Fortean Podcasts

[XEPER_]

Hi Spook. What are the air dates for these podcasts? I have been following Talking til Dawn on Spot*** and the last one is back in December. I know that they don't record often (monthly, maybe?).

I love the guys' voices and their bad sense of humour, but some of their stories are entertaining.

They've said on Twitter that the next Paisley Witches episode is on the way but not sure when - they have a different episode lined up to out soon though.

I finished the Battersea Poltergeist episodes this week, been fun going out to work in the dark - reading 'leccy meters - while listening to it. Moving onto Uncanny now!
The Haunted UK Podcast is worth a listen. Short episodes, mostly just fluff to be honest, but entertaining enough!

Radio Rental is a good listen when you're out and about in the dark. Not exactly Fortean, but creepy! You just need to skip the bits where the "hilarious" host makes daft jokes.

 

[XEPER_]

Ciaran will be speaking at this months EdFort and there will be an opportunity to ask him questions.

Hi Gordon, one of the guys from the Talking Till Dawn podcast tells me (via Twitter) that he'd like to join the forum but his IP and email address are banned for some reason if you (or some other admin) could help him out somehow?

 

[gordonrutter]

Hi Gordon, one of the guys from the Talking Till Dawn podcast tells me (via Twitter) that he'd like to join the forum but his IP and email address are banned for some reason if you (or some other admin) could help him out somehow?

I've sent you a PM about this.

 

[MartinTillDawn]

Hi Gordon, one of the guys from the Talking Till Dawn podcast tells me (via Twitter) that he'd like to join the forum but his IP and email address are banned for some reason if you (or some other admin) could help him out somehow?

I've sent you a PM about this.

Thanks for the help, guys! All sorted!

Just wanted to pop along and say cheers to @Spookdaddy and everyone else who's been so supportive of Talking Till Dawn on here! Yeah, we've had a little unexpected break at the start of this year due to my co-host having a few challenges land in his lap all at once, but we've got a new episode recorded and due to come out at some point next week. The second Paisley Witches episode, covering the trial and aftermath, will (touch wood) be the following episode.

As for my own listening, I just recently got around to checking out The Battersea Poltergeist podcast from the BBC. I thought the format was really great. It was a case I was always awa re of, I could have told you anecdotes of individual incidents from it, but the mix of dramatisation and documentary really helped me grasp the big picture for the first time. Really fascinating.

On a more grassroots level, if you enjoy TTD but fancy something a little shorter-form, a little lighter, and a little less sceptically-minded, you could do a lot worse than The What Cast. The two guys who run that show have great chemistry and they're always pulling out the super deep cuts with obscure and bizarre encounters/cases. The truly oddball anomalies (spitting clouds, burning skeleton walking through the desert...) are exactly the kinda thing I love to chill out listening to, and TWC guys are great for that kinda stuff, and have a fun, laid back approach without descending into a poorly-moderated mess of in-jokes and annoying laughter like a lot of smaller shows.

 

[XEPER_]

Thanks for the help, guys! All sorted!

Just wanted to pop along and say cheers to @Spookdaddy and everyone else who's been so supportive of Talking Till Dawn on here! Yeah, we've had a little unexpected break at the start of this year due to my co-host having a few challenges land in his lap all at once, but we've got a new episode recorded and due to come out at some point next week. The second Paisley Witches episode, covering the trial and aftermath, will (touch wood) be the following episode.

I was reading the meters last week in Bargarran, would have been ideal listening to your second podcast about the witches since I believe they were actually from there rather than Paisley. I've tried to find the location of the house which is gone now, but I've no idea. Apparently it's around Mar Hall?
I've been listening to Uncanny this week. Decent, but not as good as Battersea Poltergeist IMO (and 29 minute episodes are too short for me).

 

[SleepyPanda]

MonsterTalk investigates the Hairy Hands of Devon/Dartmoor

https://www.monstertalk.org/the-hairy-hands-of-devon/

I'm really enjoying Monster Talk.

 

[brownmane]

I was enjoying Bedtime Stories last night. I like the very short stories for a quick relaxing listen. Though the episode I picked was things being seen at night while working the night shift - as I was lying in bed in the dark . Sometimes, I creep myself out.

 

[brownmane]

Thanks for the help, guys! All sorted!

