Skull and Bones: The Conspiracy Theories Surrounding the Secret Society

**Discussion begins at 7:10**

The Life and Death Brigade on Gilmore Girls, Chuck Bass being kidnapped by a secret society during a college visit to Yale, Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker joining a dangerous secret society in the 2000 movie The Skulls... These are all pop culture references to one of the most famous secret societies on one of the most elite college campuses in the US.  This society, which selects 15 members annually from one of the most exclusive campuses in the world, was allegedly inspired by the Freemasons.  It is rumored that after graduation, members known as Bonesmen, are placed in high ranking positions in government, banking, law, education, and intelligence agencies to shape policy after graduation.  The 2,600 Patriarchs, or members who have since graduated, include 3 former presidents - President William Taft, George HW Bush, and George W Bush; leaders in business - like the founder of FedEx, founder of Time, Life, and Fortune Magazines, the CEO of Blackstone, and dynasties like the Rockefeller and Ford families; as well was leaders in finance, politicians on the state and federal level, high ranking government advisors, supreme court justices, University professors/presidents, journalists, athletes, and Hollywood stars. The 2004 presidential election actually pitted 2 Patriarchs – George W Bush and John Kerry, against each other, with both refusing to comment when asked about their membership.  What are the odds that the last 2 men standing in a battle for leadership of the US are both members of this secret society?  Is this secret society really a breeding ground for a powerful network of people that are secretly running the US?  Is it a branch of a larger network that with European ties manipulating us from the inside? Today we are going to learn about the secret society, and decide if it's just a club for high achieving college kids, or if there is something more sinister at play.

Transcript

Hey, guys. Hello.

Kait is back. Where was Kait last week?

Oh my God. What did I say she was doing?

She was at a Garth concert. Yes. Oh, yeah.

Love me some Garth.

Room for Squares? No, that's John Mayer. See?

You don't know who he is either.

The Dance, The Thunder Rolls, Collin Baton Rouge, Standin Outside, The Fire, Unanswered Prayers.

I don't know any of these songs. I love Tricia Yearwood's Cooking Show. I don't know anything that we're talking about.

You don't watch Tricia Yearwood's Cooking Show, his wife's cooking show on the Food Network?

No, but Kait.

No. He makes some really good southern dishes.

It's like in childhood. She said she used to come home and watch the Food Network.

Yeah, that's why. I used to watch Rachel Wren.

Well, Kait, I wish you had been here last week because I was so upset to learn that Colleen was mixing up Garth Brooks with-

George Strait.

And-

I don't remember.

Randy Travis?

Oh, but I don't know who Randy Travis is. But I thought Garth Brooks was- okay.

So what I thought was that Garth Brooks was George Strait. And I thought he was the country singer in National Treasure 2.

But turns out the country singer in National Treasure 2 is Randy Travis who I thought was Garth Brooks, who I thought was George Strait. Okay. Well, so Randy Travis is the guy with the braids.

Willie May.

Willie Nelson.

Wait.

Willie Nelson, what I should have to him is that he was in trouble for tax evasion. No. But all of his buddies got together and did a fundraiser for him.

To pay off his taxes.

Yeah.

I hope you guys would, well, I mean, I would pay my taxes. But I'm surprised though, Kait, because you were Southern girl.

I'm a pop culture queen.

But did you listen to Country growing up?

Yes. But it was like Brad Paisley. I still do Dierks Bentley.

Oh, Reba.

Reba. You know, you loved Reba.

I do.

Brooks and Don.

Faith. Oh, Tim McGraw. My God.

That was like, I feel like Garth might have been a little bit older than me. And George Strait, my great grandmother loved George Strait. I saw George Strait laugh.

You did?

But you still know who he is.

I should have seen him laugh. So I'm with Kenny Chesney. I said this on the other line.

Yeah. No shoes, no shirt. No problem.

I was a something girl, but Megan, I was like 50 Cent, Eminem, Ludacris. Oh my God, Ludacris.

Ludacris had a recurring role in SVU. He was really good.

Hello, school day. Like, literally, when we watched the Super Bowl and you were like, I didn't really even know Usher's songs. And I was like, hold on.

What?

Because I love Usher.

Usher can get it. Okay. Usher can definitely get it, but he's a sex addict.

Well, again.

Do you think Garth Brooks is a serial killer?

No, I don't. I really don't. I really honestly, when I heard the theory, I was like, this is very intriguing.

But like, there's really nothing to it. And I'm happy that he's not a sociopath and a psychopath. You know what I mean?

Well, I think he's just weird.

Yeah, he's just a weird guy.

All musicians are a little weird.

No, he's I think he is. I think he's just like socially awkward, which is weird for someone who has been in the limelight for 40 years.

And he has like zero PR training.

Yeah. I mean, can you imagine Taylor Nation letting Taylor just sit in her bed in her hotel room and like go live?

Yeah, I think they will. Hey, y'all, I'm on Facebook.

I'm going to be very honest.

I think they would love that.

No, she just went on her first podcast because they don't like to be unregulated. You know what I mean? I mean, I love her.

I think she is very rehearsed and no one would let her go, sit on her bed and be like, I like that. You know?

You did that so good. No, no, no, no. I meant, I think everyone would love if she sat on her bed.

I want to know what she had.

