13 O’Clock Episode 458: The Skull and Bones Secret Society

29 May 2025 / Jenny Ashford / Leave a comment

Skull and Bones is one of the most well-known and secretive collegiate societies in the United States, founded in 1832 at Yale University by students including William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft (father of President William Howard Taft). Often referred to as “The Order” or “The Brotherhood of Death,” the society selects about 15 Yale seniors each year, typically those who show strong leadership, influence, or prominence on campus. The society is famous for its strict secrecy, mysterious initiation rituals, and exclusive meetings held in a windowless, mausoleum-like building on Yale’s campus known as “The Tomb.” Members, known as “Bonesmen,” maintain lifelong ties and often go on to hold powerful positions in politics, business, and law. Notable alumni include Presidents William Howard Taft, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush, as well as former Secretary of State John Kerry. Because of its secrecy and elite membership, Skull and Bones has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories, with claims of global political influence and connections to the CIA. The society has also been a recurring theme in pop culture, portrayed in books and films such as The Skulls and often cited in discussions of elite American institutions.

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13 O’Clock Episode 33 – Creepy Cults: Children of God, Order of the Solar Temple, and More!

4 Apr 2017 / Jenny Ashford / Leave a comment

Dissatisfied with your life? Seeking some form of spiritual enlightenment and purpose? Feel like giving up all your earthly possessions and living in a compound with a bunch of brainwashed weirdos? Boy, have we got an episode for you! Just kidding, you don’t really want to join a cult (uh…right?), and you REALLY don’t want to join the four disturbing, doomsday cults we’re discussing on 13 O’Clock today. The Order of the Solar Temple, the Children of God, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, and the intertwined Korean cults known as Paradise and the Salvation Sect…these groups had it all, including skeevy, exploitative leaders, wackjob beliefs, criminal activity, and mass murder and suicide. Pour yourself a nice tall glass of Kool-Aid and believe unquestioningly every word that your hosts utter on this revelatory episode of 13 O’Clock. Join us…join us…

Download the audio file from Project Entertainment Network here, or watch the YouTube version here. Also, don’t forget to follow the 13 O’Clock Podcast blog, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

13 O’Clock Episode 26 – Going Underground: Strange Subterranean Discoveries

14 Feb 2017 / Jenny Ashford / Leave a comment

As we merrily traipse down the sunlit city streets of our mundane daily existences, most of us remain blissfully unaware that an entirely different world might lie just beneath our feet. On this episode of 13 O’Clock, Tom and Jenny don their mining helmets, jump in their subterrene, and tunnel deep into the earth to uncover a few of the strange, forgotten wonders that lurk below the surface, including vast underground cities and mysterious tunnel networks, creepy abandoned military bunkers, a priceless lost library possibly hidden beneath a famous landmark, and even a shadowy secret society that gets up to all sorts of delightfully clandestine activities beneath the avenues of one of the world’s great metropolises.

Oh, and yours truly, the Goddess, was also interviewed on yet another rad podcast on the Project Entertainment Network, The Necrocasticon! Topics of discussion included the 13 O’Clock podcast, paranormal and horror writing, and goth in music and culture. Have a listen right here.