In Research Of

Blake and Jeb discuss their thoughts on the third season of In Search Of...   Things get... weird.

Jeb and Blake head out into the valley of the kings to learn more about King Tut.  History of the Valley of the Kings  Pyramid Secrets (IRO S02E09)  Significance of pyramids (Benben)  The Colossi of Memnon (the singing statue)  Nimoy Fashion - in the desert  Demotic writing  Example of Cartouche: James Lew - martial artist & actor  The complex history of the Noah's Ark Hoax (article by Jim Lippard) (featuring Gerald Larue)

We're joined by Dr. Nathan French to discuss the Biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah and the ISO team's efforts to examine archaeological evidence supporting its actual historical existence. Nimoy Fashion: Dr. Avrahamm Biran (1909 - 2008) The concept of Biblical Maximalism  The big dig at Ebla where the library of clay tablets was found. In 1976 Giovanni Pettinato claimed tablets found at the dig contained the names of five cities of the plain including Sodom and Gomorrah.  Modern scholarly consensus is that this was incorrect. I think this is archaeologist Paulo Matti (Pettinato's fellow researcher on the dig) alongside an unnamed female researcher. As promised, the animated gif of the sinners in our "re-creations" of ancient Sodom. Discussion of Baal in the episode doesn't hint that this Biblical "villain god" may actually represent an entire class of deities.  About 17 mins into the episode there's a guy who runs a hot spring and his moustache reminded Jeb of a certain someone... D

We are joined again by Alex French to discuss "Brain Power."  No kids were harmed, but some hosts were shaken. The ISO episode contains outdated wording about cognitive states that are now considered offensive.  Our podcast episode steers clear of that but we wanted you to be aware if you decided to watch the original episode.  Nimoy Fashion: Discussed in this episode: The Raimondi Stele (Jeb discusses flipping it to see different interpretation) Discussion of Haeckle's Embryos (Amazon Affiliate Link) Article on controversy (New Scientist) The 1997 article that brought Haeckel back into fresh scrutiny Biorhythms (pseudoscience popular in late 70s/early 80s) Alleged Russian "psychic" Nina Kulagina    Robert Doman (brother of founder Glenn Doman) Orville Redenbacher called and wants his look back... Louise Emerson of The Morgan Autism Institute Art teacher Betty Edwards    Thelma Moss  What is Kirlian Photography? 

Jeb and Blake drag Alex French back into the studio to endure a "ghostly stakeout" with the sultry voiced Sylvia Browne. Haunted Lives (Tobe Hooper, Nimoy, Sylvia Browne) The Dead Files - S01E09 Scandal in the South (episode set in Blake's hometown of Cartersville, GA) 1972 Akai Video Camera Sylvia Browne - self-proclaimed psychic - and she started a church!   Site of first "haunting" in renovated farmhouse (which burned in the 1980s) Near the village of Jenner   Antoinette May, freelance journalist, who worked the episode cases and co-wrote with Browne   Adventures of a Psychic: The Fascinating and Inspiring True Life Story of One of America's Most Successful Clairvoyants Nick Nocerino  

A look at the Hope Diamond and other allegedly cursed gems from recent history.        DeBeers slogan (1947) predates Bond book (1956) and is different: A Diamond Is Forever | Diamonds Are Forever The Gift - anthro book about reciprocity Superman and the giant spider story - Kevin Smith Osiander's preface to Copernicus Robert Conrad (the actor) famous battery ads from 1979 David Trampier - artist for D&D PHB The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins Recent TV adaptation of same The Mark of the Beast - Kipling Jean-Baptiste Tavernier The Order of the Golden Fleece (NatGeo) Curator of Gems at Smithsonian Institution Paul Desautels Jeb alluded to trouble at the end of his career Link to "The Dollop" episode on the McClean family. We don't know if the Koh-i-noor diamond is related to Star Trek's Kolinahr.

We're joined by Sharon Hill to look into the vital 1970s question: Was Noah's Ark Real? (And does it disprove Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection?)  spoilers: No and No.  The episode opens with "footage" (re-creations, repurposed footage) of the famous 1889 Flood. The footage in the movie appears to be from a short film called The World that Perished (1977) but we couldn't find a version of that to share.  The 1976 film In Search of Noah's Ark is available (in poor quality) on YouTube.  Nimoy reminds of us the other Ark with this library fashion-alert moment. The episode re-creates the famous "undressing in excitement" story of George Smith discovering the Utnapishtim version of the flood myth.  (Later in the episode we get a better shot of Nimoy in the Library.) We discussed the "Ararat Anomaly" briefly. The many searches for Noah's Ark. Physicist Rainer Berger (1930 - 2003) puts a lot of fake evidence to rest with his radiocarbon dating skills. Creationist Henry Morris "an expert in th

We follow Nazi Hunter Simon Weisenthal as he hunts the notorious war criminal Josef Mengele.  Simon Wiesenthal - wiki Josef Mengele - wiki Dr. Ellen Lingens - wiki Juan Domingo Peron - wiki The Big Gun - Gerald Bull, Saddam Hussein and the Mossad  Read about Escape from Sobibor - this is an amazing story There is the "real" ODESSA and then there's the fictional novel and film The ODESSA FIle. Shadow over Günzburg What really happened to Mengele? Britannica Return to that classic "season 1" aesthetic in our Nimoy Fashion Alert:   Who knew the factory tokens in Axis & Allies were so accurate? Another shot of Nimoy in the "Night Gallery."  Will we see this set again?      

