Former electrical engineer turned expert in self-reliance and backyard food production, Marjory Wildcraft, has been seen on TV including the show Doomsday Preppers. In the first half, she was joined by agricultural researcher Christian Westbrook to discuss simple methods to cultivate your own food supply, especially during extreme conditions when infrastructure cannot be relied upon. Westbrook contended that the pandemic has been used as a tool to alter food production and implement food shortages, possibly as an "engineered famine scenario." Because we are in a deep solar minimum, and the world has faced increased flooding and droughts, grain supplies have diminished, he noted. This underscores the importance of moving away from corporate agribusiness systems with centralized control, he added, and ensuring our own food supplies.

In addition to stocking up on provisions like rice and beans, Wildcraft suggested that those with a backyard can grow around half of their needed food, with an hour-per-day time commitment. Small areas of the yard can be used to house chicken coops, rabbit hutches, and garden beds, she detailed. Rabbits, in particular, produce the most amount of calories with the least amount of work, she cited, and they are similar to chickens as a meat source. For those squeamish about butchering, she pointed out that it used to be a common skill to process small game. Bill Gates is buying up large amounts of farmland in the US, and Westbrook considers this another sign of "technocratic control." To get away from centralized sources, Wildcraft advocated for more local and regional farmers, feed companies, and meat processing plants.

------------------

Entertainment journalist, author, and pundit, Aaron Sagers is an expert historian and lecturer on the field of paranormal-themed entertainment, also known as "paranormal pop culture." In the latter half, he discussed the paranormal in the time of lockdown and how interest in hauntings and the unexplained are gaining in popularity. This could be because we are home and outside more, and have greater opportunity to observe the unusual. The tragic energy of the pandemic might also drive ghostly awareness and activity, he added. Sagers' TV show "Paranormal Caught on Camera" (about to start its 4th season) features user-submitted footage, "so we are now referencing things that have been recorded and captured during the pandemic," he said.

Sager also hosts a storytelling podcast called NightMerica that explores connections between true crime and the paranormal and delves into ghosts, cryptids, and UFOs. During the last hour, callers shared their paranormal experiences and Sagers offered commentary and analysis. One caller, who'd had a series of odd episodes, wondered if there could be something electrical or paranormal related to his living near a train. Sager suggested looking into the history of the tracks, but that more than a certain place, it's the individual who might be more receptive or tune into otherworldly signals. A woman reported taking something from a loved one's gravesite and then being attacked by an entity. Sagers advised returning the object but noted that one's beliefs could play a big role in such encounters.

News segment guests: John M. Curtis, Charles Coppes