MonsterTalk
MonsterTalk: The Science Show About Monsters is a free audio podcast that critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or werewolves.
Episodes
June 3, 2024 • 55 mins
Friend of the show Ray Garton, author of many horror books including In a Dark Place, passed away April 21, 2024 of lung cancer.
This show is largely a rebroadcast of episode #039 from 2011.
Ray was one of the first and most prominent people who worked with Ed and Lorraine Warren who then went on to call them out for their duplicity. He wouldn't be the only one either, as we covered in The Warren Omission a few years later.
Content...
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May 27, 2024 • 38 mins
We take a look at the 1992 BBC Halloween tv special, Ghostwatch.
Ghostwatch (streaming Affiliate Link)
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May 20, 2024 • 37 mins
This week we take a look at some recent news stories that fall within our bailiwick. We've got big cats, big-not-really-cats, and some UFO data to discuss. (with Matt Baxter.)
Note - check out the articles for images of the "Thylacine", especially the Reddit thread and Galante's video.
Tasmanian Tiger:
Forrest Galante's YT Video
Coverage in Newsweek
Reddit readers have a go at the photos
Alien Big Cat in UK
BBC says DNA confirms bi...
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May 13, 2024 • 35 mins
This week we're going to take a quick peek behind the curtains as to how THE SCIENCE OF MONSTERS came to be published by MonsterHouse, and what you can find inside. Sales of the book directly help the show, and all of that is explained during our MonsterTalking.
The Science of Monsters - paperback & kindle
The many lives of Joe Nickell
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May 6, 2024 • 47 mins
Blake and Karen are joined by Matt Baxter to discuss the new horror film Late Night with the Devil (AMZ affiliate link), a fictional work that draws very heavily from "real" paranormal history to anchor its verisimilitude.
Trailer for LNwtD
Don Lane vs Randi incident
CSICOP
Randi vs James Hydrick
Randi vs Popov
Randi and Don Lane incident
Randi
Michelle Remembers
Anton LaVey
Jim Jones
Branch Davidians
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April 29, 2024 • 53 mins
In this episode we talk with professor Jason Josephson-Storm about the concept of Disenchantment, why it's an important and influential concept, and why it is also a pervasive myth.
The Dialectic of Enlightenment by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno
Max Weber
The Golden Bough by James Frazer
Deadly Words by by Jeanne Favret-Saada
Our coverage of the homunculus - way back in episode 53!
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April 22, 2024 • 41 mins
Is Bigfoot making peculiar stacks of bones in the forests of Mt. St. Helens? Archaeologist Andy White joins us to discuss the hypothesis that was the topic of a research paper by a Bigfoot proponent Mitchell Townsend.
Andy's website (and response to Townsend's claims)
Andy also has a YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
Taphonomy
Bigfoot proponent Townsend has been on Coast-to-Coast-AM more than once, where he also promoted his ideas about hidden imag...
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April 15, 2024 • 41 mins
Karen and Blake discuss three little mysteries they've run across while doing research that didn't quite warrant an individual episode, and which might benefit from some crowd-sourcing.
Examples of "Bigfoot Tree Forts"
Colorado Site discussing
Tik-Tok Bigfoot Structures
Fairy-Braids:
This is a real phenomenon - example article with photos
Loren Coleman discussing MK Davis discussing Bigfoot braids (Cryptomundo)
Some examples of alg...
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April 8, 2024 • 33 mins
Matt and Karen report back from their trip to Devil's Tower, Wyoming.
reuters debunk traced to Facebook Satirical Post
Watch CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND via Amazon affiliate link
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April 1, 2024 • 35 mins
[This episode contains some adult language.]
This is the story of the search for Bigfoot as conducted by the NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER. (Which sounds a lot like the real Bigfoot research group North American Wildlife Research Team that famously setup the only permanent Bigfoot trap maintained by the national park service.) But while a lot of the stuff in this film sounds real - the whole thing is made up. The IMDB pag...
