Monday, March 12, 2012

Coast to Coast AM - 2012.03.11 - American Monsters

American Monsters

Date:	03-11-12
Host:	Ian Punnett
Guests:	Scott Poole, Dr. Sky, Lynne D. Kitei M.D.

Ian Punnett was joined by Professor of History, Scott Poole, for a discussion of how the monster, in all its various forms, has been a staple of American culture since the earliest settlers of the country. "Academics ought to take monsters seriously," Poole said, explaining that, regardless of the veracity of their existence, the belief in these entities "has real world effects in the material structures of society." To that end, he was reticent to provide "an abstract definition of a monster" because their identity and meaning have changed over time. "Monsters are products of the context that they come out of," he said, noting that, during different eras, monsters could be sea serpents, serial killers, or "the thing with a thousand eyes."
Tracing this concept back to the very beginnings of America, Poole observed that the early Puritan settlers arrived in the New World actually expecting monsters, which is what informed their perception of the Native Americans. He cited a long standing written history in Europe which suggested "monstrous races that were out beyond where the maps ended." As such, Poole said, when the settlers arrived in the New World, their intention was not to convert the Native Americans, but to eliminate the "monsters" which they so greatly feared. Beyond the Native Americans, he said, early settlers believed they were surrounded by Satanic forces and, thus, were troubled by the concept of witches as monsters and even regarded black bears as "diabolical creatures."
Looking at monsters in modern times, Poole pointed to the emergence of zombies in pop culture as a glimpse into the psyche of the contemporary populace. He observed that the popularity of zombies coincides with America becoming greatly fearful of viral outbreaks as well as obsessed with body image. He likened the zombie to "the ultimate nightmare of American culture's fascination with bodily fulfillment," since it is a decaying version of the human form that is "hungry all the time." Additionally, he surmised that zombies represent "our relationship with the dead" as well as people who are disconnected from society. Over the course of the evening, Poole also discussed the societal implications of other "monsters" like Bigfoot, werewolves, and the Jersey Devil.

The Phoenix Flash

In the first hour, astronomer Dr. Sky and researcher Lynne Kitei discussed the mysterious flash which appeared in the Phoenix sky during a TV news traffic report. Dr. Sky said that there appears to be no meteorological reason for the event and also dismissed the idea that it could have been caused by methane gas being released from Earth, despite similar reports which happened prior to the Japanese earthquake last year. He also expressed skepticism that it was UFO related, since the flash was a "ground up event" and did not display the characteristics of classic UFO reports. Kitei revealed that she actually appeared on this same FOX station over the weekend and that she was told that both the local utility companies and the nearby Air Force base had no explanation for the flash.

Mystery Flash over Phoenix

A seemingly innocuous newscast in Phoenix on Thursday morning has yielded a baffling enigma as, over the shoulder of the reporter, a bright flash of light appeared in the sky. Meteorologists and electric companies have dismissed prosaic explanations for the event, which is drawing comparisons to the famed Phoenix Lights incident which occurred in the same skies nearly 15 years ago. More on the story, including video of the incident, at the Huffington Post.

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Coast to Coast AM

Coast to Coast AM is a North American (U.S. and Canada) late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently airs seven nights a week 1:00 a.m. – 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time / 10:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. Pacific Time. As of 2006, the show attracts an estimated 4.5 million listeners every night, making it the most listened to late night show in North America.

Coast to Coast AM covers unusual topics and is full of personal stories related to callers. While program content varies, most nights are focused on paranormal and pseudoscientific subjects such as the occult, remote viewing, hauntings, shadow people, psychic reading, metaphysics, conspiracy theories, UFOs, crop circles, cryptozoology, the Hollow Earth hypothesis, and science fiction literature, among others. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the events of that day (as well as alternate theories surrounding them) and current U.S. counter-terrorism strategy have also become frequent themes. George Noory also takes interest in the 2012 phenomenon and believes something will happen.

