MonsterTalk

Karen joins Blake to discuss the influential 2-part episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man that introduced a generation of kids to Bigfoot, and the idea that the creature might be interconnected with space aliens living inside a California mountain. This is part one of a two-part special edition. The patron edition has extended footage and no modern commercials. Extensive show notes available here...

Blake and Karen take a minute to catch their breath and talk about where things are in their lives and what's up next in MonsterTalk news. Links: Bitch: The Journey of a Word Adhesive Capsulitis  Idiopathic Illnesses Mechanical Turk Speaking Machine Replica of Speaking Machine (YouTube) Wolfgang von Kempelen Deep Mind Deep Blue Marvin Minsky John McCarthy Become a supporter of this podcast: https:...

This is part two of our two part look at Dragons and how these mythical beasts are being used to promote Creationism. Our guest is Dr. Philip Senter and he's the author of a new book about this topic.  We use the word bullsh!t a lot in this episode so I slapped an explicit tag on - but I don't think it's too explicit otherwise.  Get Dr. Senter's book here: The Real Story of Dinosaurs and Dragons N...

This is part one of our two part look at Dragons and how these mythical beasts are being used to promote Creationism. Our guest is Dr. Philip Senter and he's the author of a new book about this topic. Get Dr. Senter's book here: The Real Story of Dinosaurs and Dragons Read more about "The Dragon of Bologna" Another Book about fake historical zoological specimens  The National Center for Science Ed...

Matt & Karen went out for a little getaway weekend to Victor, Colorado and ended up investigating the allegedly haunted Victor Hotel. Did Eddie die in the hotel elevator? Was Matt caught in embarrassing circumstances? Find out inside! The show notes here won't show the images so you'll need to hop over to our episode webpage to see them. https://www.monstertalk.org/s04e28-the-victor-hotel-ghos...

We're excited to welcome back Peter Bebergal. This time we're talking about mysticism and dybbuks. Be sure and check out the links below including the upcoming talk Peter is giving April 14th for The Last Tuesday Society. Peter on Jewish Boston podcast All the Haunts Be Ours  (affiliate link) 15-Disk Horror Collection The Ibbur from Jewish mysticism Peter will be talking monster culture for The La...

We're delighted to get to talk with Adrian Shine, who has worked for decades to raise awareness about Loch Ness and investigated the legendary creature said to inhabit the dark waters of that deep Scottish lake.  He's written a new book about Sea Monsters and their connection to the Loch Ness Mystery which releases April 1st, 2025.  A Natural History of Sea Monsters (affiliate link) The Loch Ness...

We're back with part 2 of our interview with Dr. Eleanor Janega to discuss Demons in Medieval Europe - and a lot of that has to do with sexy sex.  So… another EXPLICIT tag!  Eleanor's Blog Going-Medieval Eleanor's book The Once and Future Sex The Apocalypse Tapestry of Angers  (The Guardian) The Apocalypse Tapestry  (Wikipedia) YouTube videos with Eleanor  Monty Summers translation of the Malleus...

We're joined by the engaging historian Dr. Eleanor Janega to talk about how the people of Europe considered demonic sex during the medieval period of history. This episode is in two parts, and both are explicit.  Presenter on the History Hit channel - https://www.historyhit.com/   Blog - https://going-medieval.com/   Medievalist, author, blogs about medieval history, pop culture, and swearing  Aut...

A brief remembrance of our friend, Joe Nickell. (December 1, 1944 – March 4, 2025) Joe Nickell's extraordinary life came to an end on Tuesday, March 4th and we're posting this brief remembrance this week instead of our regular episode. Check out Joe's many "personas." The Science of Monsters: Tracking the Real-Life Creatures Archive episodes with Joe The sourtoe cocktail Become a supporter of this...

We're joined by Allison Jornlin ( paranormalwomen.com) to talk about the footprint of women in the field of parapsychology and paranormal investigation.  We most recently talked with Allison during "the dark times" on our COVID-era MonsterTalk Live series. She also covered the Chicago Mothman flap with us back in 2018! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertal...

Is the cave of the winds near Manitou Springs, CO HAUNTED!? Matt Baxter has investigated and he joins us to talk about what he found. Related Links: Spooky Science Sisters - Roanoke episode with Karen In Research Of… The Lost Colony  - Blake & Jeb Card discuss the In Search Of… episode about Roanoke. Eclectic Shopping options in Manitou Springs The history of Manitou Springs The Cave of the Wi...

