And Bigfoot represents possibilities.

Says something positive about our willingness.

If a creature like that can exist in these landscapes and maybe we haven't destroyed them quite so early. Maybe there's

some hope for the American landscape. John O'Connor is a journalist and author of one of my favorite books of the year,

The Secret History of Bigfoot, Field Notes on a North American monster, which is an investigation

into the king of all cryptids, but even more so into what this elusive being means to those who seek

proof of its existence.

John spent a year traveling the country, meeting, talking to, and camping with all kinds of

bigfooters to get to the heart of why a new Bigfoot craze has swelled up in recent years, looking at the phenomenon through a lens of

psychology, sociology, politics, science, history, and through the writings of those who have meditated on the

question of belief itself. Today, John and I talk about the different types of Bigfoot believers and skeptics, how the fantastical

arena of politics we find ourselves in today has allowed this story to take on new life and why Bigfoot matters to those

who spend their lives chasing this mythical beast. I'm your host Chelsea Weber Smith and this is American

hysteria.

Hi John, thank you so much for joining me today.

I am happy to beat her.

You know, I have to say that I have been reading your book and it's not only so interesting kind of the information that

you've gathered and the interviews that you've done, but it's just like kind of a beautiful

on the road in America book, which is one of my favorite. a beautiful

written book, in America book, which is one of my favorite genres.

So I just want people to know this is like a beautifully written book

with so much heart, and I don't know, I just absolutely loved it so thank you for writing it.

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