Latest dispatches
Curious stories and events from around the world.
Skeptical Inquirer
Editor’s note: This article includes major spoilers for season one of the series Pluribus. In the science fiction series Pluribus, humanity does not fall to invasion, nuclear war, or artificial intelligence. Instead, it succumbs to…
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Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s new book, Take Me to Your Leader, has attracted controversy in the skeptical community. Some believe that Tyson has abandoned his previous skeptical attitude toward flying saucers. Perhaps this idea was caused by the…
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Potentially abusive parenting and treatment practices related to “holding therapy” were rejected in 2006 by a joint task force between American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and the American Psychological…
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Martin Gardner (1914–2010) was a writer, magician, and mathematician who helped found the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (then called the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, CSICOP) in 1976. Longtime…
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In 2021, I witnessed a long string of lights moving across the sky together. I’d never seen anything like that before. Seeking an answer, I made this social media post: “I think I just saw a #meteor or #UFO in Edwardsville, Illinois.…
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In the late nineteenth century, Germany was at the forefront of chemical research and it was an ideal place for Purdue University chemistry professor Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley to spend a sabbatical to broaden his horizons. After…
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The tagline for the fiftieth-anniversary CSICon said it all: “Celebrate Our History … Chart Our Future.” From June 11–14, the City of Buffalo was filled with skeptics representing every (habitable) continent. It was my first CSICon as the…
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Note: I started writing fund drive letters last year as part of becoming the executive director of CSI. These letters haven’t previously been published in the magazine, but the following (adapted) letter involves an especially important…
Read at Skeptical InquirerThe National Archives
Over 100 MI5 files are released at The National Archives today. In this blog, Mark Dunton explores some of the notable names and stories found within.
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Latest release of files from MI5
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Indian images that grapple with the unbearable fact that lover and beloved are not one.
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Our researchers and specialists have written a series of themed articles exploring public health emergencies, weather and climate, and colonial histories.
Read at The National ArchivesAtlas Obscura
Sure, you’ve seen a dead body before, but have you ever seen a thumb preserved in salt? How about a saint’s heart shrouded in gold? Beyond the normal displays of skeletons in medical museums and holy leaders’ bodies in churches and…
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In the late nineteenth century, visitors to Maine observed something strange: French-Canadian lumberjacks who, at the slightest stimulus, seemed to jump, strike out with their limbs, or mimic languages they could not speak. Ross Bullen…
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Postcards that summon medieval grotesques and brightly coloured folk art, but also feel distinctly modern.
Read at The Public Domain ReviewAtlas Obscura
It’s nice to imagine death as an endless deep sleep, but not everyone is so lucky. In cemeteries across the U.S., you’ll find souls whose final resting places are not, in fact, restful at all. Perhaps they died with scores unsettled or,…
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Jenni Lane reflects on the discoveries she made from our Exchequer records during her PhD placement.
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Researchers Giorgia Tolfo and Laura Robson-Mainwaring reflect on the usefulness of the Hospital Records database and how we are making it more accessible.
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A history of the Evil One, from the earliest times to the present.
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