🎙 MonsterTalk — The Cult of Moloch Show Notes · Hosts: Blake Smith & Karen Stollznow In this episode, Blake Smith and Karen Stollznow explore the history, mythology, and propaganda surrounding the idea of the Cult of Moloch—a figure long associated with child sacrifice and moral panic. They trace Moloch’s biblical origins in Leviticus and Kings, the contested archaeological claims […]
We finish up Season 4 of MonsterTalk, not with a bang – but a chuckle, as we welcome Science Comedian Brian Malow to talk about using humor and science to entertain.
We discuss the sketchy “science by press release” of Colossal Biosciences and the controversies lurking in the history of its lead scientist. Have they resurrected dire wolves? No. Definitely not. If only overblown celebrity endorsed hype was the only problem…Did they make a Dire Wolf? (Spoiler: NOT EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE)George Church’s explanation of Epstein tiesJames Arthur Ray – Guru of […]
We take a look at a fascinating slice of paranormal history in the form of a 1975 BBC documentary The Ghost Hunters. How much has changed in paranormal research since 1975? Not much, after a fashion… Anybody know something about these plastic pub barrels from the 1970s? Show Notes: Benson Herbert – ghost hunter Andrew Green – the Spectre Inspector […]
Blake catches Karen up on his current research projects: The four-wall tour dates of the PGF, and a contextual look at the Van Meter Visitor. Neither of these projects are finished but he is excited to share what he’s been working on. Dolemite is mentioned favorably.
Blake is joined by regular contributor Matt Baxter, and special guest Kara Van Hoose from the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife to discuss the (not that mysterious) outbreak of “tentacle bunnies” in Colorado this summer. News reports of “rabbits with tentacles” Deer wasting disease (zombie deer) “Colorado Cannibal” Alfred Packer Colorado Parks & Wildlife Karl Shuker’s blog about Jackalope […]
Karen and Matt are back from their book tour in the UK and they got to have some real MonsterTalk moments! Loch Ness, Boleskine House and more plus Blake wrestles with gremlins!
Karen and Matt check in from the UK! Karen is on tour promoting her new book Bitch: The Journey of a Word. (affiliate link) Islands are engines of language diversity Borley Rectory Mentioned for future coverage (but touched on before): The Black Monk of Pontefract Episodes covering Enfield and Poltergeists Boleskine House Some Nessie & Scotland coverage
A fascinating chat about Australian Magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) with Dr. Grainne Cleary in which we talk about the role of stories in creating monsters, the role of citizen science, and lots of cool biology facts about these birds. Not everything about Magpies is black and white, it turns out. Why do birds do that?(affiliate link) Your Backyard Birds(booktopia – Australian […]
Blake recounts his recent visit to see Robert the Doll, and his findings after a deep dive into newspapers and other literature. Patrons get follow-up info from the girl who was the subject of the “true doll haunting” from episode #114! Plus – see the attached PDFs for some of the research material used to craft this episode. Karen’s latest […]