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Fortean Podcasts

dom_chess said:
From what you guys are saying, you should try Bedtime Stories.

I have listened to many very good podcasts in my time, but this one is defo in my top tier.

No adverts, no groups of guys laughing and joking as they discuss things, there is just one narrator who focuses on well known cases throughout history, with a couple of urban legends thrown in (those are the exception rather than the rule) and even some cases I have never heard of. They just tell the stories in a narrative style and then present a summary of facts at the end and leave it to the listener to decide. They are never overly sceptical or naive.

The only criticism I could level at them is that I'd like their episodes to be a bit longer as they usually range from 20-30 mins, but I can understand this given that they are primarily a YouTube channel.

Seriously, give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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Great recommendation, thanks! I've listened to the whole of season 5, really enjoying it. I listen in the dark in bed just before sleep, it's perfect for that ..... as the title suggests! The wendigo episode nicely creeped me out, and the episode I would say was the most chilling was actually the Dutch girls in Panama.
 
I've listened to a lot of the Strange Matters episodes recently, they're pretty good.
I'm starting to go off Mysterious Universe which has been my favourite for a while. I still like the guys and the way they do it, but recently it seems they're just covering books by hippy-dippy types claiming they can see ghosts and "clear houses of their energy" and all this nonsense - essentially a PR thing for 'paranormal' authors.
At one stage I was seriously thinking about paying the $99 for the PLUS extensions but I'm glad I didn't now.
 
dom_chess said:
From what you guys are saying, you should try Bedtime Stories.

I have listened to many very good podcasts in my time, but this one is defo in my top tier.

No adverts, no groups of guys laughing and joking as they discuss things, there is just one narrator who focuses on well known cases throughout history, with a couple of urban legends thrown in (those are the exception rather than the rule) and even some cases I have never heard of. They just tell the stories in a narrative style and then present a summary of facts at the end and leave it to the listener to decide. They are never overly sceptical or naive.

The only criticism I could level at them is that I'd like their episodes to be a bit longer as they usually range from 20-30 mins, but I can understand this given that they are primarily a YouTube channel.

Seriously, give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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That sounds like my podcast bag :) Could I trouble anyone for a link? Otherwise I have a lot of google results for fairy tales and children's podcasts to wade through!
 
XEPER_ said:
I've listened to a lot of the Strange Matters episodes recently, they're pretty good.
I'm starting to go off Mysterious Universe which has been my favourite for a while. I still like the guys and the way they do it, but recently it seems they're just covering books by hippy-dippy types claiming they can see ghosts and "clear houses of their energy" and all this nonsense - essentially a PR thing for 'paranormal' authors.
At one stage I was seriously thinking about paying the $99 for the PLUS extensions but I'm glad I didn't now.
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Once a paranormal podcast starts talking about "sensitive" people and demonic hauntings I usually go off it. Real Ghost Stories Online was a big one for that. That and the fact that the listener submitted stories were just getting ludicrous.

There's one listener who has submitted stories to different podcasts some women called Trish and her stories are utter bollocks.
 
XEPER_ said:
I'm starting to go off Mysterious Universe which has been my favourite for a while. I still like the guys and the way they do it, but recently it seems they're just covering books by hippy-dippy types claiming they can see ghosts and "clear houses of their energy" and all this nonsense - essentially a PR thing for 'paranormal' authors.
At one stage I was seriously thinking about paying the $99 for the PLUS extensions but I'm glad I didn't now.
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Totally agree with you there. It's been pretty rubbish lately, when they used to have some more interesting topics. I felt never compelled to fork out for the extras, luckily.
 
I quite like the Bigfoot Eyewitness podcast. The guests tend to have stories with a bit more depth than just 'I saw something in the forest' and the host is really good at steering the conversation while not interrupting too much.
 
Leicester Fortean said:
...I still have Unexplained up there as my number one ..... I can't fault it, just an excellent podcast.
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I still haven't really got into podcasts yet. No doubt I will, but I'm one of those who hovers at the door for ages, and then chucks myself in like a lunatic. I'm currently still hovering at the door.

However, I bought a signed edition of Richard MacLean Smith's book Unexplained from Blackwell's in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago and was mightlily impressed: insightful, intelligent and satisfyingly dense, some pretty complex ideas put simply - there were aspects to some familiar stories I'd never heard of before. And if the author must, I think, be using some imagination when putting together dialogue and peripheral detail he does so in an extremely effective way.

