Some Other Sphere

Episode 97 - Gregory Forth - Between Ape and Human

My guest for this episode is Gregory Forth, who joined me to discuss his book Between Ape and Human: An Anthropologist on the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid.
Gregory received his doctorate at Oxford and was a professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta for more than three decades.  He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and is the author more than one hundred scholarly papers and several academic books.  Between Ape and Human is his first book for a general audience.
While doing fieldwork in the Lio region of the Indonesian island of Flores, he came across people talking about half-apelike, half-humanlike creatures called Lai Ho’a that once lived in a cave on the slopes of a nearby volcano. Over the years he continued to record what locals had to say about these mystery hominoids while searching for ways to explain them as imaginary symbols of the wild or other cultural representations.
In 2003 however, skeletons of a small-statured early human species named Homo Foresiensis were excavated in a cave in western Flores. In view of this timing and the striking resemblance of floresiensis to the mystery creatures described by the islanders, Gregory began to think about the creatures reported to him as possibly reflecting a real species, either now extinct but retained in ‘cultural memory’, or perhaps even still surviving.
I begin the interview by talking with Gregory about how his interest in researching ape-man encounters in Flores started, and then the discussion moves to the book itself, which across four sections examines the space the Lai Ho’a occupy in islanders’ culture as both natural creatures and as supernatural beings.
Between Ape and Human is published by Pegasus Books - for further details go to http://pegasusbooks.com/authors/gregory-forth. You can purchase a copy from the publisher or by ordering it from your favourite bookseller.
If you would like to support  the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is provided by Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 96 - Patrick Harpur - Daimonic Reality

Joining me as my guest for this episode is author Patrick Harpur.  Patrick has written extensively on a range of fortean subjects but is perhaps best known for his 1994 book Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld. This applied the ideas of people such as William Blake, W.B Yeats and Carl Jung to examine the connections across a wide range of paranormal phenomena and explore the history of the realm many believe exists between the states of body and spirit.
The book is regarded as classic of it’s kind and a must have for the bookshelves of people interested in the sort of subjects It covers.
In the interview I begin by talking with Patrick about the concept of daimonic reality and what that term describes. From there we discuss the book and how it came about and then move on to the daimons themselves, what they are, their interactions with humanity and how and why they manifest in our world the way they do.
More information about Patrick and his writing can be found at http://www.harpur.org/patrick.htm.
You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere Theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 95 - Jeremy Harte - The Devil in the English Landscape

My guest for this episode is folklorist and author Jeremy Harte, who joined me to talk about his new book Cloven Country: The Devil in the English Landscape.
Jeremy has written extensively on local history, folklore and the supernatural and is the curator of the Bourne Hall Museum at Epson and Ewell as well as secretary of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society.
In Cloven Country, he explores the background of those stories where the Devil played a part both in creating the English landscape, as well as his relationships with the people who populated it – which could range from being hoodwinked by cunning cobblers, to punishing wealthy merchants and landowners for their greed and avarice.
In the interview I begin by talking with Jeremy about what inspired the idea for the book and then look at the history of the Devil's appearances in English folklore, and some of the themes and motifs that are most common there. We also talk about the relationship between this kind of folklore and peoples personal experience of the supernatural, and how the latter has become much more prevalent in modern times, to the extent that presence of the 'landscape devil' in recent storytelling is hard to discern.
Cloven Country: The Devil in the English Landscape is published by Reaktion Books - more details can be found at https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/cloven-country and the book can be purchased from your local bookshop.
You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee, go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere Theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 94 - George Popov - Filmmaking and the Paranormal

Joining me for this episode is filmmaker George Popov. George is half of the creative partnership behind Rubicon Films, who since 2022 have released a series of paranormal themed documentaries under the title of ‘Sideworld’.
To quote George, a sideworld exists “where the line between fact and fiction is enshrouded in mist and shadow, and beyond that threshold is a place that can change our perspective on everything we think we know.”
The three Sideworld documentaries made so far have explored the haunted forests of England, terrors of the sea, and English villages with ghostly reputations. Prior to that, Rubicon made two feature films  - Hex in 2017 and The Droving in 2020, which both include folk horror themes and fortean subjects.
In the interview I begin by talking with George about his interests in the paranormal and filmmaking, and the relationship they have had as part of his career. From there we  go on to discuss the Sideworld documentaries and some of the subjects they cover, as and explore how these sorts of things represent the sideworld concept itself.
More information about George's films can be found at https://www.rubiconfilms.co.uk/.
You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 93 - Vuk (Tracing Owls Podcast) - Gaia Theory

My guest for this episode is Vuk, host of the Tracing Owls podcast.
A quirky but nuanced exploration into Fortean philosophy, Tracing Owls focuses on the roles of Mother Nature, the Trickster and the experiencer in shaping paranormal phenomena, with a healthy amount of humour and humility along the way.
Could Cryptids, UFOs, High strangeness and paraweird anomalies all originate from the same source? Vuk seeks to catalogue the overlooked, spotlight the disregarded, and show that the cosmic expanse is much greater than our understanding of it.
A good example of this are his thoughts on Gaia Theory, expanding on the ideas of James Lovelock and Lynn Margoulis. This is the focus of the episode, exploring how paranormal happenings could be manifestations in the workings of a vast global consciousness.
More information on the Tracing Owls Podcast can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TracingOwls.
If you'd like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can do so with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub', by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 92 - Sarah Janes - Initiation into Dream Mysteries

