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There are lots of things to read about this on the Internet and you will not find a definitive answer, I'm afraid. My conclusions are based on parsimony not on explicit proof. Besides, we all know how hard it is to prove a negative. It's a complex topic with many black-box elements and those tend to lend themselves to conspiratorial thinking. If you have things to say on the topic, come comment on the episode on our Patreon. Some articles of interest: Test showing negative results (Wandera) Tests showing the phones are capable of much monitoring (Medium) BBC Coverage of the question ABC deep dive (10 mins) (Australian) Gizmodo - is your phone listening? Conspiratorial Thinking and Mobile Phones (Research Gate) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lighthearted discussion of the cryptids of Connecticut with the author and illustrator of  Connecticut Cryptids: A Field Guide to the Weird & Wonderful Creatures of the Nutmeg State, Patrick Scalisi and Valerie Ruby-Omen. Patrick's Amazon Author's Page (affiliate link) Valerie's facebook page Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We conclude our two-part look at Boleskine House, on the shores of Loch Ness. Matt Baxter joins Karen and Blake to wrap up this investigation. Links for Part 2: Article about sale of Boleskine Report of death of Major Grant (1960) A Dark Song (movie loosely based on Crowley/Abramelin working) (affiliate link) The Cadco Affair - or the great sausage scandal Pre-fire article (2015) about Boleskine after Page sale Current owners hope link to Outlander series will generate restoration funds The Boleskine House Foundation - seeking to restore the site Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 1 of a 2-part look at Boleskine House, the little house on the shores of Loch Ness that allegedly once hosted an infamous ceremony attempt by Mr. Aleister Crowley. Matt Baxter joins Karen and Blake to discuss.  Thanks to previous guests Peter Bebergal, Jerry Drake and Al Ridenour for their assistance on preparing this episode. Related Links - Part 1 News article chock full of the legends we discuss What happened to the kids from that Led Zeppelin album cover? Who was Kenneth Anger? Documentary on Crowley (sometimes explicit content - YouTube) The OTHER Loch Ness Monster - doc that Blake thinks influenced expansion of legend Documentarian seeking to capture the restoration and demystify site The Boleskine House Foundation - seeking to restore the site BBC article on restoration efforts Samuel MacGregor Mathers - Crowley's mentor and translator of Abramelin The Golden Dawn - English magical society (1887 - 1903) The English translation of the Abramelin Working by Mathers The Confessions of Aleister Crowley - Internet Archive Images for Part 1: The graveyard downhill from Boleskine YouTube compilation of photos from inside and outside the house Atlas Obscura info on the site Related Episodes: The Great Beast 666 - a look at Crowley Theosophy & Western Esotericism - pt1 Theosophy & Western Esotericism - pt2 Grimoires Part 1 Grimoires Part 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blake wraps up his seven year deep dive into the Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblins case by taking a look at the many myths and misconceptions still enshrined in the Wikepedia article at the time of this recording. Yep - it's Blake rant time again...  The two-part article is published in the UK's Skeptic. Part one is live now: https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2024/01/guns-and-goblins-what-really-happened-during-the-kentucky-alien-invasion/ Part two should be live Monday, Jan 29th, 2024. If this link is wrong, I'll correct it. https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2024/01/the-kentucky-alien-invasion-putting-to-bed-the-myths-and-mysteries/ If you're serious about this topic and want more, we've got plenty of places to go: #136 – AMERICAN GOBLINS—PART 1 #137 – AMERICAN GOBLINS—PART 2 #138 – AMERICAN GOBLINS – PART 3 Astonishing Legends podcast coverage: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 The troublesome Wikipedia article on this topic. The journal article by Schmaltz and Lilienfeld.  The correction to that article - that still didn't correct the problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A look at Blake's ongoing research into the missing history of the Patterson-Gimlin film.  This is pre-publication and the raw data is not ready to share yet, but we discuss some of the findings.  Episode 12 - Greg Long Cryptid Cinema - Steve Bissette (affiliate link) Cryptid Cinema vol 2 (affiliate link) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1979 a man named Ernest encountered a mysterious creature in a tunnel in the Cabbagetown neighborhood of Toronto. Now, four decades on, we're joined by author Jeff Dupuis to look back on this peculiar incident and ask talk about why some monsters go viral and others remain "deep cuts" of cryptozoology. LINKS: Jeff Dupuis and the TORONTO Cabbage Town Monster: Jeff Dupuis - cryptid-themed novels Additional: The UFO "Commander-X" - possibly Timothy Green Beckley (at least in part) Obit for Timothy Green Beckley Commander-X (the hacktivist) extradition from Mexico Colorful character Salako Kalfou mentioned in the interview Goldenstein's article from 1979 Freak Encounters (2010) - affiliate link Captain Midnight TV hack Vrillon 1977 "Alien" TV intrusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk with the multi-talented Miles Greb about AI Art in the first part of what will likely be several episodes this year touching on "artificial intelligence."  Miles' work can be found on his website and his podcast (Plastic Plesiosaur) can be found on your favorite podcasting platform.* Show Notes Orwell on Politics and the English Language Understanding Machine Learning with Carrie Anne Philbin Recent story about artists not-consenting to be training material for AI Specific AI Art Tools: Dall-E Stable Diffusion Midjourney *the title card for this episode was produced with DALL-E. It took a lot of prompting to get close to what I was looking for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A 2023 end-of-year weird story roundup and some lighthearted chatting with Blake, Karen and Matt.  Links to coverage follow: UAP Hearings Colorado Bigfoot Nigerian Humanoid Champ Sonar Rat Boy Gaffe Tasmanian Tiger Videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once again we have Ghost Stories for Christmas in the tradition of the BBC's MR James inspired intermittent television series. John Charrington's Wedding is a creepy tale by E. Nesbit. Edith Nesbit may be more well known to you for her series The Railway Children.  Patrons get a bonus ghost story The Secret of Macarger's Gulch by Ambrose Bierce. I picked this because of Bierce's brilliant mix of genuine horrors with comedy of manners and wordplay.  Happy Holidays from Blake and Karen! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Joe Nickell recalls his experiences working on the Season 4 episode of In Search Of… dealing with The Shroud of Turin. note: if you also subscribe to IN RESEARCH OF, the interview audio in this episode is identical to the IRO cut, but the wrapping intro/outro are customized to the respective feeds. -B In Research Of… (Patreon) In Research Of (free feed) In Search Of… The Shroud of Turin (YouTube) Joe Nickell covered by The Daily Mail That's Incredible! segment on THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. (YouTube) Joe Nickell's website Joe's Amazon Author's Page (affiliate link) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a continuing discussion of Joe Laycock and Eric Harrelson's new book, The Exorcist Effect.  In this part we will discuss the legacy of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and father Malachi Martin and how their imaginative contributions to the field of Demonology riffed on movies and ended up changing how people perceive, practice, and perform modern Exorcisms. Remember that Eric and Joe will be signing their book in December of 2023 in the Austin area. Dec 15th - Signing at Glass Coffin Boutique 3009 N Interstate Hwy 35, Austin, TX 78722 Dec 17th - Curio Arcanum  5924 S Congress Ave Unit 23, Austin, TX 78745 And I should also say that while in Austin you should check out the Minnesota IceMan over at the MUSEUM OF THE WEIRD over on 6th street. Tell 'em MonsterTalk sent you.  We don't have any promotional relationship - but it would be pretty cool of a bunch of folks dropped in and said that.  Maybe you'd weird them out at the museum of the weird.  Worth a shot. If you somehow haven't seen THE EXORCIST you can watch it here. (Affiliate Link) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices