MonsterTalk is an audio podcast

Podcast

A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

 presented by the Skeptics Society’s Skeptic

Skeptic (U.S. magazine)

Skeptic is a quarterly science education and science advocacy magazine published internationally by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs...

magazine. The show critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures, such as Bigfoot

Bigfoot

Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...

, the Loch Ness Monster

Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....

 and werewolves. It is hosted by Blake Smith, Benjamin Radford

Benjamin Radford

Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer, former editor-in-chief of the Spanish-language magazine Pensar, which was published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine Skeptical Briefs newsletter, Discovery News, LiveScience.com...

, and Dr Karen Stollznow

Karen Stollznow

Karen Stollznow is an Australian writer, linguist, podcaster and skeptic. She is a columnist for both Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer magazines and is host on two different skeptic podcasts...

. Blake Smith produces the show.

History

The first show featured an interview about Bigfoot DNA with Professor Todd Disotell and was released on July 2, 2009.

Monster Talk interviews the scientists and investigators that research cryptozoological claims from a scientific perspective. The hosts have interviewed guests about an extensive array of monsters and cryptids, including zombies, demons, ninjas, the Mothman

Mothman

Mothman is a legendary creature reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia from 15 November 1966 to 15 December 1967. The first newspaper report was published in the Point Pleasant Register dated 16 November 1966, entitled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird...Creature...Something"...

, Cthulu, The Minnesota Iceman

Minnesota Iceman

The Minnesota Iceman is a hoax depicting a man-like creature frozen in a block of ice that was found in Minnesota in 1968. It was displayed at state fairs or carnivals in and around Rollingstone, Minnesota, and Milwaukee on and around December 17, 1968 as a "missing link".-Description:It has been...

, the Chupacabra

Chupacabra

The chupacabras is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico , Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American communities...

; and extinct natural animals including Pterosaurs, Plesiosaurs, and the Thylacine

Thylacine

The thylacine or ,also ;binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf...

.

The hosts have also spoken with scientists and investigators about famous cryptid claims and alleged evidence, including the Skookum cast

Skookum Cast

The Skookum cast is a plaster cast often claimed to be an imprint of the body of Bigfoot, although it is more typically regarded as that of an elk.-Description:...

, and the Patterson-Gimlin film

Patterson-Gimlin film

The Patterson-Gimlin film is a famous short motion picture of an unidentified subject the film makers purported to be a "Bigfoot", that was supposedly filmed on October 20, 1967, by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin on the Klamath River outside of Orleans,...

.

Guests of the show have included Dr Phil Plait, Professor PZ Myers

PZ Myers

Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and the author of the Pharyngula science blog. He is currently an associate professor of biology at UMM, works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology , and also cultivates an...

, Dr Steven Novella

Steven Novella

Steven P. Novella is an American clinical neurologist, assistant professor and Director of General Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine...

, magician James Randi

James Randi

James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...

, Sasquatch author Dr. Brian Regal, writer and illustrator Daniel Loxton

Daniel Loxton

Daniel Loxton is a Canadian writer, illustrator, and skeptic. He is the Editor of Junior Skeptic magazine, a kids’ science section bound into the Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine...

 and investigator Joe Nickell

Joe Nickell

Joe Nickell is a prominent skeptical investigator of the paranormal. He also works as an historical document consultant and has helped expose such famous forgeries as the purported diary of Jack the Ripper. In 2002 he was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr...

.

In the media

• Blake Smith is interviewed by Creative Loafing Magazine and is asked which crypto receives the most call-ins about. Smith's response, "Although I'm a bit tired of Bigfoot as a topic, that's the thing most people in our audience write us about. Fortunately we do get a good mix of other monsters in there and plan to cover some of the more "fantastic" monsters like dragons and unicorns in the future."

• Monster Talk crew interviewed by Ghostly Talk radio.

• Blake Smith and Karen Stollznow interviewed on the podcast/radio show Skeptically Speaking, May 7, 2010.

• MonsterTalk is rebroadcast on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan
  Grand Rapids, Michigan
  Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
  
  .