A folklore colleague sent me a news story about the sinister-yet-fictional Blue Whale Game rumor, which is once again circulating after I and others debunked it back in 2017... I'm not going to link to it, to avoid rewarding poor journalism with clicks, but the...
Skepticism
Squaring the Strange: Rumor Roundup!
New, bonus episode of Squaring the Strange is now out! We present to you a rumor roundup, talking about all sorts of weird--and sometimes harmful--nonsense that's swirling around social media these days. A veritable cornucopia of rumor and myth, ranging from Wayfair...
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,...
Texas Hospital Finds ‘Covid Party’ – Or Legend
As if on cue! Following my recent CFI article “The Truth About Covid Parties” and Squaring the Strange podcast episode on ‘covid parties,’ titled “Tonight We’re Gonna Party Like It’s Covid 1999” there’s a news article suggesting they’ve been confirmed!...
The Truth About ‘Covid Parties’
Recent rumors and news reports have circulated claiming that COVID-19 is being spread intentionally in clandestine “covid parties.” In mid-March, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear made national headlines when he stated that part of the rise in coronavirus infections in...
‘Blue Whale Game’ Rumor Resurfaces
A folklore colleague sent me a news story about the sinister-yet-fictional Blue Whale Game rumor, which is once again circulating after I and others debunked it back in 2017... As if there aren't enough real problems to be concerned about? My original article,...
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...
Squaring the Strange # 124: Snuff Films: Menace or Myth?
The recent episode of Squaring the Strange is out! This time around we examine the legend of snuff films--movies in which one or more of the actors are (really) killed! We are joined by filmmaker and encyclopedia of weird film knowledge Erik Kristopher Myers....
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...