Bigfoot Society - Indiana Mud Mermaids and Extended History of Van Meter, Iowa | Campfire: Tales of the Strage and the Unsettling | Jordan Heath

Episode Date: April 30, 2022

#126Jordan Heath is a writer, musician, artist, and amateur historian. He’s the co-host of Campfire: Tales of the Strange and Unsettling and a contributing writer at Paranormality Magazine. A husband and father of five from Indiana, this bonafide enthusiast of all things bizarre is on a personal quest to revel in the mysteries found in the blurry edges of our reality. Episode Resources:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/campfire.tales.podcast/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/campfiretalesofthestrangeandunsettlingTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@campfire.podcast______________________________________________________________Join us over on Patreon! Get access to a whole library of extended shows, exclusive merch like a membership card and stickers, watch me interview guests weekly live on video, a Patron-only Discord and more.This week, Patreon members get to hear an extra 30 minute conversation with Jordan from the Bigfoot Society After Show! Join up below!https://www.patreon.com/thebigfootsocietyTune in every Saturday at 5 pm Central for new episodes of Bigfoot Society!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Qq45W6iaTU8FE9kelxT7QIG: https://www.instagram.com/bigfootsociety/Website: https://bit.ly/3jvKIm7Donate: https://bit.ly/3C4hodMShop: https://etsy.me/3ptlubQiTunes: https://apple.co/3fmmhTCSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3vF1vIriHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/3CarDgDStitcher:Smart Passive Income PodcastWeekly interviews, strategy, and advice for building your online business the smart way.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

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You're listening to the Bigfoot Society podcast. Thanks for coming back to Bigfoot Society. Your weekly Cryptozoology focused podcast where I talk to a different individual in the cryptozoology field, authors, researchers, artists, all sorts of people. If you're listening to this on iTunes, please go ahead, subscribe to this podcast and rate us five stars. as it helps us get more into the podcast Stratosphere and get a better guess on the show. Also, if you're on YouTube, do us a favor, like this video, and subscribe to this channel.

It doesn't cost a thing. And it helps us get out there into the YouTube Stratosphere as well. Be sure to leave what your favorite part of the episode was in the comment. Welcome back to another episode, the Bigfoot Society podcast. This week, I've got the privilege of interviewing good friend Jordan Heath, co-host of the Campfire Tales of the Strange and Unsettling podcast. I had a great fun time chatting with Jordan. He's just a wealth of knowledge.

We talked about all sorts of stuff. This episode also goes on some interesting rabbit trails that the podcast hasn't gone before. But I know you'll enjoy it. I enjoy talking to Jordan and some interesting chat about Bigfoot at the end as well. do me a favor, subscribe to Campfire Tales of the Strange on an unsettling podcast on your preferred podcast platform. And I'm going to put all the links in the show notes

and check out their Patreon too. These guys are doing the good work and want to keep them going. So enjoy this interview with Jordan Heath from Campfire's Campfire Tales of the Strange and Unsettling podcast. and enjoy yourself. Have a good one. All right, welcome back to the Bigfoot Society podcast.

I've got a good friend with me tonight, Mr. Jordan Heath from Campfire, Tales of the Strange and Unsettling. How's it going, Jordan? Dude, it's going so well. I'm excited to be here. Oh, man, I'm excited to have you here. This is one of those ones where, you know, it's someone I've been talking to a long time,

but then actually get to have like a one-on-one interview. And I've been on Campfire before and I'm just really been looking forward to getting you on here. And the stars aligned and we were able to get you on. And I'm just, I'm happy to have you on. Dude, we got a few people watching live in the Patreon group. If you want to see these interviews live, you can go to patreon.com forward slash the Bigfoot Society. And you can kind of watch it as it happens. then we have an after show after the main show where Patreon members can ask their questions to Jordan,

or whoever's on the hot seat. So let's start out, though, with a reading your bio that you provided and kind of give people an idea of what's going on. So Jordan Heath is a writer, musician, artist, and amateur historian. He's the co-host, a campfire, tales of the strange and unsettling, and a contributing writer at Paranomality magazine, a husband and father of five from Indiana. This bona fide enthusiast of all things bizarre is on a personal quest to revel in the mysteries

found in the blurry edges of our reality, which is a very, very cool way to say it. Jordan, I'm going to talk about your podcast for a second, if that's all right. Sure. And I know listeners have heard me talk about that. Maybe they haven't. But Can't Fire is such a fun thing to listen to.

The audio, what you put into how the audio is, the audio engineering, the stories you create. And it's just, it's amazing. It needs to definitely be on everyone's listen to. I mean, it's still the best piece of produced content about the van meter visitor, in my opinion. like that episode is the top of the top dude uh for i really appreciate that it's amazing it's like the way that you did the store like 20 minutes of story part at the beginning it's like you guys were actually there that's how how it's like you guys were looking around and seeing it happen and then it's just it's awesome so hats off you thank you are still the best that comes from a ton

of research like being able to actually show that that that first person perspective. Like, you have to know some, I mean, it's not just even research about the event, but research about the time period, the historical context, the way people spoke to each other during that time, like things that were other things that were happening in that area at that time. Okay. Like, all that's important.