Just wanted to pop along and say cheers to @Spookdaddy and everyone else who's been so supportive of Talking Till Dawn on here! Yeah, we've had a little unexpected break at the start of this year due to my co-host having a few challenges land in his lap all at once, but we've got a new episode recorded and due to come out at some point next week. The second Paisley Witches episode, covering the trial and aftermath, will (touch wood) be the following episode.

As for my own listening, I just recently got around to checking out The Battersea Poltergeist podcast from the BBC. I thought the format was really great. It was a case I was always awa re of, I could have told you anecdotes of individual incidents from it, but the mix of dramatisation and documentary really helped me grasp the big picture for the first time. Really fascinating.

On a more grassroots level, if you enjoy TTD but fancy something a little shorter-form, a little lighter, and a little less sceptically-minded, you could do a lot worse than The What Cast.

I marked this one to follow. Haven't listened yet, but checked out their episodes. They've been going since 2014! I'm going to have a lot of listening to do. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[MartinTillDawn]

I was reading the meters last week in Bargarran, would have been ideal listening to your second podcast about the witches since I believe they were actually from there rather than Paisley. I've tried to find the location of the house which is gone now, but I've no idea. Apparently it's around Mar Hall?

We've got another episode out now, but it's still not part 2 of the Paisley Witches, to my pain as much as yours I think I'm gonna need some kind of witch curse to terrorise Mike into finishing it

MonsterTalk investigates the Hairy Hands of Devon/Dartmoor

https://www.monstertalk.org/the-hairy-hands-of-devon/

Oh. I'm all over this. I remember my mum telling me about the hairy hands on a family holiday to the West Country. I must have been about 8. Those were some jittery late night car rides...

 

[Tempest63]

This is why I really enjoy the Quantum Mechanics podcast. They cover some genuinely interesting cases in a clear-headed way, without trying to shoe-horn in too much wacky theorising or comedy.

Their ep on Sam, The Sandown Clown recently was fantastic - far better than some of the US-centric podcast I’ve listened to on it.

The Quantum Mechanics is my top podcast nowadays. It is my go to podcast on a Monday night when I’m lying in bed waiting for sleep to overtake me, and as I invariably drop off half way through I get to listen to it again to catch up on the bits I missed.
I have also worked through their complete back catalogue and still listen to my favourites when the only other alternative is the crackpot, shrill voiced, laughing and screaming “I have been abducted three, no four, no five times by little grey aliens” brigade

 

[Spookdaddy]

The Quantum Mechanics is my top podcast nowadays...

Thanks for mentioning this - I'm really enjoying it.

 

[GNC]

A wide-ranging interview with critic and horror author Kim Newman:
Link

As erudite as ever, but what he says about toxic fandom is really sharp. He says that when he was younger in the early stages of fandom, he would have heated discussions with his friends about movies - but they were still friends! They didn't go to war over it. But fandom has now informed all debate from every strata so that having a reasonable discussion is a blessed relief in the current climate of aggressive discourse. Very interesting.

 

[Mythopoeika]

A wide-ranging interview with critic and horror author Kim Newman:
Link

As erudite as ever, but what he says about toxic fandom is really sharp. He says that when he was younger in the early stages of fandom, he would have heated discussions with his friends about movies - but they were still friends! They didn't go to war over it. But fandom has now informed all debate from every strata so that having a reasonable discussion is a blessed relief in the current climate of aggressive discourse. Very interesting.

In the early days of fandom, people were more relaxed. They were just glad they'd been able to connect with other people who liked the same stuff. I remember being a 20-something SF fan and being incredibly lonely. It was difficult to make friends with others who were SF fans. Cons were a great way of meeting up.

 

[GNC]

In the early days of fandom, people were more relaxed. They were just glad they'd been able to connect with other people who liked the same stuff. I remember being a 20-something SF fan and being incredibly lonely. It was difficult to make friends with others who were SF fans. Cons were a great way of meeting up.

Yeah, something definitely went a bit wrong when friendly discussion somehow turned to death threats along the way. Newman sees Gamergate as Year Zero, but there were instances before that, such as the Star Trek fan who sent J. Michael Straczynski a computer virus.

