How do you become the Most Hated Woman in America? Kelly and Beth have been trying for nine years, but we still have no trophy with those words. And maybe that's a good thing. Is it worth fighting for what's right and telling the truth if it means in the end you get murdered anyway? Learn about Madalyn Murray O'Hair who won that title according to Time Magazine, back in the era of Phil Donahue and people actually reading Time Magazine. Thanks for listening; it's an act of love, which we need more of these days!

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnMkhk9vAz8.

Anderson, Owen. "Do You Remember Madalyn Murray O'Hair? | Owen Anderson." American Reformer, 7 April 2025, https://americanreformer.org/2025/04/do-you-remember-madalyn-murray-ohair/. Accessed 10 May 2026.

"Become a Member." American Atheists, https://atheists.org/join/. Accessed 10 May 2026.

Lancaster, Katherine, and Clarence B. Garrett. "O'Hair, Madalyn Murray." Texas State Historical Association, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/ohair-madalyn-murray. Accessed 10 May 2026.

"Madalyn Murray O'Hair." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O%27Hair. Accessed 10 May 2026.

Seaman, Ann Rowe. America's Most Hated Woman: The Life and Gruesome Death of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. Bloomsbury Academic, 2005. Accessed 10 May 2026.

America is known for multiple things: apple pie, Mr. T, and school massacres. But the worst massacre of all time is likely one you've never heard of before. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the 1927 bombing of Bath Consolidated Schools that resulted in the deaths of 43 people, mainly children. Just your ever-so-often reminder that while it seems like things are extra terrible now, we've always been pretty shitty.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands.

Cite your sources:

Bernstein, Arnie. Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing. University of Michigan Press, 2009.

"Deepening Farms with Dynamite." Farms.com, 2 Nov. 2017, www.farms.com/reflections-on-farm-and-food-history/historical-articles-archive/deepening-farms-with-dynamite. Originally published in The Farmer's Advocate, 29 Aug. 1912.

Gulliver, Katrina. "Why We Have Forgotten the Worst School Attack in U.S. History." Time, 12 December 2023, https://time.com/4492872/kehoe-attack-history/.

Haddad, Ken. "96 years later: Michigan's Bath School disaster remains deadliest in US history." ClickOnDetroit, 18 May 2023, https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2023/05/16/96-years-later-michigans-bath-school-disaster-remains-deadliest-in-us-history/. Accessed 22 April 2026.

"Survivors Recall 1927 Michigan School Massacre." NPR, 17 April 2009, https://www.npr.org/2009/04/17/103186662/survivors-recall-1927-michigan-school-massacre. Accessed 22 April 2026.

In 1982, seven people died after taking doses of Extra Strength Tylenol, leading to a full-blown and safety standards for over-the-counter meds. To this day, the murders remain unsolved. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss this 1982 mystery and its possible suspects while Beth mispronounces "business ethics" because that's not really a thing.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands.

Cite your sources:

Bergmann, Joy. "A Bitter Pill." Chicago Reader, 2 Nov. 2000, https://chicagoreader.com/news/a-bitter-pill/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.

Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders. Directed by Yotam Guendelman and Ari Pines, Netflix, 2025. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.

Harris, Gardiner. No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson. Random House, 2025.

Locke, Taylor. "Tylenol Orders in Pregnant People Plummeted after Trump Falsely Linked the Drug to Autism." Scientific American, 12 Mar. 2026, www.scientificamerican.com/article/tylenol-orders-in-pregnant-people-plummeted-after-trump-falsely-linked-the/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.

"Searching for Tylenol Murder Suspects." Thirteen / PBS, https://www.thirteen.org/programs/chicago-stories/searching-for-tylenol-murder-suspects-iamsis/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.

Waxman, Olivia B. "The True Story Behind Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders." Time, 26 May 2025, https://time.com/7287680/tylenol-murders-documentary-netflix/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.

"Who Committed the Tylenol Murders? After More Than 40 Years, the Case Remains Unsolved." WTTW Chicago, https://www.wttw.com/chicago-stories/inside-the-tylenol-murders/who-committed-the-tylenol-murders. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.

Winny, Annalies. "The Evidence on Tylenol and Autism." Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 7 October 2025, https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-on-tylenol-and-autism. Accessed 23 March 2026.