Monstertalk

This week on MonsterTalk, we interview Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda, authors of Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, a book which details many folkloric monsters of Japan. From the slash-mouthed woman to a giant disgusting foot—these creatures have inspired fear and wonder in Japan and influenced books, movies and video-games. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

For thousands of years, people who made their living by working the sea have reported creatures that appeared to be half-human and half-fish. Some of these stories are legends and fairy tales, but more recent sightings are reported as real animals. Confounding things even more are mummified mermaids brought to Europe from sailors coming back from Asia. A recent Animal Planet “documentary” claimed that mermaids are real and the US government is hiding the truth. This week on MonsterTalk, we interview museum curator (and mermaid-model expert) Paolo Viscardi. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

For decades, legends of a giant sexually-assaulting bat-creature have trickled out of Zanzibar. In this episode of MonsterTalk we interview Ben Radford about his investigation of the creature and the role that the monster called Popabawa has played in culture and politics in the United States. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

The hosts of MonsterTalk interview Sharon Hill, creator of the website Doubtful News. The discussion includes updates on the latest in monster news trends, as well as information about The Amaz!ng Meeting—the James Randi Educational Foundation’s annual meeting of skeptical scientists, researchers, artists, performers, teachers and other rational-minded folk in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also in this episode, Brian Thompson of the JREF stops by to discuss TAM 2012. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

Remorseless killers are the stuff of countless films. Sadly, the real world has even more of them. Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, H. H. Holmes, John Wayne Gacy—these remorseless psychopaths filled graveyards with corpses and sleeping minds with nightmares. But these aren’t monsters—they’re real people who have a brain that developed differently than most peoples. Author Jon Ronson joins us on this episode of MonsterTalk to discuss the condition of psychopathy—and to share with us his journey into the world of these dangerous people. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

In modern science the homunculus refers to various models of the human mind, but in medieval times it was something quite different. Join us for a fascinating interview with professor William R. Newman, of Indiana University’s Department of History and Philosophy of Science. He is the author of seven books, including Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature—a book which provides much insight into the seedy back-story of this strange creature. This episode contains adult material and may be unsuitable for junior skeptics. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

Join the hosts of MonsterTalk for an interview with Daniel Nettheim, director of a new film about a man hunting for thylacines. The Hunter stars Willem Dafoe as the eponymous character tasked with seeking out the last living thylacine in the wild. Also, Scott Sigler calls in to discuss his newest monster book, Nocturnal. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

In the forests of Pennsylvania, on a dark September night, a trail-cam took a series of controversial pictures. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) still claims they show a juvenile Bigfoot. Skeptics claim the photos show a bear. Join the hosts of MonsterTalk as they discuss Bigfoot photos, fair-use and the economics of unusual photos. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

Episode 50 of MonsterTalk takes us to a small English village in the 1570s where a morning church service is interrupted by a horrific storm which heralds, perhaps, the appearance of Satan himself in the form of a huge black hound. Join us as we talk with David Waldron (author of Shock! The Black Dog of Bungay) as he helps us discover the facts behind this creepy tale—a tale which influences paranormal literature even today. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

Did you see that popular Internet video that allegedly showed a mammoth crossing a river in Siberia? You probably figured it was a hoax—and we did too—but we decided to get to the bottom of the matter. Join us as we discuss the methods and motives for Internet hoax videos. This episode also includes interviews with documentary film maker Ludovic Petho and Alan Melikdjanian (aka Captain Disillusion). Was there really something fishy about that video? Listen to see if you can bear the truth! READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

This week on MonsterTalk, the hosts talk with the author of Monsters In America, Dr. Scott Poole. His book chronicles the history of monsters from colonial America to modern times—and tries to tackle the issue of meaning in a world where monsters are “meaning machines.” Content Advisory: The content in this episode is rated is PG13. Be sure to read the episode notes to see the winners of the MonsterTalk t-shirt design contest and see the three winning designs. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

