Bigfoot

All over the world people report sightings of big, hairy, human-like beasts, so could Bigfoot really be out there... somewhere?

All over the world people report sightings of big, hairy, human-like beasts, so could Bigfoot really be out there... somewhere? We ask Dr. Jeff Meldrum, Prof. Bryan Sykes, Prof. Todd Disotell, and the Round Rock, Texas, Department of Parks and Recreation.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this podcast we said Dr Meldrum works at the University of Idaho. He actually works at Idaho State University. We've updated this episode with his correct title.

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Credits: This episode has been produced by our senior producer, Kaitlyn Sawrey, as well as Wendy Zukerman, Rose Reid, Heather Rogers and Shruti Ravindran. Production assistance from Rose Rimler. Edited by Blythe Terrell and Annie-Rose Strasser. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Sound design by Martin Peralta. Music written by Bobby Lord. And a big thank you to Dr Michael J Hickerson and Professor James L. Patton for his 7 PAGE document describing the last large mammals discovered by western scientists in North America, suffice to say, Bigfoot wasn’t on the list.

Selected Reading:

• Paper on Bigfoot reports in North America
• Bryan’s paper on Bigfoot hairs
• A review of the human family tree
• Jeff Meldrum’s bookCheck out the full transcript 

here with all the footnotes. 

There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Gimlet Media that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to. This season we tackle alcohol, fasting diets, DNA tests, race and the fertility cliff.