Last week I wrote an article for Discovery News about NOAA denying that mermaids exist, and it has been picked up all over the place, from BBC and CBC News to CBS and MSNBC... I heard it was even mentioned on the "Today" Show. HERE, for example, is a piece on CBS;...
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‘The Real X-Files’ Scientific Paranormal Investigation Workshop: Reno NV July 7
I will be conducting one of my Scientific Paranormal Investigation Workshops in Reno, Nevada, next weekend (July 7). If you're in the area, come check it out, I'll be glad to see you. Please note: Pre-registration is required; see below. Ever wondered how a person...
“Tracking the Chupacabra” reviewed in “The Latin Americanist” scholarly journal
A review of my book Tracking the Chupacabra appears in "The Latin Americanist" journal (56:2); it's not available online yet but when I get some excerpts (good or bad), I'll post them. You can see the issue HERE.
Mass Hysteria Confirmed at New York School
A bizarre illness affecting nearly 20 students at a Western New York Junior-Senior High school now has an official diagnosis: mass hysteria.The students, almost all of them girls, and mostly friends, began experiencing involuntary jerks and tics. Sometimes their...
Hoaxing Author Shoots Self For Publicity
It was a tragic, ironic twist to an otherwise heartwarming story: A hitchhiking author working on a book about the kindness of strangers was shot by one of those strangers. Ray Dolin told police that he was shot in the arm by a stranger in a car, apparently at random,...
‘Tracking the Chupacabra’ Nominated for Book of the Year
My book Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore (UNM Press 2011), which was nominated earlier this year for the New Mexico Book Awards, has also been nominated for Book of the Year in the Social Science category. The winners will be...
Launching Tomorrow: FallingDownFilm.com tribute Web site
Tomorrow I will launch my awesome new Web site, a tribute to one of my favorite films, Falling Down. The movie was filmed 20 years ago, and was released in 1993. The movie stars Michael Douglas as a laid-off defense worker in Los Angeles: "The adventures of an...
‘Snow White’ Controversy: Should dwarf actors portray dwarves in films?
Actors with dwarfism, along with an advocacy organization for little people, are protesting the new film Snow White and the Huntsman for using normal-height actors instead of employing dwarfs for several roles. What do you think? You can read my take on it at...
Beheading as Punishment and Social Control
In one recent Discovery News column I examine the recent rash of beheadings in Mexico, and the history of beheading as a tool of punishment and social control. You can read it HERE.
Appearance on Discovery Channel Radio’s Friday News Feedbag
I was recently a guest on Discovery Channel Radio’s Friday News Feedbag. Had a great time talking with the hosts about bringing science and skepticism to the public—along with some chatting about Bigfoot, ghosts, and chupacabras, of course! You can listen HERE. ...