Yeah. Is that anything that you can maybe go into a little bit about like, so like, let's take that episode, for example, what kind of other things? did you research besides like I'm sure the Chad Lewis book came up you know right um well a big thing there was there was actually a just a big dispute going on in that town at the time about the the labor forces that were working the mines which that which actually came into play in the story right was the mine so um there was a lot of tension i guess between the person who owned the mine and most of the people who lived in the town worked in the mine.

Okay. Yes. Sure. So he was kind of, he was kind of like a reviled figure almost because of his, his practices with his, his laborers. So that was a big, a big part. There was a lot of tension between him. So when the van meter visitor occurred when that incident happened, there was, there had to be

cooperation between back then it was called the town elders sure yeah basically the people who founded the town right and they call they basically called the shots in those in those small towns back then so there

had to be cooperation between those town elders and the guy who ran the mine in order to orchestrate that whole because everyone kept seeing the van meter visitor go back toward the mines exactly exactly So when they came up with this plan to basically chase it back to the mines, which wasn't a lot of people who cover it, they'll say like the last time it was seen, they just like, they were like, it's going that way. Let's go that way. But it was planned. Like they were like, okay, they sat down, the council, all that. And they actually came up with a plan that the next time someone saw it, they would all rally and go out.

there. Exactly. The posse back. Yeah. Yeah. So there had to be, there's this like tense. There's this tension between the elders who were setting up this plan and the. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. That that that's awesome. So maybe to even, uh, go a little bit for it. So is there a particular resource where you got like that idea of like the tension that was in the town at the time or there were honestly a lot there was a lot of. newspaper articles from Des Moines. Okay. Yeah. And that covered these small labor disputes that were happening all over the area.

Yeah. Yeah. And Van Meter actually was specifically listed as a place where that was happening in several of them. Oh, that's blowing my mind, Jordan. That's amazing. You just totally like opened my mind once again about that story, which I really appreciate. Yeah. That's just a small example of why you need to be listening to Campfire Tales of the Strange on Sattling because, and you guys cover, you know, all sorts of stories.

So hats off to you. But let's let's start, you know, I always like to start at the beginning of the story. So Jordan, what was it that got you into all this weird stuff to begin with? We'll be right back. Hey, it's Pat Flynn here, host of the award-winning podcast, the Smart Passive Income Podcast, which was created to help you learn how to become an entrepreneur. And in the simplest way, too, you know, entrepreneurship can be very difficult. I like to simplify things.

And I interview people like Josh Hall and Shane and Jocelyn Sams and Maria Fela. Who are they? Well, they're people just like you, people who have taken action after listening to the show and have built a business that has changed their lives. And I'd love to share an episode with you that I think will inspire you. you to get started too. Check out the link in the description or go to smartpassiveincome.com slash one two to get inspired, get what you need to get started and change your life. You got this and thank you. Okay. So there are really there are two people that I can like sort of

lay that at the feet of. It's my dad and his younger brother. Okay. My dad, I grew up listening to and this is what specifically piqued my interest in cryptozoology. All right. Was I grew up listening to my dad tell this story. Like every weekend around a bonfire, he would be out there with his brothers and his friends. And I would sit and hear him tell this story of his, he and his older brothers encounter with what he thinks is a Bigfoot or a Sasquatch.

No way. In Alaska when they were teenagers. And it was it's this like my dad is a masterful storyteller. Oh man. Like so I grew up hearing this story over and over again and it seemed like every time I heard it, it got a little scarier. And it just like, I, so I was interested. I mean, he made it interesting. And on top of that, growing up watching like unsolved mysteries and all those shows with him,

he was always really into that stuff. Um, so that started me off when I was young, young, like grade school age. And then in my early teen years, my uncle, his younger brother, he's always been, I want to say, even in a weird family, he was always kind of the black sheep. He was, he's, he's, he's always been into this, like, um, like esotericism. He's always been into like occult stuff and like, um, tarotering and, um, lucid dreaming and you know what I mean all the fringe stuff yeah yeah sure um and I remember specifically when we were like I was like 14 probably me and Ryan my co-host okay yeah um I remember us sitting on my back porch listening to my uncle give basically give us tips on how to lucid dream oh geez yeah when we were like 14 years old yeah that'll do something to yeah yeah

So just him always being, and he was like kind of the cool one, you know, out of all my uncles. So growing up like listening to him talk about stuff like that, it really piqued my interest. So there's no, there's no way you guys wouldn't have, wouldn't have ended up being into the weird and crypts as well. After knowing all that, like, that's a pretty awesome upbringing, especially being able. I love how you're able to grow up hearing your father's, you know, Bigfoot encounter story in Alaska. And that is, that is awesome.