The In Search Of team heads of to Santa Catalina island to hunt for underwater archaeology guided only by "remote viewers" Ingo Swann and Hella Hammid. Nimoy Fashion:   Links from our Discussion: Robert Ballard Titanic search cover for military submarine research The Mobius Group The JASON Group Stephan Schwartz paper on the use of remote viewing in Archaeology Stephan A. Schwartz's website  Alexander the Great's tomb (wikipedia) - it also recently showed up in a certain Marvel creative endeavor which I'm not going to mention because of "spoilers." HYCO submarine was a "Pisces Class" deep submersible and some of these went to depths of more than 8000 feet.  The Taurus  IS FOR SALE!!! Blake & Jeb discussing the video series Hellier with Hayley Stevens on her podcast The Spooktator. The Great Wall of Benin Lost Kingdoms of Africa: Great Zimbabwe Jack Parsons and the JPL Spiritual healer "Rolling Thunder" who some have accused of being a "Plastic Shaman." Ed Dames, famous for selling remote viewing training

We include a warning in the intro to this one.  It's got an explicit tag.  That's for language because this one brought out some strong feelings, but that's all explained in the intro.  What's not explained in the intro is that my audio is pretty awful in this one.  Once again Skype decided to randomly use my laptop's microphone instead of my podcasting mic.  This is the last time that will happen because I've ditched the laptop in favor of a more powerful machine with no internal microphone!  My apologies for that, but hopefully you'll find more treasure in this episode than the searchers will ever find on Oak Island. How Howard Pyle invented our modern image of the pirate. The "real" Captain Kidd and Pyle's version: Poe's The Gold Bug (wiki) The Knickerbocker Tales (Amz Affiliate) The Oak Island Mystery, Solved! (book about explanation for literal geology of site) Nimoy Fashion Alert: So many re-enactors in this one.   So many shirtless re-enactors. FDR on Oak Island   The clay(?) model used throughout

Blake and Jeb are joined again by Alex French to discuss the tantalizing possibility that animals may possess powers of ESP! 1973 Habitrail Ad   Cat Roulette   Blackfish - documentary about Sea World & Orcas (AMZ) King's Island and the Brady Bunch (News story - 46 years later) The 68–95–99.7 rule (statistics - wikipedia) Six-Sigma (business - wikipedia) J. B. Rhine (wikipedia) Origin of the domestic dog (wikipedia) Hans Esser (obit)   Dr. William Broad (news article)   1970s Fashion that's still in fashion:   Animal Psychic Bea Lydecker is apparently still alive and still in business!   Bobby the Wonder Dog (wiki)  

Jeb and Blake are joined again by Alex French to discuss Dreams and Nightmares. Will there be weird video effects and creepy dream re-creations? Does Spock love a syllogism? Tune in and find out!  Nimoy Fashion Alert:          Research Links: CIA Spy Cat  Shakespeare in the Bush (article) Dr. Allan Hobson(1933 - 2021)   Dr. Rosalind Cartwright (1922 - 2021)  - a book she wrote on this topic (Amz affiliate link). Note the "EEG" pattern on her lab coat!   Ted Spagna dream photos Temporal Lobe section of the human brain Spooktator Hellier ep Black and Tans (Ireland) Black and Tan (Drink) Black and Tan (Dog coloration phenotype) Fuseli's The Nightmare The 1970s Big Wheel is for sale again (Amz affiliate link) Radio call letter history (K, W, and N) Rotoscoping in Wizards (clip on YouTube) Garden of Earthly Delights (Wikipedia) The completely nuts "full story" of the wandering-eye boyfriend meme. Dreamscape (Amz affiliate link) A Nightmare on Elm Street (Amz affiliate link) Inception (Amz affiliate link) Waking

EXPLICIT TAG - this episode contains a lot of swearing and complaining. Blake and Jeb go in search of a lost Norse settlement in Canada, but discover that the real treasure isn't Vikings, and it definitely isn't the racist bullshit you meet along the way.     Links: Thomas E. Lee - professor whose weird (racist) theories are at the heart of this episode   "Hammer of Thor" - monument/dry-stack/possible Inuksuk at end of episode   Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson - Icelandic Heathenry Revitalist   The statue supposed to be of Erik the Red was actually of Thorfinn Karlsefni Mjolner (aka Thor's Hammer) Greenland (as a Norse Settlement)The GyrfalconThule (aka Ultima Thule) The Norse sorcerer KolgrimJournal article about “Viking” presence in Nunavik Nimoy Fashion Alert:   Not in the episode - but stuff we talked about: L'Anse aux Meadows - real Norse archeological site in Canada The Mismeasure of Man (by Gould) 2021 Calls to boycott Canada Day after graves found Triumph of the Moon (Ronald Hutton) Famous statue of Leif

