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Former CU Boulder Journalism Fellow Laura Krantz explores all things Bigfoot in Wild Thing, which the Atlantic named one of 2018's Best Podcasts.

Maybe Bigfoot exists in nature, maybe not. What鈥檚 for sure is that the mysterious hairy guy (or gal) has firm footing in American culture.

Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, and his cousin the yeti, are everywhere 鈥� on Great Divide Brewing鈥檚 鈥淚 believe鈥� stickers, which bear the elusive creature鈥檚 silhouette, in shops selling kitschy 鈥淏igfoot crossing鈥� signs, in movies and on TV.

But who, or what, is Bigfoot? And why are we so fascinated by him?

Laura Krantz, a 2014-15 Scripps Fellow in CU Boulder鈥檚 Center for Environmental Journalism, wanted to find out. She spent more than a year digging into the scientific, psychological, historical and social aspects of the legendary bipedal primate who, if real, most likely lives in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.

The resulting podcast, , became a hit, with more than 1.5 million downloads since its October 2018 debut. The Atlantic called it one of the best podcasts of 2018 and Vox described it as 鈥渄elightful.鈥� Listeners loved it, too, writing in reviews that it鈥檚 鈥渂eautifully scripted鈥� and 鈥渢he definitive podcast on Sasquatch.鈥�

It鈥檚 a huge success story for Colorado podcasts.

In nine 30-minute episodes (and several bonus interviews), Krantz weaves together pieces of the Bigfoot puzzle, touching on biology, popular culture and the psychology of belief.

鈥淲e鈥檝e always had monsters in our history,鈥� said Krantz, a former NPR editor and producer. 鈥溾�楤eowulf,鈥� the 鈥楨pic of Gilgamesh,鈥� this thing that鈥檚 beyond the campfire or just outside the city wall. We鈥檝e evolved with these kinds of stories for centuries, and maybe we need them more than we think.鈥�

Through it all, Krantz reminds us why she went down this rabbit hole in the first place, referring often to Grover Krantz, an anthropologist at Washington State University and leading Bigfoot expert who happens to be her distant cousin.

Sharing a last name with one of the world鈥檚 preeminent Sasquatch researchers helped her gain trust among Bigfoot seekers, many of whom are simply interested in the world around them 鈥� not quacks, as Krantz initially assumed.

鈥淚f you look at it from the angle that Bigfoot is a creature that has eluded capture or hasn鈥檛 left any concrete evidence behind, then you just have a group of people who are curious about the environment and want to know more about it, which isn鈥檛 that far off from what naturalists have done for centuries,鈥� she said.

The seed for Wild Thing began germinating when Krantz stumbled upon a Washington Post story about Grover Krantz in 2006. Afterward, she learned of their family relation.

For years, she considered how best to tell the story. When the true crime podcast Serial launched in late 2014, it captivated millions of listeners around the world. Krantz, a radio veteran, was among them. She decided the medium was ideal for Wild Thing.

Many hit podcasts are backed by well-funded companies. Krantz and husband Scott Carney, a journalist and former Scripps Fellow, created Wild Thing independently. And while they haven鈥檛 made all their money back yet, Krantz said they鈥檙e close to breaking even and considering options for a slate of podcasts under their masthead.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge success story for Colorado podcasts,鈥� said Paul Karolyi of Denver podcast incubator House of Pod.

Success doesn鈥檛 mean Krantz found Bigfoot; she didn鈥檛. And she鈥檚 at peace with that.

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure I want to find Sasquatch,鈥� she says in the show鈥檚 last episode. 鈥淚鈥檇 prefer the mystery remain intact, for people to go out into the woods and look for something, to feel a sense of possibility and discovery.鈥�

In our print edition, this story appears under the title "Bigfoot, Big Hit."听Comment on this story? Email听editor@colorado.edu.

Illustration by Paul Blow.

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