In Research Of

Warning: This episode does discuss suicide. If you're feeling any kind of despair or hopelessness, help is available.  Call 1-800-273-8255 and talk to someone. You can't listen to our fine show if you're dead - so we don't want that! SOLVED - the mystery of the unknown cemetery has been solved. It's the Trinity Church Cemetery in the Washington Heights neighborhood of NYC. Thanks to patron Donald Mundis for helping figure that out! Yes - this episode is being released out of sequence because everyone involved loves Halloween way too much and honestly it seemed off-brand to wait when it would be so easy to just give the people what they need.  So... turn out the lights, get under your blanket, and listen to Jeb, Blake and return guest Alex French talk you through the super-creepy extravaganza that is Haunted Castles! Remember - we're on the lookout for more information about this cemetery shooting location.  Let us know if you find anything.  Post in the comments, or send an email to Blake@monstertalk.org.  

Link to the ISO episode (YouTube)  Jeb, Blake and return guest Alex French are getting sleepy... sleepy... as we fall under the spell of Leonard Nimoy discussing HYPNOSIS.  Nimoy Fashion Alert:   Mentioned in this episode:  Trilby (novel) - the source of Svengali  Dr. William Kroger (and his amazing red chair) Dr. Joseph Barber   Franz Mesmer  (of "mesmerism" fame) - the print is titled Le magnétisme dévoilé. I found references to it in the French national library. It's also reprinted in the book Science in the age of Sentimentality by Jessica Riskin.   Dr. Ron Katz (obit) Van Pelt's mysterious "chair-camouflage"    Ed Ray - hero bus driver. (obit) The Chowchilla Bus Hijacking story Let's learn French with hypnosis! Or should that be hypnose?   The Clonus Horror (the MST3K version) 

Watch this ISO episode on YouTube.    Jeb and Blake figuratively return to the bayou to look for the mysterious legendary monster of Honey Island Swamp. Discussed in this episode: CB Radio and TV Bleedover   It's not a perfect match, but this is the closest we've (so far) come to finding a Sears entry for Nimoy's clothing.  He was probably shopping at a higher-end shop but the style was out there.     How to see the MK Davis narrated documentary with the footprint making tool described in the episode: 1 - download the realplayer file from this site. 2 - take it to a RealPlayer to MP4 conversion site like convertio.  Note: The resulting MP4 will look terrible, but stick with it (and don't try to watch it on some giant screen).  About 6 mins in it gets really interesting.   Comparing Harlan Ford to Tennessee Ernie Ford     The Abita Mystery House    (Archived) MK Davis on feline aspects of the monster. MK Davis says he found shoe for making track.   Ranger Gavin Storter - RHOF    Thesis paper by Frances Lea

Watch the ISO ep on YouTube  Jeb and Blake take a look at research into life extension including the therapeutic value of eating live embryos and having younger life forms surgically attached to one's body to leech off of their vigor.   The running boom of the 70s  Jim Fixx  Fitness Culture  Serge Voronoff  John Romulus Brinkley  Documentary NUTS by director Penny Lane Adventure of the Creeping Man  1971 article about Youth Doctor  Lambs to revitalize humans  Dr. Ivan Poplov  People Mag - 1975 article  Dr. Paul Segall Dr. Roy Wolford  Parabiosis  Dr. Leonard Hayflick  Cryonics  History of mistakes in Cryonics  Nimoy Fashion Alert - we'll be seeing this again very soon.  

Watch this episode on YouTube  [Update: Thanks to @ClaytonFlesher for being the first to point out the weird audio issue on some of the post-mid-point audio inserts. An edit on one track nudged the audio a fraction of a second out-of-synch and caused the two tracks to make a weird echo through the rest of the episode. That's fixed in this 9/21/2020 3:15 pm modification.] Jeb and Blake are joined by Dr. Jennifer Raff (@JenniferRaff) who brings a heaping helping of DNA expertise to this life-changing episode!  (Well, to this episode about the building blocks of life and how to change it.) Dr. Raff's blog - Violent Metaphors  Her posts at Forbes  37.2 trillion cells in human body Genetics Explainer from NatGeo (if you need a video to better understand) The great RedWhiteBlue frozen treat wars. Mr. DNA bit from Jurassic Park      Mr. Nimoy with DNA: Space Seed from Star Trek Jeb's "peekaboo" rodent: Howard Goodman (probable Unix user)

