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Apr 30, 2024 | 
onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Yaoyao Dai |Jingjing Gao |Benjamin Radford
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many politicians and citizens alike have sought a scapegoat (Chen et al. 2020; Porumbescu et al. 2023). With the likely origin of the novel coronavirus being Wuhan China, people of Chinese or other Asian descent have become easy targets. Anti-Chinese and anti-Asian racism and crimes have increased significantly across the globe in the wake of the pandemic (see, e.g., Dipoppa, Grossman, and Zonszein 2021; Lowen 2020; The Guardian 2020).
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Apr 24, 2024 | 
skepticalinquirer.org | Benjamin Radford
Digital disinformation is becoming a widely recognized threat—especially to public health—with unprecedented amounts of misinformation available online.
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Feb 13, 2024 | 
aiptcomics.com | Benjamin Radford |Ben Radford
Ahoy Comics new Project: Cryptid series has been digging deep for some obscure monsters, and we’re here for it. In issue #2, Alex Segura and Steve Bryant look at something decidedly less monstrous, that we at least know did exist at some point — the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. AIPT Science asked cryptozoology expert Benjamin Radford what the search means, for the bird itself, and for cryptids in general. The world of cryptozoology embraces a broad spectrum of monsters and alleged beasties.
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Feb 2, 2024 | 
skepticalinquirer.org | Benjamin Radford
Nicola Bulley may not be well known to Americans, but in England her name—and her case—was famous throughout 2023. Her mysterious disappearance spawned extensive media coverage, heartache, and heated controversies across the country, from rural pubs to the Houses of Parliament. Bulley and her family suffered multiple tragedies and injustices, including from lurid headlines, true crime fans, police, false accusations, conspiracies and rumors, and psychic detectives.
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Feb 1, 2024 | 
aiptcomics.com | Benjamin Radford |Ben Radford
Ahoy Comics new Project: Cryptid series has been digging deep for some obscure monsters, and we’re here for it. In issue #2, though, they revisited the classic chupacabra, and in their delightful “Chupahuahua” story by Alisa Kwitney and Mauricet, inadvertently revealed a strange truth about how the beast’s perception has changed. AIPT Science asked chupacabra expert Benjamin Radford to tell us more.
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Jan 19, 2024 | 
centerforinquiry.org | Benjamin Radford
A few years ago I was asked by an author to review his book, and it contained a discussion of the pyramids at Ghiza. I gave him the following feedback:“You have a big red herring argument at the bottom of p. 36: ‘not a single group has been able to successfully erect even a scaled-down’ pyramid…. ‘even the skeptical community should be able to build an exact replica…’ This is seriously flawed reasoning, and you repeat this error four or five times.
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Jan 11, 2024 | 
pensar.org | Benjamin Radford
Hace veinte años, en The Skeptical Inquirer escribí una descripción general de la evidencia de Bigfoot (Pie Grande). Titulado ““Bigfoot at 50: A Half-Century of Bigfoot Evidence” (Pie Grande a los 50: Medio siglo de evidencia de Pie Grande), tenía como objetivo brindar a los escépticos y a los legos una descripción general concisa de la variedad y calidad de las pruebas presentadas hasta la fecha sobre la existencia de la elusiva criatura bípeda que se dice deambula por América del Norte.
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Jan 2, 2024 | 
pensar.org | Benjamin Radford
La película The Sound of Freedom, estrenada en la festividad más patriótica de 2023, es un relato ficticio supuestamente basado en las hazañas del ciudadano de Utah Tim Ballard (interpretado por Jim Caviezel), ex agente del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional y fundador de un grupo llamado Operación Ferrocarril Subterráneo (OUR), que se dedica a luchar contra la trata de niños.
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Dec 27, 2023 | 
skepticalinquirer.org | Benjamin Radford
Twenty years ago, in this magazine I wrote an overview of the evidence for Bigfoot. Titled “Bigfoot at 50: A Half-Century of Bigfoot Evidence,” it was meant to give skeptics and layfolk alike a concise overview of the variety and quality of evidence proffered to date for the existence of the elusive bipedal creature said to roam North America.
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Dec 8, 2023 | 
centerforinquiry.org | Benjamin Radford
Earlier this week a career college professor, Anthony Polito, killed three people and injured a fourth on a shooting spree at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Police said that Polito, 67, had also mailed nearly two dozen letters to university personnel across the country, at least one of which contained an unknown substance. It seems that Polito had been denied a position at the university, which may have been a factor in the violence.
