I recently gave a live presentation on Phantom Clown Panics for the Folklore Podcast. Cost is a reasonable £5, which supports the podcast... Most evil clowns are fictional, but some bad clowns are reported to roam streets and parks looking for innocent children to...
Psychology
Squaring the Strange #129: Faked Abductions
New episode of Squaring the Strange is out! I've researched faked abductions for almost two decades now, and on the new show discuss patterns, motivations, and examples of people pretending they've been kidnapped. From the runaway bride to the McDonald's worker who...
When Anti-Vaccination Fears Come From Inside The House
My new article is on why some progressives have recently joined conservatives and conspiracy mongers in promoting vaccination fears: "The chorus of those raising fears about vaccine safety (for whatever reason ranging from genuine fears to belief in conspiracies to...
Labyrinths and New Age Feminism
Across America—and indeed across the world—curious designs are appearing on the landscape. The patterns have spread from back yards to churches, public parks, and even medical centers. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of people have created and used the...
Squaring the Strange # 124: Antifa As an Emerging Panic
In a recent 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...
‘This Is America’ And The Ambiguity Of Memes
Misleading memes are a dime a dozen, to use a phrase originating in the 1800s (though today they’re not only free but available by the tens of thousands). People who spend time on social media interact with them constantly, usually in the context of reading,...
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...
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 #122: Plant Folklore
If you need a break from the cornucopia of bad news, check out Squaring the Strange!. We chat about the passing of a physicist who explored popular sports illusions, and attempting to get answers from the "Plandemic" filmmaker. Then we cover a veritable salad of flora...