My buddy Kenny Biddle recently did a great investigation into a new book by TV ghost hunter Zak Bagans. You can read it HERE. Below is an excerpt: I really did not want to read the book this article is about. I know that will likely give away the...
Research
Squaring the Strange #1-something: Penis Castles, Teletubby Purses, and Suicidal Larpers
This week we were joined by Erik Kristopher Myers to discuss a short history of a particular sort of easter egg: the dreaded "hidden subversive element" stuck into a kids' show or game, either by a perverse animator or a much more sinister coalition bent on corrupting...
‘Richard Jewell,’ Skepticism, And Media Literacy -Part 2
This is the second of a two-part piece. The recent Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell holds interesting lessons about skepticism, media literacy, and both the obligations and difficulties of translating real events into fictional entertainment. Reel...
‘Richard Jewell,’ Skepticism, And Media Literacy -Part 1
The recent Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell holds interesting lessons about skepticism, media literacy, and both the obligations and difficulties of translating real events into fictional entertainment. It’s no secret that non-police security officers get...
Misleading Polls And Bad Statistics: Do Republicans Think Education Is Bad?
A June 6, 2018, article from ChurchandState.org titled “Propaganda Works – 58 Percent of Republicans Believe Education Is Bad” was shared on social media by liberals and Democrats, gleeful that their assumptions about conservative anti-intellectualism had been borne...
‘Why Are You Asking?’ Reporting The Black Santa Story
In a previous blog I discussed my research into an ugly episode of racial hatred that tainted the 2016 holiday season. The Mall of America hired its first African-American Santa Claus, an Army veteran named Larry Jefferson. A local newspaper, the Minneapolis Star...
The True, Heartwarming Story Of The Mall Of America’s Black Santa
Amid the encroaching commercialization of Christmas, Black Friday sales, and annual social media grumblings about the manufactured controversy over whether “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” is appropriate, an ugly episode of racial hatred tainted the beginning of...
Trudeau, Cherry, and Canadian Racism Polls
The issue of racism in Canada was recently brought into sharp focus when, shortly before the Canadian election, photos and videos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in blackface and brownface emerged. They had been taken on at least three occasions in the 1990s and...
2019 Halloween Candy Tampering Case Revealed As Hoax
Last month a Maine man made national news for finding tampered Halloween candy. He posted on social media that he found a needle in candy his son had bitten into. Police investigated and found he lied, hoaxing the whole thing (probably for attention). He's now been...
Psychics ‘Help’ in Search for Missing Man… But Fail So Far
When families of missing people are desperate they often listen to psychics. Here's a new article on the topic: "The psychic, Juanita Szafranski, led a search effort focused on a five-mile area surrounding the East Rock neighborhood. Peter Recchia, 59, went...