I'm a guest on the Passport podcast, talking about scary clowns, fear of clowns, and miscellaneous clown weirdness. Paris: The Serious Business of Clowning Around Clowns: freaky, funny or downright mystifying? This week, we tread the boards of the French...
Media Literacy
Squaring the Strange #139: 2020 Hindsight!
In the new episode of Squaring the Strange we look back at some of our favourite episodes of 2020. I know you probably want to forget last year... but check it out anyway, we had some great shows!
Squaring the Strange #164: Moral Panic Series Part 3: Film and TV Danger!
This penultimate episode in our moral panic series starts with a discussion of the TikTok worries that interrupted schools last week as authorities braced for possible gun violence. Then we talk cinema and television from old to new, and the themes in moral panicking...
“Big–If True: Adventures in Oddity” Available in Paperback and Kindle!
Pleased to announce that my new book 'Big-- If True: Adventures in Oddity' is now available in paperback and Kindle. Please check it out if you feel so inclined! You can get it HERE!
‘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
Back before the pandemic, 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...
Squaring the Strange #135 – Investigative Skepticism with Kenny Biddle
"This episode we discuss the otherworldly monolith that's popped up in a remote part of Utah, and Ben shares another in his series of "used book mysteries," this one perfectly timed for the election. For our main segment, we have a lengthy discussion with newly minted...
Plandemic At Six Months: Publicity Stunt’s Conspiracy Claims Prove False
In early May 2020, a YouTube video titled Plandemic was released by Mikki Willis (credited onscreen as “father/filmaker”[sic]) that featured a lengthy interview with virologist Judy Mikovits, who offered scattershot conspiracy-laden assertions about the...
Flashback: ‘Scientific Paranormal Investigation’ in the ‘TAPS Paramagazine’
When my book “Scientific Paranormal Investigation” was published in 2010 I took out a full page ad in the T.A.P.S. (“Ghost Hunters” TV show) magazine. I figured their audience needed my book more than anyone...
Shaman Or Showman: The Illusory Ineffability Of Donald Trump
In my line of work, I routinely encounter events said to be inexplicable. They’re not merely amazing or incredible but downright unexplained. At times the topics I research are even said to be “beyond science” (whatever that would mean)....