MonsterTalk

[Warning: This episode deals with politics and religion.]

Karen and Blake discuss the new film We Believe in Dinosaurs with filmmaker Clayton Brown (who co-directed with Monica Long Ross) and paleontologist Dan Phelps. 

Want to help Dan with his research into the financial entities behind these parks? Reach out to him and volunteer: [email protected]

We Believe in Dinosaurs is streaming on: Amazon | Apple TV | Google Play | VUDU | X-Box 

 

Interested in the movie? Join the Virtual Watch Party

THURSDAY, APRIL 30 - 7:00PM CT Join us from anywhere in the U.S. and watch the film LIVE with filmmakers and select film subjects. Get exclusive commentary and insights, plus submit your Q&As for live replies during the broadcast. REGISTER NOW

Discussed in the interview:

Alien Intrusion - the other Australian Young Earth Creationism we've covered.

NCSE - The national center for science education 

 

Related Articles by Dan Phelps: 2016 article introducing the new Ark Encounter 

The Ark Encounter as "Anti-Museum" 

 

Photos from the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum courtesy Dan Phelps:

Today Karen and Blake discuss "Screaming Skulls" - a surprisingly common yet particularly English kind of haunting. Karen has a new short story based on this legend.

Multiple Examples:

• Bettiscombe manor, Bettiscome, Dorset
• Dickie – Tunstead Farm, Tunstead Milton, Derbyshire 
• Skull of St Ambrose Barlow – Wardley Hall, Manchester (1641) - Catholic relic 
• Skull of (Katherine) Anne Griffith – Burton Agnes Hall, Yorkshire (1620) “Owd Nance” - 
• Skull of Theophilus Broome – Higher Chilton Farm, Chilton Cantelo, Somerset (1670)  
• Two skulls – Warbleton Priory ruin, Rushlake Green, Heathfield, East Sussex 
• Two skulls - Calgarth Hall, Windermere, Cumbria 

Possibly dozens more and many have disappeared over time.

1895 book with a chapter on various Screaming Skulls.

Allegedly, Lord Byron had a skull he used to drink from as a part of occult rituals. It, or a copy of it, was sold at auction in 2017 and was expected to fetch a tidy sum.

Patreon supporters can see attachment (PDFs) for various newspaper stories featuring an assortment of Screaming Skull tales.

F. Marion Crawford's famous short story on the topic.

The 1958 film The Screaming Skull. (streaming on Amazon, higher quality)

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 take on The Screaming Skull.

A nice little "documentary" about The Screaming Skull of Theophilus Broome.

We're doing a live video-chat with guest Brian Sharpless. Sunday night March 29, 2020 9 pm EST   The show is free - but it's being streamed via Facebook so you'll need to join the MonsterTalk Facebook Group to participate.   We plan to switch to streaming via YouTube soon - but this worked well in our small trial run last week.  Hopefully, you'll enjoy hanging out with some other listeners and talking monsters. The topic for this one is the psychological conditions behind popular horror movies!

Hang in there everybody! I hope to talk with you tomorrow. CDC Virus Info W.H.O. Virus Info 

It's Blake here! I made a little cameo over at Hayley Stevens' podcast The Spooktator, joining Jeb Card (In ReSearch Of) to talk about the paranormal series HELLIER (Amazon, YouTube).  If you're not familiar with that show, it's an independent paranormal show that combines pretty much every kind of paranormal topic you can think of into a strange narrative about... you know what? 

Just check out our coverage.  

(And Hayley's extensive show notes HERE.) 

Discussing COVID19 with virology expert Vincent Racaniello.

Best place to get Covid19 Information: 

WHO (World Health Organization) and CDC (Center for Disease Control) sites for the latest factual information on this pandemic. 

Non-Profit Vaccine Effort: https://cepi.net/

Tony Fauci - NHI health advisor to US

Master site for Vincent's network: 

http://www.microbe.tv/

Shows from the Microbe.TV network: 

IMMUNE *

TWiEVO: This Week in Evolution *

TWiM: This Week in Microbiology *

TWiN: This Week in Neuroscience *

TWiP: This Week in Parasitism *

TWiV: This Week in Virology *

Urban Agriculture

Virus Watch

Audiommunity

Curioscity

BacterioFiles

omega tau

Public Health United

YouTube: Vincent's Video Channel

We are joined by author Kathryn Hulick, author of the new book Strange but True: 10 of the World's Greatest Mysteries Explained. The book introduces 10 weird topics covering everything from Atlantis to Zombies and meshes it all with skepticism and critical thinking. It's a great way to introduce a curious teen to the strange and unusual while arming them with the right tools to examine the questions critically. 

Topics include haunted houses, zombies, the mystery of Dyatlov pass and more.

Find Kathryn on twitter @KHulick.

The world can be a pretty mysterious place and we at Live Science love to ask and answer questions about mysteries big and small: about ancient civilizations, our planet and our solar system, the plants and animals that live alongside us, our bodies and how they work, and the technologies that we use every day. Join us on this exciting voyage of discovery and downright weirdness as we solve… Life’s Little Mysteries.

Find Life's Little Mysteries in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audioboom, iHeartRadio, or whatever your favorite podcast app is!

 

We welcome Dr. James Mueller, associate dean of Journalism at the University of North Texas.  

He's the author of three books (with a fourth on the way) and they are: 

Shooting Arrows and Slinging Mud: Custer, the Press, and the Little Bighorn

Tag Teaming the Press 

Towel Snapping the Press.

He's also a member of the American Journalism Historians Association, and he joins us to talk about the history of newspapers and journalism and how to contextualize weird stories in the news.

Discussed in this episode:

Newspaper Rock - Petroglyph news

New York Sun - Great Moon Hoax

Gilbert Gottfried Incident after 9/11.  (His take on it.)

Jacko the Canadian "Gorilla" hoax

Tombstone "Thunderbird" hoax

The Great Airship Mystery (wiki, book by Dan Cohen)

Historically Black Newspapers archived (Blog-post Newspapers.com)

Stanley &  Livingston story 

History of photos being used in newspapers (1870s - 1880s)

Saudi involvement in the Sudan civil war (mentioned during the interview) However, Dr. Mueller corrected this via email and said he meant to say YEMEN not SUDAN.

Karen tells us about her research into the strange 1921 case known as "The Guyra Ghost."  Rocks thrown, windows broken, strange knockings, spiritualists, and more!  Her write up of this investigation appears in the January 2020 issue of Fortean Times.

Discussed in this episode:

The Guyra Ghost Mystery (1921) - lost contemporary comedy film shot on location

Minnie Bowen, the center of the alleged haunting:

Photograph of window damage at the Bowen home.

 

 

Related:

Karen's two recent short stories: Inspired by the events of The Guyra Ghost: Welcome Home 

Inspired by the tale of Lord Dufferin's omen: Room for One More 

We are joined by Rebecca Fox, who has been both a witch and a science & skepticism advocate, to discuss the history of modern witchcraft. 

RIP Terry Jones (of Monty Python) who passed away on Tuesday, Jan 21, 2020.

Discussed in this episode:

Gerald Gardner, father of Wicca 

Doreen Valiente 

Margaret Murray, an anthropologist whose The Witch-Cult in Western Europe was very influential on both Wicca and H. P. Lovecraft & R. E. Howard

Ronald Hutton, author of Triumph of the Moon and The Witch.