The Impossible Archive

Eddie Guimont & Bill Black

5.0 (6)
HISTORY

The Impossible Archive

Historians grapple with The Weird.

07/16/2022

Intimate Alien (w/ David Halperin)

Religion scholar David Halperin stops by to discuss his book Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO. David shares his own history as a young ufologist, and how he later came back to ufology as a scholar. Tangents include: the cover of Whitley Strieber's Communion, the Jungian quaternity, and "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel." Links/sources mentioned: David Halperin, Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO (Stanford University Press, 2020) Carl Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky (1959) Gray Barker, They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers (1956) Frank Scully, Behind the Flying Saucers (1950) Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia (1969) Whitley Strieber, Communion (1987) David Halperin, "Judaism and the UFO," in Handbook of UFO Religions (Brill, 2021) William L. Dawson leading the Tuskegee choir in his arrangement of "Ezekiel Saw de Wheel" (1942): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51rIXqGxLOk (this is the arrangement Bill sang in high school) Ray Bradbury, "Way in the Middle of the Air," in The Martian Chronicles (1950)

54 min
05/24/2022

Weird Documentaries (w/ Brad Abrahams)

Documentary filmmaker Brad Abrahams comes on the show to discuss his terrific films "Love and Saucers," "Telos or Bust," and "Do You See What I See?" Topics include alien abduction, Mt. Shasta, conspiracy theory rabbit holes, and Austin. You can watch "Love and Saucers" (2017) on YouTube, "Do You See What I See?" (2021) on Vimeo, and the trailer for "Telos or Bust" (2021) on Vimeo. For more of Brad's work, go to bradabrahams.net. Also check out the Mt. Shasta episode he did with QAnon Anonymous. more links/sources: Budd Hopkins, "Missing Time" (1981) Budd Hopkins, "Intruders" (1987) Farah Yurdozu, "Love in an Alien Purgatory: The Life and Fantastic Art of David Huggins" (2009) "We Believe in Dinosaurs" (2019) "All Light, Everywhere" (2021) "Welcome to Leith" (2015) "Wrinkles the Clown" (2019) "Sasquatch" (2021) Brian Regal, "Searching for Sasquatch" (2011) "Curse of the Man Who Sees UFOs" (2016) Archives of the Impossible

1h 7m
03/21/2022

Ancient Astronauts

Bill and Eddie unpack the "ancient astronaut" theory popularized by Erich von Däniken. Why do so many people want to attribute the Pyramids or Teotihuacan to long-ago extraterrestrials? Tangents include: Nazi ghostwriters, cargo cults, and Superman. They focus on the 1973 TV special In Search of Ancient Astronauts (narrated by Rod Serling), and also touch on the 1976 TV special Mysteries of the Gods (starring William Shatner). LINKS: In Search of Ancient Astronauts (1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJd756bz2Ak Mysteries of the Gods (1976): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJl4O2CALbk Transcript of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Lawrence Kasdan (1978): http://maddogmovies.com/almost/scripts/raidersstoryconference1978.pdf

1h 7m
12/23/2021

The Troy Sentinel

Bill reads today's issue (or at least this day in 1823) of the Troy Sentinel. The issue includes beekeeping tips, hogsheads of rum, an enormous pig, news on the Morales expedition, a Christmas poem from an anonymous reader… Links/sources: Troy Sentinel (Dec. 23, 1823): https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031777/1823-12-23/ed-1/seq-3/ Victor Herbert's Orchestra, "Nutcracker Ballet: Chinese Dance / Dance of the Mirilitons" (1913): https://archive.org/details/Voices_of_Christmas_Past_1898_to_1922/16_NutcrackerBalletChineseDanceDanceoftheMirilitons.flac "O Tannenbaum": https://archive.org/details/78_o-tannenbaum_orchefter-mit-gloden_gbia0010664b Ken Griffin, "Silent Night" (1950): https://archive.org/details/78_adeste-fideles-o-come-all-ya-faithful_ken-griffin-mohr-gruber_gbia0097796/03 Charles R. Cronhom, "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear / Shepherd's Christmas Song / I Saw Three Ships a-Sailing" (1960): https://archive.org/details/78_it-came-upon-the-midnight-clear-shepherds-christmas-song-i-saw-three-ships-asai_gbia0034356a/ Ken Griffin, "O Come All Ye Faithful" (1950): https://archive.org/details/78_adeste-fideles-o-come-all-ya-faithful_ken-griffin-mohr-gruber_gbia0097796/03 Ernest Hare, "The Night Before Christmas" (1920): https://archive.org/details/Voices_of_Christmas_Past_1898_to_1922/15_NightBeforeChristmas.flac Andrew Kostelantetz & His Orchestra, "Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71" (1924): https://archive.org/details/78_nutcracker-suite-op.-71a.-march---dance-of-the-sugar-plum-fairy_andre-kostelantetz_gbia0001232a Edison Male Quartette, "Sleigh Ride Party / Jingle Bells" (1898): https://archive.org/details/Voices_of_Christmas_Past_1898_to_1922/03_SleighRidePartyJingleBells.flac

