It's 'Not Your Father's Fawcett!' The journey continues with our dive into the first part of EXPLORATION FAWCETT, the 1953 book of Colonel Percy Fawcett's own notes and journals, as tidied up, illustrated and edited by his son Brian Fawcett. Featuring: -my visit to a Fawcett-related address in London -the infamous giant snake sighting! -Fawcett's links to living dinosaurs and other crypto-critters -Lost cities, Atlantis (because of course), H.R. Haggard, 'white indians' It's enough to...

In which we're asked to audition for Metallica, endorse the George Foreman grill, and wrestle over 365 days in a year. We also cover: -Hogan's years at WCW -the infamous Monday Night Wars between WWF and WCW -the meta writing of Vince Russo -Hogan's comeback match against the Rock Buy Me A Coffee, Brother! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wideatlantic Part 1 https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/wide-atlantic-weird-777986/episodes/fake-news-the-fictional-life-o-70226830 Part...

Dr Eoghan Aherne visits the cabin to talk about the early medieval period, and some things we might believe about it that might not be true! Topics include: -modern myths about the medieval period -were medieval people particularly credulous? -a medieval flat Earth? -classical ideas during the medieval period: the four elements -the scientific revolution as continuity rather than revolution -the importance of miracles and the Irish saints -the distinction between ‘natural’ and...

Arthur Conan Doyle and Professor Challenger make a welcome return to the show, as we turn once again to the worlds of Edwardian fantastic Imperial fiction, and the history of still-living dinosaurs in literature. Dr Richard Fallon joins us to talk all things LOST WORLD, in particular the vision Conan Doyle had for a subtle, restrained presentation of the tale via the illustrations of his brother-in-law PATRICK LEWIS FORBES, versus the more familiar, bombastic, monster-filled illustrations of...

Cian welcomes Dr Edward Guimont back to the cabin for a chat about two seminal 1951 flying saucer movies. There'll be saucers skipping across water (whyever would you do that?), McCarthyism, and pulp-era sci-fi authors acting like jerks. Topics include: -our history with both movies -the short story 'Farewell To The Master' and 1930s pulp Sci-fi origins -Robert Wise and Star Trek: The Motionless Picture -The Star Wars Expanded Universe -The classic flying saucer shape on film -Klaatu...

Cian returns to the cabin to tackle a subject that he should have tackled long ago: the life and mysterious disappearance of Percy Harrison Fawcett. First part (fingers crossed) of a series attempting to contrast the various books about Fawcett that are out there. Featuring: -extended thank yous to all the nice folks who've sent me books and things during the hiatus -in-depth breakdown of the 2009 David Grann book 'The Lost City Of Z' -audio from my trip to Spike Island, where Fawcett was...

Tyler Greenfield visits the cabin to chat about sightings of supposed living extinct creatures. We discuss early 20th century origins of living Megalodon stories, the French Pterodactyl trapped in rock, the bizarre 'Triassic Kraken,' and how the mysterious Cadborosaurus got its type specimen. (Episode picture thanks to Tyler! It's a full-size replica of our titular beast) Links: Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wideatlantic Tyler’s...

Ancient chalk figures, Arctic exploration, pendulums, and emotions 'recorded' onto the landscape: TC Lethbridge dabbled in them all, and remains an important figure in mid-20th century alternative thinking. Lisa from the Beer Ladies Podcast joins us at the cabin to talk about Lethbridge. We cover: -Lethbridge’s early archaeological career -Lethbridge as an institution figure vs an outsider -The imperial era of archaeology and exploration -The Mildenhall Treasure -‘Lost white race’...

Cian is joined at the cabin by David & Mercedas from the Worker’s Cauldron to talk about a variety of paranormal topics and their cultural/political influences. Subjects include: -evolution of Wicca -social context and the paranormal -alien abduction in the 90s -creating episodes -David’s trip to Bluff Creek -colonial literature’s influence on Forteana -Demonic possession and economic anxieties -Ghost-hunting groups -The Ballinspittle Moving Statues -70s Haunted House...

Sharon Hill joins us to speak about Spooky Geology and Ley Lines! We discuss the origins of the lines before they became associated with mystical ideas, leys as a way to connect with landscape, how they’re thought of in the paranormal community today, connections to UFOs (of course!), a little bit of Stone Tape Theory, and some real geological processes that might have been an influence on the idea. Sharon’s Strange Times https://sharonahill.substack.com/ Spooky...

The history of beliefs regarding lost cities and civilizations beneath the Earth's surface is as vast and winding as the caverns of Agartha itself. In this episode we welcome Edward Guimont back to the cabin for a chat about some of the most interesting characters who have contributed to Hollow Earth thinking. Beginning with an apocryphal  tale of American pilot Admiral Byrd encountering a super-civilization of Nordic Masters inside the Hollow Earth, we cycle back to John Cleeve Symmes and...

Pack your harmonica and join an expedition into the murky world of 1970s low-budget docudrama-making as we take a look at Bigfoot hunter Robert Morgan's 1974 'American Yeti' Expedition into the Pacific Northwest, and the recobbled film 'Bigfoot: Man Or Beast' that chronicles this epic event! NOTES: Sasquatch hunters need coffee. Help me out here: https://buymeacoffee.com/wideatlantic Bigfoot: Man Or Beast on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJ-KORUt5E&t=73s Bigfoot, The Life...

