of genocide. It's a topic that needs to be talked about more and I hope you are as fascinated by today's information as I am. Thanks for helping Bad Magic Productions give $12,200 this month to No Kid Hungry https://www.nokidhungry.org/ Click the link to learn more.
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Cj6OtU58AQg
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Feb 1, 2021 • 2h 14min
229 - Denver International Airport Conspiracies
The Denver Airport was built by the New World Order. The Denver Airport contains the international headquarters of the Illuminati. Collectively, the Satanic art installations of the Denver International Airport point towards an impending planned apocalypse. The Denver International Airport is built atop a massive underground city built to house the global elite after the lizard Illuminati brings about the apocalypse. These are just SOME of the conspiracies that have floated around on the web regarding DIA since it opened in February 1995. Today on Timesuck, I address these conspiracies and others and then walk through how the accusations are either simply not possible or how there are perfectly reasonable explanations behind aspects of DIA that have been accused of being nefarious in nature. I poke logic holes in many of the conspiracies because I am ONE OF THE REPTILIAN ELITE! JOIN ME WHEN WE SOON GATHER UNDER THE DENVER AIRPORT TO BRING ABOUT A NEW WORLD ORDER! Jk?
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LXLBKybeuXs
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Jan 25, 2021 • 2h 16min
228 - The Strange Story of Serial Killer Israel Keyes
Possibly the most meticulous Serial Killer the world has ever known, Israel Keyes spent years planning murders all across North America. Burying what he dubbed “murder kits” in various locations across the United States, he would travel thousands of miles to uncover a kit, racking up lots of frequent flier and rental car miles - before picking a random victim to slaughter. This careful planning, and the extreme lengths to distance himself from any connection to the disappearances of his victims, kept him from being captured for years. But then, in 2012, he got sloppy and attempted to get $30,000 in ransom money for the safe return of a young barista who lived just a few miles from his house. A barista he'd already raped and murdered. Today's tale is a crazy one. And Israel's murders and other crimes may be the least interesting aspect of his story. He was raised by paranoid, anti-government, white supremacists spiritual seekers and he spent most of his childhood living in a one-room cabin with no electricity or running water, being homeschool by zealots.
Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RVS-50M_Cjw
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

Jan 18, 2021 • 2h 20min
227 - Operation Paperclip: Nazi War Criminals Hired by the United States
In the final days of World War II and in the next few years after the war was over, the U.S. government helped hundreds and hundreds of Nazi Scientists whose knowledge and expertise was deemed crucial to the development of advanced weapons - no matter HOW complicit they were in heinous Nazi activities - to relocate to the States and become integral pieces of the US military-industrial complex. The US wanted them to continue their work on creating atomic bombs, weaponizing plagues, making chemical weapons, and sometimes, even medically experimenting on people in ways that certainly violate the “do no harm” oath that doctors take, to find out either how enemies would be affected by weapons, how US soldiers and civilians might best recover from the devastating effects of their attacks, and more. Evil stuff. We look into who some of the Nazi scientists were today, and also into how the US was crossing plenty of moral lines without their help before and after WW2. Does being really good at science and making important medical and military progress justify committing crimes against humanity? Operation contributions likely changed the outcome of the Cold War - but does that make it right? Treading some murky waters today, as we dive into a morally ambiguous, top-secret, declassified Nazi history edition of Timesuck.Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Aumvi_h-WkQ
Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/ Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89v
Want to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever current page hasn't been put in FB Jail :)
For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)
Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcast
Wanna become a Space Lizard? We're over 10,000 strong! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast
Sign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.