22 min
12/19/2021

The Megalodon

How did an extinct shark become a modern-day cryptid? Eddie explains. Digressions include: U-Haul SuperGraphics, Yeti nomenclature, and 1990s Bin Laden. Citations/links: Edward Guimont, "The Megalodon: A Monster of the New Mythology," M/C (2021): https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/2793 Michael J. Gaynor, "The Town without Wi-Fi," Washingtonian (2015): https://www.washingtonian.com/2015/01/04/the-town-without-wi-fi/ Harry Turtledove's "State of Jefferson" stories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove_bibliography#State_of_Jefferson_Stories Steve Alten, "Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror" (1997) Steve Alten, "The Trench" (1999) Darrin Lowery et al., "Integrated Geology, Paleontology, and Archaeology: Native American Use of Fossil Shark Teeth in the Chesapeake Bay Region," Archaeology of Eastern North America (2011): https://www.jstor.org/stable/23265116 David G. Stead, "Sharks and Rays of Australian Seas" (1963) Ben S. Roesch, “A Critical Evaluation of the Supposed Contemporary Existence of Carcharodon Megalodon," Cryptozoology Review (1998): https://web.archive.org/web/20131021005820/http:/web.ncf.ca/bz050/megalodon.html Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle, eds., "Maneaters: Killer Sharks in Men's Adventure Magazines" (2021)

57 min
10/28/2021

Halloween III (w/ Robert Skvarla)

Bill and Eddie chat with Robert Skvarla about the 1982 film "Halloween III: Season of the Witch," a bizarre piece of techno-folk horror. Tangents include the Havana Syndrome, Bowling Green's Wikipedia page, and the politics of Stonehenge. Citations/links: Martin Harris and Kathryn Conner Bennett, "You Can't Kill the Boogeyman: Halloween III and the Modern Horror Franchise," Journal of Popular Film and Television (2004): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JPFT.32.3.98-120 Ronald Hutton, "The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain" (Oxford UP, 1996) Fangoria’s issue on "Halloween III": https://www.fangoria.com/archives/Halloween3-Fridaythe13thPart3-Creepshow/ Kevin Cooney, “Unlocking Nigel Kneale's Mythic Evil in 'Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” Diabolique Magazine (2018): https://diaboliquemagazine.com/unlocking-nigel-kneales-mythic-evil-in-halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch/

1h 1m
09/19/2021

Ole J. Sneide

Bill has a surprise story for Eddie, involving crank letters, Theosophy, Napoleon, continental drift, and the far side of the moon.

1h 10m
08/14/2021

Lovecraft the Astronomer (w/ Horace Smith)

Horace Smith, professor emeritus of astronomy at Michigan State University, joins the show to discuss a book he's writing with Eddie about H.P. Lovecraft and astronomy. They talk telescopes, gravity repulsion, the ether, life on Venus, and Planet X. Bill realizes that some of the astronomy he learned as a child is out-of-date now. You can find Smith's article on Lovecraft and the moon (which will become a chapter in the book) here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26868583

1h 1m

5

out of 5

6 Ratings

Historians grapple with The Weird.

Creator

Eddie Guimont & Bill Black
Years Active

2021 - 2022
Episodes

14
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Eddie Guimont & Bill Black
Show Website

The Impossible Archive