PODCAST · science
MonsterTalk
by Blake Smith
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. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.
Episodes
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S06E03 🎥 Capturing Bigfoot with Marq Evans
Blake and Karen interview Marq Evans, directory of the new documentary Capturing Bigfoot - a new film that hits streaming October 20th, 2026 and features stunning new evidence that the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film may depict a person in a suit! This is the most exciting news to hit Bigfoot in a...
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S06E02 👻 Haunted by Memory: Ghost Stories of the American Civil War
Blake and Karen welcome historian Dr. Amy Laurel Fluker of Youngstown State University to discuss Haunted by Memory, an annotated anthology of ghost stories drawn from the newspapers, veterans' papers, and periodicals of the Civil War generation. The project began with her late mentor, Dr. John…
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S06E01 💀Taphonomy and All That Rot🧛
An interview with forensic anthropologist Evan Bird, creator of The Corpse Review. Extended show notes at Monstertalk.org Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support. Some product links may be affiliated with Amazon revenue sharing.
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S05E50 💀 REHUMANIZING PEOPLE OF THE PAST
In this episode, Blake and Karen welcome Dr. Kristin LaFollette, Associate Professor of English at the University of Southern Indiana, to discuss her new book, *Rehumanizing People of the Past: Bioarchaeology, Medical Museums and Archives, and the Human Remains Trade* (SUNY Press, 2026). The book...
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S05E49 - 🌀 Cryptozoology Today with Daniel Alan Jones
Blake and Karen welcome back Daniel Alan Jones, investigative reporter, founder of the Texas Cryptozoology Network, and creator and host of The Vortex, for the second half of their conversation. Last week covered how Jones found his way into the field. This week the question is where the field…
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S05E48 🌀Traditional Cryptozoology with Daniel Alan Jones
Into the Field: A Conversation with Daniel Alan Jones, Part 1 Blake and Karen welcome Daniel Alan Jones, an investigative reporter, founder of the Texas Cryptozoology Network, and the creator and host of The Vortex, for the first half of a two-part conversation. Blake met Jones at the Gods and...
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S05E47 MT Legend Tripping: Paranormal England
Karen and Matt are back from their trip to the UK and they share stories and photos from their whirlwind visit to a variety of (allegedly) haunted places. Blake makes jokes... and wishes he could go himself. Link to trip photos and Extended Show Notes Become a supporter of this podcast:...
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S05E46 FLASHBACK: England's Most Haunted Village
Blake brings us a flashback to 2017, when he and Karen sat down withThe Spooktator's Hayley Stevens to talk about the (allegedly) most haunted village in England. Hayley is a British paranormal researcher who started out a believer and came around to skepticism the hard way - by actually...
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S05E45 - Circus Train Wrecks 🎪🚂
⚠️Content Warning: This episode contains sustained discussion of animal injury and death, including the killing of working animals, animals shot after escaping, and graphic period newspaper accounts.⚠️ Blake and Karen discuss Circus Train Wrecks as an explanation for mysterious "real" animal...
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🐺 S05E44 - Darwin and the Monsters (with Dr. Brian Regal)
Blake welcomes back Dr. Brian Regal - historian of science, technology, and medicine, and now Professor Emeritus at Kean University - to talk about his final academic book, Darwin and the Monsters: The Long History of Cryptozoology. Regal has been a MonsterTalk guest since the show was still in...
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🏚️ S05E43 - The Peabody-Whitehead Mansion
⚠️ Content AdvisoryThis episode includes an extended discussion of a televised paranormal investigation in which a crew treated an alleged spirit-box recording about a sexual assault as cause for celebration. The hosts address the claim and the ethics of its presentation directly. Please consider...
