Introduction/About
Old & New Media
Back in the earliest days of the crop circle phenomenon, there were many ways in which the story of the unfolding crop circle narrative was told. Most often it was through a regular newsletter through the post, or then the magazines of the day like the Cereologist and the Circular.
Three or four times a year they’d flop through your letter box and you would be treated to articles discussing theory, the latest images and perhaps most importantly eye-witness accounts of light phenomena, amazing coincidences (synchronicity) and other inexplicable and/or meaningful accounts of interactions with the crop circles.
It’s been quite a while since the last of these publications were printed and since then the internet (firstly via websites) and especially in recent times, social media, have taken over and had changed, almost beyond recognition, the way in which information about the crop circle phenomenon is reported and shared.
While the new media has been incredibly effective in disseminating reports/news (or photos) of new circles very quickly, it has also come at a cost. Social media is great for immediacy; news, instant opinions, reactions and responses, but it’s less than great at considered thought, narrative and story.
However, there is no stopping ‘progress’ so our question for some time now has been how do we get back that which we have lost, without reverting back to old platforms? Well, we hope the idea of an audio-podcast will go some way in addressing this.
An Audio Archive
This podcast will not be like the internet radio-type news show that are quite prominent in some other alternative/paranormal fields, but rather we are aiming to create a historical archive of recordings which will sit alongside our Image Library/Archive that will document some of the stories and ideas that surround some of the crop circles in that library.
They will take the form of recorded conversations and the focus of the topics discussed will lie with the interviewee. Some of the programmes will feature those who have researched the circles, but not all. We will also talk to those who have experienced the circles, visited them, interacted with them and in some instances developed a deep connection with them that has been transformative in some way.
These podcasts will be about experiences, synchronicities, story and narrative, rather than a rolling news service. Over time, we hope to build up a picture of what people thought about the circles, what it was like for them visiting them and what they meant to them.
The purpose of these audio recordings is not to argue about who makes the circles, to argue about theories, to argue about proof, or to try to persuade or to critique ideas or people — but rather to document and bear witness to the experiences and thoughts of those who spent time with the circles, whether as a researcher, or a visitor.
We also want to capture some of the complexity, subtlety and nuance of the phenomenon, so often missed in the instantaneity of social media and to put this kind of experience, information and occurrence back on the crop circle table where they belong. And hopefully in the process, to build a wider and deeper perspective on the circles and their place in our culture and psyche.
We also hope in listening to some of these recordings many of you will hear stories that are familiar to you; stories that echo your own experiences, stories that might even throw some light on things you have witnessed yourself.
More than anything, we hope this series of recorded discussions will show that consciousness is at at the very front and centre of these types of phenomena and plays a vital role in how we interpret and interact with the crop circles.
We sincerely hope you enjoy them!
Karen & Steve Alexander