Joining me for this episode is author and dream researcher, Sarah Janes. Sarah has been an enthusiastic lucid dreamer since childhood and has written about dreams, dream culture and the anthropology of dreaming for a number of academic journals, the Idler magazine and more. 
Sarah’s first book Initiation into Dream Mysteries, Drinking from the Pool of Mnemosyne was published recently and explores the ancient history and philosophy of dream therapy and sleep medicine, beginning in deepest antiquity through to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece. It also has seven stories in it which are inspired by Sarah’s own dream incubation practices. These stories are designed to act as psychomagic narratives to influence your dreams and take you on a self-initiatory conscious dream quest. 
In the interview we talk about how Sarah’s interest in dreams and dreaming began, and then move on to discuss the history of dream therapy and interpretation in ancient times, along with examples of that such as temple sleep and dream incubation. We also chat about the role and importance of divine entities in these practices, and what the use of dream therapy in ancient societies can inform us on about the worldview and reality of those cultures as a whole.  Our conversation was recorded in November 2022.
For more information on Sarah's new book and dream culture research go to her website https://themysteries.org/
If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The podcast theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey amd Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 91 - Dr Liz Savage - A Beginner’s Guide to Dickensian Cryptozoology

My guest for this episode is Dr Liz Savage, who joined me to talk about the concept of Dickensian Cryptozoology.
Liz earned her PhD from Durham University on nineteenth-century literature, focusing on Charles Dickens and the uncanny. Her current research continues to focus on the strange and unusual in literature, film, and other media.
Dickensian Cryptozoology is the subject of a paper she has written which proposes a new approach to the writers texts that examines the character and places he created through the lens of creature myths and legends that persist today.
Central to these ideas are his Mudfog Papers, a fantastical set of stories complete with robots, circus fleas, and overenthusiastic scientists studying the mathematical implications of children’s books alongside annuals that run on milk.
Later Dickens works are also included to help demonstrate how cryptozoological and Fortean readings of character and places are not only possible, but create a fun, unique, and unexpected research angle for both seasoned academics and those new to Dickens.
We begin the interview by talking about the otherworldliness of Dickens writing, and how there are examples of that in many of his works. We then discuss the Mudfog papers themselves, and some of the stories and characters which represent the ideas Liz is interested in.
Liz is presenting her talk about Dickensian Cryptozoology at a Dickens Day symposium which is happening at the School of Advanced Study (University of London) on Saturday February 25th 2023. More details can be found at https://ies.sas.ac.uk/events/dickens-day-2022.
She can be found on Twitter as @LizAnneSavage where there is a bio with links to more of her talks and contact information.
If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere, you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The podcast theme is from Purple Planet Music - ' Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 90 - David Booher - The Gerry Irwin Story

My guest for this episode is author David Booher, who joined me to talk about his 2017 book, No Return: The Gerry Irwin Story – UFO Abduction or Covert Operation.
The book explores the interesting case of Gerry Irwin, a young soldier in the US Army who whilst driving back to his base on a cold February evening in 1959, witnessed an unusual light in the sky. Stopping to investigate, he left a message on his car to make other motorists aware and walked through the undergrowth towards the spot where he thought something had crashed, or landed.  He would later be found unconscious, and from that point on would be beset by inexplicable blackouts and bizarre behaviour, which threatened to derail his promising Army career. Then one day early in August 1959 he suddenly deserted his Army post in Texas and seemingly disappeared without a trace.
What happened to Gerry in those months is one of Ufology’s less famous mysteries, but a fascinating one nonetheless. Was this an alien abduction case, two years before something similar happened to Betty and Barney Hill? Or, as has been suggested with those events, could it be something more terrestrial and nefarious?
No one knew what became of Gerry until David decided to research the mystery and the book details the results of those investigations. We begin the interview by laying out the established timeline for the case and then talk further about how David uncovered more about what happened to Gerry.
No Return: The Gerry Irwin Story – UFO Abduction or Covert Operation is available to purchase online and from your local bookshop. David can be contacted by email at noreturnufo@gmail.com if you have any questions for him.
If you'd like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation, you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 89 - Duncan Barford - Magick, Psychology and the Paranormal

Joining me as my guest for this episode is Duncan Barford. Duncan is the creative force behind Occult Experiments in the Home, a project which began as a blog but has expanded beyond that into a number of books and a podcast. These have all explored magick, occulture and the paranormal and focus in particular on how those areas intersect with personal experience, psychology, and spiritual practice.
Duncan is also a qualified counsellor and suspended the blog when beginning the training for this, concerned that a conspicuous interest in the occult might prove professionally unhelpful. Having now qualified and worked for several years in various therapeutic contexts, he is able to enjoy discussing openly his deep and lifelong interest in these subjects.
In the interview we begin by talking about how Occult Experiments in the Home got started, which leads to a wide-ranging discussion about magic, psychology, the nature of being, the value of experience in understanding the paranormal, and much more.
Further details about Duncan and OEITH can be found at https://oeith.co.uk/.
You can support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
 

Episode 88 - Michele Eve - Spiritualism, Mediumship and Ghostly Gloucestershire

In this episode my guest is paranormal investigator Michele Eve. Michele, who is based in the English county of Gloucestershire in the UK is the creator of the Mystical Times blog, where she writes about a wide range of paranormal phenomena, from time slips, to ghostly monks, past lives, strange deaths, local folklore and much more.
 
Michele grew up in a Spiritualist household and we talk about that early in the interview, before moving on to her time working as a psychic medium, and what that faculty can tell us about the nature of the supernatural. After that we talk about a local legend that was born out of a tragic rail disaster in the 1920's and then return to discussing some of the unusual happenings Michele has experienced and written about, as well some of the haunted places that are dotted throughout the county of Gloucestershire. 
To visit the Mystical Times blog go to https://mysticaltimesblog.com/.
You can support Some Other Sphere with a donation via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
 
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.