Something very special to have that oral tradition, you know, passed down to you around the campfire. And not many people experience that these days, I would say. So that's a very special thing. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah,

of course. I might be as, as bold to ask, is that anything that you can, can you share that story? or is that overshly bounds if you can say no but I don't think I want to give the full story because I really want to do something with it so I don't know if I want to like write yeah I don't know if I want to write a story based on it or actually just have him come on and tell

the story sometime on on our podcast but in that case I will say let's let's let's take the present and wrap it back up and then listeners will be able to open it at a future point. I know I will be very excited to hear that now. So you got me hooked once again. Let's talk about this. So when someone asks you about like, okay, you got this campfire podcast,

how do you explain what the podcast is? What's your elevator pitch to people when you talk to them about your podcast? So basically the elevator pitch is what we do is We take actual reported events from history. Okay. And we we sort of put these ideas that the concept is to put these ideas out in like this time honored tradition of the campfire story, right?

Yeah. It's something everyone's familiar with. It's something that a lot of people experienced growing up. and it it acts as a platform for people to explore these ideas very cool very cool I like putting a spin on that

is what is what is your your goal with the podcast if that's something that we didn't just cover I guess if there's anything different to talk on with that I mean there are of course

lots of lofty goals like creating a community for, you know, people who are into, into things that, that normal society usually sort of puts on the back burner. Exactly. Honestly, we just, the forefront of our mind, most of the time,

the goal is to scare people. I love. When you're writing campfire stories, you know, it's, it's got to be scary. And that's where the fun is, right? We all love a good scare.

So that's mostly what we're doing here. What episode, Do you have the favorite or is there one that scares you the most? Stay tuned for more Bigfoot Society. We'll be right back after these messages. Yeah. I mean, that's two very different answers. That's true.

I'll answer both of them. I think I struggle with this question because we cover like categories, right? Like several categories. My favorite cryptid episode we've ever done by far is the Van Meter visitor. It's good. I love that episode so much. The research was so much fun and... All right, quick quiz for the hiring managers out there. What's worse? Being understaffed or being poorly staffed? Well, that's a trick question, because both are recipes for chaos. Either way, just say to yourself, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. You'll get matched with candidates that

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When it comes to snacking, Skinny Pop just makes sense. Deliciously popped, perfectly salted. Skinny Pop, popular for a reason. The story was great, but the debrief was so much fun. Like, just digging into all the little details. I love that era in American history anyway, when towns were being settled and when, you know, the West was. being settled that basically from like 1840 to 1920 is like my favorite that's my favorite

i love anything that happens out there but um i also recently we did an episode on sarah china okay which was uh it's a town in bulgaria and they have this they had this event in the early 90s where the bulgarian government basically came in and took over a town and sectioned off this area and just started digging. Oh. Like straight down digging. And there are all these wild reports like the, the Bulgarian military was being guided by like psychics and mystics who were telling

them that there was something, you know, valuable, whether societally valuable or monetarily valuable. That's, you know, up for discussion. But they dug for two years. Oh man. Yeah. And there, I mean, like, there are psychics who were involved in the project who later ended up committing suicide talking about how, um, how they were like linked with this consciousness that was discovered below ground. Mm.

And that it was like had been tormenting them. And it's a wild story. That's awesome. Because on top of all that, as soon as they broke ground, the area started experiencing all these like, Skinwalker ranch style. Oh, no way, really? Yeah, like UFO sightings in the sky, like shadow creatures, like all this, these, these reports just exploded for two years while the military was there digging.

Yeah, it's, it's very interesting. That's some Indiana Jones stuff, dude. That's like, that's some Indiana Jones in the fate of Atlantis. We'll see who's who's into those deep cut LucasArts, 1990s point and click adventure. or games like I am. So if you are, let me know in the comments for YouTube if you like that game, because it's a good game.

It's a really good game. I play it again now. Man. Yeah, so the, but those two are probably my favorite that we've done. But the ones that scare me the most, yes. Episodes that scare me the most are,

first of all, any of them that like butt up against the true crime genre, oftentimes when we cover a haunting, it ends up feeling like a true crime show because you have to talk about, you know, whatever tragedy sort of was the catalyst for the haunting you're discussing.

But demonic possession terrifies me. The whole concept. That's a topic where I am like, for different reasons, I'm super like hands off. Yeah. I mean, I've heard things where it's like, this Pandora boxes, you don't want to open and you don't need to open.

And if you do, that's your thing. But as for me, I want to keep my house safe. You know what I mean? Like, it's crazy stuff, dude. Yeah, I completely understand. I don't do them anymore. I make Ryan do them when we're going to cover one. Sure, sure.

Because I've covered, I've, I've done the research and wrote the story, written the story for two demonic possession episodes since we started about nine months ago. And the last one that I did, I mean, I legitimately had recurring nightmares for a month. Not good, dude. After doing the research. Yeah. It just, and it feels, it just felt unhealthy to me. So, yeah. I don't do those anymore.

