Podcast Summary: Culpable – “Dennis Cooper Introduces High Strange”

Podcast: Culpable
Host: Tenderfoot TV & Audacy
Episode: Dennis Cooper Introduces High Strange
Date: February 13, 2026

Overview

This special episode of Culpable serves as a crossover introduction to a new season of the podcast High Strange, produced by Tenderfoot TV. The host presents a clip from High Strange, highlighting the podcast’s exploration into unresolved mysteries—this time, focusing not on criminal cases, but on the enigmatic phenomena of UFOs, extraterrestrial encounters, and government secrecy. Listeners are treated to a firsthand account of an inexplicable and terrifying encounter, pieced together through both direct testimony and hypnotic recollection.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to High Strange

• Host sets the stage (00:02-01:05):
  • Promotes High Strange as an investigative podcast diving into UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and phenomena science cannot explain.
  • Notes host Payne Lindsay’s track record of uncovering hidden truths in cold cases and unexplained stories.
  • Emphasizes the critical acclaim and anticipation for the new season, promising “verified encounters and buried histories.”

2. Personal Account: The Witness’s Experience

• The incident begins (01:27-02:35):
  • A witness recalls the night of December 26, 1985, when he woke to unsettling noises and a sense of being surrounded even though he should have been alone with his wife:

    “Felt like I was in a room full of people and I was supposed to be in my bedroom alone with my wife. It was just something wrong.” (Witness, 01:54)

  • The disorientation intensifies as he realizes he is in an unfamiliar room with an arched door and a black window.
• Strange beings appear (02:52-03:44):
  • Under hypnosis, the witness and the hypnotist relay vivid, parallel memories of “big black eyes” and “gigantic insects”:

    “I found myself in a room full of what looked like gigantic insects. It was horrifying.” (Witness, 03:12)

  • The hypnotist expresses visceral fear and confusion:

    “Who the hell is that? Is there somebody there?... I don't think I like that.” (Hypnotist, 02:35)

3. Hypnosis and Memory Recovery

• Bringing back the memory (03:44-04:55):
  • Introduction of Dr. Donald Klein, renowned forensic hypnotist, who assists with memory retrieval.
  • The hypnotic recall yields heightened fear, helplessness, and physical sensations:

    “They would move very slowly and then very quickly. They were not of this world at all. That was when I thought, I'm having a nightmare.” (Witness, 04:35)

  • Deep sense of reality blurs nightmare from memory:

    “They didn't go away thinking, God, this is real. I became crazed... so vivid. It was like real life. I remembered those faces. And they weren't human.” (Witness, 04:55)

4. The Beings and Their Communication

• Describing the creatures and their actions (05:23-06:43):
  • The witness hears a mechanical voice, repeating:

    “What can we do to help you?” (Witness, 05:29; 05:45)

  • Despite the words, the situation remains terrifying and surreal.
  • Detailed description of the beings—moving like praying mantises, one tall (approx. 5ft), others small. The beings display strange, quick movements, and reveal an ominous needle:

    “One of them was about 5ft tall. The others were all very small. They showed me a needle. They're going to put it in the side of my head.” (Witness, 06:42)

5. Physical Procedures and Aftermath

• Hypnotist and witness interwoven distress (06:43-07:17):
  • Both hypnotist and witness express panic at the physical sensations and implied medical procedures.
  • The session concludes with strained attempts to calm down and process the residual terror.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the invasion of personal space:

  “Felt like I was in a room full of people and I was supposed to be in my bedroom alone with my wife.”
  — Witness (01:54)

• Original perception of the beings:

  “I saw these big black eyes peering at me from about two feet away.”
  — Witness (02:52)
  “I found myself in a room full of what looked like gigantic insects. It was horrifying.”
  — Witness (03:12)

• Under hypnosis, the confusion and fear are palpable:

  “Who the hell is that?... I don't think I like that.”
  — Hypnotist (02:35)

  “I don't want it to be here.”
  — Hypnotist (04:50)

• Alien communication and the witness’s response:

  “What can we do to help you?... Stop screaming.”
  — Witness (05:45)

• Visual and physical recollections:

  “They showed me a needle. They're going to put it in the side of my head.”
  — Witness (06:42)

• Climactic terror and physical sensation:

  “I realized then this was physical.”
  — Witness (06:54)

Timestamp Breakdown of Important Segments

• 00:02-01:05 – Host introduces High Strange and its investigative quest.
• 01:27-02:35 – Witness begins recounting the 1985 incident.
• 02:35-03:44 – Hypnotist and witness both describe seeing “big black eyes” and non-human creatures.
• 03:44-04:55 – Dr. Klein assists in recovering memories; the distinction between nightmare and reality blurs.
• 05:23-06:43 – The beings communicate; witness details their appearance and the threat of a needle.
• 06:43-07:17 – Heightened panic and attempts at calming as hypnosis concludes.

Tone and Style

The episode balances investigative curiosity with raw, immersive accounts. Both witness and hypnotist deliver their recollections in a style that’s vulnerable, fragmented, and authentic—often punctuated by confusion and visceral fear. The tone is suspenseful, urgent, and invites listeners to question the boundaries of reality.

Conclusion

This episode of Culpable serves as a gateway into the unsettling mysteries of High Strange. The featured clip plunges listeners into a harrowing first-person alien abduction account, reconstructed through hypnotic regression and intense emotion, inviting speculation on the unknown while maintaining the investigative rigor expected from the creators of Culpable.