We seem to have two different Podcast threads which differ in subject matter, not one whit.
This is an unashamed cut and paste of a post I put up on the
Fortean Podcasts thread.
I think it's worth duplicating here because it's a great podcast, and wouldn't want anyone who might be interested to miss the recommendation.
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Well, since then I’ve dipped a few toes in the podosphere – and although still not exactly a gluttonous consumer, the parts of it I do enjoy, I enjoy very much.
Just for now though, I’m going to serve up some propers to Talking Till Dawn - and the two guys who host it.
I’ve always thought that an interest in the strange is a win-win situation: if a story appears to be genuine, then that’s clearly a fantastic thing - but even if it’s not, and provably not, then the reasons why it exists, and the journey it went through to get where it is, can be an equally fascinating trip in its own right. To my mind it’s not just about the story, but the story of the story - not just the woo, but the why too.
And this seems to be the character of this podcast. For me they get the balance right on lots of levels: there’s banter (Glasgow based – so there’s bound to be...patter is nine tenths of the law), but just the right amount (although maybe a little bit of overchat in the first episode, but they soon get that sorted); the ethos is inquisitive and open minded without being gullible, sceptical without being dismissive, intelligent without being fusty - and it can be funny without being flippant.
Not a dry scripted recitation of recycled facts, or a bunch of people telling in-jokes and braying at each other over the ether - the two hosts are present within the discussion, but without making it all about them, and there’s a genuine warmth and clear enthusiasm which makes the listener feel somehow involved in the conversation in the way that the best radio always did. (The broadcast relationship reminds me a little of Will Ross and Mike Taylor, of the thoroughly excellent, A Podcast to the Curious.) The episodes seem to be at least part scripted, and possibly researched alternately, or at least separately, by the presenters, which helps create the spontaneous to and fro of a genuine conversation.
Repetition is the curse of any niche subject, and as with many things based on this sort of material, if the subject is something that you already have an interest in, then there might not be a whole lot you won’t have heard already. But, there’s always just a little bit more to think about, and even very familiar things can be thrown into a different light by a different telling – and I’d say that this is probably a good place for that to happen.
There’s clearly a lot of effort put into researching the subjects and, even with that familiar ground, I haven’t found a single episode that hasn’t been a thoroughly enjoyable listen. I thought I’d heard and read enough about Loch Ness to last me a couple of lifetimes, and was going to skip those episodes, but I ended up gobbling them up – about as entertaining an overall revue of the subject as I’ve ever come across. I even found the Black Eyed Kids episode – a subject I am not in the least convinced about, or even that interested in – entertaining; worth the bus fair alone for Michael’s genuinely unnerving experience in a Glasgow park (not a BEK, by the way – but you can see the connect).
It’s also, I think, a great name.
As you can probably tell, I really like it, and am saving the latest episode – Sky Monsters & Atmospheric Beasts – for a stormy evening.
Link:
Talking Till Dawn.
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Have since then listened to the Sky Monsters episode, and the latest, on Erdstalls - all really, really good stuff.