Explore every episode of the podcast In Research Of
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| S04E16 - Vincent van Gogh | 25 Aug 2024 | 02:29:51 | |
How could Vincent have been a creative genius - yet also "insane?" This episode deals with the topic of self-harm and suicide. If you're struggling with thoughts of self harm, please get help immediately. You can reach trained and empathetic counselors (in the USA) by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-TALK. We care about our listeners and want you to be around for many years to enjoy life - and our work.
Links for Show Notes: Nimoy's play VINCENT via Archive 81 Words - This American Life on the DSM Bullshit or Not? Was JTR really Nessie? Weird Al's Skipper Dan (YouTube) Doctor Who clip of Vincent at the art gallery
You can find all these and more at the online Van Gogh museum.
Meanwhile... | |||
| S04E15 - The Missing Heir (Explicit) | 31 Jul 2024 | 01:47:33 | |
Jeb and Blake learn all about the riveting world of stock certificates and inheritance law! It may not be the most mysterious episode of In Search Of... but it's certainly one of the episodes we watched. Show Notes: Nimoy Fashion Alert (red-shift corrected) The case of the missing hair! | |||
| S04E07 - The Shroud of Turin | 22 Nov 2023 | 02:50:55 | |
Jeb and Blake unwrap the mystery of the shroud of Turin! (Which might, it turns out, be neither a shroud, nor from Turin - talk amongst yourselves!) The bucket brigade saves the shroud in re-creation... NFA - A return to "the Night Gallery?" Young Joe Nickell at work in Alan Landsburg's NYC apartment: The Rev. Francis Filas (1931 - 1985 - NYT OBIT) Overview of use of Christ in Medieval Art Secondo Pia, photographer who discovered the "negative effect" on Shroud.
Just saying...
More on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
Dr. Harry Gove (Obit) The Shroud of Turin Research Project
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| S04E06 - The Lost Colony of Roanoke | 26 Aug 2023 | 02:07:27 | |
S04E06 - The Lost Colony of Roanoke The ISO team take us back to Colonial Virginia to investigate the cold-case of the lost colony of Roanoke. Jeb and Blake learn about armadas, plays, and rock diaries. Beach Action Nimoy Fashion Alert! The Money Shot...
Blake thinks the ISO actor is giving off Keenan Wynn vibes. And we've already discussed the ties between Rod Serling, Leonard Nimoy, Night Gallery, and more, so the visual similarities to this scene and Planet of the Apes might not be 100% coincidence. The famous "Dare Stones" preserved with all the decor and pomp appropriate their historical significance:
Links for this episode: History Channel's reboot of ISO covered this. Book by David Stick on topic | |||
| S04E05 - Immortal Sharks | 17 Jul 2023 | 01:35:29 | |
We're going to need a bigger boat! Jeb and Blake head to Australia to investigate the idea that Great White sharks are immortal! Links: Article about weird things allegedly found inside sharks. Henri Bource - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Bource NFA - on the beach! Sharks are famous for their teeth - and Nimoy's have improved since season one as well. Nimoy just walking on the beach manages to attract a diver's audience. Diving pioneer and explorer, Hugh Edwards.
Ray Keys at Sea World has lots of great shark information.
And don't forget researcher Dr. William Gladstone! (You can find him on twitter at @DrBillGladstone)
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| S04E04 - UFO Australia | 16 May 2023 | 02:04:52 | |
Jeb and Blake have a look at the Season 4 episode UFO AUSTRALIA which covers the Kaikoura UFO Sighting and the disappearance of Frederich Valentich.
Nimoy Fashion Alert shot on location at the San Fernando Aerospace Solar Observatory. | |||
| S04E03 - The Amityville Horror | 02 Apr 2023 | 02:33:37 | |
Jeb, Blake and Alex French go in research of The Amityville Horror! History vs Hollywood: Amityville Nimoy gives us the calm and rational look in the midst of so much weirdness! So many faceless re-enactors in this one!
Horror writer Jay Anson and his trusty typewriter!
And this episode is quite notable for giving us a look at Father Mancuso from the book. Aka Father Ralph Pecoraro. Aka Father Delaney. Aka "Jimmy the Shadow" . The Lutz couple at the table.
The two versions of Jodie the Pig: And we gotta include the super creepy ISO doll. Kudos to the prop dept.
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| S04E02 - Carlos, The Most Wanted Man in the World | 02 Mar 2023 | 02:13:45 | |
Jeb and Blake look back at the ISO team's coverage of the global manhunt for the terrorist known as "Carlos."
Nimoy Fashion Alert:
Carlos - aka The Jackal (Wiki) Raid on Entebbe (Wiki) Carnaby Street, England (Wiki) Friendship University, Russia (Wiki) News story about how Carlos got his name Nydia Toban (Obit) | |||
| S04E01 - Tidal Waves | 31 Jan 2023 | 01:48:50 | |
Additional background material on this episode is available for Patrons. Nimoy Fashion - Henley Shirt (we assume he's wearing pants below the cut?) To me, it looked like an AARP-style drug ad. The J.K.K. Look Laboratory (in honor of Mr. James K. K. Look - who's death in pursuit of scientific data is honored in the naming) Hokusai's famous "wave" - and yes, he really did pioneer "tentacle porn," but I'm not linking to it - nor judging.
This is only a simulation. If this had been an actual podcast, this guy would have tried to sell you some Bombas Socks or a subscription to Wondrium. NOAA monitoring lab
Steven Froehlich | |||
| Season 3 Wrap-up | 29 Dec 2022 | 01:15:56 | |
Blake and Jeb discuss their thoughts on the third season of In Search Of...