You know what? The point was that she would-

What throw pillow is that?

I'm just getting back to her being like, Colleen being like, Garth Brooks. Oh, yeah. He'd some PR help.

Oh, yeah.

I'm like, yeah.

Taylor's PR people would never let this happen.

You know what I want to know? Her cat schedule.

He would never say, what food do they get? Let's get physical making music.

I like that.

It's weird.

I want Benny to have the same cat toys as her cats. We're still on the cats over here.

So is it time for our drink check? Our story today is about a secret society in Yale.

Why did you drop out of Yale?

And so we are having the Yale cocktail, which sounds like was maybe there's some questions about where it came from because there's a couple different origin theories, but sounds like probably came from some bar in New York in the 1800s.

And so we are having the original Waldorf Astoria recipe, which is just some gin, some orange bitters, some sweet vermouth and a little club soda. Yep. I have to be honest, I don't like gin.

I didn't even make myself one, but I thought it was pretty good.

You liked it.

Yeah.

I liked it with a little bit extra club soda to make it more like a gin and tonic.

More than a glass of rice.

Correct. Yeah. That is primarily because it was in the cup I spilled from.

The Yale cocktail now has evolved because they wanted it to be Yale blue.

Yeah.

So now people put creme de vet or creme de violet in it, which I have made my own creme de violet, but I didn't have enough time.

You have to ferment for days.

I was going to ask if that's the one where when you add acidic, it goes from pink to purple. Yes. It is?

Yes.

I thought that. Then people also have done this with blue curacao, which I refuse to drink anything with blue curacao in it because it weirds me out. Yeah.

So that's the recipe now that I think they're probably serving at bars around Yale, but we're having the OG from the 1800s.

Yale in the 1800s is cool.

Well, yeah, that's what we're going to talk about. I think what a time to be alive.

Right, during the 1800s.

In this story, and I'm like, I don't want to spoil it. I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. So we'll come back to that.

That being said, shall we get into it?

Yeah.

The Life and Death Brigade on Gilmore Girls, Chuck Bass being kidnapped by a secret society during a college visit to Yale, Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker joining a dangerous secret society in the 2000 movie, The Skulls.

7:16

Society Origins

These are all pop culture references to one of the most famous secret societies on one of the most elite college campuses in the United States.

This society which selects 15 members annually from one of the most exclusive campuses in the world was allegedly inspired by the Freemasons.

It is rumored that after graduation, members known as Bonesmen are placed in high-ranking positions in the government, banking, law, education, and intelligence agencies to shape policy after graduation.

Well, the 2,600 patriarchs or members who have since graduated include 3 former presidents.

Which ones?

President William Taft, George HW Bush, and George W Bush.

Check it out. I love George W.

Leaders in business like the founder of FedEx, the founder of Time, Life, and Fortune Magazines, the CEO of Blackstone, and dynasties like the Rockefeller and Ford families, as well as leaders in finance, politicians on the state and federal level,

high-ranking government advisors, Supreme Court justices, university professors and presidents, journalists, athletes, and Hollywood stars. Well, the founder of the NCAA, a father of football. Oh.

The 2004 presidential election actually pitted two patriarchs, George W Bush and John Kerry against each other, with both refusing to comment when asked about their membership.

What are the odds that the last two men standing in a battle for leadership of the United States are both members of the Secret Society?

Is the Secret Society really a breeding ground for a powerful network of people that are secretly running the United States? Is it a branch of a larger network?

Today we are going to learn about the Secret Society and decide if it's just a club for high achieving college kids or if there's something more sinister at play.

Oh, Bourbon Boy flew with Kerry and said that he was his favorite politician that he's flown with.

Really?

Yeah.

Let me start with the history of the Skull and Bones. Yeah, Secret Society. Starting just from Yale, okay?

Yale University is one of the oldest universities in the United States. It was founded in 1701, it is one of only nine universities chartered before the American Revolution.

It has graduated 25 Nobel Laureates, 55 Pulitzer Prize winners, 404 Olympic athletes and five US presidents.

I just feel like 25 is not that much. It's been open since the 1700s.

25 Nobel Laureates?

Like a Nobel Prize winner?

Yeah.

How many Nobel Prize winners win a year? As of 2025, there are only 990 individuals with Nobel Prize. Must not be a name.

From the entire world.

Yeah.

That's pretty. It must not be annual.

So for the class of 2029, the class that's enrolled this year, there were 50,265 applicants with 2,388 offered admission. So 4.8% of applicants actually were offered admission. And of them, 1,633 actually matriculated.

Wow.

So the point is, because we're about to talk about how competitive the society is, but this society is competitive within like perhaps the most competitive university.

Yeah.

So Rory would have been in one of those statistics, you know?

So Yale is the exclusive of the exclusive, and then the cream of the crop there get recruited to join Secret Societies their senior year.

So did George W go to Yale? Yes.

He had to go to Yale to be a member of Skull and Bones.

Yeah. I mean, I didn't know that George W went to Yale. Yeah.

It's a Bush dynasty, because we're going to talk a lot about his dad and his grandfather being Skull and Bones members.

So again, within Yale University, there's these secret societies that are very elite. So where do these secret societies come from?

Right.

So it all started back in the 1700s.

