Welcome to the podcast, "What's Shakin With Shaner."
Each episode features an interest of Shakin Shaner that does not always come up in casual conversation. This is his way of celebrating the passion and the madness of the Geek, the Nerd, and often, the Absurd!
Each episode is listed below and click the link to go its separate page with the podcast and additional content.
All Podcast Episodes
Episode 44
Legends of Pirate Treasure
Psycho Bobb and Shaner discuss pirate treasure. Dive into the rabbit hole with them and hear about the pirates, Captain William Kidd, Olivier Levasseur also known as the Buzzard, Black Sam Bellamy and Amaro Pargo.
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Did pirates really bury their treasure?
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Have treasure hunters found any?
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What happened to Captain Kidd's treasure?
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Has Pargo's treasure been found?
Join them to find out!
Episode 42
Dashiell Hammett & the Dain Curse
Join Psycho Bob the Cat and Shaner as they rediscover Dashiell Hammett and discuss the Continental Op, one of the first major hardboiled detectives later developed in such characters as Hammett's own Sam Spade, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, and others.
The Dain Curse was published in 1929, but before its publication in book form, it was serialized in Black Mask magazine in 1928 and 1929. The novel is composed of three parts, each concerning different mysteries — Part One, The Dains; Part Two, The Temple; and Part Three, Quesada.
Episode 40
Ancient North America's First City
Join Shaner and Bob as they discuss Poverty Point in northeastern Louisiana. Many archaeologists and scientists consider it as North America’s First City. It lies 15 miles west of the Mississippi River. At 1500 BCE, everywhere else in North America had small villages of about 100 residents, however, Poverty Point had between 4000 and 5000 residents. This was unprecedented at time.
Episode 38
Psycho Bob Says
n the past few months, the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights have been visible by so many people, other than those in the extreme north. A member of the Nerd Herd, Scott from South Dakota, asked what did ancient civilizations think the northern lights meant? That got me thinking and researching….
Join Psycho Bob and Shakin Shaner as they dive into ancient cultures and their beliefs on the Northern Lights. They explore the myths of the Norse, Chinese, Japanese, first nations of North America.
Episode 36
Psycho Bob Says...
Join Bobber and Shaner as they discuss that after the 1st Edition of their fairy tales, the Grimm Brothers had several of the stories altered such as Snow White’s biological mother became her step-mother and Rapunzel was not pregnant.
However, certain tales could not just be edited or altered to a fit a less gruesome standard, because they were completely horrific. One such story was “How Some Children Played at Slaughtering.” These were removed after the 1st edition and never published again.
Episode 32
Psycho Bob Says...
Psycho Bob and Shaner recommend the book, "The House of Silk," by Anthony Horowitz. This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel to be authorized by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Estate.
Horowitz has been called one of "the most original and best spy-kids authors of the century" by the New York Times. It is set in London in 1890, and takes place just after the short story, "The Adventure of the Dying Detective." Discover the two intertwined mysteries and why Watson has this manuscript locked away for 100 years.
Episode 30
Psycho Bob Says...
Join Psycho Bob and Shaner as they discover the real meaning and origination of the word Yule!
They jump into 5th and 6th century references as well as Norse history and sagas to discover that Yule is a reference to a pagan celebration of Odin and the Wild Hunt. Hear how the King of Norway made the significant changes to Yule and why we say it today.
Episode 28
Psycho Bob Says...
Join Shaner as he celebrates the Marine Corps Birthday, honors Veterans Day and discusses one of the most iconic Marines ever, Dan Daly, a legendary badass.
Daly was one of two Marines to receive the Medal of Honor for two separate combat engagements. The other Marine was Major General Smedley Butler, whom we highlighted in our 5th episode. They served together in a few locations and Butler described Daly as "The fightin'est Marine I ever knew!"
Episode 26
Icelandic Sorcery
Join Shaner as he dives head-first into a new rabbit hole and discovers Icelandic Sorcery. He discusses the historical background of Iceland as a nation, the introduction of Christianity, the uniqueness of Iceland magic.
He really fell deep into this one as he also explains three different Icelandic black books, sorcerers and the execution of witches. One of the bizarre discoveries is the necropants. Yeah, you gotta hear this.
Episode 24
Blue Beard
Join Shaner as he dives down the rabbit hole of the French fairy tale Blue Beard. He was completely unaware of this tale previously and discovers the horrific murder of seven wives. In this episode, he provides a reading of the fairy tale, explores the literary and psychoanalytical interpretations. He dives down further into the influence of the tale such as the Grimm Brothers story, "Blaubart" and Dickens's "Captain Murderer". Kevin and Jeremy jump in and try to decided is this a fairy tale or a horror story.
Episode 22
Cryptographs, Lost Treasure, & the Beale Papers
Join Shakin Shaner as he discusses his love for cryptographs and lost treasure. It all started with the 1980 ABC Weekend Series, The Gold Bug, an adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's short story of the same name.
Join the adventure of looking for Captain Kidd's treasure. Shaner also talks about John Dillinger's lost case of cash, the $375,000 in gold on the Big Horn River and gets deep into the infamous Beale Papers. Is there $43 million hidden in a vault in Virginia?
Episode 18
Psycho Bob Says
Psycho Bob the Cat is the co-host, producer and engineer of “What’s Shakin With Shaner” and he usually has a lot to say. To give him a bigger voice, we will be releasing 10 minute episodes in between our larger episodes. These installments will be based on topics picked and written by Psycho Bob.
Psycho Bob says “what’s the deal with the half-naked statute of George Washington?”
Episode 16
Grimm Brothers: A Celebration
Join Shakin Shaner in a celebration of the long lasting legacy of the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Less well known is the their pioneering scholarly work on a German dictionary, which they began in 1838. Shakin Shaner discusses that their tales were not originally intended for children and goes into detail on a lesser known tale, the Girl without Hands.
Episode 10
Burned fingers, the salmon of knowledge & the heart of Fafnir
Join Shakin Shaner as he discusses the gate control theory of pain and how we instinctively sucked a burned finger. He then heads on a rabbit hole to discuss two mythical heroes and how they gain their power from sucking a burned finger. Discover the absurdity of this episode.
Episode 43
Psycho Bob Says
Join Psycho Bob and Shaner as they discuss the Cosmos Club, which was founded in 1878 by the Civil War soldier, Grand Canyon explorer and scientist John Wesley Powell. Powell and the other original members envisioned the club, located in the nation’s capital, as a nexus of thought and action.
Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, literature, and art and also their mutual improvement by social intercourse." Should Bobber and Shaner apply for membership? They think they meet the criteria!
Episode 41
Psycho Bob Says
Join Psycho Bob and Shaner as they discuss and recommend the Netflix series, the Blue-Eye Samurai. They say, Holy Crapadoodle its awesome and they are not kitten.
In 17th-century Japan, when borders are closed to the outside world, citizens would never see a face that was not Japanese, except in rare cases of illegal trade. Our hero, Mizu, knows there were only four white men in Japan at the time of her birth and sets off to kill these men, one of whom might be her father, who made her a “creature of shame.” But revenge is not an option for women, so Mizu must forge her revenge quest while hiding her gender as well as her blue eyes.
Episode 39
Psycho Bob Says
Join Bobber and Shaner as they discuss Shawn Inmon's book, Kradak the Champion.
They call him Kradak, but his friends call him Steve.He’s big and strong – an actor who plays a hero named Kradak in a series of B-movies. When Rista and Grint come through the portal from Arkana, they don’t understand what a movie is. They think Steve truly is Kradak the Champion. They kidnap him and take him back to Arkana to help them save their world. Once they discover the truth, it is too late. The portal is closed. Steve needs to become a hero. The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance.
Episode 37
Robin Hood Men in Tights
Stew from the Stew World Order podcast, joins Shaner as they discuss the 1993 Mel Brooks movie, Robin Hood Men in Tights. Find out why Shaner has a special spot for this movies and Stew's cross-country trip that led to an insane number of viewings of this movie.
Not only do they share their original joy for this 30-year-old classic, but some behind the scenes information and a wee bit of insight.
Episode 35
Psycho Bob Says...
Another installment of Psycho Bob Says is here and Bobber asks, what is the Antikythera Mechanism? For more than 100 years, scholars have struggled with defining it, determining its origin and replicating it.
