Monster Talk!

It's a podcast I know I've mentioned around.  They're on iTunes, and typing monsterquest.com will get you directed to their site.

I get a kick out of it for a couple of reasons.  First, because it was my introduction to the religion of Skeptic-- listen, you'll see what I mean; their way of talking about it matches up pretty well with PID's Christian talk-- second, because their stated goal is to scientifically argue against cryptids (Bigfoot, Nessy, what have you) and they keep failing.  Seriously, I'm still not entirely sure they're serious-- "Ho ho!  We, the Skeptics, are the voice of Reason!  And this claim is false, because it was made by CREATIONISTS!"  By the way, pretty much anyone not utterly agreeing with their form of evolution is a CREATIONIST.  It's sort of funny.  A softball like this, their choice of targets, and they fail on form?

Also, it's enjoyable to listen to them or their guests talk and ask yourself why they missed an obvious answer.  First example to come to mind: a guy is talking about his upcoming book, and he very earnestly tells them that the topic has never been covered-- he went to amazon, typed in 'cryptozoology,' and all of the top 100 results that came up were for it, or only refuted one-- Bigfoot or Nessy, generally.  My first thought: well, duh, not a lot of folks write books countering an entire field unless they've got a bug in their ear, like you do.  (incidentally, the top result when I searched was Cryptozoology A To Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature.  I have this book, and part of why I like it is the way it lists known frauds, hoaxes and such, seems to try to keep a neutral tone.)

Really enjoy their latest podcast, though, since the guest seemed to try very hard to stick to science, even if he did keep going on about creationists, and was rather off-putting and stuck up about amateurism vs professionals.  If you put yourself in the mindset that the science they accept is a religion and don't expect it to be the sort of idealized science of theory, it makes sense.  (For example, also in this ep, they spent a few minutes making fun of some guy for being a Creationist who first suggested that sea serpents might be Nessy type dinosaurs. {I know, technically not dinos.}  Eventually, they mention it was before the theory of evolution, and that he was making the theory based on the fossil remains around England.  Uh, guys?  That's science; you take what data you have-- reports of 'serpents' in the sea, fossils of long-necked swimming creatures-- and make a theory.  Even if it's wrong, that's what you're supposed to do....)

Interesting, though, and it's great fun to sharpen arguments for something that doesn't matter!