My friend and Squaring the Strange co-host Celestia Ward recently interviewed the great Richard Wiseman about his new skeptical comic Hocus Pocus for the Adventures in Poor Taste site... check it out HERE!
Psychology
Squaring the Strange #144: SLAP Testing Online Rumors
The new episode of Squaring the Strange is out, with folklorist Prof. Jeannie Banks Thomas on how folklore can help people judge questionable online claims. Seemingly legit warnings might just be a rumor or legend, and even folklorists can be fooled about what's what....
Quoted in a ‘Cracked’ Article About the Chupacabra!
I'm quoted in a new Cracked article about the chupacabra, and it gives a slightly snarky (but generally good) summary of the monster's cinematic origins: "How A '90s Erotic Thriller Created the 'Chupacabra' Myth. Check it out!
The Skeptic Zone Podcast Fallacy List
One important facet to critical thinking is recognizing (and hopefully avoiding) logical fallacies. There's a bunch of them, and Richard Saunders has assembled a nice overview in bite-size chunks... check it out!
Pepe The Frog, Feels Good Man, And The Treachery Of Images
The new documentary Feels Good Man, directed by Arthur Jones, tells the strange story of how an otherwise obscure and innocuous frog cartoon character became a symbol of hate. The frog in question is named Pepe, created by an unassuming, otherwise unknown...
Quoted by McGill University’s Office for Science and Society on… Twin Telepathy!
I'm quoted in an article from McGill University's Office for Science and Society on the topic of... alleged twin telepathy. As one is.... You can read it HERE. You can find more on me and my work with a search for "Benjamin Radford" (not "Ben...
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...
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...
Squaring the Strange # 136 – Leo Igwe on Witchcraft Persecution in Africa
The new episode of Squaring the Strange is out! First we discuss "monolith mania" then for our main segment we bring back Dr. Leo Igwe, who has fought to protect people accused of witchcraft in Africa and elsewhere. Please check it out, you can listen to it...