MonsterTalk Airwave Media
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- Wissenschaft
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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.
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Three Mini Mysteries
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 algorithmic analysis of biological behaviors (gScholar)
Silver and Milk Preservation:
Example of claims in modern source: Ask A Prepper
Article about historic use of silver in baby bottles
The Oligodynamic Effect
Side-chat on Rat Kings:
An article (with some great photos) on Rat Kings
The less regal Squirrel King
Who invented Pasteurization?
The Smurfing Danger of Colloidal Silver
Emily Rosa Science-Fair Program
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Legend Tripping: Devil's Tower
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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BigFootage
[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 page gives you the details on the cast.
A very good widescreen version of the movie is available streaming on Amazon. (Affiliate Link)
The film follows a team of investigators who travel for months into British Columbia on horseback to find the secret valley of the Bigfoot where they will radio-tag a creature for study. Along the way they will tell Bigfoot stories and watch stock nature footage play out to a Jaws-derivative soundtrack.
If that sound sketchy, keep in mind their whole trip was planned by computer.
The computer even gave them a sketch of what they should be looking for!
The party of adventurers heads off into the wilderness.
They will encounter many shadowy creatures along the way.
They will try to out-science Bigfoot. Good luck with that.
This is a historically significant film in some ways - and has led to some interesting research which will be discussed in a near-future episode of the regular show. I'm still digging.
I included a brief snippet from the Eddie Murphy Biopic Dolemite Is My Name, which tells the story of Rudy Ray Moore. I loved this movie and recommend the biopic which is streaming on Netflix. (That's *not* an affiliate link - but you will need a Netflix account to watch it.)
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The Science of Weird Shit with Professor Chris French
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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The Black Monk of Pontefract
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.
Colin Wilson's book on the topic (Poltergeist) which has the chapter that made Pontefrat famous.
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Celebrity UFO Encounters
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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Customer Reviews
Always fun, always informative
Monster Talk hits the right tone for me, being skeptical about the topics they cover, while remaining respectful towards the true believers. Blake and Karen also dive deep into the topics they cover, bring on experts and you always leave having learned a thing or two.
If I had one point of critique: Blake could use a better mic, the one he uses currently clips when he laughs a little too hard at his own puns. :)
Beyond that minor issue, I've been listening for years and it's always an instant play for me, and I subscribe to a LOT of other cryptozoological and paranormal podcasts. Highly recommended.
Excellent podcast on covid-19
I want to express praise and thanks specifically for the 15 March Monster Talk episode. Listened three times in succession, learned a lot. Sane, calm, truthful and thorough. Thank you!
As fun as it is informative
I love this podcast! I only discovered it a few months ago, although I have loved monsters and cryptozoology for as long as I can remember. And a good thing, too, as this means I now have several years of back catalogue to listen to and can go on quite a binge without fear of running out of material all too quickly.
Even though I had a fair amount of background knowledge, Monstertalk never fails to teach me something new, and I have on more than one occasion felt the need to share some newly discovered factoid with my unsuspecting friends. I have added dozens of books to my wishlist and discovered many great minds that I can't wait to learn more from.
But above all, Monstertalk is tremendous fun, and never failed to cheer me up on a dreary work day.