11:13

Society History

Students used to get together and debate, and in 1776, the first chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest honor society in the United States, was founded at William and Mary. College of William and Mary.

We know where that is.

Virginia.

That's in Virginia. Williamsburg.

Phi Beta Kappa allegedly modeled themselves, including their goals and idealism and their pledge of secrecy, after the Freemasons, who, depending on your source, may or may not have met in the same tavern as the first five members of Phi Beta Kappa.

In 1786, Phi Beta Kappa chartered a chapter at Yale. Now remember, we had a lot of public figures who were known masons, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere. So go back and listen to our Freemason episode.

But in the early 1800s, Freemasons were getting a bit of reputation. Again, we covered this more in depth in the episode. Right.

But in 1820, William Morgan threatened to write a book revealing the secrets of the masons. Then he suddenly disappeared and a body was later found, which may or may not have been his.

But needless to say, the Freemasons were blamed for kidnapping and murdering him to silence him. So Freemasons had a bit of a PR issue.

Right.

As a result, Phi Beta Kappa was like, we don't want to be lumped in with them. We need to re-brand and so they ended their secrecy. Phi Beta Kappa was no longer a secret society.

It was just a honor society. So Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Beta Kappa is where they started using Greek letters. Even before we had fraternities and sororities.

So Phi Beta Kappa decided in 1820, we're not going to be secretive anymore. We're just going to be this club. Some people got a little annoyed because they were like, we like this whole being a part of a secret society.

So two of the members of the Yale chapter broke off to create their own secret society and formed Skull and Bones in 1833. These members were William Huntington Russell and Alfonso Taft.

Alfonso.

So who were the two members who founded this club? The first was William Huntington Russell. And he actually went on to have a political career after graduation.

And he founded the Republican Party. And sad, fun fact about him. In 1885, he was in a park in New Haven, Connecticut, and he saw some boys throwing stones at birds.

And he ran after to try to protect the birds. And he died from a...

Stoney.

Head bleed.

That's so sad.

Protecting the birds.

Oh, you know what? Because the birds are fake.

Did he do something? The other member who helped found the Skull and Bones Secret Society, who left Phi Beta Kappa to do that, was Alfonso Taft, who also went on to have a successful political career and was the father of President Taft.

Wow. Didn't even know we had a president Taft. I did.

We've had this conversation before.

About President Taft? Yes. And you didn't know he was a president.

Well-known president, though, isn't it?

No way.

And you said, Kait, I only know 10 presidents and six of them have lived in my life. We had this exact conversation. When was he a president?

In the 1800s?

1909. I'm going to be honest. There's the beginning and the end, and that's all I know.

Well, Lincoln was right in the middle.

Well, he was important.

He was a trust buster. He's the reason why we have federal income tax, by the way.

Taft? Yeah.

Fuck that guy.

So the whole group, when they started the secret group, was like, we're going to have these 50 people and we're going to get together and we are going to just debate. Right. Have these unplanned debates.

They actually, there's a lot of references within this club to the number 322, because they said that they see themselves as descendants of Demosthenes, who was a Greek orator who allegedly filled his mouth with pebbles to practice speaking

articulately, and he died in 322 BC. So that's why this number 322 is so important. And again, this starts like a secret debate group.

There's this alternate story that they're the second chapter of this German society, combined with 1832 to form 32-2, which again-

Right, I'm sorry, German society?

Yeah, there's this-

Are you sure it's not the Nazis?

Well, we're gonna talk about the Nazis later.

Oh my God.

So there is this side theory that William Russell, who again was one of the founders of Skull and Bones, was actually inspired because he spent a year in Germany right before they founded this organization, and so maybe he actually had found this

German secret society and he was just opening another chapter here. But in general, the recognized story of 322 is like, we are debaters, we are orators, and this starts as a debate club, but we're secret because secrecy is power.

Is right. Is paramount. Yeah.

To protect their secrecy, they wanted to build their own meeting space, but they did not want to be held accountable to the university.

Of course they didn't.

They created this trust termed the Russell Trust, and the Patriarchs or alumni were able to buy land and build this tomb, and then they have this trust still exists and it has millions of dollars in it, they're used to just keep this group going.

So the land and the building on it are worth about $4 million, with the organization's endowment valued at $17 million as of 2024. Whoa. And they hired this like famous architect to just like build them this big secret tomb.

Is it still standing?

It is still standing today.

Can you go tour it?

You can't go in it, but you can walk by it.

Oh my gosh.

The university started admitting women in 1969, but it wasn't until 1991 when women were finally tapped into the Secret Society, and it was quite a drama because the Bonesmen who were in who were still in school, they wanted to include women, but the

Patriarchs were like old white men who were not progressive, and they didn't want any women in their group, in their Secret Society. So the Patriarchs were actually banned from being in the tomb, but the Patriarchs also were who were funding this, so

it was a big to-do. There was almost a lawsuit, but then everyone was like, is it really good for our PR if there's a big public drama?

It was about being inside a tomb. It's not just a tomb, Colleen, it's what the tomb represents.

It's exactly ridiculous. Exactly.

You can't go in the dark room, sorry.

Well, if you believe that this is where all the decisions about mankind are being made, it is a big deal. Yeah. Anyway, I will say, this did throw me back to probably my high school college years.