I hope you were able to get that taken care of. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. That's good. So, well, I asked for it. You provide the answers. Those are great examples of how can't fire goes all over the place. And I love that.

As I was reading your bio, I kind of had an idea. So we mentioned you're from Indiana, correct? Yeah. Is there a favorite weird story that you like to share from India? Indiana about like, you know, you live in the state. Do you have any like fun stories you found from research or anything like that? Honestly, people, people familiar with with cryptozoology in general probably have seen, heard about the mud mermaids. Right. That's probably, because we're, we're pretty light on cryptids in Indiana.

It's basically that and the beast of bus go. Right, big turtle. Yeah. Which is also a great story. The Beast of Busco is a great story. But I like the mud mermaids because they're unique. You know, we're a landlocked state. Yeah, that's weird.

And we have a mermaid crypted, right? It's, yeah, it's weird. But of course, they're mud mermaids because they were seen in the Ohio River, which is like so nasty. It's, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the stretch of it that's in Indiana. Yeah. It's, all right.

It gets narrow in Indiana. And so it, like, it pulls a lot of sediment and it's, it's just not, you know, it's not clear. Oh, my goodness. So, Indiana really is, like, rife with hauntings. Oh, really? That's, that's, that's the thing. That's the thing. Indiana's bread and butter.

Okay. Like, you can't throw a rock without breaking a window in a haunted house. No, but you probably wouldn't want to do that either. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I live, I don't know, three blocks from the Monroe house, which has been investigated by like, travel channel shows.

Yeah. Okay. All right. And it's, that one's weird to me because I, I grew up with a close friend who lived right next to it. And just a normal family lived in that house for, oh, weird. Yeah. For a long time. Okay.

It's just a normal house. At some point in the early 90s, I think they found, they dug up in the basement, they dug up human remains in the basement of the house. That's a no for me, Doug. Right. But the thing is like it was beneath. So here's the thing that most people leave out. The human remains were found in a place where the foundation had been. demolished. Oh my goodness. Right. So it was below where the house was built. So odds are those human

remains had been there since before the house was there. Right. Weird. That's really weird. Yep. Yeah. So I don't know if that makes the house more or less scary because, you know, 150 years ago that was probably just a field that someone buried their uncle in. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It could have been that or, you know, any number of nefarious things. Yeah, Indiana, Indiana has some weird stuff. Wow. Light on cryptids, but a lot of hauntings.

Did not guess about the hauntings and the people buried in the basement. Yeah. We also get a lot of UFO sightings because we're such a, we're such a flat state. It's a lot of open sky. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So.

Yeah. And we have maybe three. what the rest of the country would call large cities in all of Indiana. True. So the vast majority of our 96 counties are cornfields and small towns with a few stoplights. You know? Yep. Kind of Iowa like there for sure. Yeah. Not a lot of light pollution to contend with.

So yeah, a lot of UFO reports. Oh, man. Oh, man. That is, that is wild. I'm going to have to look at the mud mermaids because that's one I actually haven't heard a lot about. And I'm going to, I'm going to check that out. So thank you for enlightening me about that for sure. I would like to, you know, the other cool thing that you do, you do a lot of cool stuff. We've talked about the podcast a little bit.

You also write for, and I had. There it is. You know who on the podcast last week. Yeah. But, man, Paranomality magazine. just let's just say it again i said it all last week too it's probably uh well it is a must subscribe to and i said you know if you're a bigfoot guy you need the big you need the big foot times but then you also need paranormality magazine because it covers like the ufos the ghost stuff but the cryptid

stuff which my audience is going to be into and jordan is writing some amazing articles about cryptids uh in every episode in every uh issue right yeah Yeah, that's, it's really the place that I can focus my energy on cryptids exclusively. That's, I just, I want to make sure, because when I first came on, um, the magazine focused a lot on UFO stuff and, and hauntings. Um, that's mostly what was discussed in the magazine. And I saw a hole, right? So I was like, let me come on. I'll, I'll put something cryptozoological in every issue.

You know what I mean? Because that's a huge part of this community is. Oh, yeah. The Cryptozoology community. I mean, you know the show is built around it, right? I literally. So, yeah. And it's been a blast.

I was actually brought on by Aaron Dees. Oh, such a good dude. From Hey Strangeness. He also writes for the magazine. And he was like, you should do this. So he set me up with jazz. And yeah, it's, it's been awesome. There's so much freedom writing for it, too.

I've never had to worry about, you know, anyone telling me what I should be writing about. That is so cool. Yeah. And I think that's why the magazine is so good because people are writing about what they care about, not what they're, you know, told to care about that month. Exactly. Paranormality magazine, check it out. Have you had an article that you've, that comes to mind where you have,

had like really a ton of fun researching it, writing it, or is it a thing where like you're just having a blast every month because you get to choose what you're writing? I mean, they've all been fun, but the one that my very first, no, the most fun, I was going to say the first one was the most fun, but it wasn't. The most fun I've had researching one was the go row. Oh yeah, Arkansas, right?

