Benjamin Radford
Benjamin Radford (born October 2, 1970) is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic. He has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns on a wide variety of topics including urban legends, unexplained mysteries, the paranormal, critical thinking, mass hysteria, and media literacy. His book, Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment, was published in the summer of 2014 and is a scientific investigation of famous legends and folklore in the state of New Mexico. In 2016 Radford published Bad Clowns, a 2017 IPPY bronze award winner,[1] and he is regarded as an expert on the bad clowns phenomenon.[2]
Benjamin Radford
October 2, 1970
Master's in Public Health
Master's in Education
Bachelor's in Psychology
Writer, investigator, podcaster, research fellow
Media and science literacy educator, scientific paranormal investigation, MonsterTalk podcast, Squaring the Strange podcast
Radford has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, The History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Learning Channel, CBC, BBC, ABC News, The New York Times, and many other outlets.
Radford characterizes himself as one of the world's few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into psychics, ghosts,[3] exorcisms, miracles, Bigfoot, stigmata, lake monsters, UFO sightings, reincarnation, crop circles, and other topics. "I'm open-minded. I never said I don't believe ghosts exist. But I can say I've looked at the research that's been done, and I've done personal investigations. In each particular case there either is or isn't good, compelling evidence, and so far I haven't seen it."[4]
He regularly speaks at universities and conferences across the country about his research, and about science and skepticism.[5] Radford's books and investigations have been incorporated into several college and university courses on critical thinking, including at Western Washington University and the University of New Mexico.[6]
Radford is also a contributor to the website Snopes.com, where he has researched and written articles debunking fakelore and a variety of popular myths including The Amityville Horror,[7] and the claim that humans only use 10% of their brains.[8]
Early life[edit]
Radford became interested in "the mysterious and the unexplained" as a child from reading books about, "monsters and dragons, the Bermuda Triangle, psychics in Russia that could move automobiles with their mind", etc. He also became interested through television shows such as That's Incredible and Ripley's Believe It or Not. He grew disenchanted with the lack of scientific rigor in the books and television shows because there seemed to be little or no investigation or proper references.[9]
Radford's first encounter with formal skepticism came as a result of a fruitless search for beer in a "dry" county in Utah. Winning a regional essay contest while at the University of New Mexico, he was flown to present his paper at a college town in Utah. He and his colleagues came across a tiny used bookstore where he acquired an old issue of Skeptical Inquirer featuring an article on the prophesies of Nostradamus penned by none other than James Randi. He relates that this was the first article he'd read criticizing Nostradamus and offered "skeptical, logical, and reasonable explanations for the prophecies apparent accuracy".[10]
Radford holds a bachelor's degree in psychology (graduating magna cum laude) with a minor in professional writing from the University of New Mexico where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 1993. He also has a master's degree in education from the University at Buffalo where his focus was on Science and the Public, and his masters thesis was titled Misinformation in Eating Disorder Communications: Implications for Science Communication Policy.[11] Radford stated that he chose this topic because it "involved several of my longstanding interests such as myths and misinformation ... eating disorders (a subject I first became involved with when helping an ex-girlfriend struggle with bulimia); and the news media".[12]
He graduated from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in 2022, earning a master's degree in Public Health. He was inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, and was the recipient of a 2022 Social Justice Award from the Dartmouth Institute.[13]
Career[edit]
Journalism[edit]
Radford served as managing editor of the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer from 1997 until early 2011, when he was promoted to deputy editor. He is also a regular columnist at the magazine.[14] Until it suspended publication in 2009, he was editor-in-chief of the Spanish-language magazine Pensar, published in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[15] Radford is also a regular columnist for Discovery News, LiveScience.com, and the Skeptical Briefs newsletter.