There was this young adult series called Secret Society Girl.

Oh, right.

It was all inspired by Skull and Bones. It was the story of a girl who was like this fictional story, this suspenseful mystery, who was tapped as one of the first females.

Should I read it?

I mean, it's like young adult.

I like young adult. You like it.

Where she's tapped in, but then she has to deal with, it's the same thing that the Patriarchs were not down with women, and it was a battle between them and-

Say about that, I guess. F, the Patriarchs. F, the Patriarchs.

Keychain on the ground.

That's the idea of the Secret Society, some other interesting things.

Membership is not secret, which makes sense because if you're like, I want to be powerful and be a member of the Secret Society, you want people to know that you're a member of the Secret Society.

Yeah.

So everything that happens in the tomb is secretive and everything. But the list of the members is public knowledge, so you can see who it is.

And I think people are like, kind of the point of this is that like, you tap all these different people and then each year, you kind of try to replace yourself with someone like you. Like you?

Yeah.

And so the whole point is that these are really like 15 completely different people that you'd probably not interact with out in the real world, but now you're all connected. Connected.

But again, that's what people argue when they're like, there's not that much to it, okay? It's just a bunch of random people. But isn't that what they'd want you to think if they're super secret shit in this?

Secret society? It's definitely.

First of all, they're in a tomb. It's something weird about that.

Also, because there's this big $17 million trust.

Yeah. Where's that money coming from?

Well, it's coming from all the rich businessmen who've graduated, the founder of FedEx, the founder of Time Magazine, the founder of Blackstone. Yeah, follow the money.

But, interestingly, there are rumors that when you graduate as a Bonesman, you get a check from this trust.

How much?

That varies on line, and can we even verify this fact? I don't know. On line, it says anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000, which...

Whoa.

That's insane.

Not a bad nest egg to start your business or whatever. Yeah, literally.

It's, you know.

Skull and Bones has its own time, which is just five minutes later than the normal time. So each Thursday and Sunday, the Secret Society's meet at 8 SBT, which is 7:55 PM. 8 Skull and Bones time is 7:55 PM.

They have their own time zone?

No.

They enter and then they just debate and they have speakers.

Could you imagine having dinner and just debating?

They also-

Megan would love that.

Okay. You wouldn't love to just fight? I love to fight people, but it's always based on vibes.

Vibes only?

Yeah.

Well, I think you would show me the vibes are we're fighting tonight.

Well, I feel like I don't want to fight unless I feel strongly about something. You can get riled up though. People can make you want to fight.

That's true.

I felt like fighting earlier the other day.

They have a private island retreat called Dear Island.

This is also a throwback to that book I told you.

Dear Island? The Secret Club Girl.

Yeah, Secret Society Girl. So they have this private island retreat called Dear Island, which they say, again, it's so hard to say because online people are like, oh, it's pretty rundown now.

But again, is that what they'd want you to think if they want to be. That's exactly what they want you to think. But also, I can kind of see how this was real hot in the 1800s, even up into the 1950s, 1970s.

Where is it? Upstate New York. In the 1950s, this was the hot place to be.

It was the place to be. Yes. I can see that.

Again, I can see all these old white men smoking their cigars, making plans to take over the world.

Yeah.

Again, maybe not in the literal sense that we mean, but just networking.

Capitalism. Yeah. Upstate New York is a landlocked.

Upstate New York is a landlocked?

No, there's a big land.

There's the lakes there. Well, I wasn't thinking lakes.

Let me talk about some of the conspiracy theories that exist around this secret society.

Give it to me.

Did you ever watch The Skulls growing up? Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker?

No, I never watched it.

It was a trio, I do remember. And Leslie Bibb, who now is making a resurgence. I guess, let's start with the initiation theories, okay?

Okay.

Oh, are they hazed? We don't know.

There's no information. No, I think we assume there is a lot of hazing. But again, the whole theory is like, people put up with this hazing because if they get in, it unlocks so much money and potential opportunities that they're willing to be hazed.

I feel like weird shit's happening here.

I'm very concerned.

So in 2001, a reporter was given a tip that initiation ceremony was going to occur that night. He hid and recorded a ceremony that was incredibly disturbing, including murder reenactments and initiates kissing skulls.

Yes.

But it was all a prank. I mean, the ceremonies are never held outside. Why would they suddenly hold a ceremony outside in a little courtyard for this guy to spy on?

Right.

But here is what we do know about the initiation ceremonies.

Okay.

So every April, there is a tap night.

Okay.

Each member finds a junior, again, someone who they think is similar to themselves.

But regardless, the people who are tapped are all like, if they talk about these other secret societies and how there's one that's like, these are the smartest people on campus. But like, the Skull and Bones is like the leaders of campus.

So the elite leaders of campus.

You don't think I'd be in this? I'm a leader.

I would say, were you like in college, like the leader of like the newspaper and like the president of the debate club? And did you have any leadership roles?

I was number one, the literal number one student in my biology class, literal top grade. And I was the leader of my Young Life group. Thank you very much.

Okay.

For two years, I was the leader. Also, I think the other thing is like a lot of these people are like descendants of powerful people. It's all, there's definitely an element of like, my grandpa was in this club, my great whatever.

Oh, okay, like you have to be like a lavalier.