Yes. Yes, dude. Because I, man, I love the like, again, that same time period as Van Meter, right? That's named like 40 year span. Yeah. And I love the like yellow journalism and the like these crazy like often exaggerated newspaper headlines and and writing back then you could write newspaper articles so

colorfully. Like now of course and it's important. Right. That we have fact checking and all that in journalism. Oh yeah. It's they're just so fun to read. I mean, people wrote newspaper articles in the late 19th century,

people wrote newspaper articles like they were writing a serial. You know, like, yeah, tell me about it. Like the Van Meter article from Des Moines is a perfect example of that where it's like, fired enough bullets to. Yeah.

It's like, what in the world, guys? Yeah. I love it. I love that style too. I love that like, I think that that style has really inspired the way I write. Okay.

Because, I mean, I love, you know, I'm a fan. I'm always a fan of a good alliteration. I love like flowery language. It's important to me, right? Like, I don't, especially when you're writing like a campfire store or something that's supposed to be scary, right? Like, you need that extra. let that extra depth of to pull emotion out of people. And the thing is,

is that nobody else is doing it. Yeah. And so when you listen to something like Camp Fire, it smacks you across the face because it's like, whoever put this together spent a whole lot of time caring and I should be paying attention because this is well done. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm glad it has that effect. Yeah, on me at least. So hopefully others as well. It's come out so far that you, you're doing a ton of research and all your stuff, you know, paranormality, campfire, etc. Can you maybe walk me through like when you're getting ready to, you know, to write the story for the podcast or to do the article? Do you have like common research,

you know, ways or books you're going to or like, how does that research look like for you? Sure. I mean, the process in general is when it's my week, because we alternate, Ryan and I. Stay tuned for more Bigfoot Society. We'll be right back after these messages. When it's my week, basically I choose a topic. We like most people in our field have a mass. massive list of future topics, right, an ever-growing list.

And then research comes first. I spend like three to five days creating notes and the research. I like, I like primary sources. You know, coming from an academic background, I'm kind of obsessed with it. I mean, I might be, we might be one of the few podcasts that have like a dedicated bibliography. All right, quick quiz for the hiring managers out there. What's worse? Being understaffed or being poorly staffed?

Well, that's a trick question, because both are recipes for chaos. Either way, just say to yourself, this is a job for Indeed's sponsored jobs. You'll get matched with candidates that meet the skills, certifications, and everything else you're looking for. Or go a different way and get no traction. Seriously, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95% more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs. It really is a no-brainer. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners

of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help your job get the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now. Indeed.com slash podcast. apply. Need to hire? This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Today, every dollar counts. Make yours go further with AARP. For just $15 for your first year with automatic renewal, an AARP membership delivers benefits and savings you can use right away. You can also access trusted resources and tools to help you stay healthy. Protect your money and plan ahead. And with a second free membership for someone in your household, you'll receive AARP benefits for you. for two. Go to AARP.org slash iHeart to join today. No matter the occasion, snack time should be

easy. That's why Skinny Pop popcorn keeps it light, airy and endlessly delicious. Skinny Pop is made from just three simple ingredients, delivering an irresistible taste without being complicated. Skinny Pop simplicity allows you to freely enjoy as much popcorn as you want. Just open the bag and enjoy. No overthinking, no tough choices. When it comes to snacking, Skinny Pop just makes sense. Delicious Popped, perfectly salted. Skinny Pop, popular for a reason. Right. Like, I have...

Sure, yeah. Okay. I have a massive Word doc on my computer that is just a constantly growing reference list of everything we've used for research. You need to make that available somehow. Oh, yeah. It's coming. Maybe a Patreon thing or something.

Like, that's awesome. You have that. Yeah, it's, it's kind of. All right, you got it. You got it. Cool. So I spend like three to five days doing research because I have a two weeks total to make the, to create my episode. And then writing the story is like three days, a draft per day. Wow. Sometimes four, but usually three. Yeah. And then I record the story. Sometimes. sometimes I include like sound design notes and stuff while I'm writing the story

but I record the story and maybe write some of the music Ryan and I write all the music in our in our podcast. No way really. I think I knew that actually but like that's fantastic. Wow. Aside from the the music that's under the debrief, a friend of ours,

Greg Martin from Reverend Music, he wrote that. But the music behind the stories, that's us. Oh, wow. So I record the story and maybe do some music. Ryan does the bulk of, of the music. He just,

he just has a better home setup than I do. Gotcha. So he does a lot of that. And then I send the story to him and he does the sound design. Like he takes my notes and makes it gorgeous. But all the like fully work, all the, all the sound library stuff that's him. and then we sit down and do the debrief record the debrief together and yeah that's basically the process

man it's it's no wonder that the episodes are that good like i had no idea that that is that is a solid like two-week process uh yeah that's wild hats off to you man and you know having five kids like yeah you're you're making it happen dude i you know that's that's some wild wild stuff uh let's talk about um i want to talk about uh for a few minutes about you guys have a patreon which is pretty cool yeah i think it's important uh for for us to to get that out there but so uh patreon is a thing where you join it you can support the podcast you like listening to you but then you get extra content right um do you mind spend in a few minutes like sharing what people can get as a supporter of Campfire on Patreon.