Things get... weird. | |||
| S03E24 - King Tut | 30 Nov 2022 | 01:42:53 | |
Jeb and Blake head out into the valley of the kings to learn more about King Tut. History of the Valley of the Kings Significance of pyramids (Benben) The Colossi of Memnon (the singing statue) Nimoy Fashion - in the desert Example of Cartouche: James Lew - martial artist & actor The complex history of the Noah's Ark Hoax (article by Jim Lippard) Same story covered by LA Times Contemporary article about mummy curse - but we've covered this before.
Jeb points out that the actor playing the priest Ay favors deceased paranormal investigator Ed Warren. James Brashler of Claremont College
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| S03E23 - Sodom and Gomorrah | 16 Oct 2022 | 02:07:33 | |
We're joined by Dr. Nathan French to discuss the Biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah and the ISO team's efforts to examine archaeological evidence supporting its actual historical existence.
Dr. Avrahamm Biran (1909 - 2008)
The concept of Biblical Maximalism The big dig at Ebla where the library of clay tablets was found.
In 1976 Giovanni Pettinato claimed tablets found at the dig contained the names of five cities of the plain including Sodom and Gomorrah. Modern scholarly consensus is that this was incorrect. I think this is archaeologist Paulo Matti (Pettinato's fellow researcher on the dig) alongside an unnamed female researcher.
As promised, the animated gif of the sinners in our "re-creations" of ancient Sodom.
Discussion of Baal in the episode doesn't hint that this Biblical "villain god" may actually represent an entire class of deities. About 17 mins into the episode there's a guy who runs a hot spring and his moustache reminded Jeb of a certain someone...
Doctor Bruce Bolt sitting in front of some truly fabulous old equipment.
Finally - one more thing - the link to the Atari E.T. fiasco documentary. | |||
| S04E14 - San Andreas Fault [EXPLICIT] | 30 Jun 2024 | 02:00:03 | |
Jeb and Blake are joined by Sharon Hill to get shook by the San Andreas Fault!
Understanding the Richter Scale (logarithmic) Link (Netflix) to Earthstorm docu series YT video clip featuring geologist Dr. Kerry Sieh Classic Budweiser commercial from the 70s
San Andreas movie with The Rock (Amz affiliate link)
Cover to guide for SF geological tour:
Dr. Tim Hall - One of the founders of the San Andreas Fault Trail in 1977. Featured in 2011 documentary available on YT.
Dr. Kerry Sieh
The very sexy VT52 from DEC.
NFA San Andreas edition: | |||
| S03E22 - Brain Power | 17 Sep 2022 | 02:07:24 | |
We are joined again by Alex French to discuss "Brain Power." No kids were harmed, but some hosts were shaken. The ISO episode contains outdated wording about cognitive states that are now considered offensive. Our podcast episode steers clear of that but we wanted you to be aware if you decided to watch the original episode. Nimoy Fashion: Discussed in this episode: The Raimondi Stele (Jeb discusses flipping it to see different interpretation) Discussion of Haeckle's Embryos (Amazon Affiliate Link) The 1997 article that brought Haeckel back into fresh scrutiny Biorhythms (pseudoscience popular in late 70s/early 80s) Alleged Russian "psychic" Nina Kulagina
Robert Doman (brother of founder Glenn Doman) Orville Redenbacher called and wants his look back... Louise Emerson of The Morgan Autism Institute Art teacher Betty Edwards
What is Kirlian Photography? | |||
| S03E21 - Ghostly Stakeout | 27 Aug 2022 | 01:56:12 | |
Jeb and Blake drag Alex French back into the studio to endure a "ghostly stakeout" with the sultry voiced Sylvia Browne. The Dead Files - S01E09 Scandal in the South (episode set in Blake's hometown of Cartersville, GA) Sylvia Browne - self-proclaimed psychic - and she started a church!
Site of first "haunting" in renovated farmhouse (which burned in the 1980s) Near the village of Jenner
Antoinette May, freelance journalist, who worked the episode cases and co-wrote with Browne
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| S03E20 - Diamond Curse | 01 Aug 2022 | 02:22:35 | |
A look at the Hope Diamond and other allegedly cursed gems from recent history.
DeBeers slogan (1947) predates Bond book (1956) and is different: The Gift - anthro book about reciprocity Osiander's preface to Copernicus Robert Conrad (the actor) famous battery ads from 1979 David Trampier - artist for D&D PHB The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins Recent TV adaptation of same The Mark of the Beast - Kipling The Order of the Golden Fleece (NatGeo) Curator of Gems at Smithsonian Institution Paul Desautels Jeb alluded to trouble at the end of his career Link to "The Dollop" episode on the McClean family. We don't know if the Koh-i-noor diamond is related to Star Trek's Kolinahr. | |||
| S03E19 - Noah's Flood | 30 Jun 2022 | 02:12:05 | |
We're joined by Sharon Hill to look into the vital 1970s question: Was Noah's Ark Real? (And does it disprove Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection?) spoilers: No and No. The episode opens with "footage" (re-creations, repurposed footage) of the famous 1889 Flood. The footage in the movie appears to be from a short film called The World that Perished (1977) but we couldn't find a version of that to share. The 1976 film In Search of Noah's Ark is available (in poor quality) on YouTube. Nimoy reminds of us the other Ark with this library fashion-alert moment. The episode re-creates the famous "undressing in excitement" story of George Smith discovering the Utnapishtim version of the flood myth. (Later in the episode we get a better shot of Nimoy in the Library.) We discussed the "Ararat Anomaly" briefly. The many searches for Noah's Ark. Physicist Rainer Berger (1930 - 2003) puts a lot of fake evidence to rest with his radiocarbon dating skills. Creationist Henry Morris "an expert in the flow of water??" Jeb discusses Abzu briefly. The "Creation Research Society" is behind a lot of the content in this episode. The episode calls him "Dr. Clifford Burdick" but he doesn't appear to have actually been a PhD.
