The Phenomenal Week. This is the name given to one of the most extraordinary periods in the annals of cryptozoology, when a flurry of monster sightings, breathless newspaper coverage, and state-wide panic ended with the Jersey Devil captured and put on display in a museum. But, if we go beyond the cryptid books, what was the real story behind this celebrated week in 1909? We’ll learn about America's transformation in the Gilded Age, a literary controversy that saw naturalists pitted against romanticists (with President Roosevelt joining the fray), and how a canny museum publicist manipulated the dubious American press of the age. Then, America's embrace of scientific rationalism takes a grim turn, when a Quaker psychologist sets up shop in the Pine Barrens, leading our tale - and the history of the 20th century - down a dark and sinister path.
Written and narrated by Dylan Ferguson, featuring Sean O'Rourke. Original music is by Rob What.
Some of the main sources for this episode include:
James F. McCloy & Ray Miller, The Jersey Devil (1976)
James F. McCloy & Ray Miller, Phantom of the Pines (1998)
Brian Regal & Frank J. Esposito, The Secret History of the Jersey Devil (2018)
Bill Sprouse, The Domestic Life of the Jersey Devil (2013)
Henry H. Goddard, The Kallikak Family (1912)
Find Dylan at: dylan@bravooustsider.com
Find more of Rob's music at: robwhat.bandcamp.com
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