Watch the In Search Of... episode on YouTube.  Jeb, Blake and special guest Alexandria "Alex" French discuss the In Search Of about they mystery whether a woman called Anna Anderson was really the long lost Russian Czarina Anastasia. (Narrator:  She wasn't.)  ***Highly recommended long-read about the lives of "Anna" and Jack Manahan.*** Russian royals not that cash-wealthy. Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and German Emperor Wilhelm II were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Summers & Mangold book File on the Czar - holy crap make sure you buy it used if you get it! Nokolai Sokolov's investigation into the death of royals (Warning - VERY graphic descriptions) Wiki page on list of known Romanov royalty impostors.  Ingrid Bergman Anastasia movie Animated Bluth Anastasia musical cartoon Grand Duke Vladimir bio  1977 WAPO article about Anderson/Anastasia        Nimoy Fashion Alert - the professor will see you now!   Biometrics Montage Eating 1 Battery or 5 Batteries? (source Dr. Strong

(Watch this In Search Of... episode on YouTube.) This episode has so much content warning. Fish heads, shark assassination, pig sacrifice, child nudity, adult nudity, and Hawaiian shirts!  You've been warned. Jeb and Blake have to fin for themselves as they mako lotta discussion about one of the odder episodes of In Search Of... we've watched so far.  Annual shark attacks on humans ranked by species.  History of the Solomon Islands.  The island of Laulasi. The Solomon Islands.  Langa Langa Lagoon  Jersey Shore shark attacks  Screenshot from Savage Shadows: History of Savage Shadows  Henri Bource bio  Facts on the sinking of the USS Indianapolis    Shark Repellant  The so-called shark "threat-response."  Likely source of the silent-footage in this episode: News article about this voyage. Shark god Dakuwaqa  Nimoy Fashion Alert! Shell Money  Terry Hannigan 

Have we already done this episode before? Have you already heard it? Jeb and Blake tackle Reincarnation featuring the surprise reappearance of "Doctor" Hans Holzer!   Shirley Krepp says she spent past life as a witch, and her tale is quite a cliff-hanger.  Today's topic is Reincarnation. (Wiki)   Dr. Helen Wambach is behind a lot of the topic in this episode. She's the hypnotist who... ...will later perform group regression sessions.   Some discussion on W.E.I.R.D. and samples in psych testing in Uni. Nimoy Fashion Alert - Nimoy is in "The Graveyard" - a setting we've seen before, and will see again!   That shirt he's wearing isn't just blue - it's blue with pinstripes!   The Old Chestnut Inn - was going to be a rehab center.  Ruth McGuire who was variously involved in an Indian uprising and a Pilgrim voyage.   Finally, we meet Dr. William Yaney - who Holzer wrote about in Fate. Special thanks to Maiken King for her assistance with the translation of Bob's hypnotic hieroglyphs.    

Jeb and Blake discuss the two-millennia old archaeological treasure known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.  (Watch this ISO episode on YouTube) The Dead Sea is not strictly dead. It has bacteria and freshwater vents in the bottom act similarly to how volcanic vents promote life in the deep sea. Jeb mentioned "the Aral sea" before & after shots - 1989 compared to 2014.   A list of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth. Wikipedia entry on the Essenes includes this: Josephus later gave a detailed account of the Essenes in The Jewish War (c. 75 CE), with a shorter description in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94 CE) and The Life of Flavius Josephus (c. 97 CE). Claiming firsthand knowledge, he lists the Essenoi as one of the three sects of Jewish philosophy[7] alongside the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He relates the same information concerning piety, celibacy, the absence of personal property and of money, the belief in communality, and commitment to a strict observance of Sabbath. He further adds that the Essenes ritu

(Watch this ISO episode on YouTube) Jeb and Blake are surprised to find no aliens and almost no magic as we pursue PYRAMID SECRETS. Shabti (aka Ushabti) servant "robots" 3D Models of Shabti (Sketchfab) 3D Model - Great Pyramid of Khufu (aka Cheops) (Sketchfab) Frit - fused "glass batch"  Faience - Egyptian ceramic like Frit Flood cycle of the Nile Three seasons of Akhet (Inundation), Peret (Growth), and Shemu (Harvest) Transamerica Pyramid  Stanford Research Institute (SRI) Harold Puthoff (SRI) Jason Colavito on Puthoff & "flying saucer material"  John B. Alexander (SRI) Doug Englebart and the "Mother of All Demos" Dolphin Lab at SRI Dolphin on Egypt  More on Dolphin  This excerpt gives some context to Dolphin's mixture of materialist science and desire for the numinous/spiritual. Biblical Archaeologists: Maximalists  Minimalists  Biblical Archaeology & William F. Albright  Robert Schoch - Sphinx age controversy Schoch and Demons (Colavito Blog) Schoch and (take a drink) Theosophy  Cosmic Rays and R