Yeah, absolutely. If you subscribe at patreon.com slash campfire tales of the strange and unsettling. I know it's a mouthful, but you can type it. I believe in you. You get every week you get two weekly series. One of them is called Lights Out, which is basically Ryan and I is short fiction. like an exploration and short fiction. Oh, cool.

Each episode is three to five short stories, um, read with full sound design and, and all that. Um, and then we release in the middle of the week, usually Wednesday or Thursday every week we release, um,

a news update. It's midweek weird is what we're calling it. And we basically just, each of us pick a few articles that piqued our interest that week and we discuss them. Now, we've had some of those that went 45 minutes, and we've had some that went two and a half hours. Okay. So it really just depends on how many, how many rabbit holes get cracked open. On top of that, you get behind the scenes videos from the research and the sound design process.

Oh, that's cool. That shows some of that. And we started recently doing a thing called the post-chat chat. chat. So after we do a fireside chat, Ryan and I jump on and we basically just talk about, you know, the experience.

Dude, I love that. I guess. And, uh, so cool. Yeah. And we also have two monthly shows in the works. So we haven't launched those yet, but I'll be heading a show called Into Thin Air, which is

the missing 411 phenomenon. Oh, huge. Yeah. Like, each episode will be centered on one case. Because a lot of people cover missing 411 all at once. You know what I mean? You'll see a podcast do like an hour long episode covering the entire phenomenon. But to me, every one of those cases, and there are thousands of those cases deserve, you know, a deep dive. Oh, for sure, man.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's what that's for. And then Ryan, and then Ryan's, my. monthly show is I believe going to be called Hushman and it's about it's about men and black encounters oh man really yeah who yeah doing the same thing basically like spending a lot of time on individual encounters that is that's awesome that that is very cool so on top of all that swag bags every month and discounted merch and exclusive merch um yeah so i'll put that uh and is that a is that like a

five dollar thing or or where's that start out there's um all of the bonus content you can unlock at five dollars wow that's huge okay all of it you start getting start getting swag bags and merch discounts at the um 15 dollar tier there's five 15 and then for anyone feeling particularly generous, there's a $50 tier. Gotcha. Yeah. Very cool. Very cool.

Thank you for sharing that. I think it's a thing where content creators sometimes, and I know this is me talking to myself, we forget to, you need to share what you do for people to know because you can't get inside your head. Yeah, absolutely. At least that I know they can't get inside my head. So maybe some can. Oh, scary. Oh, man.

Um, let's, I, I, I like to, uh, there's a few bigfoot questions I like to, to throw out on, on everyone that comes, that comes to the podcast. So, uh, we'll spend a few minutes, uh, seeing what, what you got here. So, uh, I like to ask, uh, what is bigfoot? Man. I know. That's, we could do an hour just on that. I know, right? Um, but to you, what is bigfoot? Yeah. I feel personally like it has to be something beyond just a bipedal ape in the forest. It feels like something more than that to me. I don't know if it's, I'm just going to throw these words out here like they don't mean anything, but extraterrestrial. I don't know if it's ultra-terrestrial. I don't, but it has to, to me, it has to be something other than strictly, you know, a biological entity. just because it if you listen to the reports which I know you have

there are so many details in there that just don't line up with it being an an animal there's so much more like when you're chasing an elk over a ridge it doesn't just vanish you know what I mean or control control an orb with its and I've that account to to me in an interview that's a huge thing if you If you get into like the, the Bigfoot encounters from the 70s and early 80s, there are a ton where Bigfoot is spotted in close proximity with UFO sightings. I mean, just a ton. Yep. Chestnut Ridge.

Yep. Pennsylvania. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Myself personally, you know, I'm, I'm kind of in like the NAWAC, you know, camp where it's an undiscovered. grade A, but the thing is, is like you brought that up. Like, I don't know how to answer that where I'm like, I hear these reports about like,

you know, disappearing or like a portal on Skinwalker Range and a big foot walking out of it. I don't know how to answer that. Yeah. It brings up a question that I don't have the answer to. So yeah, it's a great point, Jordan. I mean, that's the fun of it, right? It is an unanswered question.

Yeah. It is because. it's like, you don't, you don't get to a point where it's like, oh, game over. Now, now pick another game. The game could go on forever. Yeah. I love that we can like sit here and have this conversation where you're like a bone and hair guy. And I'm like pushing the extraterrestrial and, you know, something beyond. But we're not like screaming at each other like people were like 20 years ago. See, you know what I mean? That's the thing, Jordan, because it's like, isn't it awesome when people can be like, adults and like have discussions and they're not on the same page maybe about what they think about the topic but they can learn from each other and like yeah you know cliff berkman is a great example of he's got so many times he's talked on you know big foot and beyond about how he talks to his colleagues and they both know that they're they're totally different sides of the big foot spectrum but they can still be adults not yell at each other not say blah blah blah but there's you know like

at the end of the day, they know where they stand, and you can be in adults and learn from each other. So yeah, that's the most important thing to take away from this, I think. Yeah, I think I think that's becoming like a lost art, right? The ability to disagree cordially. Totally. Yeah. Oh, totally. Totally.

