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Still ‘Amazing’: A Conversation with James Randi
The famous conjuror, investigator, and author—and founding fellow of CSICOP—sat down with Skeptical Inquirer Editor Kendrick Frazier at CSICon 2016 Las Vegas for a live, ninety-minute onstage...
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TIES Weekly Update–April 25, 2017
The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) stresses the importance of promoting teacher leadership in the United States. Here at TIES we feel that our fellow teachers are our own best...
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George Cherrie’s Dark Tales
In his book Dark Trails: Adventures of a Naturalist (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1930), celebrated American naturalist and explorer George K. Cherrie wrote about his adventures around the world. Cherrie...
View ArticleWhy We Believe —Long After We Shouldn’t
It’s pretty clear nowadays that we are not the rational animals we’d like to believe we are; in fact, we are more accurately called the “rationalizing animal.” Skeptics are often puzzled when we...
View ArticleFor What It’s Worth
I’m always happy to talk to anyone who will listen to a rational interpretation or my particular opinion on what’s paranormal and what’s not. I have worked hard for over thirty-five years to get to...
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The Virtuous Skeptic
What is skepticism? And how should a good skeptic approach her commitment to the field? These are crucial questions that most of us take for granted but that—I think—are worth pause to ponder and...
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God’s Own Medicine
In 2008, overdoses from opium-based painkillers surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the most common cause of accidental death in America. The reason: we’ve failed to learn from history. About 6,000...
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The March for Science: A Road Race for Nerds
div.image.left.js_float { padding-right: 0; } Over the years, I have been to many marches and rallies of one kind or another—several of them in Washington, DC. But the emotions I felt at the March for...
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The Selfish Gene Revisited
This article is the epilogue to The Extended Selfish Gene and the fortieth anniversary edition of The Selfish Gene, both published in 2016 by Oxford University Press. Copyright 2016. Reprinted by...
View ArticleTIES Weekly Update–May 2, 2017
The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) stresses the importance of promoting teacher leadership in the United States. Here at TIES we feel that our fellow teachers are our own best...
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Can Electromagnetic Fields Create Ghosts?
Q: I recently read your book Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries about the mistakes that ghost hunters make using EMF detectors during investigations and how they...
View ArticleWhy Skepticism?
As a philosopher, I ask a lot of “why” questions, such as the notorious one often associated with philosophers: Why are we here? No, seriously. Why are we here? Why are we here? Why do self-described...
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The Mindfulness Movement
A few years ago, I took up the regular practice of meditation. Sitting in a quiet room, outside at a park, or on the train to work, I would assume an upright relaxed position and focus on my breath....
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Anatomy of a Reading
It’s been just over a year since E! Network brought psychic Tyler Henry to our attention, touting him as the real deal on the reality show “Hollywood Medium.” I’ve written about him a few times, here,...
View ArticleIt Just Never Stops ...
To introduce you to the kind of really silly material that I regularly receive for consideration and can deal with only briefly, I ask you to consider this item: From Paris, France, I received a...
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The Return of the Fairies
One winter evening a few years ago, G.F., a banker in Cesena, Italy, was traveling with his wife in the Apennines Mountains. Their destination was the hut that the two owned within the Lama Forest....
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Some Queensland Mysteries
Strange mysteries may be found almost anywhere, but they seem especially plentiful and interesting in Australia. I investigated several during my first (2000) and second (2016) trips Down Under...
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Still ‘Amazing’: A Conversation with James Randi, Part 2
Part 2: The famous conjuror, investigator, and author—and founding fellow of CSICOP—sat down with Skeptical Inquirer Editor Kendrick Frazier at CSICon Las Vegas 2016 for a live, ninety-minute onstage...
View ArticleVaccines, Autism, and the Promotion of Irrelevant Research: A...
Larry Kusche’s review of the Bermuda Triangle mystery (1986; 2015) provided one of the clearest victories for reason over rumor. His method remains convincing because it was so straightforward. Kusche...
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Statin Denialism
When Richard Dawkins was asked to justify his belief in the scientific method, he answered, “It works, bitches!”1 When the scientific evidence is compelling, one would have to be willfully perverse to...
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