{"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":515,"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":"2026-07-23T16:17:17.056076+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842"},"episode":{"title":"The Traffic Stop (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)","slug":"the-traffic-stop-podcast-exclusive-episode","published_at":"2026-04-13T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories-4894842/the-traffic-stop-podcast-exclusive-episode","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/30926b37-5edf-481a-89ec-8ea9f7fb1afc/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=814143cd-09c6-426f-920a-7be9b3dc1506&awEpisodeId=30926b37-5edf-481a-89ec-8ea9f7fb1afc&feed=dloY8UYJ","summary":"Before dawn in March 1997, a police captain was patrolling the outskirts of a small town in North Carolina. He saw a Jeep parked on the shoulder of the highway with its headlights on. He pulled over, and as he walked closer to the Jeep, he heard the engine running. The driver's side window was rolled down, and there was no one inside. But just then... a cell phone on the passenger seat started ringing.","meta_description":"Before dawn in March 1997, a police captain was patrolling the outskirts of a small town in North Carolina. He saw a Jeep parked on the shoulder of the hi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1917,"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-traffic-stop-podcast-exclusive-episode/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-traffic-stop-podcast-exclusive-episode.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}