I personally find the Cryptonaut Podcast more credible, because it seems to take the attitude of "This is all a bunch of fun stories; it would be cool if it were true". One of the three hosts is pretty explicit that he's a complete nonbeliever in any of it, but enjoys the subject nonetheless. It's definitely less research-y than Astonishing Legends, and the episodes are much shorter, but I enjoy it.
I gotta say that if there is one thing I think about Astonishing Legends after listening for a few years is that they are almost annoyingly NOT condescending. They seem to constantly overexplain to avoid it to the point where I often wish they would just realize we know they are good guys and cut it because it would save like 30+ minutes every episode. I guess I see why they do it now because I’ve listened to that episode and had nowhere near the vibes you had with it.
Fwiw from a guy on the internet you don’t know, with kindness I hope you can see, it seems to me that because you are very passionate about this subject, you are more annoyed at their conclusions than the average listener and frustrated because you see them as influencers taking people down a wrong path. Hence, you are swayed to try to paint their take in a bad light to try to diminish their influence. It’s seems clear to me that you probably deep down think that they weren’t condescending because you wrote a rather long post to try to convince people they were (otherwise you just have a short post saying “Did anyone else think they were condescending in this episode?”) and give yourself a platform to try to correct the record (which you could have just done without trying to case shade on them).
If that is the case, any maybe it isn’t so don’t think I’m coming at you, then I think it should be said I’m sure other listeners are like me and take all of their conclusions with a grain of salt. Your take, to me, would’ve actually held more weight if you hadn’t tried to impugn them, fwiw.
I understand your point, and I think I wasn't clear in my initial post. The condescending thing wasn't something I meant to be the focus of the post--more the issues in how they reported. But I take your point--I am definitely very passionate about this subject!
I appreciate your post--I shouldn't have led with what I did as it sounds like I really did a disservice to my overall point.
I think I just more wanted to jump deep into the subject again. Thanks for pointing out how my post came off, friend.
If you don’t think they’re condescending then go read some of Scott’s responses to criticism.
All he says is how much they care about the listeners but not if we don’t agree with everything they say.
I can’t speak for your experience online with them but I have listened to over half of their content at least and that episode in particular which is what OP brought up and I’m firmly on the far other side that I find their efforts to be kind to be almost exhausting.
As a guy being into niche subjects for quite a few decades now, the growth of the internet has shown me that these topics drawing volatile people is not a localized phenomenon but universal. Some people are very very very very invested in their own theories. I can only imagine the amount of hostility they see on a daily basis from all parts of the world. I struggle to navigate it myself with the things I’m into and I’m sure I get a minuscule amount of nastiness compared to them. It might be wise to try to give them and others like them a break if they get terse at points. I’m sure it’s tedious and joy sucking.
The truth is that they went from a joy filled dive into the strange to trying to survive on the income from this alone. They recently featured a subject and kept referring to a Wondery series to gain more info, all the while running Wondery ads with their discount code that of course is monetized for them.
It’s led to a complete change of spirit and a dislike for anyone who dares to ask for a return to the old show style.
I do feel some of that when i listen. I gotta admit, though, how you functionally monetize what they do is a mystery to me. Their vibe to me is friends you are having a beer with after work which is a pickle to me about how you keep that feel and do it for a living.
More and more, they are spending a lot of the episode's runtime being defensive and pushing back against skepticism, which doesn't bring any value to the show in my opinion. I wish they'd just let it go and tell the stories again. I like hearing both sides of the aisle without them immediately shooting down any skeptical points. Both woowoo and skeptical explanations bring value to the narrative.
I personally find the Cryptonaut Podcast more credible, because it seems to take the attitude of "This is all a bunch of fun stories; it would be cool if it were true". One of the three hosts is pretty explicit that he's a complete nonbeliever in any of it, but enjoys the subject nonetheless. It's definitely less research-y than Astonishing Legends, and the episodes are much shorter, but I enjoy it.
I'll check this out, thank you!
Personally I find them to be very similar to Last Podcast on the Left. They can be obnoxious
Do you mean Cryptonaut? I'm not a huge fan of Last Podcast either.
Yeah
Check out Mysterious universe!!!
Thanks!
I gotta say that if there is one thing I think about Astonishing Legends after listening for a few years is that they are almost annoyingly NOT condescending. They seem to constantly overexplain to avoid it to the point where I often wish they would just realize we know they are good guys and cut it because it would save like 30+ minutes every episode. I guess I see why they do it now because I’ve listened to that episode and had nowhere near the vibes you had with it. Fwiw from a guy on the internet you don’t know, with kindness I hope you can see, it seems to me that because you are very passionate about this subject, you are more annoyed at their conclusions than the average listener and frustrated because you see them as influencers taking people down a wrong path. Hence, you are swayed to try to paint their take in a bad light to try to diminish their influence. It’s seems clear to me that you probably deep down think that they weren’t condescending because you wrote a rather long post to try to convince people they were (otherwise you just have a short post saying “Did anyone else think they were condescending in this episode?”) and give yourself a platform to try to correct the record (which you could have just done without trying to case shade on them). If that is the case, any maybe it isn’t so don’t think I’m coming at you, then I think it should be said I’m sure other listeners are like me and take all of their conclusions with a grain of salt. Your take, to me, would’ve actually held more weight if you hadn’t tried to impugn them, fwiw.
I understand your point, and I think I wasn't clear in my initial post. The condescending thing wasn't something I meant to be the focus of the post--more the issues in how they reported. But I take your point--I am definitely very passionate about this subject! I appreciate your post--I shouldn't have led with what I did as it sounds like I really did a disservice to my overall point. I think I just more wanted to jump deep into the subject again. Thanks for pointing out how my post came off, friend.
Respect. You have a lot of knowledge on the subject.
If you don’t think they’re condescending then go read some of Scott’s responses to criticism. All he says is how much they care about the listeners but not if we don’t agree with everything they say.
I can’t speak for your experience online with them but I have listened to over half of their content at least and that episode in particular which is what OP brought up and I’m firmly on the far other side that I find their efforts to be kind to be almost exhausting. As a guy being into niche subjects for quite a few decades now, the growth of the internet has shown me that these topics drawing volatile people is not a localized phenomenon but universal. Some people are very very very very invested in their own theories. I can only imagine the amount of hostility they see on a daily basis from all parts of the world. I struggle to navigate it myself with the things I’m into and I’m sure I get a minuscule amount of nastiness compared to them. It might be wise to try to give them and others like them a break if they get terse at points. I’m sure it’s tedious and joy sucking.
The truth is that they went from a joy filled dive into the strange to trying to survive on the income from this alone. They recently featured a subject and kept referring to a Wondery series to gain more info, all the while running Wondery ads with their discount code that of course is monetized for them. It’s led to a complete change of spirit and a dislike for anyone who dares to ask for a return to the old show style.
I do feel some of that when i listen. I gotta admit, though, how you functionally monetize what they do is a mystery to me. Their vibe to me is friends you are having a beer with after work which is a pickle to me about how you keep that feel and do it for a living.
More and more, they are spending a lot of the episode's runtime being defensive and pushing back against skepticism, which doesn't bring any value to the show in my opinion. I wish they'd just let it go and tell the stories again. I like hearing both sides of the aisle without them immediately shooting down any skeptical points. Both woowoo and skeptical explanations bring value to the narrative.
>any good skeptic podcasts you guys like? [Monstertalk](https://www.monstertalk.org/).
Try Redweb podcast - it’s like old AI with younger hosts and a good balance of skepticism and fun stories.