Big Picture Science – Sunday 8 AM
Skeptic Check: Cryptids
The line between folklore fauna and undiscovered species
Bigfoot could get official status if proposed legislation passes making it the state cryptid of California. If nothing else, the effort shows that fascination with cryptids has an outsized footprint on our culture. We look at why mythical creatures continue to capture imaginations – as well as passions – of die-hard believers, despite no evidence for their existence. An author uncovers the origin of a beloved hoax in the American West and its unexpected ties to a real animal and historical medical breakthrough. But are we looking for creature delights in all the wrong places? A tally of Earth’s species reveals that far more remain unidentified than are currently known. Newly discovered critters such as the Yeti crab and an organism dubbed the Flying Spaghetti Monster are so strange, it challenges us to separate fauna fact from folktale.
Guests:
Chris Rogers – Assemblymember, California’s 2nd Assembly District
Benjamin Radford – Deputy Editor of Skeptical Inquirer Science Magazine, author, and co-host of Squaring the Strange podcast
Michael Branch – Writer, humorist, and author of On the Trail of the Jackalope: How a Legend Captured the World’s Imagination and Helped Us Cure Cancer
Boris Worm – Marine ecologist, Professor of Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake
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Your Big Picture Science Hosts:
Seth Shostak Host and Producer, Big Picture Science – Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute
Molly Bentley Executive Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science
About Big Picture Science:
Big Picture Science is a weekly, one-hour radio show and podcast produced at the SETI Institute. Hosted by Seth Shostak, SETI Institute Fellow and Senior Astronomer, and science journalist Molly Bentley, Big Picture Science reports on modern science and technology with smart and humorous storytelling.
Themed episodes feature interviews with top scientists and technology innovators. All episodes try to answer the question, “so what?” Why does this research matter?
Big Picture Science topics range from the microbiome to virtual reality, from the physics of motion to the intelligence of animals. Every month one episode is devoted to critical thinking in “Skeptic Check”, which separates fact from fiction in topics such as Bigfoot and UFOs.
And of course we cover science related to the work of the SETI Institute.