Burdick reminded some of us of Reverend Kane from Poltergeist 2. There is some mention of the Younger Dryas - a favorite of Hancockian enthusiasts. Many cultures around the world have flood myths. Many cultures around the world have floods. There may be some connection?
Discussion of the site called Doggerland. Warm Mineral Springs in Florida. The Black Sea Deluge hypothesis.
Burdick did look a little lost in the desert at one point... | |||
| S03E18 - The Angel of Death | 18 Jun 2022 | 01:35:04 | |
We follow Nazi Hunter Simon Weisenthal as he hunts the notorious war criminal Josef Mengele. Simon Wiesenthal - wiki Josef Mengele - wiki Dr. Ellen Lingens - wiki Juan Domingo Peron - wiki The Big Gun - Gerald Bull, Saddam Hussein and the Mossad Read about Escape from Sobibor - this is an amazing story There is the "real" ODESSA and then there's the fictional novel and film The ODESSA FIle. What really happened to Mengele? Britannica Return to that classic "season 1" aesthetic in our Nimoy Fashion Alert:
Who knew the factory tokens in Axis & Allies were so accurate? Another shot of Nimoy in the "Night Gallery." Will we see this set again?
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| S03E17 - Psychic Sea Hunt | 17 May 2022 | 01:18:28 | |
The In Search Of team heads of to Santa Catalina island to hunt for underwater archaeology guided only by "remote viewers" Ingo Swann and Hella Hammid. Nimoy Fashion:
Links from our Discussion: Robert Ballard Titanic search cover for military submarine research Stephan Schwartz paper on the use of remote viewing in Archaeology Alexander the Great's tomb (wikipedia) - it also recently showed up in a certain Marvel creative endeavor which I'm not going to mention because of "spoilers." HYCO submarine was a "Pisces Class" deep submersible and some of these went to depths of more than 8000 feet. The Taurus IS FOR SALE!!! Blake & Jeb discussing the video series Hellier with Hayley Stevens on her podcast The Spooktator. Lost Kingdoms of Africa: Great Zimbabwe Spiritual healer "Rolling Thunder" who some have accused of being a "Plastic Shaman." Ed Dames, famous for selling remote viewing training and making terrible predictions
Ingo Swann - pioneer of "remote viewing" (Ingo also wrote gay erotica as Hero Haubold)
Hella Hammid (1921 - 1992) Skeptical response to Ingo Swann's remote viewing
Anne Kahle - Jet Propulsion Lab and NASA
Thomas Cook from the Bureau of Land Management shows up - says there are 1,100 known wrecks and 53 around Catalina | |||
| S03E16 - The Money Pit Mystery (EXPLICIT) | 11 Apr 2022 | 01:31:20 | |
We include a warning in the intro to this one. It's got an explicit tag. That's for language because this one brought out some strong feelings, but that's all explained in the intro. What's not explained in the intro is that my audio is pretty awful in this one. Once again Skype decided to randomly use my laptop's microphone instead of my podcasting mic. This is the last time that will happen because I've ditched the laptop in favor of a more powerful machine with no internal microphone! My apologies for that, but hopefully you'll find more treasure in this episode than the searchers will ever find on Oak Island. How Howard Pyle invented our modern image of the pirate. The "real" Captain Kidd and Pyle's version: Poe's The Gold Bug (wiki) The Knickerbocker Tales (Amz Affiliate) The Oak Island Mystery, Solved! (book about explanation for literal geology of site) Nimoy Fashion Alert: So many re-enactors in this one.
So many shirtless re-enactors. FDR on Oak Island
The clay(?) model used throughout the episode:
The replica of the coded stone:
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| S03E15 - Animal ESP | 19 Mar 2022 | 02:14:23 | |
Blake and Jeb are joined again by Alex French to discuss the tantalizing possibility that animals may possess powers of ESP!
Cat Roulette
Blackfish - documentary about Sea World & Orcas (AMZ) King's Island and the Brady Bunch (News story - 46 years later) The 68–95–99.7 rule (statistics - wikipedia) Six-Sigma (business - wikipedia) J. B. Rhine (wikipedia) Origin of the domestic dog (wikipedia) Hans Esser (obit)
Dr. William Broad (news article)
1970s Fashion that's still in fashion:
Animal Psychic Bea Lydecker is apparently still alive and still in business!
Bobby the Wonder Dog (wiki)
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| S03E14 - Dreams and Nightmares | 21 Feb 2022 | 01:58:13 | |
Jeb and Blake are joined again by Alex French to discuss Dreams and Nightmares. Will there be weird video effects and creepy dream re-creations? Does Spock love a syllogism? Tune in and find out! Nimoy Fashion Alert:
Research Links: Shakespeare in the Bush (article) Dr. Allan Hobson(1933 - 2021)
Dr. Rosalind Cartwright (1922 - 2021) - a book she wrote on this topic (Amz affiliate link). Note the "EEG" pattern on her lab coat!
