{"podcast":{"title":"MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories","slug":"mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842","podcast_index_feed_id":4894842,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/dloY8UYJ","website_url":"https://ballenstudios.com/","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/3c9c3c2a-a53f-40bd-9d24-bdb387b03fb1/eae76d2b-6d10-4d80-b309-a724ac0340f0/3000x3000/large-sxm-cover-mr-ballen-3000x3000-final.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"MrBallen","episode_count":542,"summary":"MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories is a true crime and mystery podcast that presents strange, dark and mysterious content delivered in story format. The program is hosted by John Allen a.k.a. MrBallen. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes 7-days early and ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-11T14:24:20.687931+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842"},"episode":{"title":"The Invention","slug":"the-invention","published_at":"2026-07-30T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842/the-invention","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842","url":"https://ballenstudios.com/","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/stitcher.simplecastaudio.com/814143cd-09c6-426f-920a-7be9b3dc1506/episodes/9f310dc8-59d6-41d9-b7db-8b6745771705/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=814143cd-09c6-426f-920a-7be9b3dc1506&awEpisodeId=9f310dc8-59d6-41d9-b7db-8b6745771705&feed=dloY8UYJ","summary":"Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about inventions you’ve definitely heard of, but I guarantee you’ve never heard the strange reasons they were actually used or why they were created. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called \"MrBallen,\" and has been remastered for today's podcast.","meta_description":"Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about inventions you’ve definitely heard of, but I guarantee you’ve never heard the strange reasons they were actua…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1526,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842/episodes/the-invention/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842/the-invention.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}