Just in time for Halloween: A look back at a classic Squaring the Strange show! We begin with a look at the continuing danger of online rumors igniting mob violence and the Google engineer who is in the news for his belief that the AI in development there has...
Hoaxes
Squaring the Strange # 178: You Don’t Know Jack (alopes)! Michael Branch and the Art of the Hoax
Squaring the Strange features the JACKALOPE EPISODE! Yes, a favorite kitchy cryptid / hoax / souvenir / tall tale from the American West. Professor Michael Branch discusses his new book and brings us so many jackalope facts you may have to listen twice. Check it out!...
False Abuse Claims Used in Politics
False abuse claims are, sadly, being used to settle grudges: "The partner of Vanessa Wilson, the former Aurora, Colorado police chief, was charged with filing a fabricated child sex abuse report. Robin Niceta anonymously called Arapahoe County social services on Jan....
Squaring the Strange #17: Deathbed Confessions, Real and Rumored
The new episode of our podcast Squaring the Strange is out! This time we discuss a short list of purported deathbed confessions. The last words of a consequential figure can be hijacked or twisted to fit agenda -- or, sometimes, it's not just the words that are made...
Misha and the Wolves: Truth, Fiction, and The Perils of False Memoir
My new article is about the new Netflix documentary 'Misha and the Wolves,' which examines a famous and bizarre literary hoax: A woman claimed to have walked across Europe and been raised by a wolf pack while searching for her parents during the Holocaust. Her book...
I’m a Guest on ‘Something to Sasquatch About’!
I'm a guest on the "Something to Sasquatch About" show! We talked about the evidence for Bigfoot, the nature of skepticism, why the 1967 Patterson/Gimlin film hasn't been replicated, the lack of quality control in Bigfoot research, the "Bigfoot Butt Print" cast, and...
Squaring the Strange #145: Bottomless Pits and Spooky Geology with Sharon Hill
In a recent episode of Squaring the Strange we have everything: Lil Nas X's Satanic Shoes, a sketchy alkaline water CEO, and geologist Sharon Hill educating us about spooky geology like bottomless pits, the mysterious "Mel's Hole," quicksand, and hollow earth...
Quoted in ‘Rolling Stone’ about Viral TikTok Abduction Rumors
I'm quoted in a recent Rolling Stone article about abduction rumors going viral on TikTok. It's an interesting social media twist on an old urban legend... you can read it HERE. You can also check out the Squaring the Strange shows we did on faked...
Squaring the Strange # 140: Steve Kulls and the Georgia Bigfoot Body Hoax
For those who didn't see it, in the recent episode of Squaring the Strange we talk with Bigfoot investigator Steve Kulls, who shares with us his tenets of research and then discusses his role in uncovering the Georgia Bigfoot body hoax of 2008--a tale involving a...
Quoted in a CBC article on the TikTok Challenge / Knockout Game
I'm quoted in a new CBC article on the new appearance of an old social media scare, the "knockout game" or "blackout challenge." You can read it HERE. Non-Francophones can read it using the "Translate" button at the top right, and the rest of you can marvel at...