I'm assuming the stories are lifted from his podcast, so there might not be much new in there for people who are already listeners, but I would thoroughly recommend this book as a work in its own right. I'm virtually always disappointed by such offerings, which, so often, tend to be repositories of rehashed stories, with little or nothing new in the way of insight - but this was generally quite enthralling. (Although nowhere near as wide in scope, this book could sit quite comfortably next to Mike Dash's Borderlands on any bookshelf.)

As I say, my experience of podcasts is minimal - but Unexplained is now top of my list. (My only other real experience is similar - a reading of one of the Lore books - which, although entertaining, is to my mind, too thin in detail and research, and too chatty in style, to be very satisfying.)
 
Spookdaddy said:
I still haven't really got into podcasts yet. No doubt I will, but I'm one of those who hovers at the door for ages, and then chucks myself in like a lunatic. I'm currently still hovering at the door.

However, I bought a signed edition of Richard MacLean Smith's book Unexplained from Blackwell's in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago and was mightlily impressed: insightful, intelligent and satisfyingly dense, some pretty complex ideas put simply - there were aspects to some familiar stories I'd never heard of before. And if the author must, I think, be using some imagination when putting together dialogue and peripheral detail he does so in an extremely effective way.

I'm assuming the stories are lifted from his podcast, so there might not be much new in there for people who are already listeners, but I would thoroughly recommend this book as a work in its own right. I'm virtually always disappointed by such offerings, which, so often, tend to be repositories of rehashed stories, with little or nothing new in the way of insight - but this was generally quite enthralling. (Although nowhere near as wide in scope, this book could sit quite comfortably next to Mike Dash's Borderlands on any bookshelf.)

As I say, my experience of podcasts is minimal - but Unexplained is now top of my list. (My only other real experience is similar - a reading of one of the Lore books - which, although entertaining, is to my mind, too thin in detail and research, and too chatty in style, to be very satisfying.)
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Whats stopping you Spook?

I love podcasts and apart from audible listen to little else.

For those that don't know you need to download a podcatcher, (an app that hosts podcasts)

For Apple it's pretty much itunes I believe. (please correct me if I wrong I'm an Android user)

For Android there' loads. https://player.fm/ https://www.stitcher.com/ https://www.iheart.com/genre-options/ https://soundcloud.com/ I usually use Player, Sticher and Soundcloud. (Player Fm tends to have more British podcasts) You can find all the Apps through google play store.

Open the app search for a podcast you want to listen to and you can usually download an episode, (good if you are using your your own broadband at home), or listen to it using your own phones data.

Off you go. I usually download a dozen shows for the week and I'll often binge-listen one show.
 
Spookdaddy said:
I still haven't really got into podcasts yet. No doubt I will, but I'm one of those who hovers at the door for ages, and then chucks myself in like a lunatic. I'm currently still hovering at the door.

However, I bought a signed edition of Richard MacLean Smith's book Unexplained from Blackwell's in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago and was mightlily impressed: insightful, intelligent and satisfyingly dense, some pretty complex ideas put simply - there were aspects to some familiar stories I'd never heard of before. And if the author must, I think, be using some imagination when putting together dialogue and peripheral detail he does so in an extremely effective way.

I'm assuming the stories are lifted from his podcast, so there might not be much new in there for people who are already listeners, but I would thoroughly recommend this book as a work in its own right. I'm virtually always disappointed by such offerings, which, so often, tend to be repositories of rehashed stories, with little or nothing new in the way of insight - but this was generally quite enthralling. (Although nowhere near as wide in scope, this book could sit quite comfortably next to Mike Dash's Borderlands on any bookshelf.)

As I say, my experience of podcasts is minimal - but Unexplained is now top of my list. (My only other real experience is similar - a reading of one of the Lore books - which, although entertaining, is to my mind, too thin in detail and research, and too chatty in style, to be very satisfying.)
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If you do try and like the podcast, you can try Lore, which is fairly similar in style.
 
Just started listening to podcasts :)

Having recently acquired a vehicle new enough to Bluetooth to my phone, and enjoyed a couple of weeks of MP3s on the go, I am now exploring spoken word goodies. I use the Google Podcasts app.

Based on a scroll through this thread, going to try Unexplained, Lore, and Knock Once For Yes.

Thanks everyone :)
 
_Danforth_ said:
Just started listening to podcasts :)

Having recently acquired a vehicle new enough to Bluetooth to my phone, and enjoyed a couple of weeks of MP3s on the go, I am now exploring spoken word goodies. I use the Google Podcasts app.

