WEBVTT - S03 Special Episode: Richard MacLean Smith Q & A and Book Reviews 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.000 There's nothing better than feeling comfortable in your own shoes, 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:05.240 and that doesn't mean flopping down on the couch with 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.640 bunny slippers. Maybe you're a parent raising a little rock star, 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.959 or a tech nomad working from anywhere and jumping from 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:14.920 one thing to the next. Whoever you are, all Birds 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.360 wants you to be comfortable in your actual shoes too. 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:21.279 They're wool runners, pipers, and loungers are designed for a 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:23.480 level of coziness that makes you feel like you can 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.479 do anything. You might even forget you're wearing them, and 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.720 their shoes are so stylish they go perfectly without wear 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.960 whatever I want attitude. Alberts is all about loving mother 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:36.120 nature too, because no one wants to leave a bad footprint. 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.800 Each shoe is carefully crafted from natural materials that tread 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.680 lightly on our planet, from ZQ certified Marino wool to 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:46.880 a bouncy midsole made from sweet Foam, the world's first 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.959 carbon negative EVA material made from sugarcane. So get comfortable 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:53.920 in your shoes. Get to know the wool runners, pipers 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:58.720 and loungers at Alberts dot com. That's alll bi rds 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:13.800 dot com. Hello and welcome to Unexplained Extra, or this 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.800 special edition of Unexplained Extra, I should say with me 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:20.560 Richard McClane Smith. So this week, as you may be aware, 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.880 I announced that I would do a one off sort 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:28.640 of question and answer episode to coincide with the upcoming 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.360 release of the book Unexplained. In light of that announcement, 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:35.440 I had a number of people asking me what were 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.960 the books that had inspired me or the show, So 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.800 I just thought, rather than putting up a list on 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.080 social media, why not just talk about them. And I've 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.400 been overwhelmed with the response, So thank you all so 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:49.800 much for getting in touch and given me your questions. 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.480 I've managed to condense it down to about fifteen or so, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:56.639 I think. Apologies if I haven't included yours on the show. 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.400 So just a couple of quick, easy ones to start 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:01.880 off with. Few people had asked me about the music, 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:05.000 So the music and the show I composed that myself 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.520 and you can hear quite a large part of it 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.760 on the Unexplained SoundCloud. So if you wanted to hear that, 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:14.320 you could go to SoundCloud dot com forward slash Unexplained 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:18.080 Podcast I think is the address and you can find 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.440 it there. And the other question that quite a few 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.520 of you are asking, was is the book going to 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.760 be an audiobook as well? And will I be narrating it? 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:27.959 And the answer to that is yes, I will be. 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.799 And so at the moment, the book is due out 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:35.040 in the UK October twenty fifth, and we are sort 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.920 of talking about getting it distributed in the US and 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.320 Canada as well, So I think just watch this space 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.840 on that one. So let's begin. I had quite a 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.680 few questions in a similar vein to this one, so 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:50.680 I'll just take one, which is from Conan, who asks 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.080 have you ever had a personal supernatural experience? So the 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.160 short answer to that is no, But something that I 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:00.160 might talk about in more depth later on in the 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.800 question is that I suppose you could also say that 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.240 maybe I have, but I wasn't aware that it was supernatural. 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:11.760 But I think what I do find fascinating, though, is 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:15.480 that I have heard from lots of people, and from 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.760 people that I would consider to be perfectly rational and 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.480 intelligent people who claim that they have seen things that 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:28.000 I might have previously dismissed. So I suppose that just 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.079 leaves me wondering what it was exactly that was seen 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.920 or what was experienced So next one from Lee Britain. 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.880 Have you had an opportunity to meet with anyone directly 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.840 involved with any of the events that you've mentioned. If so, 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.400 who was the most convincing I have, Actually, I've not. 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.280 I haven't in person. I have over the phone or 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:54.120 on Skype or email. I've spoken to people that have 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.400 been at the center of some of these stories, and 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:02.040 I mean they've all been convincing. I mean and in 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.280 fact that the sort of thread that runs through the 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.080 more really was that none of them were absolutely convinced 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.400 that what had been experienced was supernatural or paranormal, but 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.400 I'd say they had an interest in that as a 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:18.279 as a potential or a possibility in the main, I 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:21.200 guess I don't think they were making up what they 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.760 think they experienced. Did that make sense? So the next question, again, 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:27.320 this is one that I had quite a few questions 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.200 in a sort of that were similar in one way 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:35.479 or another. So let's just take Steve. Steve asks of 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.200 all the podcasts you have researched, which if you found 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:42.080 the most disturbing, Which is the most scariest. So this 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.560 is a difficult one. The ones that were disturbing and 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.039 scary I think I would have to say, are the 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:51.120 ones that involved the most sort of traumatic outcomes or events. 