You have to be a nepo baby.

So, nepo baby. On this, it used to be, again, it's not quite this way now, but on this random April day, a senior member would tap a junior on the shoulder and say, skull and bones, accept or reject.

Oh my gosh. Do you think people really wanted to do it, but they were like showing up because they wanted to be tapped?

They like come to your room and they're like, skull and bones, accept or reject.

Oh, do they have to tap you on a certain body part, the shoulder?

Now, to be clear, according to a Yale Daily News Report, there are now nine quote landed societies. So that's like a society that has a tomb, like bones.

Yeah.

And there are nearly 30 underground societies. So without a tomb. So you risk having people get multiple taps and not getting a complete class.

So the process is now more involved and drawn out. So they no longer just do this like, we have one day you get tapped on your shoulder. Because what if, again, you get tapped five times?

Exactly.

Yeah.

So it's now a little bit more involved and drawn out. There are multiple events leading up to it. Once you are tapped, allegedly, the initiates lie naked in a coffin and confess all the sexual activities experienced in their life up to this point.

No, I don't want to know this about George Bush.

They share their deepest, darkest secrets.

So if you ever betray the society, your secrets are held over your head. Alexander Robbins was this graduate who wrote a book, and she said she spoke to all these people. And a lot of members were like, it really isn't that deep.

Like, it's really, the mystique sounds so much better. You're like, oh, there's skulls, there's blood, there's whatever. But the people are like, they blindfolded me, and I drank some Kool-Aid and pretend it was blood.

And oh, wow, do you think they used to be blood?

Or that, and then after AIDS, they were like, we can't do this anymore?

I don't know. Also though, it's like, that would be, it's, again, this is the whole thing with conspiracy theories, right?

That like- I think it should be wine.

Isn't that what they would want you to believe? Wouldn't they say like, oh my god, it's- Oh, it's just, there's like-

Don't look here, there's nothing here. It's just like a lot of smoke and mirrors.

You know?

Yeah, it would be. Yeah. But also, I feel like the AIDS epidemic challenge thing.

Well, we also like, it's not just AIDS, but like hepatitis and-

Also, this is like college age kids running it. It's definitely liquor.

Like, it's definitely wine. Apparently, you're not allowed to drink. They do a lot of drinking, but in the tomb, it's a dry zone.

There were some conspiracy theories that the skull and bones were involved in grave robbing.

26:39

Grave Robbing

So, this grave robbing.

I thought you said robbing.

I might have said that. Grave robbing. Okay.

So, allegedly, the tomb holds the stolen skulls of Martin Van Buren. Do you know who that is, Kait, Colleen? The eighth president of the United States.

Right.

Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and Apache warrior, Geronimo.

The saying Geronimo.

Yeah, it is exactly where this comes from.

Wait a second. Hold on. I'm going to tell you about Geronimo and it's actually very sad.

He fought the United States and Mexico for decades before he surrendered and was interned at like a POW. Also, in the tomb, there's all these skulls that belong to real people. Where did they come from?

And the most riveting and famous story is the story of Geronimo's skull. Oh. Because allegedly, Geronimo's skull was obtained by, wait for it, Prescott Bush, George HW's father, George W Bush's grandfather in 1918.

Oh my gosh.

So again, part of this stems from like the whole Secret Society thing, is they are encouraged to what they call crooking.

So like steal from each other and whoever gets the biggest steal, like they get the biggest poofs and it's all great, right? But maybe sometimes that gets out of hand.

So Geronimo, you asked me who Geronimo was, he was this Apache leader who led the resistance against Mexico and later the United States in the late 1800s to kind of protect the land from the encroachers, right?

He eventually surrendered in 1886 and was held as a POW until his death in 1909. In 1989, one of his descendants claimed that Geronimo's skull and bones were removed from his grave and were now being stored in the Skull and Bones tomb.

So they say Prescott Bush in 1917 was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Geronimo was allegedly buried.

Okay?

And that Prescott stole the bones. So again, did this happen or not? There was this lawsuit filed against the skull and bones by Geronimo's descendants.

There have been break-ins in the last 200 years with alleged photos published online that can't be verified of skulls and bones.

Whoa.

But again, did he do this? And so there's a couple of different theories. First of all, we found out after this all goes down that Geronimo's bones had been relocated.

So one theory is that these are some someone else's bones. Well, was Prescott conned into buying these bones that aren't even Geronimo's bones? Did this not even happen?

Is like all of this just a fake story?

Right.

But it was quite a big to do. Also, you can't really file a lawsuit against the skull and bones because you have the most powerful people.

Right. In charge of everything. Right.

So, but Prescott was trying to buy the bones.

Well, he said that he dug up these bones and they belonged to Geronimo. And there's letters alleging this, like letters that they wrote to each other.

In college?

Not anymore. He was stationed at Fort Sill. He was a graduate.

He was what we call a patriarch. But he stole these bones and then said, oh, we got to put them in our tomb. And so like, first of all, he probably didn't really dig them up.

But maybe somebody was like, yeah, here, buy these. And then really, they were not what he thought they were. But that means somebody's skull and bones are sitting in the tomb, right?

Would you like your skull and bones just being like, no, but on a wall?

Kind of a flex.

That is actually something that's going to help.