Based on a scroll through this thread, going to try Unexplained, Lore, and Knock Once For Yes.

Thanks everyone :)
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Add Ghost Story Guys and the first couple of years of Blurry Photos are you're off!
 
I've been listening to the first series of CBC's Uncover, an in-depth feature on Keith Raniere's NXIVM cult/pyramid scheme. The second season I think is less fortean, but I'm not onto it yet. The NXIVM stuff is very interesting.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
The Black Tapes.

Seattle Radio Show/Podcast investigates the paranormal and uber skeptic Richard Strand, (think of a sexy James Randi), it all goes off and involves kidnapping, demonology and secret societies.

Fiction but made out to be real life think Blair Witch. It's very good.

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/minnow-beats-whale/the-black-tapes-podcast

Infuriating catchy theme song



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Black Tapes to be made into a TV show.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/devel...eries-for-cbs-black-tapes-podcast-to-get-made
 
Ermintruder said:
I'm going to post a link to this podcast as a Christmas present for you all.

I heard the live transmission online today from WGBH Boston USA - National Public Radio:

"Human Intelligence - a short story by Kurt Andersen"

It's a seasonally-appropriate sci-fi short story that's been adapted by the author for radio broadcast (who introduces it) as part of the regular 'Studio 360' series.

There's a very good chance you're going to like it, if you're a Fortean-minded person.

The short-story itself takes up roughly the whole second half of the 51minute show, so either listen to the preceding elements as well, or fast-forward to 26mins30secs point.

Give it a chance....and I'm avoiding any plot-spoilers, other than to again say it's appropriate for the season, and undoubtedly-appropriate for Us. Seriously. You'll like it...and if you don't, you'll never forget it: ever.
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Thought this episode of Rune Soup might by of interest. Has anyone read the book it mentions? Damned Facts: Fortean Essays on Religion, Folklore and the Paranormal (2006). It was completely new to me, looks like it could be a good read.

This week, in an ever so slightly delayed show, we have an ever so slightly brilliant guest, Dr Amba J Sepie.

I first encountered Dr Sepie’s work in Damned Facts, which is a Charles-Fort inspired collection of essays by academics who are exploring or confronting the broadly Fortean...
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https://runesoup.com/2018/09/talking-indigenous-wisdom-psi-and-decolonisation-with-dr-amba-j-sepie/
 
That was a great show.

On decolonisation and modern Indigenous lifeways, he speaks with Marcus Matawhero Lloyd (Maori heritage, NZ)


Also, Check out this one - Gordon's solo show a year ago talking about his incursion into the APY lands south of Uluru on a journey with the elders.
 
Spookdaddy said:
I still haven't really got into podcasts yet. No doubt I will, but I'm one of those who hovers at the door for ages, and then chucks myself in like a lunatic. I'm currently still hovering at the door.

However, I bought a signed edition of Richard MacLean Smith's book Unexplained from Blackwell's in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago and was mightlily impressed: insightful, intelligent and satisfyingly dense, some pretty complex ideas put simply - there were aspects to some familiar stories I'd never heard of before. And if the author must, I think, be using some imagination when putting together dialogue and peripheral detail he does so in an extremely effective way.

I'm assuming the stories are lifted from his podcast, so there might not be much new in there for people who are already listeners, but I would thoroughly recommend this book as a work in its own right. I'm virtually always disappointed by such offerings, which, so often, tend to be repositories of rehashed stories, with little or nothing new in the way of insight - but this was generally quite enthralling. (Although nowhere near as wide in scope, this book could sit quite comfortably next to Mike Dash's Borderlands on any bookshelf.)

As I say, my experience of podcasts is minimal - but Unexplained is now top of my list. (My only other real experience is similar - a reading of one of the Lore books - which, although entertaining, is to my mind, too thin in detail and research, and too chatty in style, to be very satisfying.)
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I received a copy of the Unexplained book for Christmas (on request!) and the principle reason I asked for it is that it features cases not covered in the podcast, which is the exact reason I'm not interested in any of the Lore books, despite enjoying the podcast. As you enjoyed the book, you really have no excuse not to delve into the podcast, if it's the only Fortean one you listen to then it's the right one, in my opinion. I hovered at the door, to quote you, with podcasts and then jumped in and never regretted it. There is such an incredible wealth of media of all types available in this day and age that you can afford to be extremely fussy over quality and still have plenty to be getting on with.
Unexplained still the number one for me, with very honourable mentions for Lore and Bedtime Stories. Anyone with a true crime thirst ..... Casefile is simply the best podcast out there and has some crossover appeal (eg Bella in the Witch Elm).
 