Do you have a favorite piece of a big foot evidence that you like? You know, I really like, I really like the. the actual like detached foot that from the Yeti that all those legends about the monks. I know that's been tested a few times and they've come up like inconclusive or but there's so much like lore around that too with the with the expeditions coming over and like stealing a toe off the foot. Right, the Jimmy Stewart.

Yeah. Yeah. Just all this crazy stuff. You know, I, every time I watch it, it's a wonderful life now, I'm like, that guy stole a Yeti Toe.

The dude smuggled a Yeti Toe back to America from, you know. Dude, celebrities back then were wild. They were getting back before they were rained in by social media. That's right, man. They were just doing whatever they wanted in the shadows. Hmm, Yeti Toe.

What should I? do with this. Exactly. I think I'll take it home. So good. So good. Yeah, there's, you know,

there's endless amounts of Bigfoot stuff that there is great. There I don't. I don't know. I don't. That's my favorite just because the stories around it. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's one that doesn't get brought up a lot.

So that's, that's pretty cool. Everyone usually, you know, jumps to like Patterson Gimlin, which is fine because Patterson Gimlin is cool. But, uh,

hats off to you for, for the Yeti stuff for sure. What's your what? Well, first off, what, what are you reading right now? Oh, man. We'll start with that. What am I reading right now? Let me just show you.

All right. Currently, I'm on a reread of. Wastelands by Stephen King. All right. Yeah, yeah. Book three in the Dark Tower series. That's, that's what I'm reading. reading, you know, on the, on the fiction end. Okay.

And on nonfiction, where'd you go? Nonfiction, reading this. Oh, yeah, Kenny Irish. Nice. Yep. American cryptos. That's a guy I've got to have on this show. I need to have him on. Yeah, Kenny seems very cool.

A lot of people have ever requested him. I just haven't gotten around to asking. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, that's what I'm bouncing back and forth between right now. Nice, nice. Very cool. Do you have any recommendations for books, particularly to cryptozoology, that people should have on their bookshelves or anything that you found to be helpful over the years or when you're doing your research?

Let's see. Honestly, there's anything by Lauren Coleman. Yeah, that's true. Right. By Lauren Coleman. Basically, you should have everything he's ever written. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

just an incredible resource to have at your disposal. He's done so much in incredible research. He has. Yeah, I think that guy's career is like a golden ring. Stay tuned for more Bigfoot Society. We'll be right back after these messages. That most people should be reaching for, you know? 100%.

But, you know, also I'll be. I'll be standard. I'll be basic and say, if you're into anything beyond just the, like... All right, quick quiz for the hiring managers out there. What's worse? Being understaffed or being poorly staffed? Well, that's a trick question, because both are recipes for chaos. Either way, just say to yourself, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. You'll get matched with candidates that meet the skills, certifications, and everything else you're looking for. Or go a different way and get no... Traction. Seriously, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95% more likely to report a higher than non-sponsored jobs. It really is a no-brainer. Spend less time searching and more time

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Now, I'm not a Stephen King guy, although I've read some in junior high. It's been a long time. But I've never, I know nothing about the Tower series. I know it is a crazy adventure that if you're into it, you are into it. Is there any way that you can maybe sell it to me how it's like you got to check it out? Here's why it's important. I mean, the Dark Tower series is incredible. Okay.

But I was actually referring to the Eighth Tower by John Keel. Well, here's me. With egg on my face. No, that's okay. I was just talking about the dark tower before. Oh, my God, that's right. Yeah, he had, that's, I totally forgot about the eighth tower by John Keel. Oh, my goodness.

That's awesome. Oh, you're funny. I'm, okay. And we're back. Oh, that's funny. Yes, the eighth tower by John Keel, of course, of course. Aaron Dease is like, come on. Yeah, I haven't read a lot of John Keel.

John Keel. What's so cool about that one particularly? I think he just takes like, he takes the perspective you'd expect and just blows it out. Okay. Like every, every, like, if you think about your approach to 14 phenomenon as like, uh, as like a spider, like a spider graph, right? Okay. Circle in the middle. Yep. And lines out.

Um, he. explores all of them. And that that's a strength and a weakness, I think, in his writing. Okay. Is it can feel unfocused. It's especially Mothman prophecies is extremely unfocused. It's really easy to get lost. You know how occasionally when you're reading you,

you have that realization that you didn't quite actually grasp the paragraph you just read? Yeah, exactly. And sometimes, most of the time, at least I hope, you go back and you reread the paragraph, right? But sometimes you just go, eh, and you keep going. Sure. Right. If you do that once in the Mothman prophecies, you're going to be lost. You're done.

