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,...
Media Literacy
Where Racism, Anti-Vaccination, And COVID-19 Conspiracy Meet
The twin plagues of COVID-19 and racism have come to the fore globally over the past few months, and as with any such afflictions there’s a social desire to scapegoat, finding someone (or some group) to blame. Parallels between the pandemic and racism are not hard to...
Squaring the Strange # 124: Snuff Films: Menace or Myth?
The recent episode of Squaring the Strange is out! This time around we examine the legend of snuff films--movies in which one or more of the actors are (really) killed! We are joined by filmmaker and encyclopedia of weird film knowledge Erik Kristopher Myers....
Christopher Dorner, Eyewitness Testimony, And Mental Illness
Spree killer and ex-police officer Christopher Dorner was recently mentioned in a standup comedy piece by Dave Chapelle. If the name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Dorner killed four people and wounded three others in mid-February 2013, his victims including...
Virtual Talk: Conspiracies 101 with Benjamin Radford
I recently gave a talk on Conspiracies 101: "Benjamin Radford discusses conspiracy theories, including the psychology of conspiracies, types of conspiracies, the history of conspiracy theories, and much more." You can watch it HERE.
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...
Why Old News Is Often Fake News
We’ve all seen it on social media, especially Facebook. Some friend, or “friend,” or friend of a “friend,” posts a news story. Because it’s social media, the story is often selected (by human nature and algorithms) for its outrage factor. Amid the kitten videos and...
Where Racism, Anti-Vaccination, And COVID-19 Conspiracy Meet
The twin plagues of COVID-19 and racism have come to the fore globally over the past few months, and as with any such afflictions there’s a social desire to scapegoat, finding someone (or some group) to blame. Parallels between the pandemic and racism are not hard to...
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 #121: Noah Nez, Native Skeptic
We talk "Murder Hornets" with invasive species expert Heidi Noora McMaster, then Noah Nez, who blogs as the Native Skeptic, brings a variety of Native American themes: crown dancers and clown / trickster figures, the noble savage trope and the myth of native...