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March 25, 2024 • 47 mins
We're excited to have Professor Chris French back to introduce his brand new book, The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure The Paranormal (Affiliate Link).
Links:
Wilson & Barber and the "fantasy prone personality"
Richard Wiseman appearances on MonsterTalk
Susan Blackmore (wikipedia)
Anomalistic Psychology
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March 18, 2024 • 52 mins
We catch up with Richard Estep and Bil Bungay, co-authors of The Black Monk of Pontefract: The World's Most Violent and Relentless Poltergeist to talk about the history and strange happenings alleged to take place in the village of Pontefract in Yorkshire.
Website of the house (for bookings and photos)
You can rent Bil's movie When The Lights Went Out on Vimeo for a small fee.
And here is Bil's Parapod movie on Apple's platform....
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March 11, 2024 • 47 mins
This week Blake, Karen and Matt Baxter discuss celebrity UFO encounters. Why are they so popular? Why do we care?
Some examples:
John Lennon
Olivia Newton John
Elvis
Russell Crowe
Mick Jagger
David Bowie
Kesha
Demi Lovato
Jimmy Carter (see The UFO Movie They Don't Want You To See)
Heck - YouTube is just full of these stories.
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March 4, 2024 • 36 mins
Blake and Karen discuss The Secret History of Bigfoot by John O'Connor.
The Secret History of Bigfoot (affiliate link)
NYT Book Review
Trey the Explainer on Bigfoot and Indigenous Culture (YouTube)
Michael Barkun's Culture of Conspiracy (affiliate link)
Spokane Washington Public Library reading by O'Connor (YouTube)
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February 26, 2024 • 47 mins
There are lots of things to read about this on the Internet and you will not find a definitive answer, I'm afraid. My conclusions are based on parsimony not on explicit proof. Besides, we all know how hard it is to prove a negative. It's a complex topic with many black-box elements and those tend to lend themselves to conspiratorial thinking.
If you have things to say on the topic, come comment on the episode on our Patreon.
Some...
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February 19, 2024 • 43 mins
A lighthearted discussion of the cryptids of Connecticut with the author and illustrator of
Connecticut Cryptids: A Field Guide to the Weird & Wonderful Creatures of the Nutmeg State, Patrick Scalisi and Valerie Ruby-Omen.
Patrick's Amazon Author's Page (affiliate link)
Valerie's facebook page
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February 12, 2024 • 38 mins
We conclude our two-part look at Boleskine House, on the shores of Loch Ness. Matt Baxter joins Karen and Blake to wrap up this investigation.
Links for Part 2:
Article about sale of Boleskine
Report of death of Major Grant (1960)
A Dark Song (movie loosely based on Crowley/Abramelin working) (affiliate link)
The Cadco Affair - or the great sausage scandal
Pre-fire article (2015) about Boleskine after Page sale
Current owners hope ...
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February 5, 2024 • 44 mins
Part 1 of a 2-part look at Boleskine House, the little house on the shores of Loch Ness that allegedly once hosted an infamous ceremony attempt by Mr. Aleister Crowley. Matt Baxter joins Karen and Blake to discuss.
Thanks to previous guests Peter Bebergal, Jerry Drake and Al Ridenour for their assistance on preparing this episode.
Related Links - Part 1
News article chock full of the legends we discuss
What happened to the kids ...
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January 29, 2024 • 38 mins
Blake wraps up his seven year deep dive into the Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblins case by taking a look at the many myths and misconceptions still enshrined in the Wikepedia article at the time of this recording. Yep - it's Blake rant time again...
The two-part article is published in the UK's Skeptic.
Part one is live now:
https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2024/01/guns-and-goblins-what-really-happened-during-the-kentucky-alien-invasion/
Part...
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January 22, 2024 • 37 mins
A look at Blake's ongoing research into the missing history of the Patterson-Gimlin film.
This is pre-publication and the raw data is not ready to share yet, but we discuss some of the findings.
Episode 12 - Greg Long
Cryptid Cinema - Steve Bissette (affiliate link)
Cryptid Cinema vol 2 (affiliate link)
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