We’re back with another episode of Paranormal Optimist! This week, we talk about the haunted history of the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. Tune in to hear about thousands of unmarked graves under the feet of pedestrians, prohibition era ghosts who just love to drink, cult ties, human sacrifice, and a ghost who constantly reenacts his own death from the final chapter of his saga of crime. Fun, right?

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, suggest an episode, or have a story you’d like to share for the podcast, send me an email at [email protected].

Music: www.purple-planet.com

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Sources Cited in Today’s Episode:

Bannos, P. (n.d.). Hidden truths. https://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/confusion/hidden/cem_in_park.html

Bannos, P. (n.d.). Hidden truths. https://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/couch/tomb.html

Bannos, P. (n.d.). Hidden truths. Remaining Vestiges: Frances M. Pearce Memorial. https://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/evidence/vestiges/pearce.html

Bannos, P. (n.d.). Hidden truths: 1998 excavation. (n.d.). https://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/evidence/excavation.html

ChloeAttention: This post is over 3 years old and the information may be out of date.Attention: This post is over 3 years old and the information may be out of date.September 14, & Chloe. (2020, September 14). Exploring history through Chicago’s earliest cemeteries. Chicago Public Library. https://www.chipublib.org/blogs/post/chicagos-earliest-cemeteries/

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). John Dillinger | Federal Bureau of Investigation. History. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/john-dillinger

Harrington, A. (n.d.). Chicago hauntings: The mysteries of the couch mausoleum in Lincoln Park and who, if anyone, is entombed there. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-hauntings-the-mysteries-of-the-couch-mausoleum-in-lincoln-park-and-who-if-anyone-is-entombed-there/

Innovaxis Marketing. (2021, October 20). John Barleycorn’s Wrigleyville: Chicago Bar Project Review. Chicago Bar Project. https://chibarproject.com/reviews/barleycornwrigleyville/

Jaffe, L. (2015, June 18). In Chicago, eternal rest ain’t so eternal. WBEZ. https://www.wbez.org/curious-city/2015/06/17/in-chicago-eternal-rest-aint-so-eternal

John Dillinger lives. America’s Haunted Roadtrip. (2021, August 20). http://americashauntedroadtrip.com/john-dillinger-lives/

Johnson, S. (2020, September 9). Who is John Barleycorn? || gruesome origins & modern retellings. ARCANE ALCHEMY. https://www.arcane-alchemy.com/blog/2020/9/9/who-is-john-barleycorn-gruesome-origins-amp-modern-retellings#:~:text=If%20you%20haven’t%20ever,Song%2C%20give%20it%20a%20listen.&text=The%20story%20of%20John%20Barleycorn,John%20Barleycorn%20is%20even%20older.

Selvam, A. (2023, April 17). John Barleycorn’s Lincoln Park Space finds a new tenant after nine years. Eater Chicago. https://chicago.eater.com/2023/4/17/23687129/bad-apple-lincoln-park-john-barleycorn-burgers-prohibition

Sobottka, S. (2025, May 29). Biograph Theater. Haunted Houses. https://hauntedhouses.com/illinois/biograph-theater/

US Ghost Adventures. (2025, April 16). Hauntings at the Golden Dagger . Windy City Ghosts. https://windycityghosts.com/hauntings-at-the-golden-dagger/

We’re back again with another episode of Paranormal Optimist! In today’s episode we take a close look at the field of Cryptozoology. Find out why scientists want you to hate it, why you can blame Bigfoot for all your problems in life, and also why it actually might not be the worst thing in the world to study cryptids.

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, suggest an episode, or have a story you’d like to share for the podcast, send me an email at [email protected].

Music: www.purple-planet.com

Click here to follow the show on all platforms:

https://linktr.ee/Paranormal_Optimist_Podcast

Sources Cited in Today’s Episode:

7 legendary cryptids that turned out to be real! | ancient origins. Ancient Origins. (n.d.). https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/cryptids-0017386

Clark, J., & Coleman, L. (1999). Cryptozoology A to Z. Simon & Schuster.