In this episode of MonsterTalk, two skeptics interview a witch about how to battle evil with magic. Emily Carlin is a magical instructor at The Grey School—an online magical university and the author of Defense Against the Dark: A Field Guide to Protecting Yourself from Predatory Spirits, Energy Vampires and Malevolent Magic. Is magic the best defense against evil monsters? Or is skepticism? Pull up a chair and sit a spell to find out. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

By popular demand, we take a brief aside into fantasy to talk with one the more sinister figures associated with the Winter Holidays: The Krampus. Then we get a bit more serious as we welcome one of the co-hosts of the popular podcast The Bigfoot Show, documentarian and comedian, Scott Herriott. Scott has made several films about walking the Pacific Coast Trail and about his personal quest to find Bigfoot—and the people he’s met in that search. This MonsterTalk interview includes a detailed recounting of his own brush with what he believes may have been a Sasquatch. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

If you think Genies are funny like in Aladdin, or sexy like in I Dream of Jeannie get ready to have your assumptions challenged. In the Middle East, Jinn aren’t whimsical characters of fantasy. They are considered to be frightening, real entities that haunt desolate places and can perform terrible magic. In this episode of MonsterTalk we interview author Robert Lebling about his book Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar. If you miss this episode you’ll wish you hadn’t! READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

WHILE AT TAM9, the hosts of MonsterTalk sat down to talk with psychologist Richard Wiseman about his new book Paranormality: Why we see what isn’t there. It was supposed to be a chat about the paranormal, ghosts and Wiseman’s findings. But a conversation with Richard Wiseman is rarely so simple as that. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

From The Lost World to Alley Oop to The Flintstones, the idea of dinosaurs and humans living together has captured the imagination of readers across the globe. But there are some who believe that this idea isn’t fictional. Is there a population of sauropod dinosaurs living in Africa in modern times? In this episode of MonsterTalk, we interview paleontologist Dr. Donald Prothero at TAM9 about his research into the creature known as Mokele Mbembe! Cryptozoology, paleontology and creationism converge in the jungles of the Congo. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

On November 8, 2005 Canadian geological engineering student Kenton Carnegie went for a walk. He told people that he’d be back by 5 pm. When he hadn’t returned by 7 pm, a search party went out and discovered his remains in the woods. In this episode of Monstertalk (a follow-up to last week’s), we interview professor Valerius Geist about the true cause of Kenton Carnegie’s death. Some people thought he was killed by a bear, but more likely he was killed by a myth. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

CHANCES ARE IF YOU LISTEN to MonsterTalk you probably like nature documentaries. No doubt you’ve seen stories about wolves and heard words to the effect that wolves are often maligned and that wolves have an undeserved reputation for being killers. Yet how does one reconcile the idea that dangerous wolves are a myth with the many myths and fairy tales which feature wolves as the villain? In this episode of MonsterTalk we take on the legend of the big, bad wolf and what we find may surprise you. This episode features an interview with author Jay M. Smith, about his book Monsters of the Gévaudan: The Making of a Beast. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

IN THIS EPISODE of MonsterTalk we discuss Ghouls and their real world counterpart: cannibals. The hosts are joined by Carole A. Travis-Henikoff, author of Dinner With A Cannibal: The Complete History of Mankind’s Oldest Taboo. This episode also features guest MonsterTalker Adam Levenstein, a long-time friend of the show whose background combines anthropology and skepticism. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.

The 2009 film The Haunting in Connecticut is purported to be based on true events. Similarly, there was the 2002 documentary A Haunting in Connecticut (which aired on The Discovery Channel and helped spawn the series A Haunting). These true events have been compiled by author Ray Garton into his book In A Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting. The shocking tale contains adult elements of a graphic nature, and if true, described a terrifying case of a demonic and ghostly attack on a family. But Garton now says that the allegedly true events weren’t quite what they seemed. READ episode notesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.