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☠️S05E42 - THE BLACK DEATH🐀
Blake and Karen are joined by Dr. Ben Dodds, author of Myths and Memories of the Black Death to discover more about a disease which forever changed world history when it swept across Europe in the 1300s. The conversation runs from the mechanics of the disease - what a bubo actually is, what…
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🛸 S05E41 - Government Disclosure
Blake and Karen welcome back paranormal investigator Matthew Baxter to sift through the latest government UAP release - the so-called PURSUE document dump - and work out what, if anything, is actually in it. Baxter took on the job of reading the paperwork so nobody else has to, and he returns…
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🐂S05E40 - Cattle Mutilations: Part 2🛸
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains frank discussion of animal death, carcass predation, and graphic descriptions of animal mutilation. Listener discretion is advised. Blake and Karen continue their conversation with religious studies scholar Lee Weiss on the cattle mutilation mystery. If…
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🐂S05E39 - Cattle Mutilations: Part 1🛸
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains detailed discussion of animal injuries and death. Both parts carry an explicit tag.⚠️ Blake and Karen welcome Lee Weiss, a religious studies scholar whose deep dive into the FBI's declassified cattle mutilation files grew into a sweeping study of one of...
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🦕 S05E38 - Champ Across the Border
Champ Across the Border: Blake and Karen welcome back historian Dr. Joseph Gagné, a specialist in New France and the French colonial period of North America, to talk about Champ - the famous monster of Lake Champlain. Most of the lake sits between New York and Vermont, but about 7% of it lies in...
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🪓 S05E37 - The Lizzie Borden Murders
Note: This episode deals with murder and goes into some detail, so we're putting the "explicit tag" for the mature content, perhaps not suitable for all audiences. MonsterTalk steps outside its usual territory for a true-crime case with a paranormal afterlife. Blake and Karen welcome Hallie, host...
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S05E36 - The Chinnery Backseat Ghost
A skeptical look at one of the most famous ghost photographs ever taken - the 1959 "backseat ghost" snapped by Mrs. Mabel Chinnery in Ipswich, England. This episode is distilled from a recent MonsterTalk Live stream with Blake, Karen Stollznow, and special guest Matt Baxter, who brought fresh...
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S05E35 The Newby Church Specter
Blake, Karen and Matt discover that this famous ghost photo isn't as old as they expected, and perhaps not as mysterious either. Do we get it right? Do you have a different explanation? Let us know in the comments. 👻 The Spectre of Newby ChurchIn one black-and-white photograph of a church altar…
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S05E34 - Rakshasas
Most Americans meet the Rakshasa in exactly two places: a 1974 episode of a beloved horror TV series and the pages of the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. Both versions give you a debonair, tiger-faced shape-changer with a taste for human flesh - but neither prepares you for how deep, how old,...
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S05E33 - The Devil Went Down to Devon
On the morning of February 9, 1855, residents across south Devon, England, discovered strange hoof-shaped tracks in the snow. The prints - about 4 inches long, 3 inches wide, and spaced roughly 8 inches apart in single file - appeared to have been left by a biped with a donkey-like hoof. Reports...
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S05E32 - Monsters of the Deep with Dr. Darren Naish
Darren joins Blake and Karen to discuss his new article in Geology Today, which grew out of his work on the Monsters of the Deep museum exhibition. That exhibition originally opened at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall in 2020, traveled to two additional venues, and most recently...
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S05E31 - From Loup Garou to Rougarou (pt 2) with Louisiana Dread's Kyle Crosby
This is part two of our conversation with Kyle Crosby, creator and host of Louisiana Dread. In Part 1, we covered the history of the Acadians and how they carried the loup-garou legend from France to the bayous of Louisiana. Now, in Part 2, Kyle walks us through the transformation of the…
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S05E30 - From Loup Garou to Rougarou with Louisiana Dread's Kyle Crosby
This is part one of a two-part conversation. Blake and Karen are joined by Kyle Crosby, filmmaker, historian, and founder of Louisiana Dread, a multimedia project dedicated to documenting the dark history, folklore, and culture of the Pelican State. Kyle is a native of Larose, Louisiana, who grew...
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S05E29 - Science of the Supernatural with Melissa Maffeo
Neuroscientist Dr. Melissa Maffeo joins Blake and Karen to discuss her new book Science of the Supernatural: Critical Thinking for the Mind and Brain (Cambridge University Press, 2026). Melissa is an associate teaching professor of psychology at Wake Forest University, where she also serves as...
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FLASHBACK BONUS: S01E069 The Key to the Legend of the Map Monsters
To announce (and celebrate) the Spanish language release of Chet Van Duzer's beautiful and informative book on map monsters, I'm re-releasing episode S01E69! Grab your copy in Spanish here: SPANISH LANGUAGE : Monstruos marinos en mapas medievales y renacentistas by Chet Van Duzer Or snag it in...
