The way we tell scary stories has changed forever. The campfire is now a global network, and new monsters are born from code and pixels. In this episode of Into the World of Urban Legends, we explore the rise of digital folklore.

Join us as we investigate:

• The Birth of Slender Man: Discover the true origin story of the internet's most famous monster, born from a 2009 Photoshop contest, and how he became an "open-source" nightmare built by thousands.
• The World of Creepypasta: What is this new form of user-generated horror, and how does it blur the line between fiction and reality?
• Viral Challenges & Moral Panics: We deconstruct the "Momo Challenge" to understand how legends about dangerous online trends can become more powerful than the trends themselves.
• A New Breed of Legend: Learn what makes digital folklore more potent, participatory, and potentially more dangerous than the classic tales of the past.

To unlock full access to all our episodes, consider becoming a premium subscriber on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. And don’t forget to visit englishpluspodcast.com for even more content, including articles, in-depth studies, and our brand-new audio series and courses now available in our Patreon Shop!

Is your mind just a complex computer made of meat, or is it something more? This episode dives headfirst into one of philosophy's greatest puzzles: Mind-Body Dualism. We'll journey from Descartes' famous "I think, therefore I am" to modern neuroscience, exploring the profound, funny, and sometimes spooky connection between our inner world of thoughts and feelings and the physical brain that houses them. Get ready to question everything you think you know about who—and what—you really are.

A driver picks up a mysterious stranger on a lonely road, who then vanishes from the car. It’s a story told everywhere, but it's never the same story twice. In this episode of Into the World of Urban Legends, we follow the spectral trail of the "Vanishing Hitchhiker" across the globe.

Join us on a journey to:

• Hawaii: Meet Pele, the volcano goddess who appears as a hitchhiker to test the kindness of mortals.
• Latin America: Encounter the terrifying La Llorona, a weeping spirit whose appearance is a moral warning.
• Japan: Discover the sorrowful Yūrei, ghosts of accident victims tied to the place of their death.
• United Kingdom: Investigate the famous Blue Bell Hill ghost, a legend born from a real-life tragedy.

This episode reveals how a single story can act as a mirror, adapting to local landmarks, anxieties, and beliefs, and proving that every culture's ghosts tell us more about the living than the dead.

To unlock full access to all our episodes, consider becoming a premium subscriber on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. And don’t forget to visit englishpluspodcast.com for even more content, including articles, in-depth studies, and our brand-new audio series and courses now available in our Patreon Shop!