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3 Responses to “iTF 70 The Dogman”

1. NMRNG responds: February 2nd, 2017 at 11:27 pm

   I checked out the Into the Fray website and there appears to be a lot of interesting podcast episodes with a lot of regional bigfoot reports plus other cryptozoology, paranormal, and unexplained phenomenon shows, including topics such black eyed kids, UFO’s, orang pendak, Groom Lake, etc…. These are pretty substantial episodes, with a few just over an hour long, several up to three hours and most at least 90 to 120 minutes. I’ll download a few, see how they are and report back here with my thoughts and opinions. The very first podcast featured an interview with Cryptomundo contributor Nick Redfern.

   However, a few episodes later David Paulides is the featured guest. I do not view Paulides as a credible source, as he was fired as a law enforcement officer for dishonest conduct, plus his theories (including one that many/most of the people who die or disappear in our national parks have been killed by sasquatches) smack of quackery. I wouldn’t put him quite as low as in Rick Dyer territory, but I think what he is selling appeals more to the gullible than those who are reasonably discerning bigfoot enthusiasts. There are a few very long, very detailed 1/5-star reviews of Paulides’ books on Amazon by an individual who has a major axe to grind against Paulides but nonetheless has pretty thoroughly researched and very plausibly refuted a lot of Paulides’ claims. Hopefully Ms. LeGro is not drinking all of the Kool-Aid that Paulides is pouring.

   Back to podcasts. I’ve somewhat belatedly gotten into this podcast thing over the past year and like listening to a number of podcasts, including several that would be of interest to the average Cryptomundian, as I do various chores like mow the lawn or shovel snow. I’ll give a couple of mini-reviews of on-topic podcasts I’ve been listening to lately.

   First, there’s The Boogie Monster, hosted by bearded stand-up comedians Kyle Kinane and less famous Dave Stone, who are avid fans of weird stuff and decided to do a weekly podcast generally on the topic of cryptids, the paranormal and supernatural, and other phenomenon. The intent from the start was to have a pretty casual format, to chat about their careers in comedy and recent stand-up tours, to discuss food and drink (including giving out some pretty tasty-sounding recipes) as well as discuss the main topic of the episode, plus they give a weekly shout-out to a fellow comedian (and sometimes musicians they know and/or like) for listeners to check out. They are both pretty funny guys, Kinane especially, but they are not horribly organized or authorities on these topics. The first few months worth of shows stayed on-topic pretty well, but over the past few months, they have treated podcast time a bit too much as party time, and as they become less sober, they stray into more-or-less random BS sessions. Plus, they have also started getting into topics that deviate from the announced genre and instead are more properly categorized as conspiracy theories, including the NWO, Pizzagate (an alleged politically-related pedophilia ring at DC pizza joints), and what to pack in a bug-out kit for Doomsday preppers. I’ll stick with their podcasts for another month or two but if it starts to look like the episodes are going to stay in the realms of conspiracy theories (I’ve got a relative who has bought into these theories hook, line, and sinker and they’re mostly wackjob tripe) or just stoner chit-chat, I’ll take a break from The Boogie Monster. It’s a shame the podcast has turned south recently, as both Kinane and Stone are funny comedians and the shows have a lot of potential if they stay a bit more on track.

   Second, I’ve been listening to the Cryptid Creatures podcast presented by Oklahoma college student and science fiction novelist Jesse Haynes, which is pretty good but also a bit on the amateurish side of things. Haynes chooses a bunch of mostly lesser-known monsters and such, and gives an enthusiastic background and details of reports of these cryptids. However, he does not delve very deep into these particular cryptids – most of his podcasts are in the 16-20 minute range and the longest is 30 minutes. Pretty interesting stuff, Haynes is making a good effort, but I find myself wanting more after most episodes. For instance, in his sasquatch episode, he tells us about a friend’s encounter, mentions he himself has had an encounter with sasquatch, but doesn’t say another word about his personal experience, not even to tell us he’ll provide details in a future episode.

   I’ll listen to some episodes of Into the Fray and follow up with my first impressions.

2. NMRNG responds: February 17th, 2017 at 10:00 am

   OK, I’ve listened to a number of the Into the Fray (ITF) podcasts and I generally like them. Here’s my review:

   PROS:

   – Lots of interesting topics in the worlds of cryptozoology, the paranormal, and other Fortean phenomena, and they tend to cover the topics in depth.

   – They have a good number of guests, some of whom are pretty credible (e.g. Nick Redfern; Doug Waller, cofounder of Southeast Ohio Society for Bigfoot Investigation).

   – The episode guide has very complete, detailed and helpful information on each episode, identifying the guest, the topics discussed, providing links to the guest’s website and social media accounts, and even links to other podcasts that may have been mentioned in the episode (e.g. the Queen of the Gulf episode about the haunted Galvez Hotel in Galveston includes links to several episodes of the OK Talk podcast – http://www.oktalk.podbean.com – which also sounds like an interesting podcast about the paranormal, cryptids, etc…). Some podcasts don’t bother with this information, which is particularly useful and helpful.

   – Site founder Shannon LeGro has an appealing voice, is quite articulate, is a pretty good interviewer, and seems like she is a rather interesting person, who has a fair amount of hands-on investigation of some of the topics about which she bases her show.