Temporal Lobe section of the human brain Black and Tan (Dog coloration phenotype) The 1970s Big Wheel is for sale again (Amz affiliate link) Radio call letter history (K, W, and N) Rotoscoping in Wizards (clip on YouTube) Garden of Earthly Delights (Wikipedia) The completely nuts "full story" of the wandering-eye boyfriend meme. Dreamscape (Amz affiliate link) A Nightmare on Elm Street (Amz affiliate link) Inception (Amz affiliate link) Waking Life (Amz affiliate link) Strong Bad Light-Switch Rave (YouTube) Defender video game (Wikipedia)
The "New Age Donnie and Marie" sequence:
Dream Circle session
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| S03E13 - Lost Vikings (Explicit) | 16 Jan 2022 | 01:30:04 | |
EXPLICIT TAG - this episode contains a lot of swearing and complaining. Blake and Jeb go in search of a lost Norse settlement in Canada, but discover that the real treasure isn't Vikings, and it definitely isn't the racist bullshit you meet along the way.
Links: Thomas E. Lee - professor whose weird (racist) theories are at the heart of this episode
"Hammer of Thor" - monument/dry-stack/possible Inuksuk at end of episode
Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson - Icelandic Heathenry Revitalist
The statue supposed to be of Erik the Red was actually of Thorfinn Karlsefni Mjolner (aka Thor's Hammer) Greenland (as a Norse Settlement) Nimoy Fashion Alert:
Not in the episode - but stuff we talked about: L'Anse aux Meadows - real Norse archeological site in Canada The Mismeasure of Man (by Gould) 2021 Calls to boycott Canada Day after graves found Triumph of the Moon (Ronald Hutton) Famous statue of Leif Erikson | |||
| S04E03 - The Dark Star | 18 Jun 2024 | 02:32:10 | |
In order to understand In Search Of… The Dark Star, Jeb and Blake will first need to get Sirius; Sirius-B, that is!
Links from this episode:
Siris (A part of the Canis Major constellation)
Jeb discussed a couple of evocative artworks:
North African musket (Moukahla) The Hans Guggenheim art project The Tribal Eye BBC documentary series (YouTube)
Regarding Temple, Puhairich, Young, and The Nine The Sirius Mystery by Robert Temple Editorial letter about Temple from The Observatory Dogon Shame by Phillip Coppens Griaule's Legacy: Rethinking "la parole claire" in Dogon Studies Pop Culture References (affiliate links): Conjure Wife - aka Burn Witch Burn ===== Images: The "orbit" of the Dogon dark star. Nimoy posing with a tribal mask - our initial NFA image. Later we get to see his legs in this seated NFA supplementary: Hans Guggenheim initially appears in just a vest and pants. Later, he too is in more of a Safari look, and has a professorial pipe as well.
Dr Gary Chapman, Astronomer The man who first photographed Sirius B - Dr Lindenblad A little of the FORTRAN code that powers the orbit animation in the episode:
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| TEASER: Not Jeb's Maya | 24 Dec 2021 | 00:01:47 | |
This is a teaser for a Patreon Exclusive - NOT JEB'S MAYA.
For nearly a year I've been wanting to take advantage of the amusing wordplay possibility made possible by Jeb's name and academic focus. So, I present to you: Not Jeb's Maya, a respectful homage to NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. (With all due apologies to Peter Sagal.) Get the whole episode and more exclusive content at: | |||
| S03E12 - Sherlock Holmes | 23 Dec 2021 | 01:58:41 | |
Jeb and Blake are joined by Ken Feder (Frauds, Myths & Mysteries , Fifty Sites) to discuss the question of whether Sherlock Holmes was largely a real person - namely Arthur Conan Doyle. The Great Game - the playful (usually) exploration of the idea that Sherlock was real Michael Saler, As If Sherlockian and author Peter Lovesey wandering in the "western docks." Sherlockian Stanley MacKenzie in front of part of his collection of memorabilia. Holmes' deerstalker comes from actor Sidney Paget. The phrase "elementary my dear Watson" and the big smoking pipe come from William Gillette. There was a 1916 silent film that was lost until rediscovered in 2014. The story of Sherlock's Violin Doyle's father - Charles Altamont Doyle - troubled (but gifted) artist. Anna May Wong (actress) In a number of films from the 30s Arthur Wontner was Holmes & Ian Flemming as Watson (This was Australian actor Ian Flemming, not the British action/spy novelist behind that other famous British crime solver, James Bond.) Wontner got the Sherlock role after he'd played a popular version of a Holmes-style knock off character called Sexton Blake. Lots of Star Trek connections to Sherlock. Sherlockian and Scotland Yard official, Philip Dalton In a re-creation located in The Sherlock Holmes public house. Smithsonian on the location of 221B Baker. Nimoy Fashion Alert: Sherlockian H. R. F. Keating (and man guarding wizarding library from curious muggles...)