Yeah. Yeah. But it's sort of like he covers everything, but not really deeply, because he moves around so much that he never really gets deep on. on any one thing or maybe a few things, but not most of the ideas that he, but he just cracks the surface enough to peak your interest. You know what I mean? Okay, gotcha.

Gotcha. Yeah. So like, basically reading a John Keel book is like getting a lot of homework assignments. Yeah. Yeah, which I'm a nerd. I love. I get me homework.

Yeah, check it out. That's awesome. That's awesome. Oh my goodness. Funny stuff. Let's do one more. question before we we transition over to the after show all right um what what would you have to say is your uh your favorite if you had to pick a favorite cryptid what would it be or which one

do you just really enjoy and in all that it's the kush taka oh yeah uh Alaska um is that that's the otter band right yep yeah okay that's a weird one yeah dude yeah Man, it's my favorite. I love, I love the lore that comes from like First Nations people. Sure. It's a huge. I mean, anytime I get to research that, I just dive into it. And those are the weeks that I always have to get that reminder text from Ryan going like,

clock's ticking, bud. Like, because I just, I just live in the research. Yeah. But the Kastaka I did really early in the show. I think it was like our third episode ever. It was the second one I ever researched for the show. And it just stuck with me, man. It's like it's this,

it's this really terrifying amalgam of like a Sasquatch and a skin walker. Yeah. Man. And it has all this shamanic background. Okay. Like, and this deep, this like rich culture of the Tlinget people that backs it up. And there have, and a lot of those are great history, but sightings drop off around like 1930. And you just can't find anything after that, you know?

Oh, weird. Okay. But, but the Kushaka is not like that. They're, they've had, I mean, there have been sightings regularly up and. until the most recent one I read was just a couple months ago. Dude, that's wild. Like, yeah. And there was like a rash of sightings during a tsunami warning in 2012, I think.

That like, man, it's, it's wild. Makes. I, I just love them. I love the Cushaka. Isn't that, is that the one that Charlie Sheen was trying to, like, go after? Do you remember? Charlie Sheen was trying to go after a cryptid. It was, I can't remember which one.

I'm not to look it up, but he there is this, I remember this news article way back and it was like Charlie Sheen searches for a cryptid and I don't remember if he's the kish stock or not. I have to look it up. But anyways, oh man, Jordan, it has been super, super fun having you on. It's been a long time coming. Let's let's take a few minutes before we, uh, we go over to the after show. can you remind people how best to keep up to date with with everything that you're doing yes follow campfire tales of the strange and unsettling on instagram and facebook at campfire dot tells dot podcast or on twitter at campfire t-t-s-a-u we're also on t-tac-tok now yes you are in your we're just recently just about a week ago broke into tic-tok so we're learning the ropes over there um it's a lot it's a lot but we're really enjoying it's a lot yeah campfire dot podcast on tic-tok yeah and we're i mean

the show is available on all podcast platforms anywhere you're listening to this aside from youtube you can listen to us so yeah please do very yeah definitely check out campfire on your preferred platform of choice. And if you're on TikTok, follow them on TikTok because they're sharing, Jordan is sharing a really cool, crazy story about the wolf girl of,

is it devil's creep. Devil's River. Devil's River is wild, dude. Yeah, we actually just wrapped it up today. It's got, oh man, in multi-parts, you'll love it. It's just a good example of things to come from Campfire on there. But definitely,

I'll have everything down in the show, notes as well so you can go check stuff out. But thanks so much for coming on, Jordan. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. This is super fun. Thanks for listening to the Bigfoot Society podcast. Please take a few minutes to review the show on iTunes five stars as it does help us get into the eyes and ears of more listeners on iTunes. That will help us just get bigger and bigger and get even better quality guests for future shows. Also, if you have any Bigfoot encounters or cryptic encounters, please send your stories and audio and photos whatever you've got over to Bigfoot Society at gmail.com. If you'd like to become more involved with Bigfoot Society and get some extra content, we do have a Patreon where you can get all sorts of cool things.

For example, for $7 a month, you get extra Bigfoot Society content, usually interviews but other things as well. you get a sweet membership card and a vinyl sticker that I send to you in the mail. You get access to the Bigfoot Society after show, which is an extra interview, after the main interview with the weekly cast. And usually they are up for Patreon members to be in that extra show segment with them and me. And you get to ask your question live to them and get an answer from the guest, which as you've seen what. guest we've had in the past, this could be a really big deal. There's also a private discord where you can get involved with talking to me one-on-one and the community there, and that's always a great time. You can find the Patreon at www.patryon.com forward slash the Bigfoot Society. We're very

thankful for all our supporters that we have in so many different ways and appreciate all our listeners coming back week after week to listen to more cryptozoology-based interviews. Thanks so much for listening, and we'll see you next time. The views and opinions expressed are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Bigfoot Society. Any content provided by our guests are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or any... All right.

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