S3: The Fortean and the Skeptic Should Be Friends: My Conversation with Blake Smith

According to Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma!, “The farmer and the cowman should be friends.” Shouldn’t it be the same for the Fortean and the skeptic? Is it even possible?

My guest tonight is Blake Smith, the host of the MonsterTalk podcast, and a self-described skeptic. And I think you know how I take issue with a lot of skeptics and so-called skeptical arguments. But Blake and I are friends. Somehow, after a vulgar and insulting email blunder on my part, Blake kindly wrote back to me, a correspondence began, he invited me to be on his podcast, and the rest is history. The Fortean and the skeptic became friends. I think the reason we’re friends is that Blake has an honest interest in all things paranormal, but he also came upon his skepticism in a very human way. He doesn’t use it as a cudgel to beat anybody down. And best of all, ridicule is just not part of who he is. Also, the guy he has an amazing book collection, he loves to drink port, he’s quick with a pun -- and he’s just an all-around great guy.

In this conversation we cover everything from Whitley Streiber’s Communion to the Heaven’s Gate tragedy; from exploding lightbulbs to snake-handling cults; and from “the hard problem of consciousness” to the one kind of paranormal experience that might change Blake’s skepticism forever.

LINKS:

Listen to Blake Smith’s award-winning podcast Monstertalk here: https://www.monstertalk.org/

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