Gene and Randall discuss paranormal matters and other subjects with long-time skeptical writer/researcher Benjamin Radford, author of “Big-If True: Adventures in Oddity,” a compendium of several dozen columns from Skeptical Inquirer science magazine, where he is a deputy editor. The topics he explores include urban legends, the paranormal, the tale of an alleged walking tree, fake cures, critical thinking, media literacy and even whether a certain well-known online dating service uses scientific methods to screen it’s applicants. The discussion also includes the possible efficacy of nutritional supplements and even Gene’s personal experiences with one of these alleged remedies. Ben is also a member of the American Folklore Society, the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, and the American College of Forensic Examiners International.

December 27, 2020 — Benjamin Radford

All episodes for 2023 and 2024 now feature better audio and fewer ads! The Paracast is a paranormal radio show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. The Paracast seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives. Join long-time paranormal writer and researcher Gene Steinberg, a team of knowledgeable guest cohosts, and a panel of special guest experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Listen each week to the great stories about the amazing history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries. When strange things occur that confound traditional scientific dogma, from strange objects speeding across our skies, to frightening creatures in remote areas of the world, and incredible reports of haunted houses, The Paracast will be there to separate the signal from the noise. NOTE: These episodes are the network versions with ads. If you want a commercial-free version of The Paracast, please subscribe to The Paracast+. Check https://www.theparacast.plus for details.

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This episode features better audio and fewer ads: Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Kurt Konecny, one of the co-hosts of the podcast “The Strange Sessions.” In the podcast, Kurt and his friend and fellow ghosthunter Krista look into stories of the strange, whether it’s poltergeists, alien abduction, time travel, Bigfoot, or the nature of reality itself. Expecting only a few friends and family to listen to their podcast, Kurt and Krista were amazed when people they didn’t know started listening and joining their Facebook group. A lifelong Wisconsin native, Kurt has been into the paranormal ever since he was a child, experiencing several unexplained things in the house he grew up in. This blossomed into a lifelong fascination with ghosts, aliens, and anything spooky, eventually joining the Wisconsin-based paranormal research group Heartland Paranormal Investigations and doing investigations all over the Midwest. Kurt believes that the world is far stranger than anyone realizes. And that’s a good thing, because without that sense of mystery and wonder, life would just be dull. He also has a chapter about the synchronicity of numbers and time in the upcoming book: “Weird Time — Exploring the Mysteries of Time and Space.” Gene has also contributed a chapter to this book. You can listen to “The Strange Sessions” podcast at: The Strange Sessions | Kurt and Krista

May 5, 2024 — Kurt Konecny with Tim Swartz

Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present a return visit from Philip Kinsella, author of several UFO and spiritual books who has written countless articles surrounding UFOs, consciousness and the afterlife. He began his investigations after an alien abduction he’d experienced back in the winter of 1989 and has spent the rest of his years exploring alternate theories surrounding both UFOs and alien contact, as well as psychic phenomena. In 1996, he published an article in Alien Encounters magazine, which had been considered within its theoretical application, entitled "Spirits in a Material World," which created some controversy with regards to his theoretical assumptions surrounding what a certain faction of the Greys may represent. Philip has lectured on the subject and has appeared on national television. He also co-hosts a radio program ran by the Paranormal UK Radio Network called "Twin Souls." In this episode, Philip discusses one of his books, "Terrestrial Trespassers." It covers such topics as: What are the Greys? Why are they here, and furthermore, what are their intentions? Why is it that after decades of alien abduction and UFO research we are no nearer in truly establishing what we may be up against regarding this omnipresent force which seemingly operates beyond our level of reality and hides within the shadows like phantoms in the night? Philip takes a candid look at the phenomenon, along with other areas of high strangeness in his search for the clues which may answer some truly extraordinary claims.

April 28, 2024 — Philip Kinsella with Tim Swartz

Gene and cohost Tim Swartz introduce Paul Schatzkin, a biographer of obscure 20th century scientists. He has been described variously as a visionary, gadfly, serial entrepreneur, Internet pioneer, staunch McLuhanist, author, occasional bomb-thrower, guitarist and songwriter. His two books are: “The Boy Who Invented Television” about Philo T. Farnsworth and “The Man Who Mastered Gravity” about T. Townsend Brown. As to Farnsworth, he invented a thing called “the television” — which over the course of his lifetime (1906-1971) became the most ubiquitous appliance in the history of human civilization. Every video screen on the planet — including the one you are looking at now – can trace its origins to a sketch that 14-year-old Philo drew for his high school science teacher in 1922. Schatzkin’s second book — exploring the mysterious life of T. Townsend Brown (1895-1985) — is “the biography of a man whose story cannot be told.” “The Man Who Mastered Gravity” is a tale that lives in the Venn diagram between science, science fiction and pseudo science, with elements of world history, international espionage, and cross-generational romance. He was also involved in the early creation of a UFO research organization, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), which was later placed under the direction of UFO field pioneer and disclosure advocate Major Donald E. Keyhoe.

April 21, 2024 — Paul Schatzkin with Tim Swartz

Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present the all-encompassing views of Dr. Thomas F. Lawson, a psychologist and original thinker who has done extensive research into the ontology and history of super ancient Egypt and how all of its structures/temples/pyramids are part of a “Messianic/Mashiach Plan,” now culminating and which, he says, will create a “new heaven and a new Earth.” After personal research in Egypt, Dr Lawson developed and presented a number of PowerPoint lectures on antediluvian civilizations whose members fled after a world-wide cataclysm circa 11,000 B.C. to Egypt. This ancient, technological knowledge was used to build the pyramids and recorded this history on the Egyptian temple at Edfu. In 2009-11, Dr Lawson was privately invited to explore the Sphinx enclosure by the then Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass as part of a five man “quiet” team with Raytheon Inc to use a new LIDAR tunnel detection system to surreptitiously search for the Atlantean Hall of Records. He has over 25 years experience in design, development and implementation of strategic, tactical and operational planning and systems analysis within numerous federal government, intelligence and defense environments. He is a highly experienced multi-discipline FAA Project and Air Traffic Control Facility Manager and Operations.

April 14, 2024 — Dr. Thomas F. Lawson with Tim Swartz

Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Dr. Simon Young, a British folklore historian based in Italy. He has written extensively on the nineteenth-century supernatural. His book Magical Folk: British & Irish Fairies, came out in 2017.The Boggart (from Exeter University Press) and The Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends (from Mississippi University Press) came out in 2022. Dr. Young has undertaken the biggest folklore survey of its kind, on behalf of the Fairy Investigation Society and released in 2024 The Fairy Census 2: 2017-2023. His earlier collection, The Fairy Census 1, came out in 2017. The census, revived more than 60 years from the last one, gathered details of as many fairy sightings from the 20th and 21st century as possible, and to measure contemporary attitudes to fairies. He is also the editor of Exeter New Approaches to Legends, Folklore and Popular Legends, which provides a venue for growing scholarly interest in folklore narratives, supernatural belief systems and the communities that sustain them. As well, Dr. Young teaches history at University of Virginia's Siena Campus (CET). Over the years he has run courses on the History of Christianity, Italian Food History, Italian Media History, Contemporary Italian History, WW2 in Italy and Italian Renaissance History. For more information about the Fairy Census, visit its website at: www.fairyist.com. His blog can be found at: www.strangehistory.net

December 27, 2020 — Benjamin Radford

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