My guest for this episode is Dr Josh Bullock. Josh is a senior lecturer in the Criminology, Politics and Sociology department of Kingston University London and part of the team behind Weekday Worldviews, a sociological project which is investigating the relationships between personal worldviews and psychological well-being amongst those attending public psychic events in the UK.

It is the first project of its kind, and offers a unique look at this grassroots phenomenon using mixed methods (survey, observation, interview, comparison), which will allow the analysis of patterns of belief and their implication for understanding the relationship between science, spirituality, and well-being.

I begin the interview by talking with Josh a little about his background and the type of work he has done prior to Weekday Worldviews. We then discuss how he became involved with the project and the other people involved in it, before moving on to talk about the methods used to gather the necessary data and what will happen once that process has been completed, and the results analysed. I also talk with Josh about his perspective on relationship between studying the paranormal and both its place and perception within academia.

To find out more about the Weekday Worldviews project, and potentially participate go to https://www.weekdayworldviews.com/.

If you are in a position to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is Gary Opit. Gary is an Australian zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author. He also hosts a wildlife talkback radio show on ABC North Coast NSW Local Radio and between 1997 and 2015 conducted a citizen science project, collecting data based on the phone calls and emails he received during that time from people seeking assistance identifying wildlife they had encountered.

Often these would be turn out to be examples of rare known and existing species of animal, but a significant amount were not and indicated the survival of animals previously thought long extinct on the Australian mainland, such as the Thylacine and Marsupial Lion, as well as completely unknown species, including ape and hominid like creatures, commonly referred to in Australia as the ”Yowie”.

Gary has had an incredibly varied career, working as a State Park Ranger, as well as at a number of schools and universities, teaching subjects such as Anthropology, Ecology, Zoology and Botany. His knowledge of the wildlife of Australia is extensive as is that of the history of cryptid sightings in the country.

As you might imagine, our conversation in this episode is a wide ranging one. I talk with Gary about how his interest in Australian cryptids started, the fossil record of wildlife in Australia and the range of habitats that could potentially allow the survival of some of those species into the modern day. Gary talks about some of his own experiences as well as encounters that other people have had with an impressive array of unusual creatures.

Further details on Gary and his research are available on his Facebook page 'Australian Cryptozoology Gary Opit', which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/doolagarl/ and a Kindle version of his book 'Australian Cryptozoology' can be purchased via Amazon here.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn. 

Joining me for this episode is author and historian Dr Richard Sugg. Richard has written both fiction and non-fiction on a wide range of unusual subjects - from John Donne in 2007, through to Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires in 2011, Fairies: A Dangerous History in 2018, and more recently: A History of Disgust from Jesus Christ to Boris Johnson in 2023.

His research has featured in popular magazines and press, and Richard has appeared on international television and radio, in addition to guesting on various podcasts. He has been published with institutions such as BBC History, The Guardian, The Lancet, Der Spiegel, and the New Yorker.

He has also published three edited collections of historic stories with a Fortean twist: A Century of Supernatural Stories, A Century of Ghost Stories and A Singing Mouse at Buckingham Palace.

These books come together in recent research Richard has done on animal homing instincts, perhaps most famously exemplified by Bobbie the Wonder Dog, who returned to his family home in Oregon after a six month, three thousand mile journey in February 1924.

In the first half of the interview I talk with Richard about some of the subjects he has written on and how his interest in weirder topics progressed during that time, which has seen his attitude to the paranormal change accordingly.  We talk about some of the ghostly encounters that have been reported to him and the validity of anecdotal evidence, which for many paranormal phenomena is extensive.

After that we focus on Richard’s current research into the remarkable homing abilities of animals such as Bobbie the Wonder Dog, along with other examples such as Railway Jack, Lampo, and an Irish Terrier called Prince.

You can find out more about Richard and his writing at https://doctorrichardsugg.com/ and his recent article for The Guardian is available here.

If you would like to make a donation to support the podcast you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is Charis Cotter. Charis is an award-winning author who specialises in writing ghost stories, many of which are influenced by the history, folklore and landscape of Newfoundland where she lives.

Alongside her writing, Charis has worked in schools and libraries across Canada, using drama and storytelling to bring her books to life. She has also encouraged Newfoundland children to collect traditional ghost stories from their communities as part of a project which has seen two books of these tales published, written and illustrated by the students.

I begin the interview by talking with Charis about how her interest in ghosts started from an early age, and how moving to Newfoundland has influenced her passion for writing stories about them. We discuss the relationship between ghosts, storytelling and people and how the importance of that can be seen in the history of Newfoundland as well as in the present day with the projects she has worked on with local school children. We also debate how stories about ghostly encounters may offer an insight into the true nature of what might be happening when people have these experiences and how that can offer a better way to frame a discussion on the paranormal outside of believing or not believing.

Charis also provides some accounts of local ghostly encounters that have been reported to her, which are great examples of why these types of stories fascinate us so much.

Information about Charis and her books can be found at her website https://www.chariscotter.com/.

You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The podcast theme is provided by Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is Natalie Doig. Natalie is the creator of Weird in the Wade, a blog and podcast which details her exploration of the spooky happenings, forgotten history and curious folklore of the area around her hometown of Biggleswade, in Bedfordshire England. 

This has seen her investigate a wide range of unusual cases, from a shop plagued by ghostly activity to UFO sightings in the 1950s, a haunted woodland and a fire that devastated Biggleswade in1785. Natalie has a very engaging presenting style and a real talent for rediscovering local stories that have slipped from recent memory.

