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BOA : Audio

1.30.14

Brad Steiger / Nick Redfern

(2 Hours, 30 Minutes)


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(MP3 A : 70 minutes)
(MP3 B : 80 minutes)

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BoA:Audio returns from our winter hiatus with a massive live edition of the program featuring legendary esoteric author Brad Steiger in the 1st hour and prodigious paranormal writer Nick Redfern for the remainder of the program, including an additional half hour which took place following the live broadcast.

With Brad, we discuss the revelatory nature of the paranormal and how it seems to be part of a larger agenda aimed at pushing humanity forward towards something yet to be determined or known. We also hear an amazing story about the paranormal and evolution which Brad has never told before and discuss the envelopment of humanity by technology, and what researchers should be asking paranormal experiencers.

As Brad's appearance gives way to Nick's time on the show, we have a few minutes where these two titans share the stage and discuss their upcoming project The Zombie Book as well as how they each find the energy and inspiration to keep writing so many books.

During Nick's segment of the program, we talk about the emergence of Bigfoot as a pop culture phenomenon, the problems of paranormal reality TV, Nick's decision to move away from writing about UFO conspiracies, the potential dangers of humanizing the paranormal, and whether humans can even understand what it is. We also delve into discussion on how the 'face' of the paranormal is continually changing and what they latest visage may be as well as the infamous MIBs and Nick's tremendous research into that phenomenon. Plus, of course, tons more.

Altogether it is an enlightening installment of BoA:Audio which ultimately looks at the very nature of this thing we call 'the paranormal' as we ponder the great unknown with two masters of esoteric research, Brad Steiger and Nick Redfern.

Highlights: Brad talks about the evolution of his work and thoughts on the paranormal, reflecting on how his personal experiences shaped his perception of the unknown. He also talks about revelatory experiences and how the paranormal, regardless of how it presents itself, seems to convey an overall revelatory message to the experiencer. Brad also shares a story that he's never written about or told before, which recounts his dinner with a prominent psychotherapist who theorized that the paranormal was a form of sentient evolution.

The conversation then turns towards the fact that, after all these years, Brad is still pondering what the paranormal is all about rather than championing a particular theory or viewpoint. From there, we reflect on the emergence of technology in modern culture and how the easy accessibility of information has both a beneficial and deleterious effect on creativity and research.

In light of the countless number of people who have told him about their paranormal experiences, we find out from Brad what sort of questions researchers should be asking witnesses and experiencers in order to gain the most insight into their encounters. Nearing the end of Brad's segment, we reflect on the explosion of paranormal media as well as the mystery of human consciousness.

As our hour with Brad concludes, we bring in latter half guest, Nick Redfern, for a joint conversation about Brad and Nick's forthcoming book The Zombie Book, due out in September. After previewing the book, Nick muses about the surreal nature of co-writing a book with Brad, since he grew up reading the legend's many writings about the paranormal. Considering the incredible number of books written by both Brad and Nick, we find out where they derive the energy and inspiration to keep producing new work. Wrapping up the joint appearance, we have the duo discuss why zombies have become so popular in pop culture in recent years.

After bidding farewell to Brad, we begin our solo conversation with Nick by having him provide an update on what he's been up to since his last appearance on BoA:Audio. We learn about a forthcoming book about mysterious deaths and disappearances in the world of UFO research as well as his recent decision to start moving away from the conspiracy aspect surrounding UFO research, since that 'story' has been thoroughly documented at this point in time.

This leads to us talking about Bigfoot's rise in pop cultural prominence over the last few years and how Nick's theory, that Bigfoot is interdimensional or supernatural, gets overlooked in the reality TV era of paranormal programming which presents the creature as strictly a flesh and blood animal. This turns to some discussion on the ills of paranormal reality TV and how much of what is presented has been scripted or fabricated by producers.

We then talk about the potential danger of personifying the paranormal and how we may be making a mistake by attributing human-like attributes to the unknown. We also talk about how Nick is similar to Brad in that he writes about a variety of different paranormal topics and does not have a 'pet theory' or agenda that he is advancing. This turns into talk about the current state of UFO research, where demanding the government disclose the 'truth' has trumped scientific research of the phenomenon.

Looking at the big picture of the paranormal, we ponder whether or not it is evening possible for humans to understand what is behind this perplexing range of phenomena. Additionally, we look at how knowledge of an afterlife may be the ultimate 'secret' which is keeping the UFO 'secret' from being told to the public, since the former revelation could cause widespread disruptions throughout society.

Closing out the live portion of the program, we reflect on how a number of peripheral phenomena, like crop circles, cattle mutilations, and abductions, seemed to emerge in the 1970's and ponder what that might mean about the ultimate source of the esoteric. We also talk about how the way people talk about paranormal experiences have changed over the decades we've known about such events occurring. Discussing the changing 'face' of the paranormal, we talk about how it doesn't seem like many 'new' phenomena have emerged in the last 10 to 15 years.

Continuing that line of thought, we speculate on how, if the paranormal is ultimately one large 'force,' it appears that reports of strange entities have become more commonplace and have eschewed the proverbial craft that previously were seen to carry them. This takes us into talking about Nick's research into MIBs and we find out if people are still having encounters with the entities and if the experiences have differed from 'classic' MIB reports. We also learn about how MIBs seem to encompass a wide variety of potential phenomena rather than a straight forward entity.

Wrapping up the program, we find out a bit more about Nick's next book and we also talk about why he doesn't have much interest in the ghost genre. That said, he also talks about some other realms of research he may explore in the future. We also revisit our Bigfoot discussion and ask Nick if he thinks the government knows the 'truth' about Bigfoot and, if they do, why they won't tell the public about it.




Brad Steiger Bio

Brad Steiger is the author/coauthor of 170 books with over 17 million copies in print.

Steiger's first published articles on the unexplained appeared in 1956, and he has now written more than 2,000 articles with paranormal themes. From 1970-'73, his weekly newspaper column, The Strange World of Brad Steiger, was carried domestically in over 80 newspapers and overseas from Bombay to Tokyo.

He was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on February 19,1936. He is married to Sherry Hansen Steiger, a licensed and ordained minister, herself the author or coauthor of over 22 books. He has two sons, three daughters, and six grandchildren.

His website is bradandsherry.com

Nick Redfern Bio

Nick Redfern started his writing career as an eighteen-year-old in 1982 on a British-based music, fashion, and entertainment magazine called "Zero." His interest in UFOs was prompted by his father, who worked on radar with the British Royal Air Force, and who was personally aware of several UFO encounters investigated by the British Government in the 1950s.

Nick is the author of a myriad of books on unsolved mysteries and UFOs and has written for UFO Magazine; Fortean Times; Fate Magazine; and the British Daily Express newspaper and has appeared on numerous television shows, including the History Channel's Ancient Aliens, Monster Quest, and UFO Hunters; National Geographic Channel's The Truth about UFOs, and Paranatural; and SyFy Channel's Proof Positive.

Nick has spent weeks chasing the vampire-like Chupacabras in Puerto Rico for the Sci-Fi Channel and Canada's Space Channel; roamed around the old base at Roswell, New Mexico in search of decaying, smelly, alien corpses; tried to conjure up Tulpa-style thought-forms of Bigfoot, lycanthropes, and lake monsters in his home-country of England; and was once less-than-politely turned away from the fringes of Area 51, Nevada by a fat and humorless security guard.

His website is nickredfernfortean.blogspot.com


Next Episodes:

TBA

Either a live show or a taped program. We'll let you know sometime over the weekend.


BoA : Audio, Season 8 archive