Amelia Earhart to fly solo around the world! Big news then, big news now and Ripley Radio this week talks with the “new” Earhart as she plans her 28,000 mile journey. The 31-year old tells Ralf that with the name her parents gave her, she was destined to be a pilot. Most of us never have a near-death experience, but Brooklyn’s Robert Kopecky has had three and he tells Tim that each one was different and each taught him a different lesson. He shares those lessons with us and talks about his new book, “How to Survive Life and Death.”

Additional Weird, Wacky, and Strange Stories on the April 14 Episode of Ripley Radio, the official radio program of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: On Wednesday, April 16, Mezco Toyz, the creators of the popular Living Dead Dolls will be displaying a time capsule full of product from the 16-year history of the doll series at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in Times Square, New York City. The capsule coffin will be interred and opened in 66.6 years. We hear more about this crazy publicity stunt from a company representative; Ripley archivist Edward Meyer notes how surprised he has been that Robert Ripley never wrote or drew anything about Amelia Earhart during his long career, but the company has since acquired several, which are now on display at the San Diego Air and Space Museum; Jodi Pliszka describes this week’s Weird Medical Malady as Hyper Empathy; Florida TV reporter Scott Fais gives us an alternative to a traditional church for Easter service this year, a drive-in church with plenty of coffee and doughnuts for everyone; and we hear that the Doomsday Seed Bank has added 20,000 new varieties of seeds, including 600 types of beer barley seeds!