Baltimore Bridge Collapse Spawns Conspiracies
March 28, 2024


The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed after being hit by a freighter about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Traffic across the bridge had been halted just moments before due to a distress call, though there was a construction crew working on it at the time. At least eight workers fell …

Immigrants: The Perpetual Boogeymen
March 14, 2024


Last week, in response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Katie Britt, a junior Republican senator from Alabama, offered a wide-ranging broadside. In the performance, widely panned as by turns robotic, disingenuous, and histrionic, Britt related an anecdote about a Mexican woman who as a teenager was trafficked for sex by cartels before …

Decoding Taylor Swift Conspiracies and Outrage
February 1, 2024


Taylor Swift, in case you hadn’t noticed, is all over social media again. Many progressives are reveling in a schadenfreude shower this week, delighting in the thought of hordes of incels, misogynists, and MAGA types throwing “mantrums” over Swift’s popularity and success. They’re gnashing their teeth, sobbing in a fetal position as their comforting therapist …

Replication in Skeptical Investigation
January 19, 2024


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 …

Conspiracies, Revenge Fuel Vegas Violence
December 8, 2023


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 …

When Real Conspiracies Are Revealed, Conspiracists Shrug
November 10, 2023


Over the past few weeks several prominent and powerful people and companies have been exposed as having been involved in coverups and conspiracies.   • As The New York Times recently reported, “A federal jury ruled that the powerful National Association of Realtors and several large brokerages had conspired to artificially inflate the commissions paid to …

Conspicuous (and Continuing) Psychic Fails
October 24, 2023


This is the third in an occasional series examining current events and how the world would be if psychic powers existed. Introduction One important, but often overlooked, principle of critical thinking and skeptical investigation is to look not only for positive evidence (such as paper trails and fingerprints), but also for negative evidence. Often what …

If I’m Being Criticized I Must Be Right…Right?
September 27, 2023


You’ve probably heard this common comment, and you may have used it yourself. And it’s virtually certain that you have at some point offered your support to someone at least in part because of this phrase or sentiment. It is, of course, wrong. There are several related fallacies to unpack here, and this message has …

9/11 Predictions, Psychic and Secular
September 11, 2023


This anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks offers a time for reflection on predictions both psychic and secular, about the event itself and its aftermath. Nostradamus It’s a story that circulated widely for months, and is still believed by many around the world: That the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers …

Defending Barbie: Why She’s No Role Model
August 17, 2023


The Barbie juggernaut rolls on. Greta Gerwig’s comedy has made over $1 billion globally, and is likely to become the highest-grossing movie of the year. It’s a hit among both critics and audiences, and a bona fide cultural phenomenon. There’s a lot to unpack in the gloriously pink package, but I want to focus on …