Where does cryptozoology come from, and why do Americans love it so much? With the Jersey Devil joining the ranks of the cryptids in the mid-1900's, we take a step back to examine the origins of this unique obsession and its impact on the USA, from the discovery of mammoths, to the Cardiff Giant, and the Gloucester Sea Serpent. Then, we look at some fascinating independent films from trailblazing American mavericks as we try to figure out what this mysterious beast came to signify in a postmodern world hurtling towards the 21st century, and the looming digital age.
 
 Written and narrated by Dylan Ferguson, featuring Sean O'Rourke. Original music is by Rob What.
 
 Some of the main sources for this episode include:
 John J. McKay, Discovering the Mammoth (2017)
 James F. McCloy & Ray Miller, The Jersey Devil (1976)
The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) dir. Charles B. Pierce
The Last Broadcast (1998), dir. Stefan Avalos & Lance Weiler
The Blair Witch Project (1999), dir. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez
 
Find Dylan at: [email protected]
Find more of Rob's music at: robwhat.bandcamp.com

The Phenomenal Week. This is the name given to one of the most extraordinary periods in the annals of cryptozoology, when a flurry of monster sightings, breathless newspaper coverage, and state-wide panic ended with the Jersey Devil captured and put on display in a museum. But, if we go beyond the cryptid books, what was the real story behind this celebrated week in 1909? We’ll learn about America's transformation in the Gilded Age, a literary controversy that saw naturalists pitted against romanticists (with President Roosevelt joining the fray), and how a canny museum publicist manipulated the dubious American press of the age. Then, America's embrace of scientific rationalism takes a grim turn, when a Quaker psychologist sets up shop in the Pine Barrens, leading our tale - and the history of the 20th century - down a dark and sinister path.

Written and narrated by Dylan Ferguson, featuring Sean O'Rourke. Original music is by Rob What.

Some of the main sources for this episode include:
James F. McCloy & Ray Miller, The Jersey Devil (1976)
James F. McCloy & Ray Miller, Phantom of the Pines (1998)
Brian Regal & Frank J. Esposito, The Secret History of the Jersey Devil (2018)
Bill Sprouse, The Domestic Life of the Jersey Devil (2013)
Henry H. Goddard, The Kallikak Family (1912)

Find Dylan at: [email protected]
Find more of Rob's music at: robwhat.bandcamp.com

Welcome to the Pine Barrens in the 1800's. Here, the mysterious creature known as the Leeds Devil will make its earliest recorded appearances. Join us as we peruse an entertaining travelogue from 1859, and discover how this region of New Jersey became one of the most unique and delightful lost corners of the American republic. We'll learn how Pines residents lived in the 19th century, how they were seen by the rest of the country, and how this contributed to a legend. As America expands and urbanizes, an increasing fascination with wilderness will expose a contradiction that feeds the growth of a monster.

Written and narrated by Dylan Ferguson, featuring Sean O'Rourke. Original music is by Rob What.

Some of the main sources for this episode include:
The Atlantic Monthly, May 1859 issue
John McPhee, The Pine Barrens (1967)
Henry Charlton Beck, Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey (1936)
Pekka Hämäläinen, Indigenous Continent (2022)
James F. McCloy & Ray Miller, The Jersey Devil (1976)

Find Dylan at: [email protected]
Find more of Rob's music at: robwhat.bandcamp.com

Discover a bizarre story of dreamy Quakers, dueling almanacs, and New Jersey's first published author, a story that would - improbably - lay the groundwork for the Jersey Devil legend. In this first episode of a four-part history series, we encounter the Pine Barrens, we learn about the English Dissenters and why they fled for the New World, and we get to meet one of the most singular, overlooked figures from early Colonial America: Daniel Leeds, an airy ranter, a pioneering writer, a tempestuous shit-disturber, and a remarkable man who would inspire a legend. Plus, Ben Franklin shows up to hilariously clown on a rival author.

Written and narrated by Dylan Ferguson, featuring Sean O'Rourke. Original music is by Rob What.

Some of the main sources for this episode include:
Brian Regal & Frank J. Esposito, The Secret History of the Jersey Devil (2018)
Bill Sprouse, The Domestic Life of the Jersey Devil (2013)
Pekka Hämäläinen, Indigenous Continent (2022)
Daniel Leeds, The Temple of Wisdom for the Little World (1688)

Find Dylan at: [email protected]
Find more of Rob's music at: robwhat.bandcamp.com