Here Be Monsters

“I got out of college, I was having insomnia, and I realized that even though I was 21 years old, I was afraid of everything,” Jeff Emtman tells me.

“What do you mean by ‘everything?'” I asked.

“Strangers, doors, death, elevators, badgers, the usual stuff. Also sharing vulnerabilities — with people I know and with people listening to the show.”

The show he refers to is his podcast, “Here Be Monsters,” which he co-produces with Bethany Denton and a rotating roster of independent audio documentary producers, and it was born out of Emtman’s need to exorcise some of his fears.  

Don’t download this podcast expecting ghosts and goblins. Instead, Emtman and Denton tackle the truly terrifying — existential questions that can leave people staring at the ceiling long into the night. “The monsters in the title are figurative. They’re the things you’re afraid of in the dark corners of your mind,” Emtman says.

The podcast’s latest season started on October 2, and its salient theme is the way belief affects people’s behavior much more than the truth does. “I’m reevaluating and figuring out what people believe the truth to be. Because the actual truth is irrelevant.” And if that thought doesn’t send shivers down your spine? You’ve got nerves of steel.

A new episode of “Here Be Monsters” is available every other Wednesday. Follow them @hbmpodcast or on Facebook at fb.com/herebemonstersradio