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...
Investigation
‘Richard Jewell,’ Skepticism, And Media Literacy -Part 2
This is the second of a two-part piece. The recent Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell holds interesting lessons about skepticism, media literacy, and both the obligations and difficulties of translating real events into fictional entertainment. Reel...
‘Richard Jewell,’ Skepticism, And Media Literacy -Part 1
The recent Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell holds interesting lessons about skepticism, media literacy, and both the obligations and difficulties of translating real events into fictional entertainment. It’s no secret that non-police security officers get...
Misleading Polls And Bad Statistics: Do Republicans Think Education Is Bad?
A June 6, 2018, article from ChurchandState.org titled “Propaganda Works – 58 Percent of Republicans Believe Education Is Bad” was shared on social media by liberals and Democrats, gleeful that their assumptions about conservative anti-intellectualism had been borne...
Squaring the Strange # 110: The Head Show
The new episode of Squaring the Strange is out, it's "The Head Show!" It's all about heads--too many and too few. Folklore about multi-headed or headless monsters, multi-headed people throughout history, beheadings, experiments on heads, and shrunken heads. Oh, and...
‘Wrinkles the Clown’ Now on DVD and Streaming
If you missed the 2019 documentary I'm in, "Wrinkles the Clown," it's now available on DVD and streaming. It's a fascinating look at a real-life evil clown hired by parents to scare kids--or maybe something else entirely... More info is HERE!
Squaring the Strange #107: Crystal Skullduggery
For those who missed it: The recent episode of Squaring the Strange is out! In this episode we talk about caricature and mysterious crystal skulls. Can we trust what Dan Ayrkroyd tells us on his fancy vodka bottle? Are there really thirteen of these ancient and...
‘Why Are You Asking?’ Reporting The Black Santa Story
In a previous blog I discussed my research into an ugly episode of racial hatred that tainted the 2016 holiday season. The Mall of America hired its first African-American Santa Claus, an Army veteran named Larry Jefferson. A local newspaper, the Minneapolis Star...
The True, Heartwarming Story Of The Mall Of America’s Black Santa
Amid the encroaching commercialization of Christmas, Black Friday sales, and annual social media grumblings about the manufactured controversy over whether “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” is appropriate, an ugly episode of racial hatred tainted the beginning of...
Squaring the Strange #108: The Dangers and Consequences of Ghost Hunting
For those who missed it, on the new episode of Squaring the Strange, we discuss the darker side of ghost hunting. Not a demonic dark side, but instead real-world harms and consequences. Things like trespassing dangers, costs to historical sites and organizations, loss...