MonsterTalk

January 26, 2011

030 – UNMASKING THE NINJA

This week the hosts of MonsterTalk take on the mysterious, mystical, legendary menace of the ninja! Should ninjas be considered monsters? They come out at night, have mysterious powers and use fear and lethality to wreak havoc. But to be sure, we Ask a Ninja. Also, we interview Matt Alt, co-author (with Hiroko Yoda) of Ninja Attack: True Tales of Assassins, Samurai and Outlaws. […]

Regular Episode 48 sec read

January 12, 2011

029 – ETHNOBIOLOGY — A LIZARD’S TALE

IN THIS EPISODE, the MonsterTalk crew interviews Dr. Tony Russell, a professor at the University of Calgary who studies evolutionary and functional morphology in geckos. Dr. Russell’s work includes ethnobiology — the utilization of folklore to guide his research. He discuss the uses and limitations of this mode of research, as well as the remarkable features of the lizards that he studies. […]

Regular Episode 26 sec read

December 22, 2010

#028 – A Bestiary of Creatures

Author Christopher Dell has collected an astonishing array of art from around the world depicting many obscure and mysterious creatures in his new book Monsters: A Bestiary of Devils, Demons, Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Magical Creatures. Christopher Dell joins the MonsterTalk crew to discuss why humans are so fascinated by these bizarre entities. Music Monstertalk Theme: Monster by Peach Stealing Monkeys

Regular Episode 18 sec read

December 1, 2010

#027 – The Iceman Goeth

LATE IN THE 1960S, in the era which gave us the famous Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film, fairgoers in Minnesota were confronted with a marvel: a hairy, primitive-looking humanoid frozen in a block of ice. Was it an anthropological relic? Was it a sasquatch? As investigators from the Smithsonian Institute and cryptozoological researchers studied the frozen creature, they came to very different […]

Regular Episode 1 min read

November 3, 2010

#026 – On Monsters

THIS WEEK on MonsterTalk, author Stephen Asma (Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago) speaks about his comprehensive book surveying Western monster-lore. Is humankind’s fascination with monsters broader than any single cause? Asma’s On Monsters examines hundreds of legends — and their cultural, psychological and social implications. In this episode the roots of fear the fascination some find with birth defects the saint […]

Regular Episode 28 sec read

October 20, 2010

#025 – The Rise of Bat Boy

IN THE PANTHEON OF AMERICAN MONSTERS, only one truly dominated the newspapers of the 1990s. Checkout lines everywhere were haunted by the bald-headed, wide-mawed visage of Bat Boy. What was Bat Boy, and where did he come from? The MonsterTalk team interviews cartoonist Tye Bourdony, a former employee of the Weekly World News and creator of the online comic “The Lighter Side of Sci-Fi”. Bourdony has had […]

Regular Episode 1 min read

September 29, 2010

#024 – Dragon*Con Skeptrack 2010

THIS WEEK’S EPISODE was recorded before a live studio audience at Dragon*Con’s Skeptrack 2010 (in Atlanta, Georgia). MonsterTalk hosts Ben Radford and Blake Smith bravely faced the horror of live questions from listeners — including Australian skeptical activist Dr. Rachael Dunlop, Skeptoid’s Brian Dunning, and others! MonsterSwag Cryptozoological Figure Set Stretchy Shapes Silly Bands (a 24-pack of animal bands including: Big Foot,Loch Ness Monster, Jersey Devil, […]

Regular Episode 25 sec read

September 15, 2010

#023 – Just Scratching the Surface

IN THIS EPISODE we get under the skin of the chupacabra legend, and find out more about the lice that cause the hairless canids the media loves so much. It’s okay to scratch — but don’t skip this episode! Once you get past the disgust factor, there is some amazing science going on in parasitology. Our guide into this fascinating […]

Regular Episode 40 sec read

September 10, 2010

#022 – Cryptozoology & Science, Part 2

THIS WEEK, MonsterTalk continues its discussion of the intersection between science and cryptozoology. The hosts interview Dr. Donald Prothero and Daniel Loxton, who are working on a book (Abominable Science!) that will give a deep overview of the field of cryptozoology and how it intersects with actual science. This interview was recorded at The Amaz!ng Meeting 8 in Las Vegas. Topics discussed […]

Regular Episode 48 sec read

August 10, 2010

#021 – Cryptozoology & Science, Part 1

DARREN NAISH is a palaeozoologist, freelance author and science writer of the Tetrapod Zoology column (and Podcast!). Affiliated with the university of Portsmouth, he obtained a degree in geology and then gained a PhD in vertebrate paleontology at this institution. He mostly works on Cretaceous dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and “also messes around with swimming giraffes, fossil marine reptiles, British big […]

Regular Episode 50 sec read