Laura Krantz

Last updated

Laura Krantz (born 1978) is an American journalist, podcaster and author. She is the host of the podcast Wild Thing , was an editor at National Public Radio for ten years, has a series of illustrated children's books based on the podcast, and is a founding partner of the media company Foxtopus Ink. [1] [2] [3] Her work has been covered extensively in the media including in the Los Angeles Times, [4] FOX, [5] The Atlantic, [6] and The Washington Post. [7] She graduated Whitman College in 2000. [8]

Contents

Wild Thing

As of 2022, Krantz's Wild Thing podcast has three seasons. The first season aired in 2018 begins with Krantz's surprising discovery that she was related to anthropologist Grover Krantz, who was one of the world's foremost experts on the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot. [8] The podcast began as her reluctant foray into understanding the cultural fascination with Sasquatch, as well as how the creature might have evolved and various attempts to track it down. [9] Subsequent seasons explored the possibility of extraterrestrial life, [10] and the viability of nuclear power.

Wild Thing received largely positive reviews and has 3,700 ratings on Apple with an average of 4.8 stars. [11] Wild Thing has been adapted into several subsequent projects, including a children's podcast called The Search for Wild Thing on the children's podcast network Pinna. [12] It has also been adapted into an illustrated middle-grade book series with Abrams Books. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bigfoot</span> Mythical creature

Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a large and hairy human-like mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Bigfoot is featured in both American and Canadian folklore, and since the mid-20th century has grown into a cultural icon, permeating popular culture and becoming the subject of its own distinct subculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patterson–Gimlin film</span> Alleged film of Bigfoot

The Patterson–Gimlin film is an American short motion picture of an unidentified subject that the filmmakers have said was a Bigfoot. The footage was shot in 1967 in Northern California, and has since been subjected to many attempts to authenticate or debunk it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeti</span> Alleged ape-like creature from Asia

The Yeti is an ape-like creature purported to inhabit the Himalayan mountain range in Asia. In Western popular culture, the creature is commonly referred to as the Abominable Snowman. Many dubious articles have been offered in an attempt to prove the existence of the Yeti, including anecdotal visual sightings, disputed video recordings, photographs, and plaster casts of large footprints. Some of these are speculated or known to be hoaxes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skunk ape</span> Southeastern United States cryptid

The skunk ape is a large and hairy human-like mythical creature purported to inhabit the forests and swamps in the southeastern United States, most notably in Florida. It is often compared to, synonymous with, or called the "cousin" of Bigfoot, a prominent subject within North American popular culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grover Krantz</span> American biological anthropologist and cryptozoologist (1931–2002)

Grover Sanders Krantz was an American anthropologist and cryptozoologist; he was one of few scientists not only to research Bigfoot, but also to express his belief in the animal's existence. Throughout his professional career, Krantz authored more than 60 academic articles and 10 books on human evolution, and conducted field research in Europe, China, and Java.

The Skookum cast is a plaster cast showing the imprint of what appears to be a large animal. It was discovered in a muddy wallow near Mount Adams in the southern part of Washington state in the year 2000. Enthusiasts have argued that the imprint may have been made by the mythical creature, Bigfoot, though scientific analysis says it was most likely an imprint of an elk. Scholars and academics consider Bigfoot, and alleged evidence, to be a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax rather than a living animal.

John Willison Green was a Canadian journalist and a leading researcher of the Bigfoot phenomenon. He was a graduate of both the University of British Columbia and Columbia University and compiled a database of more than 3,000 sighting and track reports.

Loren Coleman is an American cryptozoologist, author and television personality who has written over 40 books on a number of topics, including cryptozoology. He is also the President, Founder and leading Director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. He has a background in social work and has also written on the topic of suicide, particularly the copycat effect.

The Minnesota Iceman is a sideshow exhibit and elaborate hoax that depicts a fake man-like creature frozen in a block of ice. It was displayed at shopping malls, state fairs, and carnivals in the United States and Canada in the 1960s and early 1970s and promoted as the "missing link" between man and Neanderthals. It was sold on eBay in 2013 and put on display in Austin, Texas.

