meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Box of Oddities

Inbox Of Oddities #81

The Box of Oddities

John Elliott and Kat Walls

Society & Culture, True Crime, Comedy

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rainy days, duplicate receipts, and messages from beyond the veil… this week’s Inbox of Oddities delivers a collection of listener stories that blur the line between coincidence and something far stranger. It starts innocently enough—“soft days,” cozy weather, and comfort films—but quickly spirals into the uncanny. One listener discovers two identical receipts… printed at the exact same moment, yet one appears aged, worn, and carrying the faint scent of cigarette smoke. A glitch? Or evidence that reality might not be as fixed as we think? Then things get weirder. A real-life “boo effect” (or is it a boomerang?) suggests that ideas—and maybe even conversations—don’t always move in a straight line through time. A caterpillar that builds armor from the dismembered bodies of its prey reminds us that nature is often more horrifying than fiction. And somewhere along the California coast, a beautiful, abandoned mansion waits… possibly for its next visitors. But it’s not all eerie phenomena. There are moments of warmth, too—a cat that’s lived nearly two decades, a listener reconnecting with the show after life-altering surgeries, and the quiet comfort of movies and voices that become part of our personal history. And then… the final story. A grieving husband hears a familiar sound in the night: two soft taps on the nightstand—something his late wife used to do every evening before turning out the light. It happens again. Same rhythm. Same unmistakable pattern. Nothing there when he looks. Is it memory? Habit echoing through grief? Or something reaching back across whatever separates us from the people we’ve lost? These are the stories that stay with you—the ones that don’t quite resolve, the ones that linger. Because sometimes the strangest messages don’t arrive loudly… They come quietly. Twice. And then they’re gone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Chris Stewart, and I invite you to come and join us here at the History of China podcast.

0:05.0

We've got it all. Wars with millions on each side to help drive home exactly why you should never get involved in a land war in Asia.

0:11.0

Come along on the Silk Road to partake in its riches. Join the great cons of the steps on campaign.

0:16.0

Ply the seas on treasure ships, or strike out with pirate crews to take their riches for your own.

0:25.3

Experience the sumptuousness of the imperial court behind the guarded gates of the forbidden city.

0:29.1

All this and so much more here at the History of China podcast.

0:36.0

We were having a conversation before we turned the mics on.

0:39.3

Today's kind of a rainy day here in Orlando.

0:40.4

Barry overcast.

0:42.8

Or O-Town West, as we call it.

0:45.3

Or I have from time to time.

0:46.3

Never heard it called that.

0:48.4

So here's the thing.

0:58.0

I found myself trying to describe to you my feelings about rainy days. And a lot of people always paint rainy days as a bummer. You know, rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Rainy days for me, I feel

1:05.8

kind of exhilarated in a way. And I know there's some science behind that, ionized air and that sort of thing,

1:12.4

but it goes deeper than that for me. For some reason, I feel safer during a rainy day.

1:18.4

Well, you've always called them soft days. Soft days. It's my Irish heritage. And I always liked

1:24.4

that description. And I think, I don't know, I don't know if it's evolutionary.

1:29.7

I'm guessing most people don't feel like that or maybe not all people anyway. It's almost like my

1:35.3

body is going, hey, it's raining. There are no, they're not going to be any tigers out there ready to

1:40.3

eat me. Right. Tigers historically, as we all know, don't like rain. They hate rain.

1:46.1

Well, they're cats. Cats don't like water. I would always assume that it's like the thickness of the

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Elliott and Kat Walls, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of John Elliott and Kat Walls and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.