One of the fun things about writing for Discovery News was that my editors were great and I could sometimes sneak in a touch of satire. I recently revisited an article I wrote on the Bloody Mary legend and was pleased to see that my disclaimer is still there.
Satire
‘Extra Ordinary’: Fantastic Phantasm Fun
Extra Ordinary, a gloriously amusing Irish romantic comedy about the supernatural, begins with the obligatory, winking tagline “Based on a true story.” The ghost hunting genre is both ripe for satire and difficult to satirize effectively because it’s so self-evidently...
Scooby Doo vs. Ghost Hunters!
Two teams of paranormal investigators. Both have high TV ratings and several (mostly inferior) spin-offs. But which one is the real deal? On one team you have a beatnik stoner (“Shaggy” Rogers) and his friends Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley, along with...
Behold the Miracle Potato Chip!
A "Jesus Potato Chip" I found during a TV shoot for the show "Miracle Detectives" with Indre Viskontas at the Holy Love Ministries in Ohio. I talk about it in episode 30 of Squaring the Strange! If you'd like to see a short clip of my appearance on that TV show, you...
Frequently Bought Together: Bad Clowns and Future Sex!
Apparently my book "Bad Clowns" is frequently bought along with a book titled "Future Sex." I see my readers are optimists! 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...
Chemtrails Kill… Dude!: Comic Ian Harris on Chemtrails
My buddy Ian Harris has a new blog about chemtrails: I was driving on the freeway in Los Angeles, and the car in front of me had a bumper sticker on it that said “Chemtrails Kill.” Now, I love to laugh at the chemtrail people anyway, but this one had me almost pulling...
Critical and Thinking: My Interview with Skeptical Comic Ian Harris
A standup comic doing explicitly skeptical material on a regular basis as part of his act is unusual-- and I interviewed him about his career. You can read it HERE. You can find more on me and my work with a search for "Benjamin Radford" (not "Ben Radford")...
A Question of Dragons: Responding to a Sixth-Grader
A few weeks ago a sixth grader named Hailey e-mailed me asking for information about dragons. What she asked, and my response, are the topic of my CFI blog... You can find more on me and my work with a search for "Benjamin Radford" (not "Ben Radford") on Vimeo.
7 Questions with Writer/Director of ‘The Gospel According to Stephenson’
In my new CFI blog I interview the writer/director of a proposed skeptical vampire film. Plus, what prions taste like, and a bad clown... you can read it HERE.
Critical and Thinking: The Ian Harris Interview
Ian Harris is a Los Angeles based comic who has performed at the Center For Inquiry-Los Angeles and at CSI conferences. Blending comedy and skepticism is nothing new--it's been done on The Simpsons, South Park, and in Penn & Teller acts and TV shows for years--but...