You know what I mean, Colleen? Her bones are in a fraternity tomb. I think that is kind of cool.

She died on a roller coaster and then her bones were saved and put on a-

You like to die on a roller coaster?

She just wants to die in an abnormal way before she's old.

Or at least the stories of my death to get exponentially crazier.

Okay. Really what's going to happen is you're going to die in your sleep. It's going to be so boring.

But you know what? You will will it to people. That you have to make up a story.

Yeah. I think no one really knows how Aunt Colleen died. That's what I want.

I think Aunt Colleen is living longer than either of us because she's so like, I want to die when I'm 50.

DNR at 50.

So you know she's going to be like, she's like the 110 year old.

What's your secret?

Don't go to the doctor.

Die coke every day.

What's your secret? Debilitates the anxiety.

So do they run the country?

31:11

Global Influence

Yeah.

This is the big conspiracy theory.

So twice a year, the patriarchs gather for a conference to discuss the state of the Skull and Bones and vote on laws. So Anthony B. Sutton was a British American economist and historian, and he received a dossier from a descendant of a patriarch.

And this descendant was very legitimate. She was an advisor to Reagan.

But based on this dossier, he alleged that the Skull and Bones was comprised of a powerful intergenerational network that influenced US political, economic, and foreign policy institutions.

He published multiple books and claimed that Skull and Bones was a recruitment ground for powerful families and their descendants, which stopped there. I believe that, right? That makes sense.

To be placed into key roles in government, banking, law, education, and intelligence agencies to shape policy from within.

Any Rockefellers in there?

Yes, I do that in the introduction.

In the beginning.

Yeah. He alleged that the group fostered controlled conflicts to steer society toward predetermined outcomes and decentralized power while eroding individual freedom.

So like, think about the state of our world right now in the United States and how we are so divided. And his theory is that all of that is like the Skull and Bone members strategizing to keep us divided in order to take advantage of us.

I believe that. Okay, let's set the scene. It's 2017, you are pushing 30 years old and have just watched the finale of Pretty Little Liars, and you swore you'd never watch the show again.

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Anyway, they look at these high-ranking people, and they look at their donations, and they're donating to both the DNC and the RNC. There was one guy who worked under Trump, but he also donated all this money, like Kamala Harris' election.

And so again, I'm like, well, that could look like you're trying to divide, right? But also, I think if you're an important guy, you've got a lot of political people.

You have a lot of friends who are running for political office, and you got to make donations. Doesn't mean you believe in their political views.

Right. Do we have active memberless?

Yes. So that's how I gave you all those people, and they're very powerful people.

If I was in a secret society that was allegedly running the world, I would keep the fact that I'm in the society to the society people only.

But I think that, again, if the power comes in being a member of a secret society, then you would want everyone to know you're a member of a secret society.

And they talk about, like, you might put, like, okay, you graduate and you're applying for jobs, right? And you put in your resume. I was a Russell Trust scholarship recipient.

Right.

And then if anyone else looks at this, who's like this, they're like, oh, I'm Skull and Bones.

You're Skull and Bones. Your name is going to the top of the pie.

You just eyes it.

Yeah. So I think it says that they do, that the list does get published.

It's like a verity, yeah.

The people know. So I think that that is why they want people to know, because again, that's where the power comes, right?

And they want to go up.

But again, that would get into the, you're arguing if you, if this is really a secret society that is really manipulated in the world.

Keep it on the hush.

Yeah. But I'm not sure that-

Area 51.

What it is. Lock it up. I'm sure the power just comes from the networking, and in which case you want people to know that you're a member because that's how the networking works.

Right.

Yeah. Sure, that's why I think they don't run the world.

Okay. Here are some other examples of how perhaps the Skull and Bones have supported multiple sides in order to divide us. Okay?

Okay. Let's start with Hitler and the Nazis. Wait a second.

All of it.

I knew it was going to be- I said it from the beginning.

Hitler and the Nazis?

Rich white guy.

We talked in Coca-Cola and in our Hitler episode about how Ford and Coca-Cola helped fund the Nazis.

Yeah.

But again, I think- The Swiss bank. With the stolen-

And the gold.

Yeah, the gold.

I think this all goes into, again, that some of these people are not trying to all get together and be strategists. But I think everyone's out for themselves. Right?

These, like, these, these- For sure. These men who were CEOs of these multi-million, multi-billion-

They graphed it up like they're for everyone else, but we just know. How is this going to affect their bottom line? Right.

And that's what they care about.

The millions.

And I think that's what's happening here. So one of Hitler's-

Money guys.

Money guys once stashed $3 million in the Union Banking Corps. Guess who the director of the Union Banking Corps was? A Bush.

It was a Bush. It was a Bush. Prescott Bush.

Well, the Bush is back.

Prescott Bush was the director of the Union Banking Corporation, a New York investment bank, which is pretty much a holding company for the assets of, again, one of the leading funders of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

In 1942, after the US entered World War II, the US government seized the assets of UBC under the Trading with the Enemy Act, and this guy, Fritz, who was the financier, was arrested by the Nazi regime in 1938 and was imprisoned for the duration of

the war because he had actually turned his back on Hitler. Well, again, people are like, well, wait, why was Prescott Bush overseeing the funds of this guy who was writing checks to Hitler?