We're joined by Dr. Justin Mullis  to get a better understanding of the incredibly lore-dense anime series Dan Da Dan . Justin's academia profile Legend of Momotaro Some links recommended by Justin: This is  a really good video  about the history of the Flatwoods Monster in Japanese video games. Highly recommended. This is the  Religious Dispatches article  about koro. Here's the  Japan Today inte...

As Valentine's day bears down upon us, we turn to the monsters whose origins lie in passion, betrayal, and tragedy. If love is the strongest human emotion, surely rage at betrayal is its nightmarish mirror - and such emotions are embodied in a variety of creatures around the world and throughout history. Content Warning - this episode contains stories of child death, suicide, murder, and other unp...

Cemeteries Cleaning and Grave Rubbing - Karen and Blake are joined by Matt Baxter to discuss the ethics and best practices around maintaining and preserving graveyards.  Links for Grave Rubbers from CyberSpace: The article that inspired this conversation  (via The Conversation) Ken Feder (friend of the show and emeritus professor of archaeology) sent along this helpful article about grave preserva...

This week we're welcoming back historian Dr Joseph Gagne to tell us about a ghost story that straddles North America and Scotland.  He was last with us to tell us about the legend of La Corriveau in episode 181 .  Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural History of Ghosts  by Ronald C. Finucane - mentioned by Joseph as his introduction to this story. This is an affiliate link and the book is out of pri...

Today we're discussing the strange story of The Houdini Seance and Arthur Ford the Spiritualist.     The last Houdini Seance (1936) - Audio + Story   Bess Houdini    Arthur Ford - Spiritualist   Arthur Ford - Obituary   The Houdini Code   The Bishop James Pike   Was Pike Seance Hoax? The Skeptics Dictionary: Arthur Ford Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monsterta...

In the mountains of North Georgia on a spooky civil war battlefield there is a legend of a green eyed monster. This is not that story. This is the story of the new festival set up to commemorate the monster, but also bring people and revenue to this rural southern town. We'll be talking with Nate Tucker and Dillan Whisenant about their experience kicking off the first Green Eyes Festival of Chicam...

This is the audio from our 2024 livestream ( http://youtube.com/monstertalk).   If you saw that live, this is the same audio without the moving picture bits. If you didn't see it but want to see our mugs waggin' synchronously to our voices, you can find this particular episode here . Otherwise - happy new year! We'll be back next week talking about how to make a successful monster festival with so...

We're joined by fellow podcaster and friend of the show, Andy Driscoll, to introduce a peculiar region in Massachusetts said to be home to concentrated high strangeness. We'll definitely be coming back to deep dive in these swamps for more details on particular claims but Andy gives us a great "hometown" introduction to this fascinating area. Video Segment with Jeff Bellanger introducing the topic...

One of the most "Christmas Ghost Story" ghost stories for Christmas that I've ever come across. Smee tells of a night of holiday revelry turned chilling and mysterious by the appearance of an unexpected attendee at the festivities. You can read along with the ebook  by purchasing it here.  (affiliate Link) Read more about  A. M. Burrage  if you like. (Wikipedia) Art for this episode is by one of m...

We're excited to have Laura Krantz back to talk about her latest book - a youth-focused look at how to distinguish between magical and scientific thinking: Do You Believe in Magic? Laura's very entertaining and informative podcasts:  LINK Laura's other writings ( affiliate LINK ) Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support . Some product links...

An interview with writer, researcher and podcaster Aaron Gulyas - host of the UFO themed history podcast The Saucer Life. Gulyas is also the author of many books (affiliate link)  including some likely to be of particular interest to MT listeners: Extraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist: Alien Contact Tales Since the 1950s Conspiracy Theories: The Roots, Themes and Propagation of Paranoid Pol...

We welcome back Chris Woodyard to discuss the very odd story of the Wollaton Gnomes - a 1979 reported sighting of little men in little cars by a group of children in a British park.  Chris & Simon's podcast Boggarts & Banshees   (Apple Podcasts) Transcript of the gnome witness children's Interview  (courtesy Simon Young) Wollaton Hall (wiki) Blog by Frank Earp, who claims to have investiga...

We're delighted to celebrate Thanksgiving with the return of Dr. Brian Regal. He's here to talk about a favorite monster film, and announce the release of his autobiography, The Monster from Newark. Links:    Brian's autobiography -  The Monster From Newark (affiliate link) Karen's anthology of skeptics having weird experiences: Would You Believe It? (affiliate link) Lucky Dragon No 5 (wiki) Castl...