BREAKING: Midwest Furfest 2014 chemical attack – new findings by Fur And Loathing podcast
by Patch O'Furr
May 6, 2024: The first episode of Fur and Loathing is HERE.
Think you’ve heard everything about the 2014 chemical attack on Midwest Furfest? Wait until you hear this.
The intentional release of chlorine gas sent 19 people to the hospital. It was one of the largest chemical weapons terrorist attacks in American history.
Who did it? And… why?
The targets deserve to know, because they were lucky to survive. The weapon’s deadly potential was only avoided by fast response. The level of crime fell just behind the 2001 anthrax attacks, but strangely, nobody was ever charged for it. The story faded into underreporting, disrespect towards the community, murky rumors, and hopes that it won’t happen again. There’s pride in resilience — but 10 years later, justice wasn’t served. It’s the biggest cold case in furry fandom.
The case revived when investigation by Dogpatch Press drew journalist Nicky Woolf and Project Brazen to seek FBI records, identify suspects, and fly across America to interview sources. Nicky is a journalist who reports on internet culture, with stories in The Guardian, and his original podcast series Finding Q and The Sound: Mystery of the Havana Syndrome. Nicky and Brazen’s series Fur And Loathing delivers never-before reported findings to empower the community.
EXCLUSIVE: Nicky Woolf’s introduction for Dogpatch Press
We discuss what was uncovered, Nicky’s work, earning trust among furries, and more. (This is off the cuff and unedited.)
Fur and Loathing is a Furry True Crime podcast of six episodes, releasing weekly.
Thank you to Nicky for his dulcet tones, and Brazen’s super pro team with Max, Lucy, and all who supported investigation that other media didn’t do (besides Vice and the Worst Year Ever podcast.) It was incredible to get first look at their progress, such as matching FOIA document releases with open-source findings.
FYI… we know the title was taken for a TV show episode a long time ago. Nothing else fit so well, so we’re taking it back.
Announcement at Variety and Trailer:
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Grateful for the investigative reporting being done. Favor to ask: transcript to go with the video? Sometimes hard to hear when someone speaking in a fursuit head; also, Nicky’s accent is a bit heavy and hard to understand at times. Transcripts are very helpful. Thanks for reading.
Sure, thanks for asking! I knew it was a raw video… We made it on the fly the other day by just barely squeezing in time, I usually don’t do video or interviews and don’t have a pro mike. Let me make time to include this, maybe with an update for episode 2.