Did Doyle introduce skiing to Switzerland? Doyle's letter writing campaign on armor for British soldiers. Cases Doyle worked on: Sherlock Holmes and the Piltdown Controversy? Amazing little documentary about the Cottingley Fairies hoax. | |||
| S03E11 - Indian Astronomers | 03 Dec 2021 | 02:50:29 | |
Jeb and Blake examine the idea that the builders of Cahokia's "Woodhenge" might have had links with the Maya. Some things we discuss in this episode: Recent paper on the Mounds of Cahokia Dr. Warren Wittry Dr. Wittry discovered the woodhenge that is a large part of the focus of this episode. The active dig shown in the episode:
Nimoy Fashion Alert:
And a BOOK he wrote
Robert Hicks of University of Arizona Dr. Jonathan Reyman of Illinois State University:
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| Ghostbusters Bonus - Part 2 Preview | 20 Nov 2021 | 00:11:12 | |
Jeb and Blake continue their look at the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The full version of this has an additional 90 mins of coverage and is available at our Patreon page for as little as $2/month. | |||
| S3 Bonus - Ghostbusters (part 1) | 14 Nov 2021 | 02:13:23 | |
Just in time for H̶a̶l̶l̶o̶w̶e̶e̶n̶ Thanksgiving, we bring you the first part of our 2-part coverage of the classic 1984 film Ghostbusters. This is one of our favorite movies and we wanted to get this special out to you before Halloween but life conspired against us meeting that deadline. But with the new sequel dropping in just about a week, we figure the movie still has some relevance. ;) We'll be back with Indian Astronomers very soon. In the meantime, grab your Proton Packs and PKE Meters and head for the fire pole! Discussed in Part 1: On the current version of the Columbia Pictures Logo The Stanford Prison Experiment Lovecraft and the Pineal Gland The very awful Theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater The Bat-O-Matic with Dan Aykroyd | |||
| S03E10 - Bermuda Triangle Pirates | 09 Oct 2021 | 01:40:58 | |
eb and Blake hoist the Jolly Roger and set sail to the Caribbean to look for unsuspecting rich tourists in fancy 1970s yachts. A lot of this episode is based on the writing of Carl Hiaasen - his newspaper work, not his many successful novels. We see Carl here (RIGHT) with beer-drinking FLORIDA MAN (LEFT). This episode deals, primarily, with a few key missing boat cases: The Saba Bank (also, see the attached PDFs for contemporary coverage of missing ships in this episode) The Pirate Lady (found in 1990s) - this was being searched for by the colorful owner Charlie Slater. Fiction/Pop-Culture Mentioned: Some more images from the episode: Remember folks, when doing a reenactment NEVER GO FULL GILLIGAN! Our reenactment Villain for this episode takes the "Pirate" thing pretty seriously. You can tell from his shirt. His cartoonish villainy reminds me of the "Red Ryder" home-defense sequence from A Christmas Story. The "Map Scrolling" equipment the Coast Guard was using as an animated GIF: And finally... our Nimoy Fashion Alert! I'm on a boat! | |||
| Theme Music | 29 Sep 2021 | 00:00:30 | |
I recently appeared on a podcast called The Plastic Plesiosaur Podcast. They asked me for a copy of the theme to this show and I realized I never made that available? So... here it is! The lyrics are by me, Blake Smith. And in case you have trouble following them for your sing-alongs, here they are: "In Research of" We share the facts | |||
| S3 Bonus - Raiders of the Lost Ark - Part 2 | 19 Sep 2021 | 00:12:47 | |
Jeb and Blake continue their coverage of the influential film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Part two of this session is exclusive to our wonderful Patrons. Full show notes includes additional images and material with background on the science and nonsense behind this movie.
From OxfordHandbook article on Egyptian Archaeology and the Museum. Building the Ark today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGcdE5RllG0+ https://youtu.be/enbdsdKfhFo?t=2611 - featuring "scientist" John Hutchison of Canada. (Creator of "The Hutchison Effect" fiasco…) Archaeoastronomy - how the sky is tied to ancient sites (Map Room) The art of the Ark: https://www.thepropgallery.com/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-ralph-mcquarrie-the-power-of-god Jacques James Tissot's ark of the covenant Errors Removed in Digital Versions? Movies knocked off from Raiders: Video Games based on Indy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93ojbvhbqOI The idea that the Templars worshipped the mummified head of Jesus? Source: The Head of Godby Keith Laidler. The Dorade Box (Indy's hiding locale on freighter) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorade_box Kiss Me Deadly (McGuffin style copied in Pulp Fiction) | |||
| S03E09 - Monster Hunters | 12 Sep 2021 | 02:23:04 | |
Jeb and Blake tackle the Ooky world of Monster Hunters.
Nimoy in the forest shadows...
Peter Byrne and Tim Dinsdale - two legendary monster hunters meet. Monsters in the intro to this episode are from the TV film Manbeast! Myth or Monster
For reasons I can't explain, some of the images in this episode reminded me of 1970s album covers...
We have more material on Doc Shiels but that will be a different post for Patrons. Scientific American discussion on Bigfoot Language (by MonsterTalk co-host Dr. Karen Stollznow) Some supportive analysis of the Sierra Sounds recordings that we discuss in the episode. The most annoying font ever at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center? | |||
| S03 Bonus - Raiders of the Lost Ark - part 1 | 22 Aug 2021 | 01:47:48 | |
Jeb and Blake discovered that S03E08 - The Great Lakes Triangle - has disappeared into a temporal anomaly. But we dare not leave you adrift in Lake Eerie, so instead we usher you through a mysterious temple to a VHS tape on a stone pedestal... as we go in research of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Discussed in this episode: The story conception tapes of Raiders (Lucas, Spielberg, Kasden) Same thing, but performed by actors
The real Aztec Sun Stone The "protection of antiquities" act wasn't real yet when the film is set. The Nazis and the occult stuff alluded to the Ahnenerbe. Discussed on MonsterTalk before. Turkdean Barrows mentioned in the film were not a real place but during and after the filming, two barrows in similar area were excavated. Retcon doesn't work in real life guys. LucasFilm & Trademarking the word "Nazi." Also mentioned: OG style gaming in the Raiders mileu: Raiders of the Lost ArtifactOG style D&D game | |||
| S04E12 - Ten Commandments (Explicit) | 29 May 2024 | 02:27:22 | |
Blake and Jeb look for the real location of Mt. Sinai, where Moses was supposed to have received the Ten Commandments from God. | |||
| S03E07 - Siberian Fireball | 30 Jul 2021 | 02:13:46 | |
Jeb and Blake consider the possibility that the Tunguska Event was caused by an extraterrestrial atomic craft. An old friend returns. A SciFi icon cameos. Atoms are split.
