Northwest disappearances, lake monsters and a mystery soda machine.
Olympia Oddities mixes case episodes on unsolved disappearances in Washington and Idaho with Side Show installments, where Trista Heenan swaps life updates, case follow-ups and news of a mystery soda machine. The greeting is breezy, but the case work stays anchored in names, places and what investigators turned up.
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'What is up, my dudes?' is how Olympia Oddities says hello, and the show keeps that easy footing even when the subject is an unsolved disappearance. Host Trista Heenan runs two kinds of episode. The case episodes carry the true-crime weight: disappearances from Washington and Idaho, told with attention to names, places and the order things happened. 'The Disappearance of Archer Ray Johnson' is set in Brooklyn, Washington, where a man vanished under strange circumstances after spending the day chopping firewood. Ten days later, his brother Earl and Earl's wife Rosa asked investigators whether they could redo their statements. They said they feared for their safety and suggested Archer may have been taken in a case of mistaken identity, then declined to say more. Investigators also asked about tire tracks that matched Archer's truck, which had been found near the place he vanished. 'The Disappearance of Jeramy Burt' turns to Idaho and 2007. Before pulling out of his dad's driveway in Boise, he showered and changed into a nice shirt and jeans, saying he was off to see a friend about hunting. The next day brought hang-up calls and texts saying he was leaving to start a new life, and Kim, who received them, did not believe he had sent them. Heenan lays that one out in three parts: the man's life, the investigation, and theories from investigators and from his family, with a Boise police detective's comments to the Idaho News along the way. Then there is the Side Show. These episodes are chattier and more personal, and they go wherever life has gone lately. 'Side Show: SuperGame' covers the nerves of rehearsing for a first burlesque performance and the surprise of an electric drum set, which Heenan connects to playing Beat Saber in VR. 'Side Show: Weird Washington Laws' includes a hot take on the solar eclipse, which Heenan did not look at once, and an update from a mystery soda machine that posted on its Facebook page for the first time in years. 'Side Show: Captured By Robots' starts with a follow-up on Christopher Hart Bridgman Jr., who disappeared from the Lacey Motel in the 1960s during a custody visit, then moves on to a chairlift ride at Summit at Snoqualmie where Rob had to talk the host down from panic more than once. Heenan also credits Rob with some sticker-based marketing on that lift. The show gets out into the world as well: 'Summerween Live Show' was recorded at Odds and Ends in downtown Olympia to see off summer and welcome spooky season, with a return to a favorite lake monster first covered in 2019. The pitch that night was bizarre fun facts fit to ruin a family function, which sums up the show's spirit about as well as anything. Closings are unfussy: requests for reviews and shares, one suggestion to go out into a field and yell about the show, and a warm 'until next time, friends.'
Made for: Suits a listener who wants unsolved Washington and Idaho disappearances laid out in a clear order, and who enjoys hearing about the host's burlesque nerves, chairlift panic and local curiosities alongside the cases.
What sets it apart: It is tied closely to place, from the Lacey Motel to a mystery soda machine to a live show at Odds and Ends in downtown Olympia. Its Side Show episodes put case follow-ups next to the host's own life instead of keeping the two apart.
Tales of PNW based true crime, paranormal events, alien encounters, cryptid tales, and other oddities.
A live Ogopogo retelling meets Trista's bedroom-floor plane hijacking story; your curiosity covers ground.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm live cryptid episode where Ogopogo, bog horror, and a raptor-claw detour share the stage.
This live Olympia Oddities episode gives Ogopogo more texture than the usual lake-monster retelling. Trista Heenan follows the alleged creature through Lake Okanagan folklore, its ties to Indigenous tradition, its later life as a campy roadside draw, and the sheer scale of the…
A relaxed return episode where rain, drumming, and animal-centered local stories carry the warmth.
Side Show: SuperGame brings the host back after time away, starting with a personal catch-up before easing into true crime and odd local stories.
A loose, funny trip through eclipse skepticism, a recovering soda machine, and one unusually talkative crow.
Olympia Oddities frames Northwest weirdness less as a dossier than as a passing weather system, beginning with the host's stubborn lack of awe over the solar eclipse and a memory of bargain eclipse glasses that once felt suspect.
A case update grounds a candid Olympia Oddity's Sideshow return, with a chairlift panic adding a vivid personal detour.
Christopher Hart Bridgman Jr.'s disappearance gives this return to Olympia Oddity's Sideshow its true-crime center, but the episode gets its texture from how that story sits beside the host's present-day life.
Evidence first, rumors on trial.
Olympia Oddities records a live Summerween show at Odds and Ends in downtown Olympia, Washington, and Trista Heenan centers the night on Ogopogo, the lake monster of Lake Okanagan in British Columbia.
["A Centralia pursuit ended when a stolen-car suspect ditched the vehicle, stole a kayak, and fled into the Chehalis River.", "Trista also recounts Rob finding a baby bird on hot concrete, feeding Gregory cat food every 15 to 20 minutes, and delivering him to a Bainbridge Island rescue.", "She spends part of the episode on Super Game in Oregon, where rain turned the campsite into mud, a collapsing boot forced an early exit, and a first confirmed paintball hit came after she bought cleats from a neighbor.", "The roundup also covers Tony Gilbertson's world elk calling title, Herman the sturgeon's 80-ish birthday at Bonneville Fish Hatchery, and a Tonya Harding dress auction starting at $3,000."]
Olympia Oddities' Side Show opens with the host skipping the solar eclipse and then pivots to a Pacific Northwest oddities roundup built from King 5, The Chronicle, KOIN, The Oregonian, and the Tri-City Herald.
Olympia Oddities' Sideshow opens with a Christopher Hart Bridgman Jr.
Olympia Oddities examines Archer Ray Johnson's 1986 disappearance near Oakville, Washington, after his truck was found with its door open and keys in the ignition.
Olympia Oddities' "Side Show: PNW Cryptid Showdown" ranks 16 regional creatures, placing the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus first, Batsquatch third, Bigfoot seventh, and the Thunderbird sixteenth.
A Lacey police-scanner report says a man allegedly tried to pay for a drive-through order with meth.
Olympia Oddities host Trista recounts how Horizon Air baggage handler Richard Russell took a 76-seat Bombardier Q400 from SeaTac on August 10, 2018.
This episode explores the urban legend of Polybius, a supposedly addictive and mind-controlling arcade game from the early 80s in Portland, involving the Men in Black.
This episode covers the bizarre unsolved disappearance of Bryce LaSpisa, a college student from Illinois who vanished under strange circumstances.
The hosts discuss the controversial story of the diphtheria antitoxin delivery to Nome, Alaska, and whether Balto truly deserves the credit.
The host shares a funny ghost story and then delves into the history of cattle mutilations, from the first recorded instance to modern-day cases.