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:52.479 So a lot of the time, I mean a lot 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.359 of the time, these stories, as terrifying as they might be, 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:58.880 they don't, you know, they don't result in somebody dying 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.880 or being killed. And except for one which I told 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.200 in the first season, which was about you might know 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.440 it's called Demons in Suburbia, which was a story about 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:12.600 a man called Michael Taylor who had quite tragically and 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:17.560 dramatically been affected in one way or another by an 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.560 exorcism that was practiced on him, and the consequence of 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:26.120 that was that he murdered his wife in quite horrific circumstances. 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.039 So I don't have much more to say on that 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:30.640 because I don't I'm not so familiar with the case 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.080 and life of Michael Taylor that I would be able 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:36.640 to comment possibly about the reasons and wise awarefores of 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:40.120 what happened. But that was certainly the one that I think, 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:44.200 as a story alone, was the most disturbing. Okay, so 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.600 not particularly related to the last few questions, but let's 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:50.200 do the first book anyhow. So this book's been a 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.000 huge influence on me I think, not just for the show, 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.520 not for the way I write, or for the way 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:58.040 I certainly would like to write or aspire to write. 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.200 It's a book that was reckoned mended to me quite 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:03.799 a while ago as a sort of it was recommended 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.320 as a travel book, but I think the intention wasn't 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.840 to reduce it in such a way. But that's how 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.280 I remember it anyhow, and so when I read it, 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.720 it opened up into so many other things that I 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.320 hadn't been expecting. So the book is called The Rings 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:22.720 of Saturn's by W. G. Sibald. Superficially, the book presents 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.880 as an account of one man's journey through Suffolk, the 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:31.120 Suffolk Coast, particularly in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.240 But quite quickly it becomes apparent that there was quite 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.680 a bit more going on. So you find yourself being 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:43.080 taken on this extraordinary, very melancholic journey into the workings 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.520 of Sibald's mind. I think the way he sort of 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:50.080 touches upon the things that the landscape inspires in him 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.680 in a sort of ruminations and his thoughts as as 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:57.719 he's making this journey, and from that you get sort 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:02.599 of taken on this extraordinary sort of epic trip through 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:06.520 lots of different waypoints and connections that are being triggered 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:09.840 as as he's making his way through the countryside, and 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.080 it's become quite a sort of major touchdone I think 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:18.880 of modern psychogeographic writing. So I mean, I'm sure there 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:21.360 are lots of different opinions on this out there as 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.200 to the you know, the quality of it in compare 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.280 in comparison to other books, but I would say that 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.960 it's certainly become one of the better known sort of 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:35.840 examples of this sort of writing. Just the expanse of 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:39.000 information alone that throughout the book is quite extraordinary. It's 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:41.800 a sort of domino effect. He has sort of way 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:46.040 of exploding information from one thing, connecting from one thing 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:50.200 to the next. And actually a very sort of brief note, 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:52.720 I would say, at one point he talks about Joseph 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:57.679 Conrad being in lower stuff, I think, and he draws 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.160 a connection there between that as the beginning of a 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:06.320 journey that's endpoint was essentially the horrors of colonialism, and 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:09.400 so another book I would say to sort of very 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.520 briefly recommend that has been quite a big inspiration on 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.760 me and in some ways unexplained is Joseph Comrade's Heart 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.480 of Darkness. And so with this book, I think what 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:21.000 I've drawn from it in terms of unexplained is just 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.000 the sort of the sense of the horror of humanity 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:29.320 really and what human beings are capable of. And I'm 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:31.120 not quite sure this is explored in the book, but 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:36.600 the sort of idea that human beings don't perpetrate evil 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.560 acts that there's no such thing as evil in that respect, 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:43.679 I mean that humanity is all of it. So for 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.280 me personally, I don't think there's a moral arbiter that 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.719 dictates what is and what isn't evil. There's nobody is 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.440 making that judgment on our behalf. We do that ourselves. 