Mini Episode - 1986

In this nostalgic mini-episode of *Hollywood Crime Scene*, hosts Desi and the narrator dive into a curated selection of bizarre and fascinating news stories from California in 1986—coinciding with the host’s birthday year. The episode opens with a wild, five-hour baseball brawl between the Mets and Reds, complete with bench-clearing fights, pitchers playing outfield, and a 14th-inning walk-off homer. The hosts express nostalgia for the raw, unfiltered energy of 1980s sports, where players were more reckless and the game felt more alive. They then shift to lighter, more surreal stories: a group of naturists planning a nude event at Berkeley Marina, a police officer accidentally shooting himself in the buttocks during a drug bust, and a paranormal research group meeting at a Denny’s. The episode takes a serious turn with a report on 'Brainerd Diarrhea'—a chronic illness affecting over 120 people in Minnesota due to raw milk consumption—sparking a debate on food safety and the persistence of anti-pasteurization myths. The hosts also explore a flat Earth conspiracy theory from a 1986 newsletter, a Halloween prank that mimicked Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast, a lawsuit over a noisy Taco Bell drive-thru speaker, and a clown banned from schools for discussing parental drug use in his act. Each story is framed with humor, historical curiosity, and a critical eye on how societal fears and norms have evolved—or failed to evolve—over time.