I got a Google Scholar alerting me that my research on African witchcraft and superstition belief is cited in a new academic book, "Witchcraft as a Social Diagnosis." Glad my work is helping to bring attention to the dangers and injustice of modern-day witch hunts!
News
More great reviews of ‘Bad Clowns’!
From a review of my book Bad Clowns in Fortean Times magazine (Issue 349): “Benjamin Radford shows in his masterful survey that bad clowns have always been with us.... This is not a dry or scholarly read, and there’s a lot of welcome debunking. Bad Clowns moves...
The True Story of ‘The Bye Bye Man’
A new horror film titled The Bye Bye Man scared up $16 million in box office sales over the past week. The film is based on the chapter “The Bridge to Body Island” in Robert Damon Schneck’s nonfiction book The President’s Vampire (reissued last year as The Bye Bye...
Kazoo Magazine Aims to Encourage Girls in Science
A crowdfunding project has helped launch a new magazine, Kazoo, to empower girls and (in part) help steer them toward STEM careers. Kazoo focuses on girls and women, according to its website: “All of our stories are either developed or inspired by top female artists,...
“Bad Clowns” Mentioned in the ‘London Review of Books’
My book "Bad Clowns" was recently mentioned in the London Review of Books, and quoted in this piece on internet trolls.... you can read the piece HERE. You can find more on me and my work with a search for "Benjamin Radford" (not "Ben Radford") on Vimeo.
The Nature and Appeal of Authenticity
What do Bob Dylan, Shakespeare, Eminem, Donald Trump, Sartre, Eazy-E, Amy Schumer, Roger Waters, and Simone de Beauvoir have in common? They’re all mentioned in my new Unco Junto blog on the subject of authenticity, with contributions by David Koepsell, Eve Siebert,...
What Trump’s Election Does and Does Not Mean
"We seek evidence that confirms our pre-existing psychological biases and ignore or downplay evidence that does not. It's undeniable that many racists and sexists supported Trump, but the fact that Trump was elected does not logically imply that many or most Americans...
My Guest Appearance on the SETI ‘Big Picture Science’ Show
In case you missed my recent appearance on the "Big Picture Science" show talking about aliens and UFOs, it's HERE! You can find more on me and my work with a search for "Benjamin Radford" (not "Ben Radford") on Vimeo.
The Nature and Appeal of ‘Authenticity’
In my latest blog I and three guests examine the nature of "authenticity," which played a role in Donald Trump's election. But what is authenticity, and why do we value it? The New York Times noted that "Trump... has polled as one of the most authentic candidates in...
Errors in AP News Reports on Clown Scares: Correcting the Record
Reporter Mike Balsamo has an error in his Associated Press story about clowns: Aurora Colo. theater shooter James Holmes did not in fact dress up as the Joker during his attack (as I explain in my "Bad Clowns" book, pp. 115-119 and also in this CFI blog). There...