Wild Thing

Wild Thing, a new podcast about our collective fascination with Bigfoot - even if we're not sure it exists. Coming October 2.

Laura Krantz is a veteran public radio editor and producer. So how did she end up in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, eyeballing some giant ground nests… that might have been made by Bigfoot? You can place the blame squarely on the shoulders of a guy named Grover. He was a tenured professor of anthropology at Washington State University and one of world’s preeminent experts on Sasquatch. And it turns out that Grover is also Laura’s long-lost cousin. How could she not do a story about this guy?*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

Just what is Bigfoot? Descendant of ancient apes? Close human ancestor? Evolution might hold the answer to this question. Homo sapiens may rule the planet now but once upon a time, we weren’t the only hominid creatures walking around. Who’s to say that Bigfoot wasn’t—and still isn’t—among us? We talk to evolution experts and anthropologists, including Ian Tattersall, curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

Let’s look at the evidence. There are footprints and sounds, grainy pictures, and the notorious Patterson-Gimlin film—that shaky 1967 video of a big, hairy beast striding through the forest. But how well does it hold up? We hear from a variety of people—the skeptics and the certain—who make their case for what evidence is out there. How much of it stands up to scrutiny? *Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get each new episode early, and exclusive access to all bonus episodes, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/ to find out more! *Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

A Bigfoot sighting can apparently change your life and even lead to obsession. Thousands of people claim to have laid eyes on Sasquatch over the past century and Laura’s spoken to dozens of them—compelling stories that will set your hair on end. If they didn’t see Bigfoot, what did they see?*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

Everywhere you go, you leave bits of yourself behind - and Bigfoot would no different. But now, those DNA droppings are easier than ever to analyze, making it possible to identify a species, even without a body. We’ll talk to Dr. Todd Disotell, a molecular primatologist at New York University and a regular on Spike TV’s $10 Million Bigfoot Bounty, about the magic of DNA analysis and what it might mean for Bigfoot.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

Tired of waiting around for other people to find Bigfoot, Laura goes into the woods (with some experts). This particular outing is led by Cindy Caddell and three other seasoned ‘Squatchers, out in Oregon’s Mt. Hood National Forest, who explain what it takes to go looking for Bigfoot. And once the sun sets, we’ll hear a few hair-raising stories around the campfire before heading out on a nighttime hike.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

Bigfoot can be tongue-in-cheek fun - but what happens if you take it seriously? There are the people who’ve risked their professional careers and personal reputations, and expended a lot of time, money and energy seeking out Sasquatch. We’ll attend an exclusive symposium, for the crème de la crème of Bigfoot researchers, and hear from many who’ve been ridiculed for their interests.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

Chances are, you’ve already seen Bigfoot. On pizza boxes, advertising jerky, drinking beer, driving monster trucks. There are a lot of people who really do believe. There are even more who just think the idea of Bigfoot is fun. And then there are those who see Sasquatch as a real cash cow. A Cash-squatch. We’ll sit down with CEOs and creative directors to find out what’s in a name and a logo. No doubt about it—Bigfoot is big business and Sasquatch sells.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

Bigfoot researchers remain optimistic that Sasquatch is out there; that the creature will one day be found. Why? Why do people continue to believe? We’ll talk to professional skeptic Michael Shermer about the nature of belief. And we’ll look at why—even for those who think Bigfoot is a complete myth—the idea of Bigfoot holds so much appeal. What makes us so fascinated by this creature? Why do we want so badly to believe that it’s out there?*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 1 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz, Scott Carney, and Kelsey Ray. Editing by Alisa Barba. Music and mixing by Ramtin Arablouei.

In memory of Peter Byrne, the longest-surviving member of the Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery. After looking for Bigfoot for decades, the 97-year-old tracker passed away in August 2023. Host Laura Krantz had the opportunity to interview him in 2017, and learned that his search for Sasquatch was only one adventure in a life that was jam-packed with them.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! Hear an extended conversation with Bob Gimlin, half of the famous duo that shot the Patterson-Gimlin film back in 1967.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

On September 10, 2025, Jeff Meldrum passed away after a battle with brain cancer. I interviewed him multiple times for the first season of Wild Thing and he was incredibly generous with his time and extremely patient in answering my questions about Bigfoot. In memory of him, I’ve excerpted a section from one of our interviews, at a 2017 conference held in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Patterson-Gimlin film.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! We hear from William Dear—director of "Harry & the Hendersons"—about how he tried to capture the magic of Bigfoot on the big screen.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

**THIS EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT MATERIAL**Wild Thing is re-releasing its bonus interviews! We talk to Virginia Wade, author of a series of Bigfoot erotica books, about the saucier side of Sasquatch.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

Wild Thing is rereleasing its bonus episodes! In Ep. 2 of Wild Thing, I mentioned that people went crazy about the gorilla. They even wrote songs about it. But I couldn’t find the music, so I couldn’t play the tune… until now. In a special bonus letters segment, a musical performance from a Wild Thing fan, as well as some of your stories and letters.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!

Back for its second season, Wild Thing: Space Invaders turns our eyes skyward in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Coming September 17, 2020.

'Oumuamua almost slipped past Earth before an astronomer caught sight of this weird object. What was it? Some scientists thought it was just a comet; others, like Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, theorized it could be an alien spacecraft. And why not? While tabloid aliens elicit giggles, loads of serious scientists, statesmen, and even members of the military, consider extraterrestrial life a real possibility.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 2 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz and Scott Carney. Editing by Alicia Lipinski. Music and mixing by Louis Weeks.

We’re surrounded by life here on Earth—and given how huge the galaxy is, it’s got to be out there on other planets, too, right? But where to look? What to look for? And would life on other planets be anything like life here? It turns out that while we know a lot about life on this planet—like what it needs to survive—we’ve still got a lot to learn.*Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get ad all three seasons ad-free, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to ⁠https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/⁠ to find out more!*Season 2 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz and Scott Carney. Editing by Alicia Lipinski. Music and mixing by Louis Weeks.

What’s the actual likelihood of extraterrestrial life? Especially intelligent life? 60 years ago, astronomer Frank Drake took a crack at calculating those odds and his famous Drake Equation still resonates with scientists and UFO enthusiasts alike. We breaks down the equation for us, piece by piece, and talks about the chance of finding something and whether we’re any closer to the answers. *Become a premium subscriber to Wild Thing! Premium subscribers get each new episode early, and exclusive access to all bonus episodes, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting the show. Go to https://wildthing.supportingcast.fm/ to find out more! *Season 2 of Wild Thing is produced by Laura Krantz and Scott Carney. Editing by Alicia Lipinski. Music and mixing by Louis Weeks.