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:57.480 Of course, we can as a society decide together which 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:01.280 things we determined to be wrong or bad or unpalatable 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.680 or criminal. And as a sort of slight extension to 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.480 that point, I think the certainly the kind of setting 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.160 and the locations and many of the things that are 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.360 occurring in Heart of Darkness are based on true stories 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.360 and true things that happened, and I think the sort 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.320 of ultimate true horror really is that, And I think 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:21.160 I tend to find this quite often, is that the 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:23.800 reality of the stories. If you if you read the 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.360 actual stories about what took place under King Leopold the 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.120 Second of Belgium, who was the spearheading this colonial campaign, 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:35.360 the fact is you find that it's almost impossible to 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.240 come up with the reality of the terrible things that 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.160 were happened. You know that the real story is even worse. 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:46.360 So let's try and come back a bit from that, 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.440 because I think I don't know if I can take 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:52.120 that any any darker. So let's get back to questions. 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:55.200 I think it's starting to get a sense now of 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:59.839 where Unexplained comes from. So is a message from Elizabeth. 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.400 So what determines what catches your interest? Is it mostly 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:05.440 what intrigues you or more about how easy you find 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:09.120 to communicate the story? Well, I think what catches my 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.520 interest first and foremost, especially because of the nature of 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.360 the show and it being based on ideas that are 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:20.280 unexplained and remained to this day unexplained. The key thing 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.600 is is having a story that's not too easy to debunk, 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.559 I suppose, or having a story that's not that doesn't 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:31.120 present itself too obviously as being a hoax. So I 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:32.640 suppose the best stories for me are the ones that 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:38.079 sort of really stretched that suspension of disbelief as far 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:42.160 as possible. So sometimes I find that that will supersede 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.160 whether I personally am into that kind of story, and 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.240 as well, A lot of the time I find that 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.520 digging a bit deeper into the story, it will sort 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.720 of reveal itself to be actually more interesting and more 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:58.520 fascinating than I had first imagined. Okay, I've got quite 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:02.640 a few questions here about how I got involved in 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:07.560 doing this, and what I was before unexplained and all 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.200 that sort of stuff. So without giving too much away, 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.320 I don't want to destroy the illusion completely, but I have, 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:17.160 I think, for quite some time, been trying to write, 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.120 and you know, get somewhere doing that, and it's a 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.080 case really of just discovering an outlet where I could 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.040 write something and it actually becomes something. A lot of 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.720 the time, you know, if you're writing any form of writing, 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.640 really you're trying to get through some kind of gateway 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.440 to get into something that legitimizes what you're doing and 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:41.080 also gets what you're doing out there. So whether it's 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.640 to be published or to have an article printed in 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:46.599 a magazine, or to have a TV show commission or 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:48.319 something like that, you know, if you're very if you're 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.360 very lucky, and so those things to take time, and 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.720 they take a lot of effort, and they require you 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.560 to be you're at the whim of somebody else's taste. 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:02.280 And I think Explained really started as a combination of 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:08.520 having that ambition, but also the fascination with these stories 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:10.360 and not being quite sure what to do with them, 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.640 and then discovering the podcast and what the podcast was. 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:16.200 And you know, I think that's something we're a lot 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.800 more familiar with now, but a few years ago, you know, 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:20.719 it's sort of I didn't really understand it in the 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.360 way that I do now, and I could craft it 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.520 myself and put it up myself and all that sort 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:31.760 of stuff. The show was kind of born, and it 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:35.120 evolved a bit in the process of, you know, understanding 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.120 what a podcast can be and all that sort of stuff. 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:41.120 And and I've been completely overwhelmed by the fact that 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.559 that anybody listened to it at all. So I mean, 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.000 this is a great chance to thank you all again. 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:48.880 Anybody who listens to the show has supported the show 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.560 for the incredible kind words and you know, and the 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:57.840 encouragement that I've been given. Yeah, it's been extraordinary. And 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:02.760 just to finish that point off, ru Howe asks, or 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.520 Ruhu says, I'm presuming you do it all in a dark, 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:08.880 wood paneled, book lined room, sitting in a leather armchair 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.040 with a pipe and a bottle of single malt. And 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.240 the answer is yes, of course, that's exactly how I 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.920 do it. Rue also asks, is the cover picture of 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:20.320 reference to Twin Peaks? I think in many ways you 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.040 could probably say everything I do as a reference to 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:25.280 Twin Peaks. So although that wasn't actually wasn't thinking of 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.959 Twin Peaks when I chose it, But yes, of course, 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:33.000 I mean subconsciously absolutely, it's probably where I've I've found 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:37.400 that I've got that idea from. So Christopher asks, my 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:39.760 question is do you have trouble sleeping at night or 