This is a teaser for a Patreon Exclusive - NOT JEB'S MAYA.   For nearly a year I've been wanting to take advantage of the amusing wordplay possibility made possible by Jeb's name and academic focus. So, I present to you:  Not Jeb's Maya, a respectful homage to NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.  (With all due apologies to Peter Sagal.) Get the whole episode and more exclusive content at: http://patreon.com/inresearchof

Jeb and Blake are joined by Ken Feder (Frauds, Myths & Mysteries , Fifty Sites) to discuss the question of whether Sherlock Holmes was largely a real person - namely Arthur Conan Doyle. The Great Game - the playful (usually) exploration of the idea that Sherlock was real Michael Saler, As If  Sherlockian and author Peter Lovesey wandering in the "western docks." Sherlockian Stanley MacKenzie in front of part of his collection of memorabilia. Holmes' deerstalker comes from actor Sidney Paget. The phrase "elementary my dear Watson" and the big smoking pipe come from William Gillette.  There was a 1916 silent film that was lost until rediscovered in 2014.  The story of Sherlock's Violin  Doyle's father - Charles Altamont Doyle - troubled (but gifted) artist. Anna May Wong (actress) In a number of films from the 30s Arthur Wontner was Holmes & Ian Flemming as Watson  (This was Australian actor Ian Flemming, not the British action/spy novelist behind that other famous British crime solver, James Bond.)

Jeb and Blake examine the idea that the builders of Cahokia's "Woodhenge" might have had links with the Maya.   Some things we discuss in this episode: Cahokia  Mound 72  Recent paper on the Mounds of Cahokia Dr. Warren Wittry  Dr. Wittry discovered the woodhenge that is a large part of the focus of this episode. The active dig shown in the episode:   Nimoy Fashion Alert: Hovenweep National Monument    Dr. Ray Williamson  More on Ray  And a BOOK he wrote   Casa Grande   Robert Hicks of University of Arizona Hicks work with Mutter.   Casa Rinconada   Dr. Jonathan Reyman of Illinois State University:   Dr. Garman Harbottle     

Jeb and Blake continue their look at the 1984 film Ghostbusters.  The full version of this has an additional 90 mins of coverage and is available at our Patreon page for as little as $2/month.

Just in time for H̶a̶l̶l̶o̶w̶e̶e̶n̶ Thanksgiving, we bring you the first part of our 2-part coverage of the classic 1984 film Ghostbusters.  This is one of our favorite movies and we wanted to get this special out to you before Halloween but life conspired against us meeting that deadline.  But with the new sequel dropping in just about a week, we figure the movie still has some relevance. ;)   We'll be back with Indian Astronomers very soon.  In the meantime, grab your Proton Packs and PKE Meters and head for the fire pole! Discussed in Part 1:  On the current version of the Columbia Pictures Logo  The Stanford Prison Experiment  Lovecraft and the Pineal Gland  The very awful Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater  The Bat-O-Matic with Dan Aykroyd Casper vs Ghostbusters  The Ghostbusters Song  Zener Cards  J. B. Rhine  PKE Valances  The Crookes Tube  Trepanation  The Etheric Plane  The Cathedral of Learning vs The Continental Life building 

eb and Blake hoist the Jolly Roger and set sail to the Caribbean to look for unsuspecting rich tourists in fancy 1970s yachts.   A lot of this episode is based on the writing of Carl Hiaasen - his newspaper work, not his many successful novels.  We see Carl here (RIGHT) with beer-drinking FLORIDA MAN (LEFT). This episode deals, primarily, with a few key missing boat cases: The Saba Bank  (also, see the attached PDFs for contemporary coverage of missing ships in this episode) The Pirate Lady (found in 1990s)  - this was being searched for by the colorful owner Charlie Slater.  The Como No  Fiction/Pop-Culture Mentioned: The Island Licence to Kill The Deep Hitchhiking as Moral Panic Some more images from the episode: Remember folks, when doing a reenactment NEVER GO FULL GILLIGAN!  Our reenactment Villain for this episode takes the "Pirate" thing pretty seriously. You can tell from his shirt. His cartoonish villainy reminds me of the "Red Ryder" home-defense sequence from A Christmas Story.  The "Map Scroll

I recently appeared on a podcast called The Plastic Plesiosaur Podcast.  They asked me for a copy of the theme to this show and I realized I never made that available?  So... here it is! The music is by Greig Johnson and the singing is by Rachel Lackey. The lyrics are by me, Blake Smith.  And in case you have trouble following them for your sing-alongs, here they are: "In Research of" We talk and have some fun They shared ideas But not the only ones We share the facts That the show sometimes lacked "I-R-O" "In Research of!"