After the theme song is played (Giorgio Moroder's "Chase" from Midnight Express), the broadcast is typically kicked off with a reading of current events or news stories by the host, usually with at least one bizarre or peculiar story. This is usually followed by a guest interview for the rest of the first hour (with open phone lines if there is enough time), then a lengthier three-hour interview with a second guest. For the last hour of the show, people may call in to ask questions of the second guest. Every so often, host George Noory will flip the show's format and have the longer interview guest on first to fill the first three hours of the show. In this format, the primary interview begins after the reading of the news and then the first break. In the last hour in this "flipped" format, the last hour will sometimes feature guest with a shorter subject or, more often than not, be simply an hour of open lines. Occasionally, round table discussions are held on one of the show's common topics. Conventional topics are sometimes discussed, with interviews with notable authors and political talk sometimes featured.

On rare occasions, hosts have cut interviews short when it became clear that guests were being dishonest, unethical, unintelligible, abusive, or patronizing. When this happens, the rest of the show will be filled with open lines. Guests that have interviews cut short due to bad phone connections for example, or at the last minute becoming unavailable are generally rescheduled for a later date.

Some guests have been challenged. However, the overall tone of the show is generally friendly toward paranormal and fringe views, and apart from panel discussions and advertised debates, guests are generally free to air their views unopposed.

In 2008, George Noory volunteered an elaboration of the show's policy respecting the controversial opinions of regular guests. He explained that, provided there was no element of hostility toward third parties, it was program policy to allow expression of opinion unchallenged. He gave as an example Richard C. Hoagland's contention that features on Mars are artificial, constructed by a civilization that once inhabited the planet. Noory accepted that this opinion has no support whatsoever in the planetary science community, but said that Coast to Coast AM exists in part to provide a forum for such eccentric ideas. He added that, since guests are never paid appearance fees, it is inevitable that promotion of books, videos, and web sites is often a motivation for guests to sacrifice a night's sleep.

During hours of "open lines", calls are taken and put on air. Under George Noory, open lines have added topics for callers to share their experiences or stories about a particular issue or situation. The show has multiple call-in numbers for:

"East of the Rockies"
"West of the Rockies"
"First-time callers"
"International callers"
A "wild card" line
Skype (when Noory is hosting)

They are all announced at the beginning of each broadcast by Ross Mitchell. Since 2007, Coast to Coast AM rolls out more numbers on special occasions, including lines that are reserved for special "themed" callers, for example those who claim to be from other dimensions, time periods, and those possessed by spirits.

The Halloween edition of Coast to Coast AM becomes Ghost to Ghost AM, as listeners call in with their ghost stories. The New Year's Eve show usually entails listeners calling in their predictions for the coming year, and the host (commonly Art Bell) rating the predictions made a year earlier. In recent years, the host of the New Year's Eve prediction show has been cautioning the open line callers that they may not predict the assassination of any person or the death of the US president.

The 2006 first person shooter Prey featured Art Bell as a guest star and featured him as himself in mock episodes of the show with guests calling in to discuss the various extraterrestrial or mythical phenomena making up the game's story line, sometimes to advance the plot and other times simply for humour.

George Noory hosts the show on weeknights and the first Sunday of every month. Ian Punnett hosts the show on Saturday nights. Either Ian Punnett or fill-in host John B. Wells hosts the show on the second Sunday of every month. George Knapp hosts the 3rd and 4th Sunday of each month, and when there is a 5th Sunday, Art Bell or a fill-in hosts the show. On some 3rd and 4th Sundays, Rob Simone fills in for George Knapp.

Coast to Coast AM is broadcast on over 500 United States affiliates, as well as numerous Canadian affiliates, several of which stream the show on their station's website. The show's Streamlink service offers live Internet feeds of the show by subscription. The program is also broadcast on XM Satellite Radio in the United States, on Talk Radio 165, for 11 hours per day. Due to XM Satellite Radio's operational assistance agreement with Clear Channel, Coast to Coast AM was forbidden from broadcasting on Sirius Satellite Radio until XM and Sirius merged in 2008.

The show's complete schedule can be found on its website. Because the show is so frequently repeated, audible cue signals are inserted at the beginning and end of commercial breaks, to facilitate substitution of commercials by local stations.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/

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Monday, March 12, 2012

Coast to Coast AM - 2012.03.11 - American Monsters

American Monsters

American Monsters

The Phoenix Flash

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