Dive into the Great White North as we look beneath the surface of Lake Okanogan to see if we can find The Ogopogo Monster.  Watch this episode of ISO on YouTube.    The Ogo-Pogo: The Funny Fox-trot - via Karl Shuker's blog. (Note: The lyrics listed here are not the same as in the recording, apparently due to differences between the published sheet music and the actual recording. Chiefly, in the actual recorded song, the lyrics match this version.) The music was by Ralph Butler. The lyrics were by Cumberland Clark.  Lake Okanagan (Wikipedia)   Nimoy vs Blue Steel:   Modern Coelacanths are larger than their fossil ancestors. Book: Lake Monster Traditions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis  Tribal representatives give really interesting lore about the lake and its dangerous water spirit.   Editors at ISO give us this "1970s calendar worthy" fade shot of the lake and First Nations representatives. The famous Three Wolf Moon t-shirt. Kelowna Museum - where we meet Ursula Surtees More on Ursula.   Mid-Atlantic accent

Jeb and Blake discuss the ISO episode: Hurricanes.  The episode touches on some emotional memories for Jeb, who was directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina, the storm that devastated New Orleans in 2005. (Watch the ISO episode on YouTube.) (From NOAA - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)  A tropical cyclone is a rotating low-pressure weather system that has organized thunderstorms but no fronts (a boundary separating two air masses of different densities). Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 39 miles per hour (mph) are called tropical depressions. Those with maximum sustained winds of 39 mph or higher are called tropical storms. When a storm's maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph, it is called a hurricane. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating, or category, based on a hurricane's maximum sustained winds. The higher the category, the greater the hurricane's potential for property damage. Tropical cyclones are categorized according to the spee

[Correction: I've replaced the original audio file because I forgot to insert the Nimoy Fashion Alert!  I feel like mission control launching the Apollo mission and then turning to ask the astronauts how the flight was going - then doing a spit-take as I see they're not on the space ship. Sorry!] Jeb and Blake look into the mysterious (well, not THAT mysterious) disappearance of Michael Rockefeller who disappeared while researching the Asmat people of New Guinea.  (Watch the ISO episode on YouTube) Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande by E. E. Evans-Pritchard Thinking with Things by Esther Pazstzory The ISO episode title card: The original photo the title card is based on:   Milt Machlin - the guy who goes looking for Rockefeller, former editor of Argosy men's adventure magazine.   Machlin on location looking for Rockefeller     Just saying... (Harcourt Fenton Mudd) Machlin investigated the theory that Rockefeller had been taken to the Trobriand Islands, a thousand miles from where the boat ha

Jeb and Blake discuss horoscopes, planets, and one of the most pervasive beliefs in human history: Astrology.  (Watch the ISO episode on YouTube.)   Show Notes: The episode "Astrology" first aired on January 12, 1978 . It was written and produced by Peter Rosten. Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (Amazon) The Werewolves of Livonia - the witch-fighting werewolves of Italy The Witch by Ronald Hutton (Amazon) http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html Short version is: despite anecdotal support, the actual data (of which there is plenty to look at) does not support increase in suicide, madness, murder, etc… during the full moon.  Schwazenegger on Dating Game  Chapman survey has 18% of Americans with psychics etc. (not just astrology), that’s 60 million Prepping the show for posting, I did finally find a connection between Moses and Astrology in the form of a 1798 book titled Genethliacal Astrology Comprehending an Enquiry Into, and Defense of the Celestial Science: To which is Added an Ap

[some explicit language in this episode] Jeb and Blake look at the very strange coverage of Mayan Mysteries on In Search Of season 2. (Watch this ISO episode on YouTube) The term Blake was trying to remember at the beginning of the creation story was "ethnogenesis." This is a relatively new word, coming from the mid-20th century. We mention Star Wars and Tikal. The story from David Anderson is in this ArchyFantasies episode, about 5 mins in. The De Landa Letras - how we came to understand the Mayan alphabet http://www.famsi.org/ https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/maya/ Mural detail from the episode:   The poet (and frequent speaker in this episode) Alurista. (Wikipedia)   Some discussion in the episode is about the wheeled caiman or crocodile toy in the museum.  This is a detailed screen-cap of that. We briefly discuss the United Fruit Company. The role of fruit companies in manipulating politics and behaving badly is long, depressing, and too much to fit into this episode. But it is worth reading about.   Reena