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.480 going about your daily life having made podcasts on such 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:47.280 other worldly material? So I would say yes, So, yes, 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.679 I do. I do because I am always thinking about 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.240 the story or the next story, and invariably because of 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.360 the subject matter it, Yeah, it becomes it's very easy 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:01.439 for your imagination to run wild. So on that note, 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:03.719 and I think this is the more seamless transition to 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:07.120 the next book. So the next book that has inspired me, 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:12.000 and Unexplained is actually a collection of stories, but primarily 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.600 the one called Don't Look Now, which I'm sure many 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.200 of you will be familiar with, the Daphne Demurier short story, 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:23.400 which was later made into a brilliant film by Nicholas Rogue. 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:27.640 And so this really inspires me. And there's another book 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:29.480 as well I will talk about sort of in tandem 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:32.680 with this one, which is Joe Lindsay's Picnic Hanging Rock. 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.000 So there are lots of reasons why I love both 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.960 these books, but I suppose we should we could start 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.640 with tone. So this is something I think I've probably 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:47.080 quite deliberately, in one way or another, try to replicate 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.320 in Unexplained, which is to create the idea of the 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.720 sort of sense of a world that's familiar and real 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:59.640 and genuine and kind of scrutable, but then have this 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:03.720 air of something else, the possibility of something else, something 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:09.560 more enigmatic and and sort of intangible and you know, 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:12.480 magical in a way. I think you know, whether that 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:16.520 be spooky or terrifying magic or not. And I think 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.760 more than any other book that I've certainly read, these 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.480 these both these stories do that in an incredible ways, 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:27.080 and I think picnicer Hanging Rock is. It's probably more 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:30.400 enigmatic since it's so essentially if you're not familiar with 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.400 the story it's it was set I think in nineteen hundred, 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.960 on Valentine's Day in nineteen hundred, some girls from a 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.920 school are taken on a trip through the outback in Australia, 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.200 in Victoria, I think, in the state of Victoria and 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:49.760 Australia to a sort of strange natural landmark known as 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.360 Hanging Rock, which I've actually been to and it is 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:56.480 just as a sort of specials as sort of portrayed 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.160 in the book. But so anyway, a couple of these 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:02.800 schoolgirls going and as well as their teacher. I think 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.200 I might have the wrong but they go missing and 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:09.080 there's no explanation, and I can't tell you much more 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:17.400 to give anything away, but it's incredibly mysterious, beautifully portrayed story, 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.760 and it's very sort of hypnotic that of course goes 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.720 into all sorts of other things about sort of adolescent 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:28.800 awakening and all sorts of things like that. So thoroughly 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.600 recommended anyway, whether you like ghost stories or not. It's 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.920 not actually imperative to enjoy the story, so we don't look. 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.400 Now it's a sort of similar thing, but I think 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.880 there's more the sort of supernatural paranormal stuff going on, 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.360 which is particularly compelling because it's done in this way 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.600 where it's not sort of hysterical and so strange that 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:51.600 it's off putting or distracting. It's sort of to Maurier 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.880 and sort of merges them into the world that we 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.360 think we know in such a way that I don't 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.520 think has been I don't think has been bettered actually, 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:06.560 So yeah, read those books. So back to the questions. 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:11.560 I had a couple quite similar from Malcolm and Tom 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.159 who asked do you have your own conclusions to the 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.399 stories your research? And Tom asks are there any that 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.520 you truly believe have answers that lie beyond known science? 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.199 So these are good questions actually in relation to the 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.040 nature of the show, And you know, my kind of 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:30.040 thinking behind putting it together, and that really is that 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.160 I know this might sound strange, but I don't. Going 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.760 back to Malcolm's question, do I have my own conclusions 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.200 to the stories? I actually don't dwell on that too much. 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:41.560 I think what makes them interesting is that they that 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:45.359 they are these sort of open mysteries and unanswered questions 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:49.560 that then in turn invite new questions. And you know, 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.919 I think we're when you allow these stories to just 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.840 sort of be, rather than try and interrogate them too much. 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.160 I think that is where they sort of come most 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:02.840 alive and and provoke the most sort of interesting discussion. 