In Research Of

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!"

Jeb and Blake continue their coverage of the influential film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Part two of this session is exclusive to our wonderful Patrons.   Full show notes includes additional images and material with background on the science and nonsense behind this movie. Quftis: "men from the Upper Egyptian town of Qift who were trained and became skilled excavators and foremen who went on to work for other foreign missions in Egypt, as well as in Palestine" From OxfordHandbook article on Egyptian Archaeology and the Museum. Building the Ark today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGcdE5RllG0+ https://youtu.be/enbdsdKfhFo?t=2611 - featuring "scientist" John Hutchison of Canada. (Creator of "The Hutchison Effect" fiasco…) Archaeoastronomy - how the sky is tied to ancient sites (Map Room) The art of the Ark: https://www.thepropgallery.com/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-ralph-mcquarrie-the-power-of-god Jacques James Tissot's ark of the covenant Errors Removed in Digital Versions? According to this site the Cobra reflec

Jeb and Blake tackle the Ooky world of Monster Hunters.     Nimoy in the forest shadows...   Peter Byrne and Tim Dinsdale - two legendary monster hunters meet. Monsters in the intro to this episode are from the TV film Manbeast! Myth or Monster   For reasons I can't explain, some of the images in this episode reminded me of 1970s album covers...   Arch Buckley 2007 Obituary  Warren Thompson 2013 Obituary  Al Berry 2013 Reminiscence   Ron Moorhead (Sierra Sounds)   We have more material on Doc Shiels but that will be a different post for Patrons.  Scientific American discussion on Bigfoot Language (by MonsterTalk co-host Dr. Karen Stollznow) Some supportive analysis of the Sierra Sounds recordings that we discuss in the episode.   Another paper from Dr. Kirlin  Ook Ook in Sierra Sound paper  The most annoying font ever at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center?

Jeb and Blake discovered that S03E08 - The Great Lakes Triangle - has disappeared into a temporal anomaly. But we dare not leave you adrift in Lake Eerie, so instead we usher you through a mysterious temple to a VHS tape on a stone pedestal... as we go in research of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Discussed in this episode: The story conception tapes of Raiders (Lucas, Spielberg, Kasden)  Same thing, but performed by actors  Secret of the Incas (Affiliate Link) Whole film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K02U0CVoutE Map Room https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZJaIc1SDbQ The big scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzl4_ytmxDs The real Aztec Sun Stone  The "protection of antiquities" act wasn't real yet when the film is set. The Nazis and the occult stuff alluded to the Ahnenerbe.  Discussed on MonsterTalk before.  Turkdean Barrows mentioned in the film were not a real place but during and after the filming, two barrows in similar area were excavated. Retcon doesn't work in real life guys. The Pan American sea p

Jeb and Blake consider the possibility that the Tunguska Event was caused by an extraterrestrial  atomic craft.  An old friend returns. A SciFi icon cameos. Atoms are split.    Mr. Leonard Nimoy!   Charles Cole   Ronald Oriti   And Dr. Isaac Asimov   News about Golden Globes scandals Asteroid Monitoring (NASA) Tunguska in Pop Culture (Wiki) Basic coverage of Tunguska and theories (Wiki) Leonid Kulik  Thomas R. Atkins (A Fire Came By) Amz Author's Page (Affiliate Link) The Jomon Period (Japan) and some amazing Jomon Masks (3D Print) Henry Gris ("Psychic" author and early member of Hollywood Foreign Press Association) Alexey Zolotov Permafrost Links: https://spookygeology.com/the-hellmouth-batagaika-crater/ https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/siberia-s-gateway-underworld-grows-record-heat-wave-thaws-permafrost https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/blessing-curse-melting-permafrost-russian-arctic/ Finally - and I'm definitely not recommending this video to you - but am sharing it because it might be the d

AIPT Comics - is putting on a free online convention Sunday July 18th.  The online convention starts at 10 am and I'll be participating in a couple of ways if you're interested. At noon, I've got a special interview with Stephen R. Bissette.  You might know him as a key artist on Alan Moore's run of Swamp Thing in the 80s - but if you've been subscribing to BIG FOOTAGE the Patreon bonus cast, you'll know him as the author of CRYPTID CINEMA. I'll also be on at 3:30 pm with Jeb Card to discuss conspiracies and comics. Other guests include paleontologist Jim Lehane, psychologist Craig Foster, paranormal investigator Kenny Biddle, artist Celestia World, archaeologist David Anderson, and Matt Brady. author of THE SCIENCE OF RICK AND MORTY.   A link to Cryptid Cinemais here:  http://bit.ly/CryptidCinema   The convention details are here:  https://aiptcomics.com/2021/06/28/aipt-sciphi-fest-science-skepticism/   The direct ZOOM link is here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86109451697   I hope you can catch the show tomor

Jeb and Blake head into cold as we look at the episode titled "Cryogenics."  Yes, there is a lot of legitimate discussion of the science of freezing - but there's also a lot of optimistic coverage of "Cryonics," the much more questionable idea of freezing people for a later thawing and restoration.   CONTENT WARNING:  This episode contains images of dead people, frozen semen, animal harm, terrible puns, and some naughty curse words.  (You're welcome.) Discussed in this episode: Cryogenics is NOT Cryonics Difficult early history of Cryonics (via Alcor website) The first US successful use of insanity plea (Sickles) The Artists Statement video that Jeb talked about The Cryonics Institute (in Michigan) Robert Ettinger - father of Cryonics Alcor Life Extension (Arizona) American Cryonics Society (formerly Bay Area Cryonics Society) Frozen Bovine Semen (History of) The history of alleged "eating ancient mammoth" stories   This animal was revived using ratsuscitation.   Dr. Paul Segall makes a return visit to In

Jeb and Blake crawl through the cobbled streets of 1978 television to find out what was going on when IN SEARCH OF went looking for Jack the Ripper.  A lot of this episode is about "The Royal Conspiracy" - the idea that Prince Albert Victor (aka "Prince Eddy") was secretly Jack the Ripper.   This was largely derived from a book called Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, an ironic title since it turned out to be neither final nor the solution.  This was written by Stephen Knight, who appears in the episode. Shortly after this he will develop brain cancer and pass away. The story also involves Prince Albert Victor's surgeon, Dr. William Gull.  We discuss the "modern plague" of Gin in London at the time. (That link is to the Pub Map.) Alert listener Dr. David Cockcroft sent us a link to the 1886 London Poverty Maps of Charles Booth. It's a treasure trove of information contemporary to the time of this case (and the upcoming Sherlock Holmes episode as well). Nimoy Fashion Alert! Did you notice that big book ly