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The Shallow End

198: Super Extreme DUI and the Serial Airline Stowaway

The Shallow End

John Elliott and Lindsay Schnebly

Society & Culture, Comedy, History

4.9 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of The Shallow End with Schnebly and Toth, two unbelievable real-life stories prove that sometimes the most ridiculous headlines are absolutely true. First, we head to Skull Valley, Arizona, where a sheriff’s deputy responds to a strange crash and discovers a driver who insists he’s “totally perfect”… despite crashing into a guardrail and somehow getting his finger stuck inside a can of White Claw hard seltzer. The situation only gets worse when authorities determine the driver is well beyond the legal alcohol limit—earning himself one of Arizona’s rare “super extreme DUI” charges. It’s a bizarre collision of questionable decisions, desert highways, and the world’s least helpful beverage container. Then the story shifts from roadside chaos to the friendly skies with the surreal case of Svetlana Dali, a woman who has repeatedly managed to board international flights without a ticket, boarding pass, or passport. Yes—she simply blended into boarding groups and walked onto planes headed across the Atlantic. Not once… but multiple times. How does someone bypass airport security, TSA checkpoints, and airline gate agents to become a transatlantic stowaway? The answer may reveal something deeply strange about how security—and human behavior—actually works. Along the way, Schnebly and Toth wander into their usual philosophical territory, including why airports make perfectly innocent travelers feel like criminals, how confidence can get you almost anywhere, and why every trip through TSA feels like a scene from a dystopian thriller. From White Claw–related highway chaos to international airline stowaways, this episode explores the strange places where human behavior meets unbelievable circumstance. Welcome to The Shallow End, where true stories prove that reality is often stranger—and far funnier—than fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Grownups, if there's a child in your life who is interested in, curious about, or fascinated by people in places from history,

0:07.5

then my podcast, The Past and the Curious, might just be a hit in your home.

0:12.4

From the invention of microscopes to world-traveling dogs, to fashions of the 1890s, gold rush ghost towns,

0:18.8

and audiences going wild for walking competitions, we've got a little

0:23.5

bit of it all. Hosted by Children's Author and Museum educator Mick Sullivan, that's me,

0:29.1

the show is fun, funny, engaging, honest, and beloved by kids and parents alike. Find the past

0:35.4

and the curious at all the usual podcast places.

0:39.9

No one hates history. They just haven't found the right teacher yet. Or in this case,

0:44.1

a nerdy best friend who loves to tell you all about world history, women's history, and weird

0:48.3

history. Hi, I'm TK., the creator of For the Love of History Podcast, a place for people who want

0:53.5

to learn more but don't know where to a place for people who want to learn more,

0:54.3

but don't know where to start,

0:55.8

and history lovers who want to break from the mainstream.

0:58.4

From rat trials to warrior women,

1:00.3

we cover topics from every country and era.

1:03.2

Whether you're a history expert or just starting out,

1:05.6

there's a place for you here in the Time Machine.

1:07.4

So join me every Friday on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube for a

1:12.7

brand new topic. See you there. Bye.

1:16.8

It began long ago. Two young boys in an American town riding their bikes to school and

1:23.1

Little League practice. Over the years, the boys became fast friends, united in their love

1:29.5

for stories where things would go horribly wrong. Pour yourself a strong beverage and buckle

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