Also, there is rumored to be Nazi paraphernalia brought back by patriarchs who served. This memorabilia is now in the tomb, right? Okay.

And so the Nazi memorabilia.

Yes.

And so people are like, oh no, look, this was like a celebration of the people who served and like that we won the war as Nazi. So here, well, here are the theories either this isn't true, this is all a lie, and there's no Nazi paraphernalia.

Right.

B, it is someone who was like, because we talked a lot about in the stolen, the Nazi gold, right? These people who just like took things and took them home.

Right.

And these families now have like China that was like from the Nazis.

Right.

So like, did they just bring it back and be like, this is cool, we won this war and look at this paraphernalia that I have, or is it like supporting the Nazis? Which no matter what the answer is, if you have it, that's a bad look and you should get.

Yeah.

Yeah. But I agree.

So this is just, they're just about how skull and bones, it's not really skull and bones, it's just Prescott Bush, but who has a skull and bone, how he maybe was overseeing the funds for this guy, who was a Nazi supporter despite the fact that we

were at war with the Nazis. Then we can talk about his son, George HW Bush.

So then his son, George HW Bush, was appointed Director of the National Narcotics Interdiction System, which was the highest ranking US official involved in the war on drugs under Nixon.

So a report came out in which the former DEA head, Francis Mullen, said that Bush's efforts were a, quote, liability rather than asset.

He ended up having to resign, but Francis Mullen, the DEA head, had to resign and there was this report that was sort of suppressed.

And then in 1985, the report came back out, it kind of resurfaced and it was revealed that there were, quote, no benefits from the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System directed by George Bush.

In fact, the overall effect was to encourage supply.

Whoa, if we hold that thought and we jump into what George HW Bush was up to before he became the head of the CIA, we can talk about he was involved with Bay of Pigs, he was involved in maybe Kennedy's assassination.

Whoa.

And that kind of all ties into perhaps he was in his best interest to keep the drugs going. So the story is that George HW Bush was president of Zapata Offshore, which was an oil company that drilled in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

And again, this was all before he joined the CIA. So this drilling location was the perfect location for covert operations.

And people theorize that this might have been a CIA cover with the offshore rigs being used as listening posts during the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Bay of Pigs, which again, we talked about with Kennedy, is the failed military operation in Cuba in 1961. It was codenamed Operation Zapata. Again, his company was Zapata Offshore.

Yeah.

Allegedly, the code name was based on this film, Viva Zapata, but, you know, likely story.

The two ships they used in the Bay of Pigs operation were called the Houston. Where did the Bushes live?

Houston.

Yep. And the Barbara.

Barbara Bush.

So the SEC states that it has lost all records for Zapata Offshore between 1960 and 1966. How convenient. Bush did not officially join the CIA until 1976 when Gerald Ford appointed him as director.

However, a 1975 FBI memo came to light that indicates George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency was briefed in 1963.

So even though everyone's like George Bush was not a member of the CIA until 1975, we have documentation that he might have been a member as far back as the 1960s.

So again, this is just like all fishy CIA stuff happening between him and other Bonesmen, patriarchs, if you will.

Well, I don't even believe this.

Yeah. When Nixon resigned as president, his staff revealed that his code name for the assassination of JFK was, quote, that Bay of Pigs thing.

One of the most important pieces of evidence that maybe they were involved in the assassination of JFK is, remember we talked about the Zapruder film?

So Abraham Zapruder's film, which is the film that didn't come out initially that shows JFK's head being blown backwards and from the back, yes, was purchased by Time Inc. and locked in a vault.

Which Time Inc. is run by?

Yes, founded by Henry Luce, class of 1920.

As far as what happened to Zabata Offshore, after Bush left, his successor Richard Gow, class of 1955, was accused of using Zabata Offshore to support logistics for arms and drug trafficking operations, which goes back to the fact that George HW Bush

Oh, this is a bad look.

Separate conspiracy theory.

If we again go back to this, like, are they trying to work towards secret world domination? Right. So several Bonesmen, including the Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, were key players in the Manhattan Project, the atomic bomb.

Their theories, the atomic bomb was all a Bonesmen plot because Henry Stimson, class of 1888, was the Secretary of War under Truman and oversaw the entire project.

And he appointed a number of his fellow Skull and Bones members to high ranking defense and research posts. Harvey Bundy in 1909 was special assistant to Stimson and was involved in the project.

McGeorge Bundy, class of 1940, was also involved in the decision to use the bomb, more so the decision to use it than the actual development. But the point is like all these people in his circle that were involved in the atomic bomb.

And then finally, I had touched earlier on the fact that Skull and Bones is sort of a funnel into the CIA and intelligence agencies and perhaps intelligence agencies are recruiting from this group.

So to name a few, George HW Bush was a CIA director before he became the VP. Right. James Angleton was the CIA head of counterintelligence for 20 years.

Charles Whitehouse was a CIA agent who went on to become an ambassador. McGeorge Bundy was the national security advisor who was closely involved and oversaw a number of CIA operations.

And his brother William Bundy worked in the CIA and was an advisor on Vietnam. So again, there is this theory as I touched on that like this whole society is to blame for the Bay of Pigs and then maybe the US entering Vietnam.

All comes from these bonesmen.

Oh my gosh. So sounds like they just like war.