Any takers on Generation Why? Reviewed in the magazine recently. Mostly true crime, as I already listen to far too much of that stuff I haven't bothered but according to FT they also cover Fortean topics occasionally.
 
James_H said:
I've been listening to the first series of CBC's Uncover, an in-depth feature on Keith Raniere's NXIVM cult/pyramid scheme. The second season I think is less fortean, but I'm not onto it yet. The NXIVM stuff is very interesting.
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Good call, NXIVM season was v good
 
James_H said:
I've been listening to the first series of CBC's Uncover, an in-depth feature on Keith Raniere's NXIVM cult/pyramid scheme. The second season I think is less fortean, but I'm not onto it yet. The NXIVM stuff is very interesting.
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I've just listened to Season 2, which is about the crash of Canadian Pacific Flight 21. Very interesting, for me anyway.

I can't quite bring myself to delve into NXIVM though.

Also been listening to "The Hurricane Tapes" from the BBC. Also very good, and yes, "This is the story of the Hurricane, the man the authorities came to blame, for something that he never done..."
 
Received the new issue of FT this morning, this month's podcast review is Haunted Places, I've been listening to that from the start, really enjoy it, but funnily enough I don't particularly recommened it! If it's content/information you're after then give it a big miss as you could cram what you learn from it into 5 minutes, whereas it's typically 40 mins or so long. To me it's simply some turn-your-brain-off entertainment, and absolutely perfect for drifting off to sleep to as the narrator has a fantastic soothing voice. Listen to it for fun, nothing more.
 
Leicester Fortean said:
Received the new issue of FT this morning, this month's podcast review is Haunted Places, I've been listening to that from the start, really enjoy it, but funnily enough I don't particularly recommened it! If it's content/information you're after then give it a big miss as you could cram what you learn from it into 5 minutes, whereas it's typically 40 mins or so long. To me it's simply some turn-your-brain-off entertainment, and absolutely perfect for drifting off to sleep to as the narrator has a fantastic soothing voice. Listen to it for fun, nothing more.
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What issue is that?

I'm sure I'm a couple of issues late in delivery.
 
Just found this recent episode of Bone & Sickle podcast, Worm Songs and Beastly Sucklers, which takes a look at the Lambton Worm.

The show begins with Wilkinson and Ridenour reviewing a phone message from Blake Smith of the Monster Talk podcast, then proceed to briefly examine the 1989 Ken Russel Film The Lair of the White Worm, mentioning along the way his other film Gothic, which would be of interest to listeners.
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https://www.boneandsickle.com/2019/...vrp2gOOsmPfO_vrQh8PDO482ThAD6o3CDdmnRiXGMWxyw
 
Two months in to my podcast odyssey, potted reviews... generally I've listened to the first episode, the most recent episode and the most interesting-looking episodes inbetween of each one.

Knock Once For Yes: Listening to this is a bit like browsing this forum, albeit with fewer diversions into silliness :) Chatty without straying into self-indulgence (a problem with some unscripted podcasts and indeed radio shows!) Enjoying it so far.

Lore: Erudite and more interested in the stories which lead to the forteana, than the forteana themselves, but that's no bad thing given each one improves enjoyment of the other (and the real life stuff is scarier!)

Unexplained: Initially I thought this was a British guy copying Lore, but that's unfair; it's delivered in a similar style, but it's much more focussed on the spooky stuff. I've probably listened to it the least of the three, but intend to remedy that.

Spookdaddy said:
I still haven't really got into podcasts yet. No doubt I will, but I'm one of those who hovers at the door for ages, and then chucks myself in like a lunatic. I'm currently still hovering at the door.
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I was like that too, until a conjunction of circumstances. Vehicle and phone talking to each other, and a bunch of long solo journeys for work. Suddenly I am all about the podcasts, after years of shrugging. I used to say if you committed a terrible act, and wanted to make sure nobody ever discovered it, you should release your confession as a podcast :-D

Naughty_Felid said:
Add Ghost Story Guys and the first couple of years of Blurry Photos are you're off!
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Going to try them out next, cheers!
 
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I think FT should include a “One to Avoid” to save me downloading some of the paranormal podcasts that are hosted by a group of screeching blokes who giggle and squeal like a dormitory full of prepubescent school girls. You know the ones, they grunt instead of talking and the only words they seem able to form are usually classed as “Industrial Language”.
 
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