Optophobia

Librarian Sylvia Brown discusses her research into a mid-1970s north Africa earthquake that unleashed what many have since called "the voice of God." The quake triggered a mass, 48-hour bout of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, across much of Eritrea. The U.S. government harnessed that energy and still deploys it on Americans today when, for instance, they're deciding whether or not to eat at Ruby Tuesday's.

Show Notes

Librarian Sylvia Brown discusses her research into a mid-1970s north Africa earthquake that unleashed what many have since called "the voice of God." The quake triggered a mass, 48-hour bout of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, across much of Eritrea. The U.S. government harnessed that energy and still deploys it on Americans today when, for instance, they're deciding whether or not to eat at Ruby Tuesday's.

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Credits:

Eva Lewis played Sylvia Brown. Eva performs with Press Play, White Privilege Black Power, Lena Dunham, NIXON and Colossus. Follow her on Instagram at @evarlewis.

Jamal Newman played Hasaan Gray. Jamal performs with Lena Dunham and NIXON. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @hell0newman, and find him at jamalnewman.com.

Produced by Tim Townsend.

Theme music by Bart Warshaw.

Cover art by Claire Smalley.

Website by Chance Griffin.

Visit us at optophobia.org

What is Optophobia?

Optophobia is the fear of opening one’s eyes. Our show is dedicated to encouraging you — our listeners — to move beyond that fear. To solve riddles they don’t want us to unriddle. To investigate supposedly ironclad truths. To unearth evidence, buried for so long they believed it would stay buried. Each season we tackle a new investigation into what is often dismissively called a “conspiracy theory,” and each week a new guest weighs in. Are you bored by the lies? Open your eyes.