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S05E28 The Cottingley Fairies
Blake and Karen are joined by Matt Baxter to discuss the strange case of the Cottingley Fairies. https://www.monstertalk.org/?p=2706 Hosts: Karen Stollznow, Blake Smith Guest: Matt Baxter In this episode, the MonsterTalk crew tackles one of the most famous photographic hoaxes in history - the...
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S05E27 - Monsters: Myths, Legends, and Real Encounters with Richard Estep
🎙️ Blake and Karen welcome back author and paranormal investigator Richard Estep to discuss his new book from Visible Ink Press, Monsters: Myths, Legends, and Real Encounters. Richard is a paramedic, clinical educator, and the author of more than 30 books on the paranormal, true crime, and...
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S05E26 Haunted Cemeteries
In Part 2 of our chat with folklorist Chris Woodyard we talk about the lore of haunted cemeteries.Find Chris on BlueSky, FaceBook, and our back catalog!Chris also partners with Dr. Simon Young on the Boggart & Banshee podcast! Extended notes at https://monstertalk.org Become a supporter of this...
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S05E25 - Headless Motorcyclist Ghosts
In part 1 of our chat with folklorist Chris Woodyard, we discuss haunted roads and headless motorcycle ghosts. Find Chris on BlueSky, FaceBook, and our back catalog!Chris also partners with Dr. Simon Young on the Boggart & Banshee podcast! Extended notes at https://monstertalk.org Become a...
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S05E24 - ParaMormonal Activity with Steve Cuno
We talk with Karen's friend, author and Ex-Mormon, Steve Cuno about paranormal ideas in the Mormon religion. Steve Cuno: Behind the Mormon Curtain: Selling Sex in America’s Holy City “It’s Not About the Sex” My Ass: Confessions of an Ex-Mormon, Ex-Polygamist, Ex-Wife David W. Patten and Mormon...
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S05E23 - The Stately Ghosts of England (pt2)
Part two of our discussion of the interesting made-for-TV film The Stately Ghosts of England(1965). Blake and Karen are joined by Matt Baxter and this is a continuation of part 1. The film stars Margaret Rutherford, her husband Stringer Davis, and celebrity clairvoyant Tom Corbett. Extended notes...
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S05E22 - The Stately Ghosts of England (pt1)
Blake and Karen are joined by Matt Baxter to discuss the 1965 made-for-TV film The Stately Ghosts of England. The film stars Margaret Rutherford, her husband Stringer Davis, and celebrity clairvoyant Tom Corbett. Extended show notes available at MonsterTalk.org Become a supporter of this podcast:...
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BONUS: Weirdumentary with Gary Rhodes
I'm excited to be posting this BONUS content - an interview with film historian Gary D. Rhodes. Gary is joining me to talk about his newest book Weirdumentary: Ancient Aliens, Fallacious Prophecies, and Mysterious Monsters from 1970s Documentaries. I can't overstate how enjoyable this book was…
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S05E21 - Dragons & Trolls of the Marsh
We are delighted to talk with Dr. Christopher Beatty about his research into Dragonflies. From ancient times these insects have been the subject of wonder, fear and misinformation. Let's keep the wonder but get rid of some of the other stuff as we dive in on a creature whose lifecycle…
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S05E20 - Cults, Corps, and the Culinary with Christina Ward
We're joined by Christina Ward of Feral House publishing to talk about the intersection of food, culture, belief, control, and the weird as she tells us about two of her recent projects: American Advertising Cookbooks and Holy Food. Become a supporter of this podcast:...
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S05E19 A Season of Madness - Old World Carnival with Al Ridenour
Host of Bone & Sickle, Al Ridenour joins us to talk about the traditions of European Carnival season. It's the subject of his latest book, A Season of Madness. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support. Some product links may be affiliated...
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S05E18 - America Bewitched with Owen Davies (part 2)
In part two of our two-part interview with Owen Davies, we continue the discussion of witches and witch prosecutions with thoughtful considerations of the meaning of witch and how it can be an identity or an accusation. Be sure and catch both parts of this fascinating chat. Some related...