Radford is a co-founder and former co-host of MonsterTalk, a podcast, which critically examines the science and folklore behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and werewolves.[16] MonsterTalk won the 2012 Parsec podcast award for the “Best Fact Behind the Fiction” category.[17]
Radford is a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization Committee for Skeptical Inquiry,[18] and presented at the American Folklore Society's 2011 annual conference on Folklore of the Chupacabra.[19]
Radford's writings also focus on topics related to women and minorities, particularly in South America and Africa. Through his books, articles, blogs, and podcasts he has raised awareness of many social problems that disproportionately affect women, including modern witchcraft in India, Nepal, and Pakistan;[20] the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in 2014;[21] acid attack victims in Pakistan;[22] and sex trafficking.[23]
Guy P. Harrison reviews Radford's 2016 book Bad Clowns saying, "Who knew naughty clowns could be so interesting?" Radford spends time on the "unfounded hype and hysteria" of stories of clowns in journalism including John Wayne Gacy and the Aurora Colorado shooter James Holmes.[24]
Scientific paranormal investigator[edit]
Described as a "professional skeptic", Radford works at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry investigating all manner of unusual claims and events. His work includes investigation, reporting, journalism, science literacy education, and public speaking.[25]
Radford explains his approach by saying "I am not paid to doubt things; I am paid to promote science and investigate unusual claims. Our approach is empirical, evidence- and science-based. Science has proven itself incredibly successful in explaining and finding out about the world. If we wish to know why a certain disease strikes one person and not another, we turn to medicine instead of a witch doctor. If we wish to know how to build a bridge that can span a river, we turn to physics instead of psychics. Paranormal or “unexplained” topics are testable by science: either a psychic's prediction comes true or it doesn't; either ghosts exist in the real world or they don't. My job is not to doubt, nor debunk; it is to investigate. I have no vested interest in proving or disproving any unexplained phenomena; I get paid the same either way. But the cardinal rule is that an investigator must eliminate all the natural explanations before accepting supernatural ones, and must use sound science."[10]
When asked "Have you ever been stumped by a mysterious claim?" Radford responded, "No". He responded more fully that there are times with some claims there isn't enough information or the information given to him wasn't correct. Radford compares these investigations to a crime scene investigating where there exists "a positive correlation between the quality of the available evidence and solving the mystery". Radford states he has a "high bar for what I am willing to concede is 'unexplained' or truly mysterious".[26]
Paranormal researcher Brian D. Parsons in a review for Investigating Ghosts, praised the book, stating, "Radford is not saying ghosts do not exist. He's merely explaining and demonstrating that ghost researchers have been going about things wrong for a very long time".[27]
Awards[edit]
As of 2023 Radford has been a finalist or winner of eight book awards.
Board games[edit]
Playing Gods[edit]
In 2008 Radford released Playing Gods: The Board Game of Divine Domination, a satirical board game he created based on theme of gods warring over the control of believers. The game is described as a "theological version of Risk" and contains figures based on Jesus, Moses, Buddha and many other religions including satirical religions like the Flying Spaghetti Monster and J. R. Bob Dobbs. The game made its world premiere at the New York Toy Fair in March 2009 and debuted at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia.[66] Playing Gods is produced through Radford's company, Balls Out Entertainment.[66][67]
Australia's Synergy Magazine reported Playing Gods has "some of the nicest pawns I have ever seen in a board game... has great game play and comes with a smart, cynical and satirical tone. Playing Gods is blasphemy with style and offers a great board game with a good dose of insight and a great load of fun!”.[68] Other players have praised the game as "one of the coolest and most important things to happen to parlor games",[69] and "awesome, and damned funny.. it's Candyland for people who want the express train to hell".[70] Carl Raschke, professor of religious studies at University of Denver, criticized Radford's board game telling USA Today that the game "sounds too stupid to go far".[71]
Undead Apocalypse[edit]
In 2013, Radford released plans for a followup to the Playing Gods board game, entitled Undead Apocalypse: War of the Damned.[72][73] It would have integrated genuine lore concerning werewolves, vampires and zombies into the board game.[74] A Kickstarter campaign to fund the game was launched in June 2013, but was cancelled when it became clear it would not fully fund.[75]