I recently learned that California has 461 recorded Bigfoot sightings. That’s second only to Washington State, but far more than the mythical creature’s presumed home turf in British Columbia, which counts a mere 134 sightings since 1924. But how many sightings can be credited to the power of suggestion? Or were they all real instances that just so happened to occur to true believers? We may never know, but that’s not really the point. You can believe, or not believe, but staying open-minded to the possibility of unexplained mysteries is something humans should all strive for, according to freelance writer Jacqueline Kehoe. 

In her piece titled “Our Wilder Selves — The Hunt for Sasquatch in Middle America,” a story published as part of our Olly Olly series in collaboration with Oskar Blues, Jacqueline documents her own quest to find the creature known as Sasquatch and Bigfoot in the woods of Iowa. You’ll hear about what she finds, what she didn’t, and what she hoped to discover in the first place. We talk about cryptids and aliens and mythical monster folklore, but also about the magic behind humanity’s connection with nature and how to find catharsis in the wilderness. 

Society has tamed itself, pulling further away from what was once an untamed landscape. But there are pockets still out there, if only we look outside our own perceptions.