After decades of study, it has been determined that the Antikythera mechanism is an Ancient Greek hand-powered mechanical model of the of the solar system. Additionally, is it the object in the new movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?
Episode 33
MTV Spider Man, the Animated Series
Join Will and Shaner as they discuss the single season of MTV Spider-Man, a fully CGI animated series, solely on MTV.
MTV Spider-Man lasted only one season but addressed more mature themes following Peter, Harry and Mary Jane at Empire State University. Will and Shaner address the darker tones, the villains and voice actors that made this an award winning animated series. It is currently streaming on Disney Plus, so check it out and join Will and Shaner as they geek out!
Episode 31
Psycho Bob Says...
Join Psycho Bob and Shaner as they geek-out over Marvel's GI Joe issue #21, the Silent Interlude.
The issue has no dialogue, word bubbles, or onomatopoeia and was published in March 1984. It stars Snake Eyes, one of GI Joes most iconic bad asses, who is mute. This is the introduction of the Cobra assassin, Storm Shadow. He kidnaps a member of GI Joe; Scarlett and takes her to the Balkans to Destro's castle.
Episode 29
Failed 80's TV Shows
Join Shakin Shaner and Psycho Bob as they explore some horrible shows from the 80's, some of Shaner's favorite shows that were cancelled and one diamond in the rough of sucktastic 80's shows.
Shaner goes into detail on Automan, Manimal and the Tales of the Gold Monkey. These were some of his favorite 80's shows that were all cancelled, but one actually made it a full season. Tune in to find out which one.
Episode 27
Dan Daly
Join Shaner as he celebrates the Marine Corps Birthday, honors Veterans Day and discusses one of the most iconic Marines ever, Dan Daly, a legendary badass.
Daly was one of two Marines to receive the Medal of Honor for two separate combat engagements. The other Marine was Major General Smedley Butler, whom we highlighted in our 5th episode. They served together in a few locations and Butler described Daly as "The fightin'est Marine I ever knew!"
Episode 25
Psycho Bob Says...
Another 10-minute installment of Psycho Bob Says...Join him and Shakin Shaner while they try to determine how bad can these ads be?
In “Whats Shakin with Shaner’s” episode 13, “The Crash at Crush” we explored failed marketing and publicity stunts. Recently, we discovered some additional failures that just got be talked about, like linking your restaurant to a murderous cult. Really!
Episode 23
Psycho Bob Says Whose Booty is It?
Another 10-minute installment of Psycho Bob Says...Join him and Shakin Shaner while they try to determine Whose Booty Is It?
In “What's Shakin with Shaner’s” episode of “Cryptographs, Lost Treasure and the Beale Papers” we discussed several lost treasures to include that of the pirate Captain Kidd. During research, they came across the largest sunken treasure ever found, in other words the largest booty ever found. Learn about the Black Swan Project that resulted in the recovery of an estimated $500 million worth of silver and gold coins from the ocean floor.
Episode 21
Where's My Jetpack
Shakin Shaner has assembled an expert panel to discuss why we do not yet have jetpacks. He is joined by Jim, Raye from the podcast, Being Bookish, Matt from the podcast, Don't Wreck Yourself, and Mike from the podcast, Multiverse of Badness.
Why don't we have jetpacks? Are the airline unions behind it, is the government testing them but allowing us to think they are UFOs, is there problem with fuel, or is this all part of the ball bearing matrix? You need to listen to this to believe it!
Episode 19
Hercules v Heracles
Join Randy and Shakin Shaner as they discuss the 1997 Disney movie Hercules and geek out over Greek mythology. They explore the differences between the movie versions of Hercules, Zeus, Hera and Pegasus and the actual Greek myths. Check out their favorite stories from the 12 labors of Heracles.
Episode 17
Monster Hunter International
Shakin Shaner is joined by Kevin and Jeremy, two fellow veterans on a complete geek out on the book, Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business.
Episode 15
The Game is Afoot!
Shakin Shaner has a complete nerd-fest in this homage to the original Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories. He relates several noteworthy items, such as Sherlock Holmes, as a fictional character has been featured in more movies than any other character in the history of cinema.