   CONS:

   – LeGro seems quite willing to believe the more farfetched theories of her more extreme guests and doesn’t push or challenge her guests with tougher questions. I like to see a greater degree of skepticism (a desire for an accurate, full, and objective investigation rather than enthusiasm for a topic that results in glossing-over or ignoring the Cons in favor of promoting the Pros) than LeGro displays. There are too many quacks, hoaxers, and/or attention-seekers in the worlds of cryptozoology and the paranormal and I don’t get the feeling (based on listening to maybe 4 or 5 episodes), that LeGro is sufficiently discerning to weed out the less credible claims and individuals involved in these fields.

   For instance, she seems to have bought David Paulides’ nonsense hook, line and sinker, and in his interview, totally accepted his theory that there was some malevolent government or even extraterrestrial agency that was kidnapping a bunch of college kids, killing them, and dumping them in a nearby lake or river. She and Paulides failed even to consider that all the victims were drunk, probably suffering from depression, and that it’s not uncommon for seemingly happy and successful people to be hiding deep psychological problems that become suicidal when under the influence of alcohol or drugs, particularly when they hit young adulthood and start to encounter real life pressures for the first time in college. Paulides threw numbers and figures around in inconsistent fashion and was not credible.

   Similarly, Vic Cundiff, the dogman expert, was not particularly credible – he had a too-friendly, too-enthusiastic tone of voice, he proudly proclaimed he had excellent photographic and/or video proof of the dogman from a trailcam, but, like Rick Deyer, refused to produce it under a weak excuse about how the owner of the alleged visual evidence didn’t want him to disclose either the photos or videos. After that I mostly stopped paying too much attention to him, as we’ve heard the “I’ve got proof but I’m not going to show you” drivel from too many attention-seekers.

   – Some of the episodes are not organized very well or focused sufficiently. On one podcast, Shannon got a full 12 minutes into her interview before she remembered she needed to introduce her guest. On other episodes, she spends quite a lengthy amount of time chatting with her two co-hosts, Ryan Sprague, an investigative journalist who specializes in UFOs, and Sam Shearon, an artist who has done a lot of rock album cover art (and who does the art for the ITF website – he’s quite a talented artist) and cryptozoology enthusiast. Maybe if I listen to enough podcasts, this will change, but I found myself not personally invested in what Sprague or Shearon had to say about their day-to-day lives, and I would prefer more focus on the episode’s central topic than on the peripheral discussions. Rather oddly, in a recent episode, Shannon mentions that she, Sprague, and Shearon have yet to meet each other in person – this surprised me as the two junior members of this podcast did not necessarily sound like they were participating from remote locations – ITF must use good microphones and high quality equipment.

   CONCLUSION:

   I added ITF to my podcast subscriptions, so that must indicate an overall thumbs-up vote for it. I like the variety and detail of the episodes and guests, and LeGro is a likable host, but I’d like to see a bit more objectivity and more challenging questioning during the interviews. I’d rate it 3.75 or maybe a 4.0 stars out of 5.

   –

3. NMRNG responds: May 1st, 2017 at 2:38 pm

   Several months later, I’ll affirm my recommendation for Into the Fray. I’ve listened to dozens of episodes, I like the sound of LeGro’s voice and her casual but very interesting and enthusiastic interviewing style, and even co-hosts Ryan Sprague and Sam Shearson have grown on me. While it varies depending on the episodes, she does fairly frequently ask more discerning follow-up questions of guests to get them to clarify or back up their statements. Shannon takes her subject matter and her podcast seriously, she does her research and is prepared for each interview. I give ITF and solid thumbs-up vote.

   I also like the OK Talk podcast done by Clint Granberry and Matt Stoker, dealing with similar topics of Fortean phenomenon. From time to time, Clint and Matt seem to make show night party night, and their Texas accents thicken as their voices get louder and slur a bit more, but they typically pick interesting topics and do their homework.

   The Cryptid Creatures podcast seems to be on hiatus as its creator has been focusing on projects relating to his science fiction writing.

   I’m going to withdraw my earlier support for The Boogie Monster podcast. as it has deteriorated into an essentially worthless mess that no longer has anything to do with Fortean phenomenon; the focus of the show has in recent months changed over to conspiracy theories, when they actually deviate from their stoner ramblings and get to the episode’s topic. Podcast creators Kyle Kinane and Dave Stone have treated episode after episode as nothing more than party time where they boast about how much weed they’ve smoked or bourbon they’ve drunk, they no longer even bother to research and prepare for each episode (mostly unemployed Stone may do half an hour’s worth of Wikipedia or google searches occasionally, but Kinane, a journeyman comedian who actually has a career, hasn’t bothered to prepare for a single episode in months). If you want to listen to a pair of thin-skinned entertainment industry types whine about their health, Stone’s homelessness, complain when listeners offer them constructive feedback about the direction the show has taken, and blather about nonsense like a typical pair of stoned dudes, well, The Boogie Monster is your podcast. Occasionally, they might even get to yet another wackjob conspiracy theory, and touch on it in very simplistic terms, but it has become a waste of time for me.

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