Dr. Richard Strand

Dr. Richard Strand is a skeptical paranormal investigator, and president and founder of The Strand Institute. He is husband to the missing Coralee Strand, father of Charlie Strand, and son of Howard Strand.

He has degrees in Religion, Mythology, and Psychology from Yale, although the field of his doctorate is currently unknown.

Early Life
Dr. Richard Strand was born to Howard Strand and his wife, along with his sister Cheryl, whose married name is now Cheryl Baker. Howard was an antiquities dealer with a particular interest in items tied to the occult and mythology. Richard's father was away a lot of the time and, even when he was home, was distant from his children, consumed by his work.

As Richard grew older Howard began "taking an interest" in him, including him in his work. Howard began bringing his son souvenirs from abroad of an arcane nature, in what appears to be an attempt to groom Richard to continue his work. He also showed Richard a demon board he had acquired.

Richard and Cheryl once shared a suspected paranormal experience, which became one of The Black Tapes. The two Strand children were home alone when Cheryl saw tall shadowy figures in the back yard, similar to the Torres Black Tape. Richard was filming his sister during this experience. Both children then saw one of the shadow figures come into the house and stare at them from the corner. No figure appeared on the video footage. Dr. Strand currently believes that it was a hallucination and claims that the incident is a Black Tape because of the extreme rarity of a shared hallucination between people when one isn't dominant over the other.

Personality
Richard has a dry sense of humor, and seems to be somewhat of a misanthrope.

Mentions & Appearances
Episode 101: Alex Reagan spends a lot of time trying to land an interview with Dr. Strand, which she eventually secures by talking to his publisher, Jenna Yates. Alex catches sight of a row of about a dozen black VHS cases in Dr. Strand's equipment room, but when she asks him what they are, he ends the interview with a promise of a follow-up phone call. During the follow-up call, Alex plays him audio from a panel that Dr. Strand participated in, where a power outage and 'deep rumbling' occurred after someone in the audience asked him about The Sagamore. Strand hesitates before assuring Alex that he has debunked the case. Alex then uses somewhat ethically questionable methods to secure a second in-person meeting, and uses the story of the investigation she participated in with Dr. Emily Dumont to pique his interest. After Strand debunks it, she again asks about the black tapes. Strand tells her that they are "the cases [they] don’t have the resources or technology to disprove yet.” Alex asks to take a look, and in this way we are introduced to Black Tape #1.

Relationships
Alex Reagan: Alex and Richard occasionally fight due to their extremely different worldviews and character flaws. However, Richard seems sincerely fond of Alex, and is shown to generally enjoy her company. Their relationship seems to have blossomed into romance as of Season 3.

Coralee Strand: Richard's estranged wife, who went missing in 1997. Although he feels a sense of betrayal due to her deception, Richard is still extremely focused on Coralee, to an almost unhealthy extent.

Charlie Strand: Richard's daughter, from who he is estranged. Charlie seems to be aware of Richard's possible abilities, and originally blamed her father for not being able to find Coralee.

Nic Silver: Richard and Nic do not interact often, although Richard once described him as "handsome" on twitter in response to a message from a shipper, before firmly shutting down any speculation that he was attracted to Nic.

Trivia
Dr. Strand's office contains a bookshelf with hundreds of white VHS cases, each labeled with the name of a concluded investigation. He tells Alex that these are only the cases from the past two years, and it's "pretty standard" for them to have that many.

Quotes

 * "Dr. Richard Strand is a tall man - good-looking, confident, with a perpetual wry smile, and cool blue eyes that betray a sharp intelligence." - Alex Reagan
 * "He’s a man who doesn’t like to waste time or words, and he just looks like he knows something that the rest of us can’t quite understand." - Alex Reagan
 * "I pay for music and movies, just like everyone else." "...Right." – Dr. Richard Strand & Alex Reagan
 * "So, what scares you?" "Food poisoning." – Alex Reagan & Richard Strand
 * "Belief is a warm blanket; it's comforting. ... And what kind of person goes around ripping off blankets? Do you know somebody like that?" "It sounds like you're familiar with the subject of this podcast." "Now there's a guy who needs consolation." – Sanford Haines & Alex Reagan