Should’ve Sent a Poet

[BONUS] NASA's Unexplained Files

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:05:00 -0300

Your eyes do not deceive you, this extra episode does belong in your feed. To celebrate the launch of our Patreon, we're releasing our first bonus episode for free! Beyond the paywall, anything is possible. That includes Natalie Epstein-Hogue writing the synopsis, and Natalie Bickelhaupt being subjected to cruel experiments!

In this episode, Natalie leads Natalie through the bizarre world of reality TV documentaries, specifically NASA's Unexplained Files. Straying from our usual style, Nat watched the show beforehand, wrote a synopsis, and then subjected Bea to a terrible episode of television immediately before recording. Unmoored from reality, Bea tries to keep up with the terrible world of terrible editing, UFO cranks, and mountains made from molehills.

SHOW NOTES:

Subscribe to our Patreon for ad free versions and monthly bonus episodes.

Have a question, comment, or correction? Email us at submissions@poetspod.com and get featured in one of our upcoming Q&A segments.

Hosted by Natalie "Bea" Bickelhaupt (@millimeterbymillimeter.blog on Bluesky) and co-hosted by Natalie Epstein-Hogue (@nataliekrunch on Instagram)

Edited by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Music by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Artwork by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Episode 3: Signs (2002) and the Arecibo Response

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:00:00 -0300

Well folks, it was bound to happen. Three episodes in and we’ve already doubled a movie’s runtime. I can’t say I’m surprised that the ceaselessly surreal Signs (2002), directed by M. Night Shyamalan, was the culprit. Despite not being very good, Signs manages to use First Contact as a jumping off point to explore grief and faith in some deeply compelling ways. Bad movies with interesting ideas always make for the longest episodes. Plus we get Nat’s best, and longest, Tinfoil segment yet! We spend a hefty chunk of this 5-star runtime talking about real life crop circles and the conspiracies surrounding them.

Join Natalie and Natalie as they discuss whether Shyamalan is a genius or a hack, disagree on the quality of our subject, and the unique class politics of this iconic off-beat trip in a super-sized episode of Should’ve Sent a Poet.

Just remember to watch out for Lionel Prichard and those damn Wolfington Brothers.

NEXT EPISODE: Arrival (2016)

SHOW NOTES:

Subscribe to our Patreon for ad free versions and monthly bonus episodes.

Have a question, comment, or correction? Email us at submissions@poetspod.com and get featured in one of our upcoming Q&A segments.

Hosted by Natalie "Bea" Bickelhaupt (@millimeterbymillimeter.blog on Bluesky) and co-hosted by Natalie Epstein-Hogue (@nataliekrunch on Instagram)

Edited by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Music by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Artwork by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Bibliography:

Features of the Chilbolton Message: Photos Referenced in Tinfoil Segment (Serge Savoring)

The Chilbolton Crop Glyphs: A Message Finally Received, In Answer to Carl Sagan?: Richard Hoagland: Crank Source

Arecibo Response crop circles dot app: Uncredited Author, Crank Source

Janet Ossegaard (Crop Circles + QAnon Crank) Obituary:

Chilbolton Incident Documentary (LettrBoxd)

Episode 2: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and The Roswell Incident

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:48:06 -0300

Join Natalie and Natalie as they explore this touchstone of the Alien genre: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1997), directed by Steven Spielberg. This seminal work enshrined many of the tropes and themes that permeate the rest of the genre, and is an essential science fiction watch.

Accompanying such an iconic piece is an iconic Tin-Foil segment, as we explore both the narratives and cold hard facts, around the 1947 Roswell Incident.

See you on the dark side of the moon!

NEXT EPISODE: Signs (2002)

SHOW NOTES:

Have a question, comment, or correction? Email us at submissions@poetspod.com and get featured in one of our upcoming Q&A segments.

Hosted by Natalie "Bea" Bickelhaupt (@millimeterbymillimeter.blog on Bluesky) and co-hosted by Natalie Epstein-Hogue (@nataliekrunch on Instagram)

Edited by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Music by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Artwork by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Bibliography:

Report on Project Mogul: Synopsis of Balloon Research Findings, James McAndrew, Declassified Military Document

https://muller.lbl.gov/teaching/physics10/Roswell/USMogulReport.html

The Roswell Incident and Project Mogul, Dave Thomas, The Skeptical Inquirer

https://centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/1995/07/22165104/p17.pdf

The Draconian/Saurian War Conspiracy: Crackpot document claiming to be leaked secrets

https://sacred-texts.com/ufo/conspire.htm

Episode 1: Contact (1997) and the Wow! Signal

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:00:00 -0300

In this inaugural episode of Should’ve Sent a Poet, co-hosts Natalie “Bea” Bickelhaupt and Natalie Epstein-Hogue discuss the podcast’s namesake, 1997’s Contact. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Jodie Foster, and based on Carl Sagan’s novel of the same name, Contact is the perfect place to start our long journey through the stars. It follows radio astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway as she makes first contact with extraterrestrials orbiting the star Vega.

Contact is both thematically and formally resonant. It touches on faith, science, and humanity’s place on Earth and in the cosmos. It’s also all about sending and listening to audio messages. A real podcaster’s movie. This episode also features discussions of the Wow! Signal, what gets lost in the adaptation of Sagan’s novel, and the creepy antics of one Rev. Palmer Joss.

NEXT EPISODE: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

SHOW NOTES:

Have a question, comment, or correction? Email us at submissions@poetspod.com and get featured in one of our upcoming Q&A segments.

Hosted by Natalie "Bea" Bickelhaupt (@millimeterbymillimeter.blog on Bluesky) and co-hosted by Natalie Epstein-Hogue (@nataliekrunch on Instagram)

Edited by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Music by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Artwork by Natalie Epstein-Hogue

Bibliography:

Wow! Signal Research Sources: John Kraus Letter to Sagan https://www.nrao.edu/archives/files/original/2ec6ba346ab16e10a10d09462507beda.pdf

Ehman 30th anniversary report

https://www.bigear.org/Wow30th/wow30th.htm

Arecibo Wow I: An astrophysical explanation of the wow signal https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.08513

Arecibo Wow II

https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.10657

Breakthrough Listen Research for the Wow! Signal https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ac9408/ampdf