In the first half, economist and author Harry Dent warned listeners of an imminent economic collapse he believes will surpass the severity of the Great Depression. He argued that the US economy has been artificially sustained through government intervention since the 2008 financial crisis. "$31 trillion, I calculate, has been poured in over the last 17 years," he noted. According to Dent, this manufactured stability has created an unsustainable bubble across the financial market. He claimed current stock valuations are "the most overvalued in history," comparable only to the dot-com crash of 2000-2002 and the Great Depression of 1929-1932. "These are once in a lifetime events, typically, and I think we're about to see one," he said.
Dent foresees a crash beginning as early as this fall. "If it's peaked here, it should happen between July and October, and it'll be a sharp crash," he predicted. He estimated stocks could fall 90 percent on the S&P 500 and 95 percent on the Nasdaq, returning to 2009 lows. Real estate, he warned, faces even steeper declines. "Housing's going to go down back to the 2012 lows there, that's 60 to 70 percent," Dent asserted, adding that expensive markets like California and New York could see sharper losses. He advised listeners with paid-off homes to sell now: "You want to sell the one you got that you paid off... you don't want to lose that equity."
Despite his grim forecast, Dent framed the coming crash as an opportunity for those who prepare. "You'll never make money quicker than getting out of a bubble like this and then reinvesting at what I call 'the sale of a lifetime' on all financial assets," he said, predicting a strong buying opportunity within two to three years for real estate, stocks, and cryptocurrency. "We need a good recession once a decade," he insisted. "Recessions help the economy throw out all the companies that didn't do so well."
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In the second half, investigative historian and author William G. Krejci discussed his research into Cleveland's urban lore, ghost legends, and forgotten history. Krejci's interest in the paranormal began at age 5 when his parents drove past the notorious Franklin Castle. He eventually served for six years as the resident historian of the four-story sandstone structure, built between 1881 and 1883. While Krejci noted that much of the castle's popular backstory—including rumors of mass executions and Nazi spies—is myth, he experienced undeniable activity while living there.
During his first year at the castle, Krejci heard loud crashing noises coming from a pitch-black room downstairs. Upon investigating with a friend, he discovered a heavy sheet of plywood lying in the middle of the room and a six-foot step ladder thrown clear across to the opposite wall. On another occasion, he woke up to a chilling visual phenomenon in his third-floor bedroom. "I'm staring at this bluish-white light," he said. "It takes on the face of a man with big sideburns, staring at me." Krejci stated that the figure gave him a "god-awful glare" before he turned away.
Beyond Franklin Castle, he detailed his investigations into other northern Ohio legends, including the Gore Orphanage. While the popular tale claims a caretaker burned the orphanage down with the children inside, Krejci explained that the legend is a blend of real-life tragedies. State and county investigations revealed severe child abuse at the Light of Hope orphanage on the site, but no fatal fire ever occurred there. The fire legend actually originated from the nearby Swift Mansion, a local haunted house that burned down in 1923 after vagrants broke in.
News Segment Guests: Lauren Weinstein, Seth Shostak