{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 215 - Dallas Zoo Animal Disappearances, with Kristina Downs","description":"First Ben and Celestia discuss genetically modified potatoes, cougar kitties, and cocaine hippos. Then we are joined by Dr. Kristina Downs of the Texas Folklore Society to talk about a curious case that occurred in January 2023. A series of incidents at the Dallas Zoo escalated from a wandering clouded leopard to a critically endangered vulture turning up dead and a pair of kidnapped monkeys. Along the way we have parody Twitter accounts, cat humor, digs on local nuisances, and rumors of what's REALLY going on at the zoo -- in other words, folklore and conspiracy theories. Then, when the monkeys are found, we see, on a small scale, what happens when crime-solving communities online are faced with a disappointingly mundane answer to their puzzle. ","author_name":"Squaring the Strange","author_url":"http:\/\/squaringthestrange.libsyn.com\/website","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/28880598\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/item\/28880598"}