It's a new year and time for some new ideas as we finish up this fifth season of High

Fination.

For the next few episodes, I'm bringing in a co-host.

I'm Christina Vendique.

I'm a Marita Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College and I'm going to be visiting Professor

of Philosophy at Columbia University this spring.

Christina Vendique is a medievalist and among a lot of other things, the study of medieval

times means the study of demons and monsters.

I was thinking about the idea of how many philosophers talk about monsters in their philosophical

work because there are all these great ways in which these these kind of supernatural

other sorts of beings illustrate all these philosophical points that people want to

make.

For the last episodes of the season, we're going to be talking about monsters in popular

culture and imagination.

And the first monster in our series will be vampires.

Okay, Christina, I found a vampire researcher.

His name is John Edgar Browning and he's so into studying vampires that he decided to

let one suck his blood.

Could you describe the experience to me?

Sure.

John Edgar Browning.

It was a little difficult for me because I'm a comapho, basically a person who is afraid

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