378 episodes

MonsterTalk: The Science Show About Monsters is a free audio podcast that critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or werewolves.

MonsterTalk Airwave Media

    • Science
    • 4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

MonsterTalk: The Science Show About Monsters is a free audio podcast that critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or werewolves.

    The Black Monk of Pontefract

    The Black Monk of Pontefract

    We catch up with Richard Estep and Bil Bungay, co-authors of The Black Monk of Pontefract: The World's Most Violent and Relentless Poltergeist to talk about the history and strange happenings alleged to take place in the village of Pontefract in Yorkshire.

    Website of the house (for bookings and photos)

    You can rent Bil's movie When The Lights Went Out on Vimeo for a small fee.

    And here is Bil's Parapod movie on Apple's platform.

    Colin Wilson's book on the topic (Poltergeist) which has the chapter that made Pontefrat famous.
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    • 52 min
    Celebrity UFO Encounters

    Celebrity UFO Encounters

    This week Blake, Karen and Matt Baxter discuss celebrity UFO encounters. Why are they so popular? Why do we care?

    Some examples:
    John Lennon
    Olivia Newton John 
    Elvis
    Russell Crowe
    Mick Jagger
    David Bowie
    Kesha
    Demi Lovato
    Jimmy Carter (see The UFO Movie They Don't Want You To See)
    Heck - YouTube is just full of these stories.
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    • 47 min
    Review: The Secret History of Bigfoot

    Review: The Secret History of Bigfoot

    Blake and Karen discuss The Secret History of Bigfoot by John O'Connor. 
    The Secret History of Bigfoot (affiliate link)
    NYT Book Review
    Trey the Explainer on Bigfoot and Indigenous Culture (YouTube)
    Michael Barkun's Culture of Conspiracy (affiliate link)
    Spokane Washington Public Library reading by O'Connor (YouTube)
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    • 36 min
    Are Our Phones Listening To Us?

    Are Our Phones Listening To Us?

    There are lots of things to read about this on the Internet and you will not find a definitive answer, I'm afraid. My conclusions are based on parsimony not on explicit proof. Besides, we all know how hard it is to prove a negative. It's a complex topic with many black-box elements and those tend to lend themselves to conspiratorial thinking.

    If you have things to say on the topic, come comment on the episode on our Patreon.

    Some articles of interest:

    Test showing negative results (Wandera)

    Tests showing the phones are capable of much monitoring (Medium)

    BBC Coverage of the question

    ABC deep dive (10 mins) (Australian)

    Gizmodo - is your phone listening?

    Conspiratorial Thinking and Mobile Phones (Research Gate)
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    • 47 min
    Connecticut Cryptids

    Connecticut Cryptids

    A lighthearted discussion of the cryptids of Connecticut with the author and illustrator of 
    Connecticut Cryptids: A Field Guide to the Weird & Wonderful Creatures of the Nutmeg State, Patrick Scalisi and Valerie Ruby-Omen.

    Patrick's Amazon Author's Page (affiliate link)
    Valerie's facebook page
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    • 43 min
    House of the Unholy (pt 2)

    House of the Unholy (pt 2)

    We conclude our two-part look at Boleskine House, on the shores of Loch Ness. Matt Baxter joins Karen and Blake to wrap up this investigation.
    Links for Part 2:
    Article about sale of Boleskine
    Report of death of Major Grant (1960)
    A Dark Song (movie loosely based on Crowley/Abramelin working) (affiliate link)
    The Cadco Affair - or the great sausage scandal
    Pre-fire article (2015) about Boleskine after Page sale
    Current owners hope link to Outlander series will generate restoration funds
    The Boleskine House Foundation - seeking to restore the site
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    • 38 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
1.1K Ratings

1.1K Ratings

teachmom ,

Monster talk

I love this podcast. Open minded well intentioned skeptics. Heavy on facts and great back and forth with the hosts. Informed guests I have learned fantastic facts and fun history. Many thanks are long overdue and well deserved- Dan B

Rainzacket ,

Informative

Having a skeptical podcast on monsters, aliens, and cryptids is refreshing in the sea paranormal podcasts. A lot of other podcasts that discuss the paranormal have a bad habit at taking things at face value and not really dissect the case they’re presented with. MonsterTalk provides a healthy dose of science and fact checking that I don’t see enough of in paranormal podcasts. Of course, MonsterTalk’s true goal is science, not belief in the supernatural. But I always feel that science needs to come first. The world is a big place, and we still don’t know a whole lot about it. But it can interesting without the existence of monsters.

Ralphie Randy ,

Yawn

One of the most relaxing shows to take a nap to.

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