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The Paranoid Strain
Archive--Episode 1, part 1
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PHASE TWO IS UPON US.
Please do not panic. We're ready for this. As promised, we're starting our new, more frequent content feed with the first two-thirds of our very first episode. It includes high-falutin discussions of what, exactly, we mean by conspiracy theories, why people believe them, and what this whole show is supposed to be about. The last bit of this one comes out in a week or two, with some special bonus content. As always, thanks for listening, and let us know what you think of the updated format.
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32. New! Unidentified--Lightning strikes versus alien abductions
36:22||Season 6, Ep. 32Hearkening back to high school English class, we compare and contrast my and Whitley Strieber's unusual experiences. Also, we hear from my real-life parents, who do their best to recall what really happened with my lightning strike. I hope you find them as adorable as I do.
31. New! Unidentified--Fearful Jesuit's shocking encounter
34:47||Season 6, Ep. 31Whitley Strieber's alien abduction gets a whole lot weirder, but no more convincing. And to try to help us understand what is, and isn't, believable about that whole tale, Fearful Jesuit tells a strange but (he swears) true story that happened to him. Why is his story more believeable than Whitley's? We'll find out next episode.
30. New! Unidentified--Christopher Walken dances with aliens
28:32||Season 6, Ep. 30We're back, baby. With cowbell! Seriously, though, we're ready to walk through one of the most famous abduction stories of the 1980s, the influential story of author Whitley Strieber and the aliens who brought him along for a quick visit. We also talk about the film version, which yes, stars Christopher Walken. As Strieber. So it's Christopher Walken dancing with aliens. Fun!
New! Unidentified--Close Encounters of the X-Files Kind
36:57|We're done with Betty and Barney, but not with the subject of abductions. Not by a long shot. This episode, we talk about two different pieces of media, and how they talked about abductions. Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind has a more optimistic view, but by the time Mulder and Scully came around, alien abduction had become a completely terrifying experience. Why is that? Well, you'll have to wait for next episode to find out...We're taking one episode off, so we'll see you at the end of April.
New! Unidentified--What Barney and Betty Hill actually saw (it wasn't a UFO)
32:12|The final part of our story of the Hills' strange encounter. We discuss the cheap hatchet job that Saint Carl Sagan did on the Hills' story, which came out quite tawdry in spite of Sagan's good intentions. Plus, we provide our suggestion for the best bet as to the real-life phenomenon that generated the Hills' legendary experience.
New! Unidentified--The aliens attempt to kidnap Darth Vader
29:31|This episode, we deep dive into a TV movie adaptation of the Barney and Betty Hill story, starring and produced by James Earl Jones. An interesting film, and well intended, we examine the ways that it compromised the Hills' own conclusions about their experience in favor of a story designed to normalize interracial couples for a mainstream 1970s US audience. Enjoy!theparanoidstrain.comfacebook.com/groups/theparanoidstrainpatreon.com/theparanoidstrain
26. New! Unidentified--Interracial relationships and alien abduction in 1960s America
32:17||Season 6, Ep. 26Barney and Betty's story goes public, and the US media decides they made up this alien story because of how hard it was to be an interracial couple in 1960s America. It's infuriating. Enjoy!theparanoidstrain.comfacebook.com/groups/theparanoidstrainpatreon.com/theparanoidstrain
25. New! Unidentified--Dreams, hypnosis, and the first American alien abduction
28:09||Season 6, Ep. 25Barney and Betty Hill had a weird night on September 19, 1961. Of that there's no doubt. But in this episode we investigate how the mid-century embrace of hypnosis as a psychological tool may have helped to generate the abduction story that would set the stage for the abduction mania of future decades.theparanoidstrain.comfacebook.com/groups/theparanoidstrainpatreon.com/theparanoidstrain
New! Unidentified--Barney, Betty, and the UFO they saw
28:35|We're ready to take on the story of Barney and Betty Hill, whose UFO encounter launched the abduction phenomenon, and whose personal story is even more fascinating. More on the Hills in two weeks.theparanoidstrain.comfacebook.com/groups/theparanoidstrainpatreon.com/theparanoidstrain