Manhattan millionaire Gigi Jordan was found guilty of killing her eight-year-old autistic son in November 2014. Jordan admitted killing her son, Jude Mirra, with a lethal dose of medications in a hotel room in February 2010. However she claimed it was a mercy...
Research
Burying the C.B.S.
The emailed press release I got last week began: "PETERSBURG, Ky., Sept. 26, 2017 - Since Darwin's ‘On the Origin of Species' was published in 1859, entirely new fields of science have been born and matured-fields which hold the keys to the origin of species. With a...
My ‘Tracking the Chupacabra’ Used in Mexican-American Folklore course
My chupacabra book was used as a classroom text at Los Angeles Mission College in a course on Mexican American Folklore in the Chicano/Chicana Studies program... Kinda cool! You can find more on me and my work with a search for "Benjamin Radford" (not...
I’m quoted in Gizmodo on Evil Clowns!
I'm quoted in Gizmodo on the topic of evil clowns, check it out HERE! You can find more on me and my work with a search for "Benjamin Radford" (not "Ben Radford") on Vimeo, and please check out my podcast Squaring the Strange!
Karmas and Dogmas: A Closer Look at Karma
A few years ago I wrote a piece taking a closer look at the concept of karma: "The premise of karma is that people need to be threatened with cosmic retribution into good conduct: Don’t do evil, or else it will come back to you. How about just being good to others...
My research quoted in the new MIT Press book ‘Worried About the Wrong Things’
My Skeptical Inquirer article on online predators was recently referenced in the new MIT Press book Worried About the Wrong Things: Youth, Risk, and Opportunity in the Digital World, by Prof. Jacqueline Vickery of the University of North Texas! You can find more on me...
In Case You Missed It: My Analysis of the Amelia Earhart TV Fiasco
The 1937 disappearance of pioneer pilot Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan in the Pacific Ocean has been the subject of continuing research, debate, and speculation—most recently in a show titled Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence. I wrote an in-depth...
Unco Junto: The Nature of Hypocrisy
This blog is part of a series I've titled "Unco Junto" (after the discussion clubs founded by Benjamin Franklin) in which I offer an introductory topic essay and a handful of commenters are invited to respond in any way they see fit. The goal is to provide a forum for...
New Article: The Lore and Lure of Unicorns!
Along with mermaids and dragons, unicorns are among the world's best-known mythical creatures. From early artistic representations by Albrecht Durer and medieval tapestries to kitschy New Age posters and kids' T-shirts, unicorns are universally beloved. We all...
Nightjar and Chupacabra Redux!
A researcher claimed that the chupacabra can be traced back to legends of the nightjar bird. I respectfully disagreed, which he then responded to, and which I then replied to. If you want to see two educated adults (one of them right and one of them wrong) kick each...