In the interview we begin by talking about how her interest in the paranormal started and then we move on to some of the stories covered in Weird in the Wade, and what makes them and the weirdness they feature so interesting.

To find out more about Weird in the Wade go to https://weirdinthewade.blog/.

You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

Joining me as my guest for this episode is Sue Terry. Sue is an academic of weird and occult literature – her research interests involve her exploring the relationship between 'the occult' and literary fiction and understanding how texts of all kinds can help us interpret paranormal phenomena to develop a better appreciation of it.

She is currently writing a book on fantasy author Alan Garner as well as researching her PhD in feminist occult literary modernism at the University of Surrey and it is these two areas which my conversation with her focuses on.

Alan Garner’s work is deeply connected to the local landscape of Cheshire in Northern England where he grew up and often features the emergence of mythic and fantastical events in the everyday world – sometimes in a subtle way but not always. His fascination with the relativity of space and time is also prevalent and means that his stories are full of high strangeness, with ancient evils, gateways to otherworldly realms and the lasting effect of mythic betrayal and murder featuring prominently in some of his most beloved works, such as Elidor and The Owl Service.

I begin the interview by talking with Sue about her research and her PhD thesis, after which we talk about Alan Garner – from his traumatic childhood which may have ignited his imagination onto some of his best known works and the themes they explore.

Further details on Sue, her work and the courses she runs can be found at her website https://www.sueterryacademic.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is Dr Diana Walsh Pasulka, who joined me to talk about her new book ‘Encounters: Experiences with Non-human Intelligences’.

Diana is a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. She writes and teaches about the history of the catholic tradition and new religious movements, particularly as they intersect with digital technologies. Her published work has explored topics as varied as from the catholic doctrine of purgatory to UFOs, to human potentials and has received international acclaim, with her 2019 book ‘American Cosmic’ especially offering an intriguing insight into the religiosity of the UFO mystery.

In Encounters, she writes about the work of experts across a range of fields who are endeavouring to connect humanity with unknown life-forms and help to encourage a rethink on some of our most basic assumptions about life and its manifestations beyond our experiences.

I begin the interview by talking with Diana about her first book about purgatory, and how researching and writing that led on to her other writing projects such as American Cosmic. We then move on to her new book and talk about some of the people featured in it, and the work they are doing to help reorientate our understanding of the world around us.

To find out more about Diana's research and her books go to https://dwpasulka.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is Victoria Jaye. Victoria is a folklorist, writer, podcaster and author whose areas of research is demonic experiences, narratives, and phenomena. She runs a blog called The Demon Folklorist and her first book ‘The Black Hours: Modern Demonic Experiences and Folklore’ is due to come out in October 2023.

I begin the interview by talking with Victoria about her own experience that prompted an interest in demons. We then discuss the enigmatic nature of what these entities might be (and also what they aren’t), how they are primarily contextualised via the route of ritual magic and religion, what drives their hostility towards humans and the role pop culture has played in a modern understanding of these beings in the western world.

Victoria has also developed her own system for identifying a demonic presence using the five senses as a measure, which we talk about in some detail, along with a couple of well-known cases of demonic possession.

Further details about Victoria and her new book can be found at her website https://demonfolklorist.com/.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

Joining me for this episode is intuitive artist, writer, researcher and podcaster Claire Casely. Claire’s creative projects are inspired by the presence of faeries which she experiences through nature connection, faerie sight and during journeying in meditation and dreams.  Together these practices have helped her to form a multi-sensory method of connecting with the otherworld, which she calls ‘Faery Whispering’.

In the interview I begin by talking with Claire about how her interest in faeries started as a child growing up near Dartmoor and some of her experiences with those types of beings as she grew older. We discuss what faeries are, what faerie whispering is and explore the relationship that seems to exist between these entities, ourselves, the places we live and on a deeper level, the natural world. Claire also offers some advice on how to develop your own connection with otherworldly beings such as these.

Further details on Claire's creative projects (such as her podcast) can be found at https://www.faerywhisperer.co.uk/ and you can support her work at https://www.patreon.com/faerywhisperer. She also has a YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@TheFaeryWhisperer.

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere them if from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.

My guest for this episode is researcher and author Fred Andersson, who joined me to talk about his new book, ‘Northern Lights – High Strangeness in Sweden’.

This is the first book written in English entirely devoted to the subject of high strangeness, UFOs, and other mysteries in that country. Sweden has a long history of weirdness, unexplained observations, and eerie encounters, often connected to the countryside, desolate roads, and empty fields. From gnomes, elves, and trolls of the past to UFOs and aliens in modern times.

The book takes an in-depth look at a wide range of peculiar incidents recorded throughout Sweden's history, spanning from 1920 to 2013 and delves into a myriad of extraordinary encounters, diving into the mysterious realm of the unknown. The primary emphasis of the narrative remains on the gripping subjects of UFOs and extraterrestrial beings, examining their profound impact on both the personal experiences of witnesses and the rich tapestry of Swedish culture.

In the interview I begin by talking with Fred about his interest in the paranormal and how the idea for the book came about. From there we explore some of the strange incidents it covers and discuss Fred’s own insights into the high strangeness of his homeland.

Fred is a lively presence on social media and can be found on X (formerly Twitter) here. 'Northern Lights: High Strangeness in Sweden is available from your bookseller of choice. 

If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can make a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!

The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.