The Cryptonaturalist

Special thanks to Sarah Rhea Werner for reprising her role as Valentina Blackwood. Sarah has so many wonderful projects, including The Write Now Podcast and Girl in Space. Sarah has all sorts of ways to entertain, educate, and inspire you and you should really learn more about her at sarahwerner.com.  And double-special thanks to Elena Fernández Collins for voicing Ave María’s field report. E...

Welcome to the Cassandra Logs. In this episode, Cassandra visits with a dragon.   Reminder: Transcripts of this and every episode are available at cryptonaturalist.com.   Exclusive stickers, pins, shirts, and access to bonus content and strange expertise on strange topics awaits you at our patreon page. Patreon.com/CryptoNaturalist.   You’ll find information about submitting your po...

The thing about an unexplainable RV is that it’s unexplainable, but let’s give it a shot anyway. Thanks to Fara Tucker for this week’s hidden lore poetry. Fara Tucker is a writer, poet, storyteller, teacher, photographer, former therapist, and current therapy client. She is currently wading through liminal space, which is occasionally good for producing poetry, and consistently good for producing...

A jellyfish is part ghost part flower and part trap. Is it any surprise that some defy explanation?   Check out Field Guide to the Haunted Forest by Jarod K. Anderson wherever books are sold. An audio version as well as signed bookplates are coming soon. Reminder: Transcripts of this and every episode are available at cryptonaturalist.com. Ticking clock sound effect courtesy of: www.freesfx.c...

The forest. The fire. The guitar in the wind. The covered bridge that has no business being there. Background guitar music was “Three Ravens” by Axletree. Downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Axletree. Thanks to Meredith Smith for this episode’s hidden lore poetry. Meredith is a flash fiction writer and micropoet in Seattle, WA. She is an alumna of the Hugo House and student of write...

There are many places to hide strange nature. Mountaintop snows. Undersea trenches. In your pocket. Thanks to The Pine Hill Haints for permission to play their song. You should get to know them. Visit thepinehillhaints.com to learn more. Hidden lore poetry by Hal Y. Zhang. Hal Y. Zhang is a lapsed physicist who splits her time between ghosts of her once-green plants and the Internet, where she wri...

A simple old tale about a RV, a cosmic bat, and a low Earth orbit mosquito. Hidden lore poetry by Patricia Killelea. Patricia Killelea is the author of the poetry collections Counterglow (Urban Farmhouse Press, 2019) and Other Suns (Swan Scythe press, 2011). She is currently Poetry Editor at Passages North and an Assistant Professor of English at Northern Michigan University. Her work appears in c...

The train in the pines is a great getaway provided you can get there and then get away. Hidden lore poetry by Annie McAndrew. Annie is a writer of speculative fiction from the edge of the Texas Hill Country. She can be found exploring the local creek trails and other odd, fantastical worlds.

The quiet folk are there. Sort of. Let’s not call too much attention to them. Special thanks to Elliott Kalan for voicing Paul Hogan. I’ve been a fan of Elliott’s work for a long time. He was the head writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he was also the head writer on the new Mystery Science Theater 3,000. He also cohosts my favorite movie podcast, The Flop House. I recommend checking out hi...

In this episode recorded in quarantine, the CryptoNaturalist gets philosophical about meaning, life, magic, and you.

Special thanks to Jo Firestone for today’s field report. Jo Firestone is a Brooklyn-based comedian who can be seen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Joe Pera Talks With You, High Maintenance, Shrill, The Chris Gethard Show, and others. She can be heard on Maximum Fun’s Dr. Gameshow, a podcast she co-hosts with Manolo Moreno. Her album, "The Hits" is available on Comedy Central Records, an...

Some of my favorite trees are actually fifty-foot insects. Special thanks to Jesse Thorn. Jesse Thorn is the host and producer of Bullseye and Jordan, Jesse, Go!, and the co-host and producer of Judge John Hodgman. He's also the founder and proprietor of the Maximum Fun podcast network. I must say, that if it wasn’t for the Maximum Fun network, I’m not sure that I ever would have taken an interest...

There are many voices in the woods. The more you listen, the more you’ll here. Special thanks to Ella Watts for voicing Juniper Grey. Ella Watts is a podcast producer for BBC Studios, and executive producer for the science fiction drama podcast The Orphans, a terrifying adventure about robots, clones and friendship. You can find Ella on Twitter @GejWatts , or follow her podcast @OrphansAudio. Find...

Owls know about you. The least you can do is know about them. Special thanks to Hank Green. Hank Green is the CEO of Complexly, a production company that creates educational content, including Crash Course and SciShow, prompting The Washington Post to name him "one of America's most popular science teachers." Hank co-hosts Dear Hank and John, an advice podcast, and Delete This, a review of his Twi...

There’s a cemetery that has never had a proper gate, but we’ll explore it all the same. The CryptoNaturalist has been nominated for the 2019 Audio Verse awards in the categories of: Spoken Word – Program; Spoken Word – Writing; and Spoken Word – Performance. Visit https://audioverseawards.net/ before October, 31st to vote.

When a landscape chooses a rhyme scheme, we must join in the poetry. This episode is written as a series of Shakespearean sonnets. Hidden lore by Leslie J. Anderson

If you crawl into a burrow to meet its owner, it’s good to keep an open mind and a close eye on all your body parts. Thank you to Jeffrey Cranor for playing Dr. Simon Blank. Jeffrey is a co-creator of a number of my favorite podcasts including Welcome to Night Vale. Give a listen to Jeffrey’s newest podcast Start with This. It’s a creativity and writing focused show and each episode centers around...

Cats are cats, even when they’re also trees or crustaceans. This episode was co-written by Alice Pow. You can find Alice on twitter @AlicePow8. Special thanks to Matt Young for playing Skipper McCloud. You probably know Matt as Usidore the Blue from (one of my favorite podcasts) Hello from the Magic Tavern. The premiere of Magic Tavern season three that starts on July 22nd. Hidden Lore poetry by A...

I don’t want to alarm you, but today’s creature is a lot closer to you than it is to me. Angela Hall played by Jordan Cobb. Learn more about Jordan’s work at www.jordanvcobb.com or on Twitter @inkphemeral. Hidden Lore poetry by Taylor A. Greene. Taylor A. Greene is a graduate student of archaeology at Ole Miss and a Kentucky native. His poetry is inspired by love, loss, and the beauty of Southern...

This is a bonus episode from the CryptoNaturalist Patreon page. Subscribing to our Patreon page supports the show and unlocks more bonus content. Visit www.patreon.com/cryptonaturalist for details. Winter Horses and Other Unknowables was written by Leslie J. Anderson Find Leslie on twitter @inkhat or at www.lesliejanderson.com .

You are a cryptid worthy of study, a creature of the marshland night, a fascinating animal who is about to make a new friend. Hidden Lore poetry by Jarod K. Anderson. Please take a moment to leave a review for The CryptoNaturalist wherever you listen to this podcast. Ambient wetland sound credit: https://freesound.org/people/tonant/sounds/260760/

Today we learn about the small, migratory songbird that’s bigger than all existence. Holly Day’s poetry has recently appeared in Plainsongs, The Long Islander , and The Nashwaak Review . Her newest poetry collections are In This Place, She Is Her Own (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press), A Wall to Protect Your Eyes (Pski’s Porch Publishing), Folios of Dried Flowers and Pressed Birds (Cyberwit.net), Where...

You can’t always believe your ears and you shouldn’t trust cute, furry faces peering up from the sea. This episode was thought-up and mostly written by the wonderfully talented Julia Schifini. Julia is a writer, sound designer, voice actor, and aspiring professional wrestler. She is the co-host and producer of Spirits, a boozy dive into myths and legends. She loves world-building, fancy cheese, an...

The patchwork islands of greenery nestled on the edges of roadways hold secrets worth our attention. Hidden Lore fiction by Olivia Williams. Olivia is a student of geoscience and literature. She writes short fiction, poetry, science articles, funding applications, and D&D sessions, but when she’s not doing any of that you can find her in the woods looking for cool fungus. Her writing and opini...

Beneath our feet, the under hawks glide in search of shadows to pluck from the surface of the world. Hidden Lore poetry by Eli Reeve. Eli is an aspiring artist and writer from Norway nesting in the jungles of Hawaii. Find her on Instagram at username eli.reeve ( instagram.com/eli.reeve ).