January 20, 2019 — Linda Godfrey

[Gene Steinberg]

We always enjoy our visits with Linda Godfrey, a true "Earth spirit."

During this episode, she focused especially on her own personal experiences with strange creatures.

Randall and I also talked about this briefly in a wide-ranging presentation on this weekend's After The Paracast, an exclusive feature of The Paracast+.

For more details on our premium subscription service, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio

 

[PsyChris]

Great show. Fun to hear about all the other cryptids and alienish entities.

 

[boulders and sticks]

I really Enjoyed this episode. Made a nice change from the UFO topic.
It would be very interesting in a future episode to have guests that specialize in all the various paranormal subjects talking with each other. What would someone like Stanton Freeman have to say to Linda Godfrey? I like the way you guys are introducing new guests, though Yovav was a bit of a disappointment.
Cheers John.

 

[Randall]

I really Enjoyed this episode. Made a nice change from the UFO topic.
It would be very interesting in a future episode to have guests that specialize in all the various paranormal subjects talking with each other. What would someone like Stanton Freeman have to say to Linda Godfrey? I like the way you guys are introducing new guests, though Yovav was a bit of a disappointment.
Cheers John.

Thanks for the comments. If you liked Linda, you'll probably also like this week's guest Jason Offutt. So far as Yovav goes, at least he's trying to do something positive and puts his own time and money where his mouth is, and hopefully he'll evolve positively in the future along with his project. In the meantime, I think he would have done much better with a half-hour segment. Two hours was too much to expect given his level of experience.

Nevertheless I still like the idea of having those who are younger and newer to the field on the show. What do you think of the idea of having the occasional show with a short 30 minute segment to highlight someone new? That way the audience could get an introduction to some of the newcomers ( relatively speaking ) without getting too bored.

 

[boulders and sticks]

Thanks for the comments. If you liked Linda, you'll probably also like this week's guest Jason Offutt. So far as Yovav goes, at least he's trying to do something positive and puts his own time and money where his mouth is, and hopefully he'll evolve positively in the future along with his project. In the meantime, I think he would have done much better with a half-hour segment. Two hours was too much to expect given his level of experience.

Nevertheless I still like the idea of having those who are younger and newer to the field on the show. What do you think of the idea of having the occasional show with a short 30 minute segment to highlight someone new? That way the audience could get an introduction to some of the newcomers ( relatively speaking ) without getting too bored.

I think having a short 30 min segment with someone new to the field would be interesting. I remember an episode many years ago, I think when David Biedney was still on you had a very young guest (Late Teens) It was nice to hear a different approach and different ideas. Also a little more variety of subjects makes for a nice change. That's why I liked Linda's show. I have yet to listen to the very latest show. I was thinking it would be fascinating to have a series of episodes following an investigation of one specific case right from the start. I've been listening since the very beginning and always look forward to the show. To have kept the paracast going every week for that long is quite an achievement. The last six months or so since I became a paracast + member, I've been re listening to older episodes and enjoying after the paracast for each. When Gene promotes the + service you really need to let people know they will have access to all the previous + episodes, that's a real bonus.
Thanks again guys. Cheers John.

 

[Randall]

I think having a short 30 min segment with someone new to the field would be interesting. I remember an episode many years ago, I think when David Biedney was still on you had a very young guest (Late Teens) It was nice to hear a different approach and different ideas. Also a little more variety of subjects makes for a nice change. That's why I liked Linda's show. I have yet to listen to the very latest show. I was thinking it would be fascinating to have a series of episodes following an investigation of one specific case right from the start. I've been listening since the very beginning and always look forward to the show. To have kept the paracast going every week for that long is quite an achievement. The last six months or so since I became a paracast + member, I've been re listening to older episodes and enjoying after the paracast for each. When Gene promotes the + service you really need to let people know they will have access to all the previous + episodes, that's a real bonus.
Thanks again guys. Cheers John.

Thanks for the positive vibes . I'll definitely mention to Gene that he should make a point of promoting the archived episodes in The Paracast Plus. Ultimately, I'd also like to see transcripts and some special episodes and content too. If anyone were interested in volunteering however, we could at least offer a free Paracast Plus membership.

And if you should happen to run across someone new and interesting, by all means send me their info and we'll see if we can get them on. In the meantime I'll run the idea past Gene about featuring new younger and upcoming people in the field for the occasional short segment, maybe once a month or so, and see what he says.

 

[Randall]

Not to be negative - only realistic, but I’ve commented previously that it’s probably no longer viable for Paracast to maintain a weekly schedule with a credible level of quality “gold standard” guests. It seems that you’re running out of steam - or maybe the subject is itself and/or there are just too many paranormal podcasts around nowadays?
Maybe periodic podcasts with higher quality, more scientifically experienced and credible guests could be the way to go rather than having to scrabble around with forum/peripheral types at the last minute and then having to somewhat awkwardly hold them up when they start to dry up? Must be a bit stressful.

You correctly identified one of the problems that seems to happen to people who have been into the paranormal for a long time. But it's also important to remember that there are new people becoming interested all the time who have never been jaded by the constant exposure. They are important too. Like I've said more than once, quality doesn't have to equate to A list speakers on the paranormal lecture circuit.

But just out of curiosity, if you could put together a show that would meet your standards for a "Gold Standard", what sort of format and features would it have and how would you pay for it? Someone once advised me that if you're going to be critical, and you want to be respected for it, then always offer it along with a solution. Maybe that's not always easy, but that's probably also why it garners more respect.

 

[Randall]

Well I guess I am just looking for the “A listers” - - and let’s face it you’ve also suffered from reputational damage particularly since Chris OBrien left.

Chris has his followers. I'm one of them. But I don't see how him focusing on his own thing is connected with any "reputational damage" to The Paracast. That seems to be the work of other people.

 

[Randall]

I think you're onto a bit of a sticky wicket when it comes to the subject of "respect" given all of the recent adverse publicity out there on the net. Maybe best leave this aside for now

I have no worries about it, and have been through it enough here that any fair minded person who doesn't belong to some Ayn Randian Objectivist ideology should be able to see clearly through it. Now back to Linda Godfrey if you please.

 

[Randall]

I’ve no idea what your preamble was about, but with respect to Linda - I thought she was a very pleasant lady and interviewed well. It was a nice sort of fireside chat essentially about modern urban legends and personal experiences of a crypto nature. Not my particular field of interest but she was certainly no kook or crank.
I don’t hold out so much hope for the upcoming guest though - definitely not an “A” lister - but it’s all a free offering so best of luck

Jason's a professor of journalism and published author. He's also got a sense of humor and doesn't take everything so seriously all the time that it becomes a drag. I think he and Linda would probably get along just fine.