Cryptozoology: EBSCO. EBSCO Information Services, Inc. | www.ebsco.com. (n.d.). https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/science/cryptozoology

Freeman, R. (2019). Adventures in cryptozoology: Hunting for yetis, Mongolian deathworms and other not-so-mythical monsters. volume 1. Mango Publishing Group.

Heuvelmans, B. (1995). On the track of unknown animals: By Bernard Heuvelmans. Kegan Paul International.

Loxton, D., & Prothero, D. R. (2015). Abominable science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other famous cryptids. Columbia University Press.

Ocker, J. W. (2023). The United States of Cryptids: A tour of american myths and monsters. Quirk Books.

Ptacin, M. (2022, November 4). Loren Coleman and the Radical Field of Cryptozoology. Maine. https://www.themainemag.com/loren-coleman-and-the-radical-field-of-cryptozoology/#close

Squonkapalooza. (n.d.). Squonkapalooza. https://squonkapalooza.com/

The ISC Newsletter Collection (international society of cryptozoology) : International Society of Cryptozoology : Free Download, borrow, and streaming. Internet Archive. (1982, January 1). https://archive.org/details/The-ISC-Newsletter-Collection/The%20ISC%20Newsletter%2C%20Vol%201%20No%201%2C%20Spring%201982/

Von, P. (2019, July 9). The lake monster leaves its mark on the Shore Line of Lake Champlain. WPTZ. https://www.mynbc5.com/article/the-lake-monster-leaves-its-mark-on-the-shore-line-of-lake-champlain/28327686

It’s the final day of the official launch of Paranormal Optimist! In today’s episode, I am joined by friends of the show April and Jessica to discuss a local Bigfoot sighting in Monroe, Michigan. What would you do if you witnessed a paranormal event?

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, suggest an episode, or have a story you’d like to share for the podcast, send me an email at [email protected].

Music: www.purple-planet.com

Click here to follow the show on all platforms:

https://linktr.ee/Paranormal_Optimist_Podcast

Sources Cited in Today’s Episode:

[email protected], B. C. |. (2025, May 22). Father, son had “credible” bigfoot encounter in Michigan Swamp, report says. mlive. https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/05/father-son-had-credible-bigfoot-encounter-in-michigan-swamp-report-says.html  

Fuzinski, P. (2024, February 10). The Monroe Monster. Wildman of the Woods. https://wildmanofthewoods.com/blog/the-monroe-monster

Hutchinson, D. (2025, May 22). Group finds father, son “credible” in Monroe County bigfoot sighting. WDIV. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2025/05/22/group-finds-father-son-credible-in-monroe-county-bigfoot-sighting/

Moneymaker, M. (2025, May 18). Report # 78631 (Class A) Submitted by witness Edward Henry on Sunday, May 18, 2025. BFRO: The Bigfoot Field Research Organization. https://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=78631

Wiesner, B. (2025, March 21). Where are you most likely to have a bigfoot sighting in Michigan? the odds say the U.P. The Sault News. https://www.sooeveningnews.com/story/entertainment/2025/03/21/bigfoot-sightings-in-michigan-odds-say-theyre-most-likely-in-u-p/82539572007/

Welcome to another episode of Paranormal Optimist! Today’s episode is a deep dive into a specific case which caused a lot of drama in the scientific community. What would happen if we found proof of extraterrestrial life? Would we even recognize it, if we did?

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, suggest an episode, or have a story you’d like to share for the podcast, send me an email at [email protected].

