After 13 years of showing up so you don’t have to, Oh No Ross and Carrie! has come to a close for the foreseeable future. We here at Maximum Fun are so grateful to the show for tackling challenging subjects (along with a few kind of wacky ones), and for showing us all how to approach a conversation with someone whose opinions might differ from our own. We hear this often about MaxFun shows, but many people have told us that this show changed people’s lives for the better.
We hope Ross and Carrie both get some time to rest after hundreds of investigations, but we also know they each have cool stuff in the works. We are excited to see what they do next, and we will keep you posted on any of their future projects.
In the meantime, Carrie and Ross each wanted to share a few words.
From Carrie:
Hello, friends.
I’m sorry to report that – after 13 years – Oh No Ross and Carrie is over, for the foreseeable future.
But first, thank you. Thank you to Ross, the only person I ever obsessed with about one thing (weird ideas and why we have them) for thirteen years. Wow. He is permanently etched into my life story, and I will always hold that. Thank you to the very patient Ian and Victor; to everyone at Maximum Fun (the best podcasting network in the world); and to our guests, experts, and subjects. Thanks most of all to our listeners. You are uniquely thoughtful people. Don’t forget it.
The decision to end the show is the right one for me. Unfortunately, I experienced a traumatic event. I am in PTSD treatment, and I expect it to take some time. I’m also working (as I’m able) on some cool things with Drew, and finishing the trauma book (whoops, that just became more relevant), and you will hear from me again soon. You’ll hear from Ross sooner.
I am really proud of this podcast. Listener James Marion recently told me that ONRAC “radicalizes” the people he shares it with. Toward what?, I asked.
“beyond giving people a passing interest in the subject matter, ONRAC really makes them want to go into the world and either experience similar things or affect similar change.”
I love that. We showed up so you didn’t have to, but you started showing up anyway. If you haven’t yet, you can do this, too. Find the place or person or theory you must see with your own eyes, and show up yourself. Accountability journalism needs more voices. And also, it’s just good practice to actually check things yourself, once in a while.
(If you’re up for that kind of thing.)
You can also just look at the sky,
and read books,
and pet your dog while you have one.
You can reflect on your life and find joy in the small things.
(It’s what you’d want for everyone else, isn’t it?)
I give that all back to you, if you have let it slip away.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here.
I’m sure it was all true,
Carrie
P.S. Sri Harold Klemp still hasn’t visited my dreams ONCE, what the fuck.
***
From Ross:
Hello listeners, it’s Ross here.
I’m very sad to say that after 13 and a half years of investigations and interviews – and a whole lot of fun – Oh No, Ross and Carrie is coming to a close. Certainly for the foreseeable future.
I know, based on the feedback we’ve received over the years, how important the show has been to so many of you. You’ve sent words of encouragement, additional facts, corrections, recommendations, personal insights, and so many of your own deep and complex journeys through the world of belief. I’m really honored that we got to play a part, however small, in YOUR stories. Thank you for letting us know how much this show has meant to you…and I’ll keep doing my best to catch up on messages.
Here’s something positive: our existing episodes – all 420 of them – aren’t going anywhere. They will remain available in perpetuity, and we hope you continue to enjoy and benefit from them.
It’s hard to count just how many investigations we’ve had, since there were often multiple topics or modalities in a single episode or series, but I’ll say it’s roughly 200 investigations and deep dives. That’s everything from Kabbalah, to Mormonism, Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Tarot, Creationism, the Raelians, Astrology, Cupping, Palmistry, 9/11 Truthers, Tony Alamo Ministries, the Aetherius Society, the Queen Mary, Christian Science, the Self-Realization Fellowship, Scientology, Pastor Melissa Scott, Braco the Gazer, Amazing Facts, vaccine denialism, alien contactees, UFOs, Flat Earth, Rythmia and ayahuasca, out of body travel, urine therapy, Eckankar, exorcism, ESP, Earthing, Amma the Hugging Saint, Wim Hof, Girl Defined, channeling, colon cleanses, the Ark Encounter, the Loch Ness monster, TwinRay, Kathryn Krick… and more psychics and predictions than I can shake a stick at. It’s been endlessly fascinating to see the varieties of belief that people hold, and to find the unexpected connections between them. The adventures have been fun, wild, and sometimes even scary. Thank you for joining us on them.
Also, a huge thank you to all of our interviewees and guests who have brought their expertise to the show. I tried to make a rough count, and I swear that number came to 69. I’m sure there’s more than that if I looked more closely, but it did give me a chuckle.
And thank you to Maximum Fun: for being our podcast family and network for the past 10 years. There are so many wonderful people there – I’ll resist naming names because I don’t want to leave anyone out – but they do important work supporting independent artists, and I hope you continue to support them.
I also want to thank our advertisers over the years – I think it’s really cool that some companies choose to use their advertising dollars to support independent media. I’m still rocking my Rothy’s, and Litter Robot, and Quip toothbrush, and SquareSpace… that list also goes on. I’ll just give one final update on my current Best Fiends progress: I’m at level 7,347.
Thank you also to the members of the team we mention all the time: Ian Kremer, Victor Figueroa, and Brian Keith Dalton.
My biggest thanks go to you, the listeners, for engaging with the show, for sharing it with others, and for supporting us with your generosity and words.
But of course… I reserve a whole special and distinct category of thanks for Carrie Poppy. Thank you for being my partner on these investigations, for sharing so many stories, and asides, and so much of yourself on this podcast. It’s a rare person who is interested in these topics, and a rarer person still who will dive into them head first. I’ve learned so much along the way, and I’ll be as excited as everyone else to see where you share your wit, your good humor, your journalistic voice, and your insights with the world.
I’ll have ongoing projects as well, including a new podcast I’m already putting together: very much in the same vein of first-hand investigations on the edge of what science tells us about the world, with a series of guest hosts. I hope to announce it soon. Plus, lots of other really cool content I’m super excited to share.
And remember… in the words of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
Ross
***
On behalf of Maximum Fun, thank you for all of your support of Oh No, Ross and Carrie! over the years. And thank you to Ross and Carrie for being a wonderful part of our network for more than a decade.
Past episodes of the show will continue to be available on the RSS feed and on maximumfun.org for streaming or downloading. If you’d like to keep up with Ross and Carrie and find out about any future projects, stay subscribed to the feed in your podcast app, follow Carrie on Twitter and on Instagram at @carriepoppyyes, and follow Ross on Instagram at @rossblocher. If you are a member who supports Oh No, Ross and Carrie! we will be in touch via email soon with next steps.