Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking

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 managing editor of the Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. A columnist for Discovery News and LiveScience.com, he has written hundreds of articles on various scientific and skeptical subjects and is the author of five books including Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World’s Most Elusive Creatures (with Joe Nickell). 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. His latest book, Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries (with contributions from both of his MonsterTalk co-hosts as well as Daniel Loxton and others), will be published in June. He modestly claims to have solved the chupacabra mystery, the full details of which will be published in Spring 2011 by the University of New Mexico Press.

Contact Ben at ben@monstertalk.org.