In this episode we talk with professor Jason Josephson-Storm about the concept of Disenchantment, why it's an important and influential concept, and why it is also a pervasive myth. 

The Dialectic of Enlightenment by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno

Max Weber

The Golden Bough by James Frazer 

Deadly Words by by Jeanne Favret-Saada

Our coverage of the homunculus - way back in episode 53!

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Is Bigfoot making peculiar stacks of bones in the forests of Mt. St. Helens? Archaeologist Andy White joins us to discuss the hypothesis that was the topic of a research paper by a Bigfoot proponent Mitchell Townsend.

Andy's website (and response to Townsend's claims)

Andy also has a YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

Taphonomy

Bigfoot proponent Townsend has been on Coast-to-Coast-AM more than once, where he also promoted his ideas about hidden images in stones.

Mitchell's ideas are VERY reminiscent of the Richard Shaver work which we described as both apophenia and art.

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Karen and Blake discuss three little mysteries they've run across while doing research that didn't quite warrant an individual episode, and which might benefit from some crowd-sourcing.

Examples of "Bigfoot Tree Forts"

Colorado Site discussing

Tik-Tok Bigfoot Structures

Fairy-Braids:

This is a real phenomenon - example article with photos

Loren Coleman discussing MK Davis discussing Bigfoot braids (Cryptomundo)

Some examples of algorithmic analysis of biological behaviors (gScholar)

Silver and Milk Preservation:

Example of claims in modern source:  Ask A Prepper

Article about historic use of silver in baby bottles

The Oligodynamic Effect

Side-chat on Rat Kings:

An article (with some great photos) on Rat Kings

The less regal Squirrel King

Who invented Pasteurization?

The Smurfing Danger of Colloidal Silver

Emily Rosa Science-Fair Program

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Matt and Karen report back from their trip to Devil's Tower, Wyoming.

reuters debunk traced to Facebook Satirical Post

Watch CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND via Amazon affiliate link

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[This episode contains some adult language.]

This is the story of the search for Bigfoot as conducted by the NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER. (Which sounds a lot like the real Bigfoot research group North American Wildlife Research Team that famously setup the only permanent Bigfoot trap maintained by the national park service.) But while a lot of the stuff in this film sounds real - the whole thing is made up. The IMDB page gives you the details on the cast.

A very good widescreen version of the movie is available streaming on Amazon. (Affiliate Link)

The film follows a team of investigators who travel for months into British Columbia on horseback to find the secret valley of the Bigfoot where they will radio-tag a creature for study. Along the way they will tell Bigfoot stories and watch stock nature footage play out to a Jaws-derivative soundtrack. 

If that sound sketchy, keep in mind their whole trip was planned by computer.

The computer even gave them a sketch of what they should be looking for!

The party of adventurers heads off into the wilderness.

They will encounter many shadowy creatures along the way.

They will try to out-science Bigfoot. Good luck with that.

This is a historically significant film in some ways - and has led to some interesting research which will be discussed in a near-future episode of the regular show. I'm still digging.

I included a brief snippet from the Eddie Murphy Biopic Dolemite Is My Name, which tells the story of Rudy Ray Moore. I loved this movie and recommend the biopic which is streaming on Netflix. (That's *not* an affiliate link - but you will need a Netflix account to watch it.)

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We're excited to have Professor Chris French back to introduce his brand new book, The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure The Paranormal (Affiliate Link).

Links:

Wilson & Barber and the "fantasy prone personality"

Richard Wiseman appearances on MonsterTalk

Susan Blackmore (wikipedia)

Anomalistic Psychology

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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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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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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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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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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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