Interview w/ Scared in the Name of Science
How folklore inspires their creativity to whether or not they ‘believe’, Northern Folklore Archive sat down with Scared in the Name of Science Podcast to discuss all things spooky, unknown and mysterious.
Scared in the Name of Science is a ghoulishly brilliant podcast hosted by Roxxi and Al, whom utilise both research and science to bring hair-raising tales from the paranormal, to myths and mysteries. You can catch their podcast over on Spotify!
We had the pleasure of chatting to the lovely ladies of SITNOS, we spoke of ghosts and ghouls, fairies and Cryptids, how folklore has played a part in inspiring creativity and how the podcast came to be.
Northern Folklore Archive: Who is Scared in the Name of Science? Give us a little introduction to yourselves!
Roxxi: Introducing myself - The scariest thing anyone has to do ever! I'm 31 and a Sagittarius which tells you an awful lot about me. I enjoy a good party, I'm very opinionated and can tend to see things as a little bit black and white but being half-French, I love a good debate so I don't mind discussing any and everything in depth and changing my mind! As you might have seen in Season Two: Fairies of the podcast.
I am a big believer in most weird and wonderful things and if I can find the tiniest bit of possible evidence to support it, I am up for entertaining an idea. I studied Drama and Media at university so social studying is my JAM! One of my favourite things is deep-diving into random things to find the origin or disprove a thing or create a new theory on something and that's really my role on the podcast - finding any and all evidence to support the weird and wonderful. I guess I'm the Fox Mulder in SITNOS.
Al: Hi, I’m Al, you cant see me but I’m rolling my eyes at Rox using her star sign to introduce herself. That tells you all need to know about my opinions and role in the podcast that we host ( I’m sure Rox that would think that this is very Scorpio of me). A little background of myself is that I have a Bsc in chemistry and I’m currently working towards my masters in Analytical chemistry. I love stories of the paranormal but I am a skeptic. I would love to be able to believe in the supernatural and magical, but I have found no genuine evidence so far to convince me. I’m open minded though! I would happily change my beliefs if enough evidence is supplied!
A very interesting dynamic indeed! Did a real-life encounter spur you on to create a podcast, or was it a general passion project?
We decided to start a podcast together after we had so much fun working together on an actual play tabletop roleplaying podcast. When it ended, we'd both fallen in love with the format of podcasting and couldn't see not working on it as it allowed for our creativity and side passions to really let loose. We decided to start one about the paranormal because we both are fascinated with it for our own reasons.
Roxxi: Although I have seen, heard and experienced what I believe are ghosts, what inspired me to start the project was a lead I found and deep-dived on independently. I was casually browsing through the Paranormal Database and stumbled across the details of a ghost plane that was seen flying over Cardiff, looking like it was going to crash. The account listed several different sightings and the plane model. I got curious to see if it could have been real so spent until like 4am looking up flight logs, crash sites, data records and maps to figure it out. It turned out that there was a plane that matched the exact type in the account that had crashed in the Bannau Brecheniog a few years prior to the first sightings and this just sent me SPIRALLING.
Al: I have never had an encounter which I can say has been paranormal in origin. I’m sure that we all have tales of being frightened of bumps in the night and shadows that we can’t discern.
My love of the paranormal and folklore probably comes from my childhood love of fairytales as well as my overall love of stories. As a kid I was always equal parts terrified of and fascinated by ghost/ monster stories. Now as an adult I still love them but the fear is long gone. Not that I don’t still get scared by the occasional unusual noise or unidentified mass in the corner of the room (usually clothes on a chair).
I must say, I want to believe but often times I try and rationalise my way out of scary scenarios... Which of the stories covered on your podcast is your favourite?
Roxxi: I actually really enjoy the couple of Irish stories we've covered so far: Bridget Cleary in S2E3:Changelings and S1E9: Ghost Witches, Dame Alice Kyteler FASCINATED me but that's likely because I am obsessed with witchcraft and the witch trials. Those stories allowed me to discover so much more about witchcraft and especially with how differently it was seen in Wales compared to the rest of the world during the witch trials frenzy. However, S2E8: Goblins & Pwca was so interesting and terrifying. I love learning about the scariest stories out there from Al.
Al: Rox has had some really great stories. The aliens vs Fairies story with the 11 year old boy was one of my favourites because of how bizarre and unique it was. My all time favourite has to be the stories of the headless horseman though. Everything from the concept to the supposed appearance and the mythology is fantastic. I also love tales of shapeshifters, It amazes me how the concept spans so many cultures and countries.
Do you find that folklore stories inspire your creative projects?
Roxxi: Absolutely! I find consistently that facts and folklore are intrinsically intertwined so throughout creating the podcast, we're constantly using folklore to inspire the episodes and our own work. I've been using folklore to inspire theatre and media since I was 14? One of my first independent shows I produced was called Twisted Tales and was entirely based on twisting folklore and fairytale.
Al: 100 %, I love world building for fictional worlds and the stories I hear have a lot of influence on the ideas surrounding religion, characters and history. I’m not as creative as Rox though so I’m sure that she is able to make better use of folklore knowledge than I can. I just love to learn it, even if I can’t use it beyond the scope of discussion for the podcast.
Do you believe in the unknown? Ghosts, fairies, cryptids, etc? And if so, what would you say to any skeptics out there?
Roxxi: Yes, yes, no and yes. The unknown is an absolute, there is so much we don't know so of course the unknown exists. Ghosts and Cryptids, absolutely though why they are there I don't know. I've seen ghosts, I've seen orbs and I've heard things so I feel that I have evidence to support my views there. On fairies... well you'll have to listen to Season 2 to find out my views on that.
Al: No to ghosts and fairies but cryptids maybe? To be honest, my stance on cryptids is that if they do exist then it is just an animal before it has been discovered properly. Otherwise there is usually an alternative explanation of some sort. I love the unknown but I think that people can confuse what they want to believe with what actually is ( if that makes sense?).
Lastly, one of the duo in Northern Folklore is a huge film fanatic, so this question is purely for him... what is your favourite film?
Roxxi: I'm going to have to go for The Mummy with Brandon Fraiser and Rachel Weisz. The fun, the seriousness, the fear and the overall passion for exploration and the unknown just... Yeah. I love that film SO much and have watched it SO many times. Heck, I even started teaching myself ancient Egyptian because of that film (I didn't get very far on that).
Al: Ah! Hard question! It changes a lot… i guess if I have to commit to an answer then I would say its either Whisper of the heart (studio Ghibli) or Inglourious Basterds which are two completely different vibes. Whisper of the heart is great, i love the soundtrack, the story and I think the characters are interesting. Inglourious Basterds is so memorable and tension is built so brilliantly during the movie. Even after rewatching it multiple times, I still pay full attention when it is on.
It was such a pleasure to chat to Roxxi and Al about all things folklore... but if your appetite is still whet, Northern Folklore Archive will be making an appearance (if you can use that word for a podcast) on Scared in the Name of Science, so keep a look out for that!
You can catch Scared in the Name of Science over on Spotify, and you can also follow them on Instagram!