006 – Darwin vs The Wolfman

Professor Brian Regal joins us to talk about how Darwin’s ideas of natural selection undermined the concept of transmutation of lifeforms such as in werewolf lore.

In this episode

• The ties between silver and werewolves appears to derive from the 1941 Universal film The Wolfman.
• Before the 1941 film most werewolf legends involved people becoming wolves by ritual.
• America has legends of wolfmen in Wisconsin, described in the book The Beast of Bray Road by Linda Godfrey.
• While many sightings have been reported, there is no scientific evidence of a wolfman living in Wisconsin.
• Most of the lore of werewolves (and vampires) in pop-culture derive from movies — especially The Wolfman.
• Ancient legends of werewolves involved magical rituals, Satan, and cannibalism.
• Darwin’s theory does not allow for humans and wolves to produce hybrids.
• The rise of science and materialism demystified werewolves, but did nothing to diminish belief in the supernatural overall.
• Brian shares a story about his experience with creationists who want to leverage cryptozoology to promote their beliefs.
• He also tells us a bit about his new book Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia

For more information on pseudoscience topics covered in this episode:
http://whatstheharm.net/colloidalsilver.html
http://whatstheharm.net/reparativetherapy.html

Episode Transcript

Read a complete transcript of this episode