For those who didn't see it: A recent episode of Squaring the Strange revisited a classic mystery: The Bermuda Triangle! The Bermuda Triangle is a perennial favorite for seekers of the strange; Ben still gets calls regularly from students eager to ask him...
Folklore
Squaring the Strange # 112: Literary Hoaxes!
Our recent episode of Squaring the Strange is about literary hoaxes! I discuss some "misery memoirs," stories of victims triumphing over incredible hardships (Spoiler: "Go Ask Alice" was fiction). Celestia discusses newspaper reports of horny bat-people on the moon,...
Equatorial Misinformation Misadventures
I was recently editing a piece by Rob Palmer (perhaps better known as “The Well-Known Skeptic”) on the subject of misinformation he encountered in the middle of the world. Or, put another way, bogus information on the equator in Ecuador (a country named...
Quoted on Bigfoot in ‘The Mountaineer’
So this is cool: I'm quoted in an article on Bigfoot in The Mountaineer: If you wear a size 14 shoe, chances are some of your high-school classmates called you “Bigfoot.” But that doesn’t mean you are an ape-like beast who may — or may not — just be a...
Squaring the Strange # 113: Covid-19 Myths & Misinformation
Did you catch our recent bonus episode of Squaring the Strange? I gather some myths and misinformation going round about Wuhan Coronovirus, aka Novel Coronavirus, aka "we're all gonna die," aka COVID-19. Then special guest Doc Dan breaks down some virus-busting...
Real Estate Omens and Superstitions
I'm quoted in a new article about real estate omens and superstitions at Realtor.com! "An outdated kitchen and a lack of curb appeal aren't the only things that can keep buyers from biting. When it seems like there's just no explanation for a perfectly good home...
Squaring the Strange #111: Mothman Myths and Mysteries
In case you missed it, our recent show was on the Mothman, a creature first spotted in the 1960s in rural West Virginia. Ben takes us on a tour of the area and discusses his trip there to help research the creature for a German television show. Like many...
A Quick Example Of Quick Debunking
I’ve investigated hundreds—probably thousands—of things in my career as a skeptic and researcher, from misleading polls to chupacabra vampire legends. Some investigations take hours or days; others take weeks or months, and a rare few take years. It all depends on the...
Squaring the Strange #1-something: Penis Castles, Teletubby Purses, and Suicidal Larpers
This week we were joined by Erik Kristopher Myers to discuss a short history of a particular sort of easter egg: the dreaded "hidden subversive element" stuck into a kids' show or game, either by a perverse animator or a much more sinister coalition bent on corrupting...
My Book ‘Bad Clown’ Quoted in the Guardian
So this is cool: I'm quoted, and my book "Bad Clowns" mentioned, in a recent article on clowns in The Guardian (U.K.)!: "In his 2016 book Bad Clowns, Benjamin Radford writes: “It’s misleading to ask when clowns turned bad, for they were never really...