Music: www.purple-planet.com

Click here to follow the show on all platforms:

https://linktr.ee/Paranormal_Optimist_Podcast

Sources Cited in Today’s Episode:

Loeb, A. (2021). Extraterrestrial: The first sign of Intelligent life beyond earth. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Harvard University. (n.d.). Avi Loeb. https://astronomy.fas.harvard.edu/people/avi-loeb

Pultarova, T. (2023, March 22). Sorry, E.T. fans: Interstellar visitor ’Oumuamua isn’t an alien spacecraft. it’s just passing gas. Space. https://www.space.com/interstellar-object-oumuamua-acceleration-hydrogen-outgassing

Powell, C. S. (2023, May 18). ’Oumumamua and the search for life in the universe. Astronomy . https://www.astronomy.com/science/oumumamua-and-the-search-for-life-in-the-universe/

NASA. (2024, December 5). ’OUMUAMUA. NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/oumuamua/ 

Thank you for joining me again on another episode of Paranormal Optimist! Dr. Rihana Bokhari, an expert from the field of space health, talks with us today about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the future of humans in space.

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, suggest an episode, or have a story you’d like to share for the podcast, send me an email at [email protected].

Music: www.purple-planet.com

Click here to follow the show on all platforms:

https://linktr.ee/Paranormal_Optimist_Podcast

Some questions in today’s episode were suggested by members of the This Paranormal Life FB group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thisparanormallife

Welcome to the first episode of Paranormal Optimist! In this episode, we discuss the most important question first: Are we alone in the universe? Hear the history of people asking this question, the science behind believing and not believing, and suggestions of where we can go from here.

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, suggest an episode, or have a story you’d like to share for the podcast, send me an email at [email protected].

Music: www.purple-planet.com

Click here to follow the show on all platforms:

https://linktr.ee/Paranormal_Optimist_Podcast

Sources cited in today’s episode:

"The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark" (Ballantine Books, 1997)

The Nobel Foundation. (n.d.-b). The nobel prize in physics 1938. NobelPrize.org. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1938/fermi/facts/

Frank, A. (2023). The little book of aliens. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Ward, P. D., & Brownlee, D. (2000). Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe. Springer.

Druyan, A. (2020). Cosmos: Possible worlds. National Geographic.

SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The Planetary Society. (n.d.). https://www.planetary.org/sci-tech/seti#:~:text=SETI%2C%20which%20stands%20for%20the,the%20search%20for%20extraterrestrial%20intelligence.)

Is there anybody out there?. The Planetary Society. (n.d.-a). https://www.planetary.org/articles/20171025-seti-anybody-out-there

Spectroscopy 101 – introduction | webb. (n.d.). https://webbtelescope.org/contents/articles/spectroscopy-101--introduction

Hanson, R. (1998, September 15). Are we almost past it?. The Great Filter. https://web.archive.org/web/20100507074729/http:/hanson.gmu.edu/greatfilter.html

Source, R. O. (2015, October 7). 6 mind-bending solutions to the Fermi paradox. Medium. https://medium.com/o-s/6-mind-bending-solutions-to-the-fermi-paradox-c0f32e47a0f7#:~:text=On%20Earth%2C%20we’ve%20decided,to%20join%20the%20extraterrestrial%20community.

NASA. (2019, June 20). 5 ways to find a planet. NASA. https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/ways-to-find-a-planet/?intent=021

Gronstal, A. (2022, September 2). NASA astrobiology. Astrobiology at NASA Life in the Universe. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/in-memoriam-frank-drake/

NASA. (2024, October 28). Alien worlds - NASA science. NASA. https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/

Aquilecchia, G. (2024, November 4). Giordano Bruno. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giordano-Bruno

Westman, R. S. (Westman, R. S. (2024, November 7). Nicolaus Copernicus. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolaus-Copernicus

NASA. (2025, February 18). Exoplanets - NASA science. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/

Carey, J. M. (n.d.). This Day in History: February 26. Italian Art Society. https://www.italianartsociety.org/2017/02/on-26-february-1616-galileo-galilei-was-formally-banned-and-banished-by-the-roman-catholic-church-for-teaching-and-defending-the-opinion-that-the-earth-orbits-the-sun/

This is the trailer for Paranormal Optimist!

If you want to be a guest, have an episode suggestion, or a spooky story you’d like me to read on the show, send an email to [email protected]. See you soon!

Music: www.purple-planet.com

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