Episode #229: The Book of the Damned - Part 1

Time for a book report.

We've been wanting to do Charles Fort's The Book of the Damned for a while now, as in many ways it is the foundation of much of modern investigations into the strange, weird, and wonderful. As always, we begin by reading through the various intros and forwards to the book. There is an introduction by Jim Steinmeyer, which gives us some insight into Fort himself and his life. Then there is Fort's own introduction to The Book of the Damned, which gives us some insight into his goals and some of his thinking regarding the subjects of the book. It also gives us an introduction into Fort's unique style of writing.

After these two intros, we begin tackling the main subjects, starting with strange atmospheric effects, colored hail, and weird rain.

You can get The Book of the Damned from Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Damned-Charles-Fort/dp/1514608618

Audible version by Grimerica:

https://www.amazon.com/The-Book-of-the-Damned/dp/B09QD49FM3

Thanks to listener and supporter AJ Schlechten for the 1up box of art, find his work at his website, https://www.ajschlechten.com/, and on Instagram, @ajschlechten

Episode #228: Exploring Ancient Montana

This week we welcome another listener and long time supporter of the show on as a guest to talk about his explorations of the area in which he lives. Brandon Ricks, AKA "HistoryShift", who has been making our YouTube videos for years, has immersed himself in the exploration of the public wilderness areas near his home in Montana, where there are many fascinating geological formations, some of which are so strange that it raises the question of possible human construction or at least modification.

We did record video for this episode, so if you want to see the many photos and videos Brandon showed us of his discoveries, look for the YouTube video, which will be up as soon as Brandon finishes it.

You can also see many more images and videos at Brandon's website, and you can even get google earth coordinates and maps, if you're interested in hiking out to see these formations yourself.

Episode #227: Mysterious Stone Structures of Vermont

Listener Josh Smart joins us to discuss and show his field explorations of the numerous old stone walls, chambers, and possible effigies that dot the landscape of Vermont. Listeners may recall that we have been to Vermont many times due to having family up there, and the last few times we have been, we have taken a day or two to drive around and look for these structures ourselves, including visiting an area known as the "Smith Farm" which has many of these strange and beautiful stone mounds and walls.
Josh, being a native to Vermont, has developed a system for finding these structures and has hiked out to see them and take pictures. He shares his photos and thoughts with us on this episode, explaining what he has found and the questions he has been unable to get answers for, despite consulting local authorities, libraries, and historical societies.

We did record video for this episode, so look for it on our YouTube channel if you want to see Josh's photos.

The "Line Dragon" in the Azores: https://youtu.be/Txbsx8-y1p8

"Hidden Vermont" Smith Farm site: https://youtu.be/vDSBOInLOUM

Associate Executive Producers:

Antonio Kasljevic

Episode #226: The New Year, Emails, and Petrie

 Yet another three hour show(this is a habit we're going to have to break), where we catch up on listener emails for the first half of the show, then tackle the remaining sections of "The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh" that Kyle picked out.

Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie lays out his relatively "standard model" perspective of how the pyramids may have been built, logistically speaking, using a core of year-round specialists, and an annual influx of unskilled labor from the general population during the Nile Flooding period. We find his reasoning....well...reasonable....and he also stands out from the standard model in two important respects: he believes the pyramid builders had access to iron and bronze, and that they had mechanically-assisted cutting tools with "jeweled tips" to help them in sawing and drilling of hard stone.

He also gives some fascinating observations on the measurement details of the Great Pyramid, the use of Pi, and the many interesting mathematical "coincidences" of geometrical "harmony" contained in the layout of the structure.