Mr. Leonard Nimoy!
Charles Cole
Ronald Oriti
And Dr. Isaac Asimov
News about Golden Globes scandals Tunguska in Pop Culture (Wiki) Basic coverage of Tunguska and theories (Wiki) Thomas R. Atkins (A Fire Came By) Amz Author's Page (Affiliate Link) The Jomon Period (Japan) and some amazing Jomon Masks (3D Print) Henry Gris ("Psychic" author and early member of Hollywood Foreign Press Association) Permafrost Links:
Finally - and I'm definitely not recommending this video to you - but am sharing it because it might be the disturbing thing you're looking for. | |||
| AIPT Presents SciPhi Fest 2021 | 18 Jul 2021 | 00:02:22 | |
AIPT Comics - is putting on a free online convention Sunday July 18th. The online convention starts at 10 am and I'll be participating in a couple of ways if you're interested. At noon, I've got a special interview with Stephen R. Bissette. You might know him as a key artist on Alan Moore's run of Swamp Thing in the 80s - but if you've been subscribing to BIG FOOTAGE the Patreon bonus cast, you'll know him as the author of CRYPTID CINEMA. I'll also be on at 3:30 pm with Jeb Card to discuss conspiracies and comics. Other guests include paleontologist Jim Lehane, psychologist Craig Foster, paranormal investigator Kenny Biddle, artist Celestia World, archaeologist David Anderson, and Matt Brady. author of THE SCIENCE OF RICK AND MORTY.
A link to Cryptid Cinemais here: http://bit.ly/CryptidCinema
The convention details are here: https://aiptcomics.com/2021/06/28/aipt-sciphi-fest-science-skepticism/
The direct ZOOM link is here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86109451697
I hope you can catch the show tomorrow but if you can't, I know that many of the interviews will end up on YouTube and I'm happy to report that Steve Bissette and I talked quite a while longer and the full version of that discussion will be up on YouTube *AND* will drop as a regular episode because it's all right up your alley, dear audience. Fun and informative stuff indeed - and chock full of monsters.
Also chock full of monsters is also my favorite imaginary coffee. | |||
| S03E6 - Cryogenics (Explicit) | 11 Jul 2021 | 02:12:22 | |
Jeb and Blake head into cold as we look at the episode titled "Cryogenics." Yes, there is a lot of legitimate discussion of the science of freezing - but there's also a lot of optimistic coverage of "Cryonics," the much more questionable idea of freezing people for a later thawing and restoration. (You're welcome.) Discussed in this episode: Difficult early history of Cryonics (via Alcor website) The first US successful use of insanity plea (Sickles) The Artists Statement video that Jeb talked about The Cryonics Institute (in Michigan) Robert Ettinger - father of Cryonics Alcor Life Extension (Arizona) American Cryonics Society (formerly Bay Area Cryonics Society) Frozen Bovine Semen (History of) The history of alleged "eating ancient mammoth" stories
This animal was revived using ratsuscitation.
Dr. Paul Segall makes a return visit to In Search Of...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you method acting:
Who can forget this famous scene from The gRATe Escape?"
UCLA's Dr. Josiah Brown (obituary 1985)
Here's that mouse embryo gif I promised you.
Mr. Leonard Nimoy!
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| S03E05 - Jack the Ripper | 15 Jun 2021 | 01:53:44 | |
Jeb and Blake crawl through the cobbled streets of 1978 television to find out what was going on when IN SEARCH OF went looking for Jack the Ripper. A lot of this episode is about "The Royal Conspiracy" - the idea that Prince Albert Victor (aka "Prince Eddy") was secretly Jack the Ripper. This was largely derived from a book called Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, an ironic title since it turned out to be neither final nor the solution. This was written by Stephen Knight, who appears in the episode. Shortly after this he will develop brain cancer and pass away. The story also involves Prince Albert Victor's surgeon, Dr. William Gull. We discuss the "modern plague" of Gin in London at the time. (That link is to the Pub Map.) Alert listener Dr. David Cockcroft sent us a link to the 1886 London Poverty Maps of Charles Booth. It's a treasure trove of information contemporary to the time of this case (and the upcoming Sherlock Holmes episode as well). Nimoy Fashion Alert! Did you notice that big book lying flat behind Nimoy's head? That's a book about Vincent Van Gogh. We'll hear more about him in Season 4. In our bonus episode about pop-culture of JTR we talked about a weird 6-part BBC crime series which pitted two fictional modern TV police detectives against the case. Wendy Sturgess was one of the writers. We discuss some of the appalling poverty of the area of London where the murders took place. This included discussion of Jack London's book about London. "The People of the Abyss" - that was the name of a work by American fiction writer Jack London. It's available online. A young Donald Rumbalow makes an appearance. We briefly discuss the "wizard money" of England at the time. The Police News vintage paper is shown several times in the episode. You can search these old papers on the British Newspaper Archive! I elected not to do dramatic readings of the JTR letters, but some of the most famous ones you can read about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Boss_letter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saucy_Jacky_postcard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell_letter Dr. J. M. Cameron - chief pathologist of home office (1930 - 2003) makes an appearance. We're not done with the "foggy streets of London" either because we'll be looking into the real identity of Sherlock Holmes in just a few episodes, with return guest Dr. Kenny Feder. | |||
| Bonus - Jack the Ripper: The Pop-Culture References | 01 Jun 2021 | 01:28:14 | |
Jeb & Blake discuss the ways that Jack the Ripper has been adapted in fiction and documentary over the years. The strange convergence of Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde merge into a weird mix of fact and fantasy through the decades. A variety of media are discussed. And you can be sure that in the foggy gas-lit, cobbled streets of London there lurk some puns as well. A few references we'll hit in the show (with affiliate links): Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper by Robert Bloch YouTube (Thriller! adaptation) 6-Part BBC Jack the Ripper series (Amazon UK - Region 2) Gotham by Gaslight (Batman) From Hell (comic) Letters from Whitechapel mystery board game Bridge Across Time aka Terror at London Bridge - featuring The Hoff Wolf in the Fold - Star Trek S2 Michael Caine in Jack the Ripper (1988) Murder by Decree (1979) Sherlock Holmes vs JTR
Jeb has some Ripper-related photos which I will add later. | |||
| S03E04 - Water Seekers | 12 May 2021 | 02:10:10 | |
Grab your sticks and join Jeb and Blake as they go looking for water flowing underground. Same as it ever was? Not hardly. The "earth, air, fire, and water" idea comes from Empedocles. Early in the episode Francis Hitching holds up a stack of paperbacks. I looked them all up (affiliate link to Amazon).