John Russell Napier, MRCS, LRCP, D.Sc. was a British primatologist, paleoanthropologist, and physician, who is notable for his work with Homo habilis and OH 7, as well as on human and primate hands/feet. During his life he was widely considered a leading authority on primate taxonomy, but is perhaps most famous to the general public for his research on Bigfoot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bossburg, Washington</span> Ghost town in Washington (state)

Bossburg is a ghost town in Stevens County, Washington, and is located on the east bank of the Columbia River just south of the Canada–US border. Bossburg had a maximum population of 800 in 1892. The town was once named "Young America," although in 1896 it was renamed in honor of the town's first citizen, C. S. Boss. It is currently best known for the 1969 discovery of the footprints in the snow of a supposed Sasquatch known as "Cripplefoot," and subsequent hi-jinks.

Bigfoot is an alleged human or ape-like cryptid in North America. Since the mid-20th century, Bigfoot has become increasingly relevant in popular culture and is the subject of film, television, advertising, music, literature and more.

Scott Carney is an American investigative journalist, author and anthropologist. He is the author of five books: The Red Market, The Enlightenment Trap, What Doesn't Kill Us, The Wedge, and The Vortex. Carney contributes stories on a variety of medical, technological and ethical issues to Wired, Mother Jones, Playboy, Foreign Policy, Men's Journal, and National Public Radio.

The Honey Island Swamp Monster, also known as the Cajun Sasquatch and in Cajun French: La Bête Noire, is an ape-like humanoid cryptid creature, similar to descriptions of Bigfoot, purported to inhabit the Honey Island Swamp in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. It has become a part of Louisiana folklore, with many swamp tour companies in the area capitalizing on its alleged existence, which is considered unlikely by scientists.

Rick Dyer is an American Bigfoot enthusiast known for perpetrating hoaxes surrounding the subject. Texas Monthly has called Dyer "the world's most infamous Bigfoot hunter."

Brian Regal is an American historian of science, skeptic and writer. He is an associate professor of the history of science at Kean University in New Jersey.

<i>Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend</i> 2009 book by Joshua Blu Buhs

Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend is a non-fiction book written by Joshua Blu Buhs and published in 2009 by the University of Chicago Press. It explores the history of the concept of Bigfoot, discusses the exploits of its believers, as well as hoaxers, and examines the cultural influences that give the entity its staying power.

<i>Wild Thing</i> (podcast) Sociology podcast

Wild Thing is a podcast about the relationship between science and society. It is hosted by Laura Krantz and produced by Foxtopus Ink. In 2006 Krantz learned that she was related to anthropologist Grover Krantz, who had spent much of his career writing about and hunting for Sasquatch, after she read an article in the Washington Post. At the time, Krantz was working at National Public Radio and thought that she needed to dig deeper. Through her reporting she came to understand that the search for Sasquatch spoke to important questions about human evolution, conspiracy theories, and the human connection to the natural world. The second season of Wild Thing concerns the search for extraterrestrial life. The third season explores the future of nuclear power.

Peter Cyril Byrne was an Irish-American explorer, author, media personality, and cryptozoologist, probably best known as a Bigfoot investigator. He, René Dahinden, John Green, and Grover Krantz have been dubbed the “Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery”.

References

  1. ↑ "Foxtopus Ink". Foxtopus Ink. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  2. ↑ "Laura Krantz". Center for Environmental Journalism. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  3. ↑ "Laura Krantz". Tink*. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  4. ↑ Fox, Hayley (2018-10-02). "Audiosphere: The 'Wild Thing' podcast is like 'Serial' for Sasquatches". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  5. ↑ McCarthy, Tyler (2018-10-14). "Bigfoot podcast 'Wild Thing' explores Sasquatch hunters, uncovers surprising evidence". Fox News. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  6. ↑ McQuade, Laura Jane Standley, Eric (2018-12-23). "The 50 Best Podcasts of 2018". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-09-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "He asked the FBI to analyze 'Bigfoot' hair 40 years ago and never heard back. Until now". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  8. 1 2 "Aliens, Bigfoot and the Podcaster". Whitman College. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  9. ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian; Shah, Haleema. "The Scientist Grover Krantz Risked It All. . .Chasing Bigfoot". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  10. ↑ "Searching for Bigfoot". Alumni Association. 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  11. ↑ "Wild Thing on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  12. ↑ "Searching for Wild Thing - Pinna". Pinna Audio. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  13. ↑ Krantz, Laura (2022). Search for Sasquatch (A Wild Thing Book). Abrams, Incorporated. ISBN   978-1-4197-5818-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.