MonsterTalk Creators & Guests

Karen Stollznow is a writer, linguist, and skeptic.

Joseph Laycock is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Texas State University, and author of the book Speak of the Devil.

Dr. David J. Halperin is a Judaica scholar who specializes in religious traditions of heavenly ascent. He is also known for having been a teenage UFO investigator.Now retired from teaching, Halperin taught Jewis History at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.Halperin has written five non-fiction books on Jewish mysticism and messianism, and two novels, "Journal of a UFO Investigator," and "Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO."Halperin received his B.A. in Semitic Studies from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from University of California Berkeley.

Laura Krantz is a journalist, editor and producer, in both radio and print. The first season of her podcast, Wild Thing received critical acclaim, including from The Atlantic, which named it one of the best podcasts of 2018. Laura's been in audio for over a decade: as the interim science editor for PRX, as an editor and producer at NPR in Washington, DC, and as an editor at KPCC in Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in Popular Science, Smithsonian Magazine, Outside, High Country News and Newsweek. In 2014-15, Laura was a Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Massimo Polidoro is an Italian psychologist, writer, journalist, television personality, and co-founder and executive director of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences.

Alan Melikdjanian is a YouTuber known as Captain Disillusion, and independent filmmaker.Captain Disillusion's popular YouTube channel debunks fake videos while promoting critical thinking and skepticism. His videos are often filled with visual effects and center around the use of CGI in viral videos, movies, and TV.He is the founder of Amelik Entertainment, LLC, a South Florida-based video production company specializing in unique and inventive films, web series, commercials and music videos.Melikdjanian was born in Latvia in 1980 during the Soviet era. His parents were circus performers and they would travel around the Soviet Union. He escaped the USSR as a child. He can speak Russian.Melikdjanian (aka Captain Disillusion) has been active in the Blender community and the founding of video-sharing sites Openfilm and Filmnet.com.