The dry well belongs to John Mitchell. He calls in Dr. Arthur Bailey. Former president of British Society of Dowsers
This episode really inspired me to some show-notes silliness.
The episode had some stunning visuals in it. This looked like an album cover to me.
We don't know who THIS guy is, but he probably was trying to hide from all the Muggles.
Pat Lucas was the only professional British female dowser. The "biofeedback" device from the episode:
And then there's THIS machine - the one used by Harry Lovegrove. New Scientist (New Scientist Feb 16, 1978) article discussing Lovegrove using child's dowsing kit for "amazing results" at "laying down dowsing lines." Whatever that means. The SPR has a lengthy article about dowsing that includes believer and skeptical content. Stan Shepherd - the dowser and well driller. We're of mixed opinions. I think it looks like he's having a heart attack, Jeb prefers the idea that he's having a fart attack. And Stan was just going with the flow.
We also mentioned Martin Gardner and his book Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. | |||
| S03E03 - Cloning | 21 Apr 2021 | 01:08:45 | |
We'll be taking a look at ISO's coverage of cloning in this episode. We'll be taking a look at ISO's coverage of cloning in this episode. Content warning (for ISO watchers) there is animal experimentation and surgery video in this TV episode. Jeb asked me to include a gif of the "groovy" 1970s video effects from this episode: In the 1970s the idea of "test tube babies" was still quite controversial, as evidenced by this opinion piece in the Berkeley Gazette (1978). The Weibe Twins (Josephine and Rozzalyn) appear prominently in this episode. Their shop (Twin's Armoire Boutique) shut down last year during the pandemic. Their outfits threw some serious Boohbah vibes my way. Nimoy fashion alert! We meet the Beernink Twins - brother gynecologists. They both passed away but former patients posted heartfelt remembrances of them. This look at twin gynecologists brought up the memorable film Dead Ringers and the strange, sad tale of the Marcus twins that inspired it. Learn to pronounce axolotl! (sounds like ash-sho-lote) You can learn more about these endangered and adorable amphibians here. You can't talk about eugenics without KHAN! We meet Dr. Clem Markert of Yale. He worked to make a chimera-mouse with genes from multiple mice. Not quite 20 years after this episode was filmed, we got Dolly the cloned sheep. | |||
| S03E02 - Tornadoes | 13 Apr 2021 | 01:13:39 | |
Get to your shelters and turn on your weather radios as Jeb and Blake watch IN SEARCH OF...'s episode on Tornadoes. Discussed in this episode: National Severe Storms Lab (NSSL) Twister (1996) - Amazon Affiliate Link Poorly lit Nimoy Fashion:
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| S03E01 - UFO Captives | 12 Apr 2021 | 01:57:54 | |
Jeb and Blake have a close encounter of the In Search Of... kind. We look at two UFO abduction cases that you may not have heard of - and that definitely have more details to them than ISO covers. Flying Saucers and the Three Men (Amazon Affiliate Link) Above Top Secret - Isaac Koi (UFO Barrister)
They're not in the episode but if you'd like to learn about Betty & Barney Hill, Blake highly recommends checking out the podcast Strange Arrivals. We also talk a bit about the Travis Walton case. Nimoy Fashion Alert: Our weird "alien abductor" in this episode: | |||
| Preview: S2 Bonus - Close Encounters of the Third Kind | 11 Mar 2021 | 00:27:25 | |
Season 2 of IRO is over and we take a few hours to talk about the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. | |||
| S04E11 - In Search of D. B. Cooper | 02 May 2024 | 02:37:53 | |
Jeb and Blake extinguish our cigarettes, put our trays in the upright position, and head out the back of the plane in search of the elusive skyjacker known as D. B. Cooper. Nimoy Fashion Alert - dimly lit corporate office edition.
The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper (Movie) - if you buy it on Amazon we get a few pennies. Recent Netflix series on D. B. Cooper Blake's friend Rick Ollerman offered some opinions on vintage round parachutes.