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S05E17 - America Bewitched with Owen Davies (part 1)
In part one of our two-part interview with Owen Davies, we discuss the history of witch trials, accusations, murder, and other troubles bubbling up from post-Salem accusations in America. In part two, next week, we will continue the discussion with thoughtful considerations of the meaning of…
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S05E16 Greenland Sharks with Greg Skomal
We are joined by author and researcher Greg Skomal to talk about the mysterious and long-lived Greenland Shark. Books by Greg: Chasing Shadows: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Great White Shark - Greg's book about Great Whites The Shark Handbook 3rd Edition: The Essential Guide for Understanding...
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S05E15 Ghosted with Alice Vernon
In this episode we talk with Dr. Alice Vernon about her fascinating look at the history of ghost hunting and psychical research, from the late 19th century to today. Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting, and Why We Keep Looking (Affiliate Link) Night Terrors: Troubled Sleep and the Stories we Tell...
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S05E14 The Case of the Missing Thunderbird Photo
Blake and Karen discuss the legendary photo said to capture 19th century cowboys or soldiers with a giant bird or pterosaur. SHOW NOTE LINKS: The original Tombstone Epitaph article about the winged creature Karl Shuker's blogged several times on the Thunderbird Photo and wrote a eulogy for Mark...
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S05E13 - Liminal Space Invaders
We talk with journalist Lana Hall about her piece The Dead Mall Society, which details her journey to decaying malls in the Toronto area in search of Liminal Spaces. Liminality (Wikipedia) Victor Turner: Liminality and Communitas (PDF) The Liminality Project (blog) Liminal Space (Wikipedia) The...
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S05E12 The Secret History of Lizard People
Friend of the show Dr. Joe Laycock returns to talk about LIZARD PEOPLE with us. He also has a new book: The Penguin Book of Cults Joe's Books: Penguin Book of Cults (publisher) (amazon affiliate link) The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, and Demonic Belief (affiliate link) Other topics of...
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Christmas Special #13 - The Mezzotint by M. R. James
It took a minute but I finally managed to read one of these "live" to my own family for the holidays. This is such an evocative story that I wanted to add a little art to the mix. I really want to put together a slow but detailed "animated gif" that goes through the cycles of the print as…
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S05E11 Ghostly Encounters with Richard Estep
Blake and Karen visit again with Colorado author of paranormal and true crime, Richard Estep. Richard's Books discussed in this episode: Ghostly Encounters The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm Mothman: Sightings and Investigations of the Iconic Flying Cryptid Help is on the Way (pre-order for Feb 2026...
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S05E10_Monstertalk
Episode Summary: In this episode, hosts Blake Smith and Dr. Karen Stollznow catch up on recent headlines and new literature. First, Blake discusses a "ripped from the headlines" update regarding the 2014 Slender Man stabbing case. We revisit the tragic story of Morgan Geyser, her recent escape…
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S05E09 Flashback: Bad Wolf
FLASHBACKWe're looking back at October 5, 2011 this week and an interview with Valerius Geist (February 2, 1938 – July 6, 2021) about the myths and reality of wolves. How dangerous are they? There's complexity and nuance here. Some people fiercely believe wolves are just peaceful misunderstood...
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S05E08 A Survey of Frogmen Festivals
We're joined by Sydney Davidson - student of Dr. Jeb Card (IRO) - to discuss her research into Frogmen Festivals, and to discuss monster festivals and some of the reasons people report they attend. (And it's not all about the plushies and t-shirts.) Darren Naish on The Loveland Frog The Myth of...
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S05E07 A Haunted Chest of Drawers
We're joined by Matt Baxter to watch and discuss another vintage BBC look at the paranormal - this time in the form of an allegedly haunted chest of drawers. Check the links and watch it yourself if you've got 12 mins to spare. What do you think of our takes? Additional Links: BBC Archive Clip…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/monstertalk--6267523/support.
HOSTED BY
Blake Smith
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does MonsterTalk have?
MonsterTalk currently has 515 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is MonsterTalk about?
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. Become a supporter of this podcast:...
How often does MonsterTalk release new episodes?
MonsterTalk releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 515 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to MonsterTalk?
You can listen to MonsterTalk on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts MonsterTalk?
MonsterTalk is created and hosted by Blake Smith.
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