Those are the theories out there. So what do you think?

I think that I don't know if it's like the undercurrent is to control the world, but I do think a lot of it is like a fraternity in which they do what's best for their shared interest.

So maybe not an, or like an overtaking of the world, but definitely like, it's like, it's like what they do in Congress where they're like, we're going to pass a bill, but we're going to like put something in the bill to get it to pass and it will

Like that feels like it's going to help us, it's going to help you.

Yeah. I kind of agree. I tend to think it's like not as big a deal.

Like maybe at one point it was, but I feel like it's probably not that big a deal, but it is a bunch of like very well off, very competitive people. Again, this is the most competitive group and the most competitive university.

These people are all descendants of like political or business higher ups. They have a lot of contacts, right? You join this group, you're in a network with other, you have a lot of contacts to other high power people.

Again, I think if you're like, I need money, you can help this business deal, that's what's happening, but I don't think that it's like, how can we keep America fighting and whatever.

If you're trying to cover up a conspiracy, this is what they'd want you to believe.

But when you go online, most people say that the patriarchs used to have all this power, and now because there's so much discourse between the newer clubs and being a little bit maybe more liberal and wanting, and that they're not really getting

along with their patriarchs and they're all very divided now, and so it's not quite this big powerful group that it used to be where these patriarchs are going to make sure that you have a job when you graduate, and they're going to help you do what

you need to do to succeed. So yeah, I think it's just a bunch of rich people with multi-generational wealth, and they're putting their personal needs over that of the nation, and they're going to do what they have to do, whether that means Coca-Cola

and Ford are going to keep doing business with the Nazis. The Swiss, sorry, the Swede. Bank is going to keep doing business. I don't know, very fishy. What do you think, Colleen?

I think it's just a lot of nepotism.

I'd like to know who the most failed Skull and Bones members, they couldn't have all been successful. That's what I'm interested by. Why?

Why can't they all be successful? There's always got to be a loser of the group.

Well, I don't know that losers are getting into Yale, though.

Yeah. And I don't know if this is supposed to be the top of the top of Yale. They all seem to be, they're probably all super type A.

Is every single one of them doing something? Yeah.

I think yes. And I think also even if they only are 15 of them, right? Yeah.

That's crazy.

Even if they are losers, they're probably like, it goes into the movie.

I remember that I've been out to watch this movie in 20 plus years. But the guy's got a powerful dad, right? So even if you are a loser and doesn't want to do anything, you probably have connections.

Like I'm Prescott Bush, who's like, hey, keep the dynasty going. You're going to go work for my company. You're going to do whatever.

Yeah.

And those are probably like the least motivated people.

Yeah.

I mean, I feel like it's just a fraternity of guys or people who are very successful and I think you have to follow the money. Follow the money.

So, yeah, I mean, I got to be honest. If I was a super motivated person...

Mm-hmm...

. who was really smart and could get into Yale and they were like, you join the Secret Society and you have all these contacts that are going to help you...

Mm...

. with your first job when you launch out into the world, I'd be like, sign me up. Don't know if I love that you have to tell them your deepest, darkest secrets.

You think you'd join a cult?

Is it a cult?

Well, didn't you say anything could be a cult?

I did, and I said, well, I said anything that you get a little worshipy about.

Yeah, if it quacks.

I think most religions are cults.

Crossfit.

100% a cult.

Swifties.

Swifties are a cult, and I am a member of that cult.

So we don't think there are secret meetings happening to divide.

I think there's readings, but I think it's about schmoozing. Yeah.

I mean, we don't think about like, how can we get the United States into war?

Yeah.

You think that's happening?

No.

No. Maybe you're like, I need an investor and I know someone.

Yeah.

From my Bonesmen days.

I think it's more like they know people. Yeah. Then it just becomes like a brotherhood.

Then they just turn into lizard people. They run things because of that.

I don't know if it's like they're going to, I don't know if it's like a club that they know they want to run the world, or if it's just like, these are really wealthy people and this is the connection that I have.

And because of these connections, we're able to influence a lot of our political matters, social matters, money matters, follow money.

I think we're all in agreement on this one. Not quite as conspiracy as the movies and the books would have you believe.

But follow the money. I believe the Freemasons are up to no good though.

But the Freemasons also made us a country. We wouldn't be, we would still be part of England if it weren't for the Freemasons. Guys, just a reminder, don't forget to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages at 3SchemeQueens.

That's the number 3 Scheme Queens, all one word. We're also on Reddit, same username.

If you want to check out our website, go to 3schemequeens.com and you can find links to our social media accounts, our Buzzsprout page, all of our episodes, additional content, and our contact page where you can engage with us and share any updates

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As always, if you choose not to financially support us, we appreciate the follows, the downloads, the listens, the likes. Kait, what should the people do?

Yeah, I want you to take out your phone and I want you to text three people who are really into Bones, any type of Bones. Bones, wood, redwood trees, yulna, patella, anything that could be a Bone.

I want you to text three of those people and scrolling down, leave us a five-star review, leave us a comment, share us on your Instagram platform, interact with us on our social media platforms.

That includes Instagram, Reddit, Gmail, and yeah, Maggie.

That's it. We'll see you next Tuesday.

See you next Tuesday. See you next Tuesday.