Jeb and Blake whip out the marshmallows and settle down by a big hot fire to discuss the In Search Of episode: Firewalkers.  (watch this ISO episode on YouTube) From Wikipedia (on heat transfer): Advection Advection is the transport mechanism of a fluid from one location to another, and is dependent on motion and momentum of that fluid. Convection The transfer of energy between an object and its environment, due to fluid motion. The average temperature is a reference for evaluating properties related to convective heat transfer. Radiation The transfer of energy by the emission of electromagnetic radiation. Conduction  The transfer of energy between objects that are in physical contact. Thermal conductivity is the property of a material to conduct heat and evaluated primarily in terms of Fourier's Law for heat conduction. The guy who trained Tony Robbins - Tolly Burkan used to train people to TEACH firewalking for just a mere $2000.  Tolly said he learned about this from August 1977 Scientific American. Expe

To prepare for S02E04, we present a quick overview of Maya culture we're calling Maya 101.  Listen in awe as Jeb distills 3000 years of Maya culture down into 90 mins! An influential book mentioned by Jeb: A Forest of Kings  Notes: Preclassic 1500 BC – 250 AD Early 1500-900 Middle 900-300 Late 300 BC – 250 AD Classic Period 250-1000 AD Early 250-600 AD Late 600-1000 AD Postclassic 900-1520 AD Early 900-1200 Late 1200-1520 AD The stunning pyramid complex of El Mirador  Example of Olmec Heads mentioned (Wikimedia) Link to image of the stunning scale of El Mirador. (drawing by T.L. Rutledge)   Yuri Valentinovich researcher   Bishop Diego de Landa the priest who demanded Maya language be written for him (If David Anderson has his Star Wars story written down or recorded anywhere and I find it, I'll link to it here.)

Watch this ISO episode on YouTube  [explicit] Jeb and Blake discuss the In Search Of... episode about the mysterious character known as The Count of St. Germain.  We talk a little about the I AM movement and Mt. Shasta lore, but if you want a real deep dive, check out our 2-part Shaver Mystery coverage from MonsterTalk: Shaver pt 1 Shaver pt 2  Okay - you may have wondered about that insert about William Blake? That comes from Noel Fielding's TV series and you'll just have to watch it.  It's very surreal and requires a bit of knowledge about WB's famous painting of the ghost of a flea. There was a 1975 TV movie titled "The Man Who Would Not Die" but it appears to be unrelated to the ISO episode. Mentioned in the episode:Jaguar Jungle   Voltaire and the Great Rap Battles of history Madame de Pompadour  The Doctor Who episode Blake mentioned (The Girl in the Fireplace) Elizabeth Clare Prophet  Dr. Peter Reill  Jeb's favorite scene of the imperiled lamp. Jeb's list of people in the age of "average life expect

Watch this episode of In Search Of... on YouTube. Jeb and Blake go prospecting for the facts behind The Lost Dutchman Mine episode of In Search Of... beginning season 2 of IRO. Yes, there was a typo in the TV listing. "Professor" should have been "Prospector" but it was funnier (for me) to read it as written.   An NPR story about how the Red Tailed Hawk became the voice of the "eagle." Reenactment at the beginning based on the story of Jacob Waltz. Much of the episode revolves around the geologic structure called Weaver's Needle. The hunt for GOLD! Some ghost-town details on Bodie, CA   3-Part series on the Dutchman Mine: https://arizonareport.com/lost-dutchman-gold-mine-legend/  (part 1) https://arizonareport.com/lost-dutchman-gold-mine-adolph-ruth-julia-thomas/  (part 2) https://arizonareport.com/lost-dutchman-gold-mine-glenn-magill/  (part 3)   The Killer Mountains, by Curt Gentry  Scooby Doo - Mine Your Own Business featuring "The Miner 49er" The Brady Bunch meet a crazy "prospector"  Legislation mentio

Jeb and I are still chipping away at Season 2 of In reSearch Of... but we covered this amazing 1980 movie from the people who brought you The Search for Noah's Ark and The Man Who Saw Tomorrow.  Hangar 18 (aka Invasion Force) stars Darren McGavin, Gary Collins, and Robert Vaughn. If this seems like a weird thing for us to cover, I think you'll see why it fits our theme when you give it a listen. Yes, you can watch Hangar 18 in full on YouTube. See you next week with Season 2 - Episode 1 of IRO:  The Lost Dutchman Mine!   Some attachments for your reading pleasure are included.   false_advertising.pdf Hangar_18_texas_coverage_during_prod.pdf Hangar_18_movie_review.pdf