Wild Thing

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! While we hypothesized about exoplanets for years, it wasn't until recently that we could confirm their existence. Astrophysicist and MIT professor Sara Seager has been at the leading edge of the search for exoplanets.

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! 2020 - already not a great year - was made worse for astronomers when the Arecibo Telescope collapsed in Puerto Rico. Abel Mendez, an astronomer who grew up in the telescope's shadow, talks about the importance of Arecibo and what future plans may bring.

Wild thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! David Anderson likes the idea of aliens but he’s not a big fan of the TV show Ancient Aliens. The archeologist has real problems with how the show portrays his chosen field and diminishes human achievements. But, he says, while the show is misguided, he also understands why these ideas about “pseudoarchaeology” are so appealing.

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! Sarah Stewart Johnson is a planetary scientist who has worked on several Mars missions and is also the author of Sirens of Mars. She talks to us about the latest mission to the Red Planet—the Perseverance rover—and why our closest neighbor holds such fascination for Earthlings.

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson gives his perspective on the rare earth hypothesis, the difficulty of wrapping one's head around the universe, and the problem with movie aliens.

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! In a wide-ranging conversation, Joe Scott, (host of the popular YouTube series Answers With Joe) and I discuss panspermia, whether octopuses are aliens, and the rare earth hypothesis.

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! In September 2020, just days before this podcast launched, scientists announced that they might have found evidence for life on Venus... or at least in Venus's atmosphere. We talk to Clara Sousa-Silva—one of the scientists involved—about their findings, what life on Venus might be like, and what the next steps might be.

Wild Thing is rereleasing its bonus episodes! In Ep. 2 of Wild Thing, I mentioned that people went crazy about the gorilla. They even wrote songs about it. But I couldn’t find the music, so I couldn’t play the tune… until now. In a special bonus letters segment, a musical performance from a Wild Thing fan, as well as some of your stories and letters.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

**THIS EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT MATERIAL**Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! We talk to Virginia Wade, author of a series of Bigfoot erotica books, about the saucier side of Sasquatch.

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! We hear from William Dear—director of "Harry & the Hendersons"—about how he tried to capture the magic of Bigfoot on the big screen.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

On September 10, 2025, Jeff Meldrum passed away after a battle with brain cancer. I interviewed him multiple times for the first season of Wild Thing and he was incredibly generous with his time and extremely patient in answering my questions about Bigfoot. In memory of him, I’ve excerpted a section from one of our interviews, at a 2017 conference held in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Patterson-Gimlin film.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! Hear an extended conversation with Bob Gimlin, half of the famous duo that shot the Patterson-Gimlin film back in 1967.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

In memory of Peter Byrne, the longest-surviving member of the Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery. After looking for Bigfoot for decades, the 97-year-old tracker passed away in August 2023. Host Laura Krantz had the opportunity to interview him in 2017, and learned that his search for Sasquatch was only one adventure in a life that was jam-packed with them.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

What were the long-term effects of the SL-1 explosion? Nuclear power is a shrinking part of America’s energy picture; accidents and fear have tarnished it, and the old reactor fleet is reaching its end. Yet nuclear energy could provide a bulwark against the looming threat of climate change. Is it something we can make work for us, in spite of ourselves? Are the costs worth it in the long run? Sixty years on, what do we know—and are we better prepared?*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 3 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz and Scott Carney. Editing by Alicia Lincoln. Music and mixing by Louis Weeks.*Find us on social media - @wildthingpod - and on our website https://wildthingpodcast.com/

Incidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima are often what comes to mind when we think about nuclear energy. Thankfully, events like these actually very rare. So does that mean the risks we associate with atomic power are as bad as we think? How good are we at actually assessing those risks? And can we make things even less risky by removing humans from the equation? That’s how some next generation projects hope to make nuclear energy safer.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 3 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz and Scott Carney. Editing by Alicia Lincoln. Music and mixing by Louis Weeks.*Find us on social media - @wildthingpod - and on our website https://wildthingpodcast.com/

The aftermath of SL-1 highlighted a problem that we still haven’t solved, despite decades of searching for a solution: what to do with the waste. Our plans to store nuclear waste inside Yucca Mountain in Nevada fell through. So now what? Can we safely contain these materials? Should the waste be in one location, or many? How do we warn future generations about the dangers these materials pose?*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 3 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz and Scott Carney. Editing by Alicia Lincoln. Music and mixing by Louis Weeks.*Find us on social media - @wildthingpod - and on our website https://wildthingpodcast.com/