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:04.560 And I think this is something I've tried to do 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:06.520 as well that I hope comes across, which is that 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.880 it's not that that doesn't mean that the story has 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:13.360 to be the ghost wasn't real, or it wasn't really 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:16.040 a poltergeist or whatever, and that that's the end of 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.240 the story. You know that if you were to that, 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.600 if we were able to conclude once and for all 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.879 that no, this didn't happen, and this is actually what happened, 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.040 and you have that sort of full fact laid out 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:28.800 in front of you, I think even if that were 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:30.359 the case, I don't think that would be the end 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:34.720 of the story. Often say that I think even if 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.359 it were to be proven once and for all that 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.080 God didn't exist, I think people would still believe in it, 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:43.760 or believe in her or him or however where you 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.879 hold the divine, and I think that in itself is 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:50.000 sort of equally as fascinating as to whether there's a 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:53.240 definitive answer or not. Kind of draws me on to 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:57.320 my next question, which is from m who talks about 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:02.520 how I sometimes use the mysterious and the fourteen as 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:06.280 a lens to explore deeper historical and sociological themes, And 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.400 is there any other literature that you are drawing on 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:12.359 that specifically looks into the sociology of fear about the 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:16.639 mysterious and the paranormal. So I don't specifically, but that 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.320 would be certainly be a very interesting thing to look 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:24.040 at how people's fears maybe not manipulated, but we're sort 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:27.680 of concentrated around specific ideas of the time or things 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:29.720 that have happened in the time, and certainly today you 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:32.119 can see the ways in which people's fears are stoked 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:36.160 and manipulated by the media. And so one very good 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:38.520 documentary you can watch all about that is called The 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:42.280 Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis, which I thoroughly recommend 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.560 you want to learn a bit more about that. So 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:48.399 the next book is Straw Dogs by the philosopher John Gray, 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.359 not the same John Gray, who wrote Men Are from Mars, 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:54.640 Women Are from Venus, a very different John Gray and 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.280 not the film is not the films draw Dogs. So 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:02.440 this is an entire thing on its own, straw Dogs 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.480 by John Gray. And the subtitle is Thoughts on Humans 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.520 and Other Animals. And I think when I read this book, 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:09.520 it was the first time I sort of really started 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:13.480 to understand and look a bit more broadly on the 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:17.600 human race and what it is to be human and 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:21.200 sort of picking apart the delusion that we have about 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:23.800 who we are and our sort of deluded sense of 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:28.440 separateness from the natural world, and the way we sort 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:32.560 of position ourselves apart from other animals. In fact, frequently 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:35.719 you will often hear people say talk about humans and 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.680 animals almost as if we're not part of that group. 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:42.800 So it goes into I mean, there's a lot more, 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.480 way more than I can sort of expound on here, 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.560 but I would, yes, just thoroughly recommend it. It's well 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:53.720 worth reading, and you know, I think it's it's a 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:58.040 complicated point about whether we need to be more aware 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.800 of the damage we do of the delusions that we 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:03.920 have as human beings. I mean, you could also argue 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:08.120 that into the being deluded. That is also a natural 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.560 sort of form of existence in a way, but it 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:15.480 certainly doesn't hurt to kind of think more broadly about 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.840 about that and what that means, and what that means 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:21.360 for the way that we think of ourselves and think 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:25.840 of others as well. So next question is from Daniel, 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:28.840 what advice would you give to other creative types who 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.360 want to create cool stuff like you? Well, thank you 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.200 first of all for calling Unexplained cool. That's very kind. 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:37.879 But also I would just say as well that I 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.919 think everybody is creative. Everybody is a creative type. We 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.680 all in our own ways can be creative or find 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.399 ways to be creative. But that being said, of course 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.680 I think you know what you mean, So I would say, 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.320 I mean, obviously it depends on what it is you're 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:57.120 trying to create. But if we're talking about writing, for example, 0:21:57.240 --> 0:22:00.520 and of course Unexplained as a podcast, but really what 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:04.040 it's based on is writing and storytelling and having a 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:09.400 sense of how to engage an audience. I don't know 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.720 to what degree I'm especially successful at doing that or not, 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.959 but I think if I've learned anything, really, it's understanding 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:18.800 structure and the structure of storytelling. And I think when 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:21.439 I was starting out, when I was much younger, and 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.679 I had ambitions of writing and aspirations of doing all 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.320 sorts of things with that, I didn't really understand why 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:30.440 it was important in the way that I do now, 0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:33.960 and which is really that it's not that you need 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:37.720 to follow rules and you need to kind of adopt 0:22:37.760 --> 0:22:41.679 certain techniques. It's just more that having an understanding of 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:44.399 them is it gives you such a head start in 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.440 terms of approaching a blank page, which is as most 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:50.919