Cian and Victoria discuss the definitive Dracula of their childhood, Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 'Bram Stoker's Dracula!,' which is a mouthful. NOTES: Buy Me A Coffee because I never drink wine! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wideatlantic Victoria's Twitter https://twitter.com/vpearsonduffy The Impossible Archive, Project Blue Book episode https://impossiblearchive.podbean.com/e/project-blue-book-ft-kate-dorsch/ Marsh's Library Dublin exhibition on Bram...

Recorded at the tail (aha!) end of an uncharacteristic Irish heatwave, and following a spot of solo camping that accidentally strayed into mystery big cat territory, Cian marshalls some thoughts on the subject of ABCs or Alien Big Cats. With some detail on the Exmoor Beast and the Surrey Puma, as well as thoughts on whether this is a flesh-and-blood happening, or something more mystical.

In a MUSICAL episode long delayed, Cian welcomes Leanne from The Strange Ways blog to talk about the special place the chilly polar extremes have always held in fact and specifically horror fiction. The poles themselves become mirrors through which colonial-era Europeans saw themselves and measured their achievements. We discuss Dan Simmons' book The Terror, the more recent TV adaptation, the clairvoyants who searched for the lost Captain Franklin, Arthur Conan Doyle's captain Of The Pole...

Take THAT, Bembridge scholars! Cian is delighted to welcome Lauren the Gothic Bookworm to the cabin for an awesome chat about all things Mummy, curses, and of course, Victorian Gothic! So many of our favourite writers, books, historical topics and more appear, including but not limited to: -the mummy in comparison to other 'classic' monsters -The Victorian/Edwardian fascination with Egypt and mummies; colonialism & orientalism -Victorian 'invasion' literature -early Victorian mummy...

Best remembered today for his incredible output of genre-defining early science fiction novels during the 1890s, for much of his career Herbert George Wells was perhaps better known for other things. From the early 1900s he positioned himself as a man who would predict the future. Cian and Dónal chat about War of The Worlds, When The Sleeper Wakes, Well' ideas about progress and eugenics, and about his amusing meetings with other famous folks from his day - Joseph Conrad, George Orwell, Orson...

From the vaults, comes a Crichton-adjacent bonus episode in which Cian and Chris 'The Voice' Joyce discuss Jurassic Park: Trespasser, a famous over-reaching early open-world game that pretty much disappointed everybody upon its release. But, sifting through the wreckage of this abandoned dream, the guys discover that somehow, life ... has found a way. NOTES: After much consideration, you have decided to endorse the podcast: Buy Me A Coffee The Jurassic Time Youtube videos of Hammond's...

Cameron McCormick, writer on marine monster mysteries and sea serpent superfan, drops into the cabin to talk about the work and influence of Bernard Heuvelmans, remembered as the 'father of cryptozoology.' Heuvelmans was important as an early figure in the codification of cryptozoology, but many of his ideas were to remain unique to him in the decades that followed. Despite his respected status as a pioneer, not many who followed built upon the specific zoological ideas he came up with to...

Michael Crichton had a habit of recycling various Victorian-era fringe beliefs and obsessions in his techno-thriller fiction. With Eaters Of The Dead, he created a faux-academic 'translation' of the travels of the real-life Ibn Fadlan. The resulting novel has echoes of Beowulf, elements of cryptozoology, relic hominids, and a positive portrayal of Vikings as part of America's changing process of self-identification. Incoming professor of history at Bristol Community College, Fall River, MA,...

A classic episode about the fascination 1950s America had with a woman who relived a past life as a 19th century woman from Cork! Hypnotism, regression, and a time in podcasting history ...

Dr Tom Ellis talks about the myth of the Lost Cosmonauts, why this symbol has had such staying power, and what it tells us about Western perceptions about the Soviet Union and its space programme. Topics include: -American reactions to Yuri Gagarin’s flight -The secrecy of the Soviet space programme breeding rumours and myths -The idea of the ‘communist mind’ and communism as a ‘secular religion’ -Robert Heinlein and the Lost Cosmonauts -‘Yurimania’ and promoting Yuri Gagarin as a sex...

Cian is joined by Imogen Knox for a chat about witchcraft belief during the early modern period. Subjects covered: -stereotypes about medieval vs early modern witch trials -witch hunts as a 'top down' or 'bottom-up/ phenomenon? -vomiting of pins, apports, and other witch-related phenomena -the role of authorities in witch hunts -Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General -witch-hunting before/after the Reformation -a case from Co Antrim and an earlier case it may be patterned after -the...

This is a find from the vault - an old patreon episode that's an addendum to our COLONIALISM AND KONG episode, which you can find below. Loads more info about Willis O'Brien and the 1933 King Kong, the history behind the 'lost world' genre and 'jungle' pictures, my own background with stop-motion animation, O'Brien's lost projects, plus the bizarre expanded ecology of Skull Island in Peter Jackson's 2005 version. ORIGINAL KONG...

'I FOUND it hard to place Mr. Douglas Hyde's magnificent story. Among the ghosts or the fairies? It is among the fairies on the grounds that all these ghosts and bodies were in no manner ghosts and bodies, but pishogues--fairy spells. One often hears of these visions of Ireland.' Taking, of all things, the Hellboy story 'The Corpse' as a starting point, Cian is joined by Dr Aoife Bhreatnach from the Censored Podcast to talk about Irish burial customs, the stories of Douglas Hyde,...