The Fugate Family: The Blue People of Kentucky | 299

We've all heard of the Blue Moon of Kentucky thanks to Elvis Presley, Kentucky Blue Grass, and Kentucky Blue is even a color of paint... But this is an entirely different type of blue; The Blue Fugates. They are a family with a rare blood disorder called methemoglobinemia. It can cause blue skin, and boy did it. Four of their seven children exhibited blue skin so the family retreated from society... and inbred over and over until they became world renowned for this hue. What happened to them? Can it be treated? And how can you turn yourself blue from the comfort of your own home? We answer those questions and many even crazier this from the preverbal cornucopia of weird, Kentucky.
Special thanks to this week’s sources:
Cover Art
Joshua Lerner
Books and Articles
Hereditary Diaphorase Deficiency and Methemoglobinemia - https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/570011
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek | Kim Michele Richardson
Blue-Skinned Gods | S. J. Sindu
Videos
Mystery of the Fugate Family: The Blue People of Kentucky - https://youtu.be/3GYMFKs_6Ts
Websites
Blue Fugates - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Fugates
Family Aggregation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_aggregation
Argyria - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria
Science Classroom Teacher Resources - https://www.nclark.net/BluePeopleofTroublesomeCreek
Wired - https://www.wired.com/story/does-colloidal-silver-work/
How Stuff Works - https://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/circulatory/blue-people-kentucky.htm
ABC News - https://abcnews.go.com/Health/blue-skinned-people-kentucky-reveal-todays-genetic-lesson/story?id=15759819
Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories:
weird@hysteria51.com
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