Episode Overview

Episode Title: Werewolves of the Bayou feat. Jack LaRoche (Premium E318) Sample
Podcast: QAA Podcast
Hosts: Julian Feeld, Travis View, Jake Rockatansky, Liv Agar
Guest: Jack LaRoche
Date: January 10, 2026

In this episode, the QAA team dives into the folklore surrounding the Rougarou, a unique werewolf legend from Louisiana. With expert guest Jack LaRoche—author, researcher, and member of the Blackfeet and Cherokee tribes—the panel investigates how cryptozoology, storytelling, and syncretic cultural traditions shape supernatural belief. The episode balances humor and sharp insight, moving from the pop culture fascination with werewolves to the specific ways communities construct and protect their monster myths.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Folklore as Story & Cultural Code

• Liv frames the episode’s intent: exploring folklore not just as myth, but as “a form of storytelling” and cultural commentary.

  “Maybe we're at a pivotal time in history and maybe there's things to think about there. But we are also interested always in folklore, in culture, and in deepening our understanding of how cryptozoology and other forms of what some consider conspiracy theories are a form of storytelling.” (00:47)

• Jack LaRoche introduced as an expert with hands-on animal research, storytelling, and original scholarship on animal-human transformation.

2. Cryptozoology and the Changing Monster Hunter

• Jake describes a shift from classic cryptid hunters (searching for animals like the ivory-billed woodpecker) to a new wave preoccupied with exotic and folkloric monsters—like the Mapinguari and interdimensional werewolves.

  “A very particular kind of cryptozoologist is on the rise... searching less for the ivory billed woodpecker and more for the mapinguari, a folklorically significant creature in the Brazilian Amazon with a mouth in its stomach and backwards facing feet.” (03:18)

• Notably, cryptozoologists sometimes are "proven right” (cite coelacanth, platypus, etc.), blurring the line between myth and science.

Notable Exchange:

• Humorous tangent about fake “lefoufuu” cryptids with backwards feet designed to escape hunters.

  Jake: “... it’s so that you can’t follow them. You think they’re going one way, but they’re actually going the other.” (04:19)

3. Modern Werewolf Lore in Internet Communities

• Jake highlights a resurgence in werewolf belief since the 2010s, discussing varieties like “direwolves,” “Dogmen,” and the influence of figures like Linda Godfrey.

• Communities on forums like r/conspiracy and r/cryptozoology now lean into these stories, blurring folklore, paranormal, and true believer worldviews.

  “More than that, though, this cryptozoologist wants to talk to you about one thing and one thing. Werewolves.” (05:12)

4. The Rougarou: Louisiana’s Unique Werewolf

• Jack introduces the Rougarou—distinct from the European “loup garou”—as a product of Catholic control mechanisms intermingled with local and indigenous beliefs.

  "…how Catholic systems of control were undermined by the mixing of different cultural beliefs about wolves and morality and the bayou legend of the rougarou." (06:32)

• The group riffs on the playful, slippery quality of the term “rougarou” and its evolution from the French “loup garou.”

  Liv: “I do love the word rougarou because [...] it sounds just kind of like, I don’t know, something that maybe Nick Mullen would... come up with if he were to try to say the word loup garou.” (06:45)

5. Personal and Local Connections to Folklore

• Julian recounts a “Catholic wedding in New Orleans,” contrasting the city’s beauty by day with its supernatural-seeming atmosphere by night—blurring the line between party-goer and cryptid.

  “But then at night, and as somebody... who doesn’t drink alcohol, it, like, terrified me. Like, it... I felt like everybody turned into vampires and werewolves...” (07:22)

• Jake shares a local legend: a man known as “the Rougarou” wandering New Orleans—hairy, naked, beloved by locals, and shielded from police.

  “There’s actually a fella, homeless person who wanders around who was calling himself the Rougarou. And people would recognize him because he was indeed hairy and naked, and you just were bound to... find him.” (08:14) Liv: “No, he’s Jesus. He’s getting hidden by children in a barn and shit.” (08:33)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Jake on the cultural detective: “A very particular kind of cryptozoologist is on the rise. I’m talking about the kind who has been raised on a steady diet of Monster Quest, the Unexplained with William Shatner, In Search of with Leonard Nimoy and a small dash of Ancient Aliens.” (03:18)
• Liv on werewolf games: “I do like playing the game Rougarou and villagers with my friends.” (03:01)
• Julian reflecting on QAA’s rhythm: “I’m in like QAA time, which is kind of like interstellar. Like, you guys all sort of like... get really old and I stay the same age. So you’re all on the ship and I’m on the water planet.” (02:34)
• Julian on New Orleans nightlife: “I felt like everybody turned into vampires and werewolves and, you know, like I’m in some sort of, like, steamy HBO show, but, like, you know, lost in the streets...” (07:22)
• Liv on local legends: “The link between the Rougarou and the nighttime street cocaine dealer is alive and well.” (08:05)
• Liv connecting folklore and faith: “No, he’s Jesus. He’s getting hidden by children in a barn and shit.” (08:33)

Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:45 – Introduction, purpose, and guest bio
• 03:18 – Evolution of cryptozoologists and their monsters
• 05:00 – Current werewolf beliefs and Linda Godfrey’s contributions
• 06:32 – Rougarou: origins and cultural syncretism
• 07:22 – Personal stories from Louisiana and living folklore
• 08:14 – Local “Rougarou” in New Orleans and converging myths

Conclusion

The episode provides both entertainment and serious insight into how monster legends like the Rougarou reflect intersections of religion, cultural fusion, and online myth-making. Listeners are invited to both laugh and think critically about how “conspiracy” and “folklore” often serve similar cultural purposes—crafting meaning in uncertain times, and building identity around shared storytelling.