An interview with Dr. Stephen Hupp, lead editor on the new volume Investigating Pop Psychology: Pseudoscience, Fringe Science, and Controversies co-edited with Dr. Richard Wiseman and featuring contributions from many well known authors including our own Dr. Karen Stollznow.  Welcome to 2023 folks! This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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Apologies for my voice - but despite a nasty cold I've done my best to bring you a spooky Christmas Ghost Story - this time from the mind of Charles Dickens! You can read the tale yourself online for free. According to the Dickens Museum, this story was likely influenced by an actual train tragedy. You can read a bit about that on Wikipedia in the article about this story. From my family and Karen's, we wish you a very happy holiday and a very happy new year!  Check out episode #267 for more info on Charles Dickens and his supernatural tales. Blake Smith Dec 23, 2022 Kennesaw, GA This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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We're joined by ichthyologist Dr. Nathan K. Lujan to discuss the legendary vampire catfish of the Amazon, the candiru! Explicit Tag on this one for frank talk about vampire fish entering penises. Catfish attacks Dr. Lujan's hand for blood meal (not Candiru) Candiru: Life and Legend of the Bloodsucking Catfishes by Stephen Spotte (affiliate link) Candiru episode clip from River Monsters Stephen Fry duped by Candiru legend/joke The infamous Venture Bros. Candiru Speech This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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We continue our discussion of the platypus with Dr. Gilad Bino. In part 2 we explore the features that make them unique. Their extremely sensitive bills, laying eggs, venomous spurs - they're weird... yet they don't represent "new" so much as a surviving example of extremely old. Long ago mammals weren't the placental creatures that we evolved from. The echidna and platypus are the last two known survivors of our very, very ancient mammal ancestry - the monotremes. Discussed in this episode: Venery Terms for Animals Audubon article skeptical of these terms Platypus Spurs Phineas and Ferb Mind Flayers  Dr. Bino's Research  This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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The platypus is a fascinating creature from the family called monotremes. There is a lot left to be discovered about these animals and in part 1 we hear about the challenges in studying them. Part 2 will explore the features that make them unique. Our guest is Dr. Gilad Bino. George Kearsley Shaw: science meets the platypus What are monotremes? The amazing penis of the echidna! Lots of cool photos of platypus biological features  Maps of complex platypus nesting burrows The Platy-Project (citizen science initiative) This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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We're joined by MonsterTalk family member Matt Baxter (Karen's husband and host of Ask a Paranormal Investigator) to talk about his investigation of an allegedly haunted hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota.  Deadwood Series (Amazon Affiliate) Calamity Jane  Wild Bill Hickcock  Seth Bullock The Bullock Hotel NERF Ballistic Balls (discontinued) This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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In a departure from our normal format, Blake and Karen discuss how science ruins all the fun of some very popular Sci-Fi/Horror tropes.  Alternate Realities and the Multiverse Some thoughts about multiverses from SciAm Chronicles of Amber by Zelazny (affiliate link) (apparently I said Avalon in the ep - totally different thing. Avalon is M.Z. Bradley's retelling of the Arthurian tales from a feminist/pagan framing.) Body Swapping Gilligan's Island Body Swapping Russian Dog Head Experiment (journal) More on the Dog Head (wikipedia) Aliens in our Solar System SciAm on Aliens Looking for "alien" artifacts Cryonics This American Life segment on cryonics (powerful but disturbing) In reSearch of… Cryogenics (Note - Cryonics is freezing people for hypothetical later thawing, Cryogenics is the legit study of freezing all sorts of things.) Time Travel Twin Study Confirms Einstein Simulation Hypothesis Just how many bits would be in a model of the universe? Some pro-simulation speculation (I am not remotely convinced) You can find all our contact info here. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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Karen and Blake discuss "the most haunted city in America," Savannah, Georgia. Links: Behind the Bird Girl Statue The Hamilton-Turner Inn The Haunted Pseudo-History of Bonaventure Cemetery (by Karen Stollznow) The Marshall House Hotel 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Restaurant The Kehoe House Moon River Brewing The Pirate's House From the intro - Nick Swardson on Everything in Savannah is Haunted This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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You may know Charles Dickens used ghosts in A Christmas Carol - but did you know his work also included many other weird and quasi-paranormal elements? We discuss this lesser known aspect of the famous English author with Dr. Liz Savage. Seven Ghost Stories by Dickens that aren't A Christmas Carol. Spontaneous Human Combustion (Wikipedia) A fiery death: Murder or SHC? Investigating SHC Read more Dickens for free: Dickens on Project Gutenberg (free read) This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/monstertalk and get on your way to being your best self.

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A hiker terrorized for days by two unknown figures… A man stalked through the woods while camping, who barely escaped with his life… two cops who quit their job at a local theater because of unexplained encounters with an alleged demon… These are just some of the unbelievable cases you’ll hear on the MrBallen Podcast on Amazon Music. Each week you’ll get new inexplicable encounters, shocking disappearances and other strange, dark and mysterious stories. Hey Prime Members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast, MRBALLEN PODCAST: STRANGE, DARK & MYSTERIOUS STORIES, in the Amazon Music App.  Download the app today: www.amazon.com/BALL_us_pfd_AA_110122

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