 

[Tempest63]

I recently discovered Pursuit of the Paranormal podcast which has a couple of things going for it. It has 72 episodes in its back catalogue and it is British.
It is one of those podcasts that has the potential to be much bigger, either by ditching one of the presenters or scripting it so that there is less ad-libbing that gives the impression that the second host hasn’t a Scooby as to what he is talking about.
Episode 48 discusses Ouija and talking boards; our second host pronounces Ouija as Weegie? And they touch on Samhain, which the second host pronounces phonetically as Sam Hain.
Minor irritation I know, but if you are going to produce a specialist podcast, at least do your homework first.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pursuit-of-the-paranormal/id1541466512?i=1000540449715
There are also a lot of U.S. topics in the back catalogue, which are invariably covered elsewhere, and it is a shame that a lot of the British paranormal podcasts do not focus more on home grown topics.

 

[XEPER_]

I recently discovered Pursuit of the Paranormal podcast which has a couple of things going for it. It has 72 episodes in its back catalogue and it is British.
It is one of those podcasts that has the potential to be much bigger, either by ditching one of the presenters or scripting it so that there is less ad-libbing that gives the impression that the second host hasn’t a Scooby as to what he is talking about.
Episode 48 discusses Ouija and talking boards; our second host pronounces Ouija as Weegie? And they touch on Samhain, which the second host pronounces phonetically as Sam Hain.
Minor irritation I know, but if you are going to produce a specialist podcast, at least do your homework first.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pursuit-of-the-paranormal/id1541466512?i=1000540449715
There are also a lot of U.S. topics in the back catalogue, which are invariably covered elsewhere, and it is a shame that a lot of the British paranormal podcasts do not focus more on home grown topics.

Everyone I know pronounces it "weejy", must be a Glasgow thing.

I recently found a podcast called Blurry Photos, it's pretty good. Sometimes there's far too much silliness and I've ended up turning off a few episodes because of it. But there's some pretty good ones in there too.

 

[RuthRoperWylde]

You might enjoy this podcast (white ladies, research, boggarts, road ghosts, stone tape theory....and much more) :
https://thequantummechanics.podbean.com/e/talk-on-the-wylde-side/

 

[brownmane]

You might enjoy this podcast (white ladies, research, boggarts, road ghosts, stone tape theory....and much more) :
https://thequantummechanics.podbean.com/e/talk-on-the-wylde-side/

I have it on my list, but haven't yet gotten to it.

I enjoy some of the episodes from "Stuff They Don't Want You to Know". They call themselves conspiracy realists. Three guys who all research topics for their podcast. Well researched, knowledgeable and they seem to have a lot of respect for what they're doing. Some lighthearted banter, but they remain on topic. Good production.

 

[Tempest63]

I have it on my list, but haven't yet gotten to it.

I enjoy some of the episodes from "Stuff They Don't Want You to Know". They call themselves conspiracy realists. Three guys who all research topics for their podcast. Well researched, knowledgeable and they seem to have a lot of respect for what they're doing. Some lighthearted banter, but they remain on topic. Good production.

I must admit I listened to the latest RRW interview on Quantum Mechanics last night and have started downloading other interviews including the earlier appearance on QM and the one on Mysteries and Monsters with Paul Bestall

 

[Cloudbusting]

Bit of a different one - I've been listening to 'A History of Ghosts' on BBC Sounds. It's not new (it was released in 2020) but I hadn't found it until recently so thought it may be worthwhile mentioning here if others have missed it.

It is a series which contains 10 short episodes, exploring how ghost folklore has evolved over time and across different cultures. The style of the podcast may not appeal to everyone but it has grown on me over time. I'd recommend having a listen if you're interested in societal impacts on ghost folklore and storytelling.

 

[Tempest63]

Bit of a different one - I've been listening to 'A History of Ghosts' on BBC Sounds. It's not new (it was released in 2020) but I hadn't found it until recently so thought it may be worthwhile mentioning here if others have missed it.

It is a series which contains 10 short episodes, exploring how ghost folklore has evolved over time and across different cultures. The style of the podcast may not appeal to everyone but it has grown on me over time. I'd recommend having a listen if you're interested in societal impacts on ghost folklore and storytelling.