Later we meet Nimoy outside where you can make out more of his ensemble.
Of course this is an episode about D. B. Cooper - who for Jeb and I, evokes the classic "MIB" look.
This ain't deal-a-meal. This is a different Richard Simmons.
There is some great photography in this episode. I liked seeing the reservoir and dam. Imagine landing there on a stormy November night without jump boots... Finally - kudos to the faceless Cooper stand-in who lugged stuff around in the anonymous re-creations. | |||
| IRO S2 Wrap Up | 25 Feb 2021 | 01:07:07 | |
Jeb and Blake stare at spreadsheet graphs - and what could be better? Fashion Forensics. A look at season 3. Tease of our next Bonus Episode. And more! Note: The fashion forensics segment needs visuals. Those are in the attached PDF but if I can make time I will knock together a little video to make it better. If I manage it, you'll know first.
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| S02E24 - The Garden of Eden | 09 Feb 2021 | 02:39:57 | |
Jeb and Blake go looking for The Garden of Eden and bring along professor Nathan French of the Miami University, Ohio to shed some extra insight during the journey. Nathan is the author of And God Knows the Martyrs (affiliate link) and is Associate Professor of Comparative Religion at Miami.
Meanwhile back in Eden...
Nimoy walks in the Garden with a bible and his wholly white vestments.
Jedha in Star Wars Ashurban-appalling?
Bahrain: Independent since 1971. UK Protectorate in 1892, with decades of playing Ottomans, Persians, and British off each other. Archaeologist P. B. (Peter Bruce) Cornwall "The first excavation at the site was carried out by a Danish archaeological expedition led by Geoffrey Bibby between 1954 and 1972, and later by a French expedition from 1977"
Archaeological Excavations -- Bahrain
Maybe one of YOU good people can make sense of this?
Technical Consultant was Gerald A LaRue of USC. Scholar of Religion & Gerontologist. (Apparently, LaRue would pass the ashes of a dead colleague around in class, with the dead colleague's permission, as a memento mori) Writer of this episode, Jim Kouf.
"Patricia Gibbs, an English woman who runs Bahrain Explored, has done much to make the island accessible to the tourist She began four years ago, when a friend at British Airways asked her to show VIP guests on the inaugural Concorde flight around Bahrain. Now she has seven knowledgeable guides with cars and a minibus. Her stop-over package includes a sight-seeing tour of the spring-fed, relatively green northern coast of Bahrain, as well as some inland villages. You will see Arab dhows being built, by hand, with twisted mangrove limbs from India, before visiting the main archaeological sites dating to 2700 BC ." | |||
| S02E23 - The Coming Ice Age | 19 Jan 2021 | 02:09:40 | |
Jeb and Blake are joined by climate scientist Dr. John Cook to discuss this infamous episode of In Search Of... In addition to his work teaching at George Mason University, Cook is also the author of the delightful science book CRANKY UNCLE VS CLIMATE CHANGE. (Amazon affiliate link) If you like John's work like this or his science advocacy, you can support him here financially. He's worked to provide a tremendous amount of clear and accessible science advocacy in this field and it is expensive and only funded through donations. Now let's get to the episode goodies: The episode may be available at YouTube but Discovery is working to take them all down and the few examples we've seen for this episode have all been posted by climate-change denialists and we don't want to support their channels. Blake suspects that the new streaming channel DISCOVERY+ may be considering making the original ISO series available through its streaming service at some point. That would be a good reason why they may be cleaning up all the YouTube instances - but it might just be copyright policing of the "due diligence" kind. Hard to say.
Baffin Island's Surviving Trees Article about the 1970s idea of a coming ice age
Ernie Sieber (1926 - 2011) George Washington Bridge - NIMOY STOOD HERE Rotate that street-view for a surprise cameo from our old pal, the Trinity Church Cemetery in NYC. Discussion of Toba Catastrophe Theory. Dr. Chester C Langway his lost ice cores were found in 2018! Research Ship Vema (1953 - 1981) Dr. Stephen Schneider (1945 - 2010) | |||
| S02E22 - Deadly Ants | 28 Dec 2020 | 01:42:09 | |
Jeb and Blake discuss ants and the "deadly" fire ant invasion of the southern United States. Jeb struggles with ANTipathy towards the topic despite being an ANThropologist. (If you're looking for more wordplay like this in the episode, you'll find it ANTiclimactic.) It probably won't last but you can currently catch this episode of ISO on YouTube here:
Nimoy, outstanding in his field. The episode has some really nice photography, and I especially liked this shot of the ant battlefield at dawn.
Show Topic Links: Footage of Azteca Ants in a Cecropia Tree YouTube of people moving a cecropia tree and the ant results. Smithsonian article talking about the similarities b/w ant war and human war. Huffpost article about documentary deception A map projecting what researchers think the likely spread of these ants could be in the US. AntWiki article on E. Burchellii - the Army Ant of South America The Ants by Holldobler and Wilson Ed Yong response to Bugpocalypse Article Termites are a social cockroach Ants are related to Bees and Wasps Jeb would probably appreciate this video of molten aluminum being poured into a fire ant nest to cast the structure. Pop Culture Links/Resources: Henry David Thoreau famously wrote about a battle between red and black ants in Walden (1854). THEM! (1954) Amazon Escape! Adaptation of Leiningen vs The Ants YouTube The Naked Jungle (1954) Amazon The Secret of the Incas (1955) YouTube Empire of the Ants (1977) Amazon Phase IV (1974) Amazon | |||