With statues being front and center in the news earlier this month, we decided to take a few tours of the stranger side of statues. From graveyard statues that take strolls when you're not looking to spooky statues that allegedly can't be photographed. Myths involving...
Folklore
Squaring the Strange # 124: Antifa As an Emerging Panic
In a recent episode of Squaring the Strange, we take a look at Antifa this week, or rather--we take a look at HOW people are LOOKING at Antifa. Are we witnessing the birth of a modern social panic? How is Antifa used for political and social purposes? What are the...
The Truth About ‘Covid Parties’
Recent rumors and news reports have circulated claiming that COVID-19 is being spread intentionally in clandestine “covid parties.” In mid-March, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear made national headlines when he stated that part of the rise in coronavirus infections in...
‘Blue Whale Game’ Rumor Resurfaces
A folklore colleague sent me a news story about the sinister-yet-fictional Blue Whale Game rumor, which is once again circulating after I and others debunked it back in 2017... As if there aren't enough real problems to be concerned about? My original article,...
Squaring the Strange # 124: Antifa as Emergent Panic
In the new episode of Squaring the Strange, we take a look at Antifa this week, or rather--we take a look at HOW people are LOOKING at Antifa. Are we witnessing the birth of a modern social panic? How is Antifa used for political and social purposes? What are the...
Squaring the Strange #122: Plant Folklore
If you need a break from the cornucopia of bad news, check out Squaring the Strange!. We chat about the passing of a physicist who explored popular sports illusions, and attempting to get answers from the "Plandemic" filmmaker. Then we cover a veritable salad of flora...
Squaring the Strange # 123: Truth and Myths of Snuff Films
In the new episode of Squaring the Strange, we are joined by filmmaker and encyclopedia of weird film knowledge Erik Kristopher Myers. The notion of a "snuff film" is a strange convergence of conspiracy thinking, urban legend, moral panic, and actual film trivia,...
Squaring the Strange #122: Plant Folklore
If you need a break from the cornucopia of bad news, the new episode of Squaring the Strange is out. We chat about the passing of a physicist who explored popular sports illusions, and attempting to get answers from the "Plandemic" filmmaker. Then we cover a veritable...
Are People Really Having ‘Coronavirus Parties’?
So this is cool... I'm quoted in a recent article in Rolling Stone about rumors of "coronavirus parties." ...
Reopening the Chase Vault Mystery
The current issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine features an investigation I did into a famous mystery, the Chase Vault in Barbados. Coffins were said to have mysteriously moved while sealed in the vault, attributed to curses, ghosts, flooding, and more. ...