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About the Hosts of MonsterTalk
Blake Smith
Blake Smith is a writer and researcher of matters cryptozoological and paranormal. He has been interested in the mysterious for decades and has been a “formal” skeptic of such claims since 1997. His conversion from believer to casual doubter to formal doubter was a lengthy process, the first steps of which were reading the works of Jan Harold Brunvand and his highly entertaining works on urban legends. You can find Smith’s articles on MonsterScience.org, DoctorAtlantis.com, and on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Contact Blake at blake@monstertalk.org.
Karen Stollznow
Dr Karen Stollznow is a Linguist and Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, where she preserves endangered writing systems. She devotes her spare time to investigating pseudoscientific and paranormal beliefs and practices, including: ghosts, aura reading, psychics, medical intuitives, alternative therapies, mediums, faith healing, conspiracy theories, cults, haunted houses, and much more. As a linguist, one of her specialties is anomalous language-based occurrences, such as glossolalia (speaking in tongues), automatic writing, body language, graphology, alien and monster languages, and Electronic Voice Phenomena.
Dr Karen is a Host of the Center for Inquiry’s Point of Inquiry podcast. A prolific author and skeptical writer, she is the “Bad Language” columnist for Skeptic magazine, and the Naked Skeptic columnist for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. She is Contributing Editor for Skeptical Inquirer, the Managing Editor of CSI’s Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, and a frequent contributor to many sites and publications, including Bad Language, the Skepbitch and Skepchick blogs, and the BadCast, the podcast of Bad Psychics. Find her on Facebook and Twitter.
Contact Karen at karen@monstertalk.org.
Ben Radford
Benjamin Radford is an investigator and Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. A columnist for Discovery News and LiveScience.com, he has written over a thousand articles and columns on various scientific and skeptical subjects. He is the author of seven books including Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World’s Most Elusive Creatures (with Joe Nickell); Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore (which was nominated for two awards including Book of the Year); and Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries (with contributions from both of his MonsterTalk co-hosts as well as Daniel Loxton and others). Cryptozoology is one of his areas of expertise, and he has done dozens of first-hand field investigations on four continents into lake monsters, Bigfoot, chupacabra, the African bat demon Popobawa, and other mysterious creatures. He recently appeared on William Shatner’s “Weird or What?” show discussing man-beasts, and got giddy when Captain Kirk spoke his name.
Contact Ben at ben@monstertalk.org.
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The Believing Brain
(now in paperback)
Get the autographed paperback
In this, his magnum opus, Dr. Michael Shermer presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. Sam Harris calls The Believing Brain “a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” Leonard Mlodinow calls it “a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences.”
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Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)
This concise pamphlet provides answers to common objections to evolution, such as: If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans?; Only an intelligent designer could have made something as complex as an eye; The second law of thermo-dynamics proves that evolution is impossible; Evolution can’t account for morality; and more…
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Top 10 Things You Should Know About Alternative Medicine
Harriet Hall, MD (aka the SkepDoc), shares her wit and wisdom about alternative medicine including: chiropractic, the placebo effect, homeopathy, acupuncture, and the questionable benefits of organic food, detoxification, and ‘natural’ remedies.
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Learn to be a Psychic in 10
Easy Lessons
Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation. While some psychics are known to cheat and acquire information ahead of time, these ten tips focus on what is known as “cold reading” — reading someone “cold” without any prior knowledge about them.