I listened to it when it first came out and found it interesting.
There was some controversy when the author who penned the series was accused of plagiarism by an author whose book bore the same title As the podcast until the bbc relented and changed it.

https://tomruffles.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-natural-history-of-ghosts-gets.html

 

[Cloudbusting]

I listened to it when it first came out and found it interesting.
There was some controversy when the author who penned the series was accused of plagiarism by an author whose book bore the same title As the podcast until the bbc relented and changed it.

https://tomruffles.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-natural-history-of-ghosts-gets.html

Oh it's that lady! I remember reading about that controversy in the mag and thinking she didn't come off very well. Think she claimed to have not been aware of the book but it soon became very clear that she was? I hadn't made the connection despite reading the article. Probably just as well because it may have put me off listening to it (not a fan of people who behave like that tbh). It's a shame really because the podcast is decent and quite different from what I remember of the book.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

Yeah, something definitely went a bit wrong when friendly discussion somehow turned to death threats along the way. Newman sees Gamergate as Year Zero, but there were instances before that, such as the Star Trek fan who sent J. Michael Straczynski a computer virus.

Some dick sent a death threat to a critic for giving The Dark Knight a negative review and thus reducing its "100% fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes in 2008. I guess this stuff has always been circulating the internet has just enabled and emboldened these people.

 

[James_H]

Ghost Church by Jamie Loftus – the comedian and podcaster spends time in a Florida spiritualist camp while also looking at the history of spiritualism.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Cracking if a little depressing latest episode of the Mysterious Universe podcast:

"If the math is correct then the party could soon be over for civilization as we know it. For decades everything has been getting faster, better and cheaper thanks to our increasingly complex and interconnected world. Unfortunately, that complexity has created an unprecedented time in human history of abundance and instant availability that could all suddenly come to an end in a spectacular fashion. We discuss the frightening research of a geopolitical strategist who makes a convincing argument that humanity is on the verge of a catastrophic collapse."

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2022/06/27.23-MU-Podcast-Decivilization/

Here is a link to the book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...b1c9a843a52d4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

 

[XEPER_]

If anyone likes true crime, check out Counter Clock season 4. Great listen.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say that I've actually started a podcast with fellow historical author Matthew Harffy. Rock, Paper, Swords! is onto episode 2 now. It's mostly about writing historical fiction so far, but with me being such a big fan of forteana I'm sure there will be plenty of weird stuff being mentioned as we go along. Episode 4 has an interview with Robyn/Erin Young, author of the forthcoming TV thriller The Fields.

 

[Min Bannister]

That's a great list. I subscribed to a few from there. Now I just need more hours in the day to listen to them all.

For the past week of so I've been listening to 'Bigfoot & Beyond - with Cliff & Bobo' two of the guys from the 'Finding Bigfoot' t.v show.
Regardless of what you may have thought of the t.v show, the podcast is interesting as it's filled with stories from expeditions conducted by the two, sightings reported directly to them, interviews with people in the Bigfoot/Sasquatch research field, plus a little on other cryptids. I quite enjoy their banter.

Do you still listen to this? Bobo has just announced that his budgie has died. I mostly listen just for him. RIP Sergio.

 

[Lord Lucan]

Do you still listen to this? Bobo has just announced that his budgie has died. I mostly listen just for him. RIP Sergio.

I listened to this episode yesterday. Cliff can come across as little too firm in his opinions but the two of them have great rapport together and they know everyone who is anyone in the Bigfoot/Sasquatch field. A couple of years ago I ordered a 'Cameo' from Bobo for my youngest son and myself as we used to watch 'Finding Bigfoot' together and he really delivered. Best $20 I spent that month!

 

[Amergin]

I spotted this on a Boing Boing today. Sounds like fun:

“One Strange Thing is a podcast that investigates unexplainable news stories. I began listening to it last night on Apple Podcasts, and ended up playing 5 episodes. You can listen to a selection of free episodes on the podcast's website, too.

I stayed up way past my bedtime because I was having too much fun. The strangest story I listened to last night was called "The House," about a couple named Will and Minnie who called 911 in 1978 because the walls and floor of their house began to "bleed" actual human blood without any rational explanation.

The episodes range from the whimsical to the bizarre to the downright creepy. I can't wait to binge-listen to some more episodes tonight.”

https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/

 

[Soul_Doubt]

This one seems good:
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/atlantic

In June 2009, a man calling himself Peter Bergmann checked into a Sligo hotel.

Five days later his body was found on Rosses Point beach. Despite thousands of hours of police investigations, his true identity remains unknown.

In a three-part podcast, Irish Times Senior Features Writer Rosita Boland explores in detail the decade-long mystery of a man who came to Sligo to disappear

I must give this a go. This case was the first episode of Thinking Sideways I ever listened to.

Thinking Sideways ended 4 years ago, but my favourite of the hosts, Joe, has a new, similar podcast called The Shocking Details