In 2016, before COVID and 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...
The new episode of Squaring the Strange is out! Part two in our four-part series on moral panics. This week we talk MUSIC, and go into the past, present, and future of (as Fresh Prince would say) parents just not understanding their kids' music. So sit back and hear...
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert sent this weird fear-mongering tweet. It's wrong on several levels: 1) she's confusing missing *children* with reports; 2) "missing" doesn't imply abducted, and most are runaways who return within hours; 3) "the media" isn't...
For those who didn't see it: New episode of Squaring the Strange is out, the first in our series on Moral Panics. This week we look at games: it's not just first-person-shooters that have caused parents and social guardians to wring their hands and ask "will no one...
The first issue of Skeptical Inquirer with me as Managing Editor came out 23 years ago, joining the indefatigable editor Ken Frazier. Been quite a ride; I hope I've helped encourage at least a little critical thinking during that time...
I was recently a guest on the Radio Wasteland show, talking about some of the cases in my new book "Big--If True: Adventures in Oddity." We discuss psychic detectives; why police rarely prosecute psychics; the idea that the government wants to keep Americans...
This month is the anniversary of one of the highest profile—and best documented—UFO reports in modern American history, with hundreds of eyewitnesses and reasonably clear (albeit nevertheless ambiguous) video footage. Despite the (at-least-temporarily) unidentified...
I recently presented a talk, "Folklore and Public Health: Partners in Mitigating Medical Misinformation," for a webinar on Contemporary Legends and Pandemic Lore, put on by the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research in association with Mahatma Gandhi...
Hey there! I'm pleased to announce that my most recent book, Big-If True: Adventures in Oddity is a Finalist in not one but two categories at the 2021 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards, for General Nonfiction and Cover Design. You can of course buy the book at your...
New episode of Squaring the Strange is out! First Tim Mendham from the Australian Skeptics pops in for a quick visit, then we sit down for a discussion with Vegas magicians Matt Donnelly, R.J. Owens, and Vinny Grosso. Each of them has a perspective on magic and...