I'm interested in the following: Cold War history, particularly espionage and the more unusual aspects of the conflict, like the training of psychic spies; political and cultural histories of postwar Canada; conspiracy theories and those who believe them; UFOs and the supernatural; (pseudo)science and "cranks;" public history; satirical political movements and actions; mortality and death studies, particularly near-death experiences; and documentary film. What unites all of this is a curiosity about what people believe and why, the importance of trust between people and institutions, and a desire to help the world, in whatever small way I can, become a better place through information literacy and critical thinking.
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Currently, I'm working on two books: one about the so-called Marysburgh Vortex in Lake Ontario (please get in touch if you have a story about it!); and a biography of ufologist Wilbert Smith.
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A list of my publications is below:
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Book
2022 Search for the Unknown: Canada's UFO Files and the Rise of Conspiracy Theory. McGill-Queen's University Press.
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Reviews:
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Tim Cook, Canada's History, 17 July 2023
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Kevin Anderson, Canadian Historical Review 104(2): 299-300, June 2023
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John Zada, Literary Review of Canada, July-August 2022
Eyes Like Saucers: Dispatches from the probe and mail
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Stanislav Panin, Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 19(1): 124-127, Spring 2024
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Chris Rutkowski, Winnipeg Free Press, 21 May 2022
Disdain, confusion around officials' handling of UFO reports
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Matthew Farish, Choice, August 2023 (60.2)
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David Clarke, 4 August 2022
Canada's UFO Files: book review
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Kate Dorsch, H-Net Reviews, October 2022
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Magonia Review
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Other Writing
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2023. The Walrus. "What UFO fears tell us about trust in government." February 17.
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2022 "Stuff Stories: A Flying Saucer," NiCHE: Network in Canadian History and Environment, 25 July.
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2020 "UFOs in Canada," The Canadian Encyclopedia, October 20.
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2019 "Moon Landing Hoax," "Death of Stephen Hawking," and "Project Blue Beam" entries in Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in American History, edited by Christopher Fee and Jeffrey Webb. ABC Clio.
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2017 "Canada, UFOs, and Wishful Thinking," ActiveHistory.ca, February 10.
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2016 "The Whale That Slapped the Nova Scotian: 'Bizarre news reports, media framing, and the Folk," Acadiensis Blog, June 27.
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Scholarly Articles/Chapters
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2025 "The Fear of Being Drawn In: Investigating the Ecogothic in the Marysburgh Vortex," Ontario History (forthcoming).
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2024 "Screaming Specks of Dust: Emotion and the Moon Landing Conspiracy Theory," In Conspiracy Theories and Extremism in New Times, edited by Christopher T. Connor, Matthew N. Hannah, and Nicholas J. MacMurray (Rowman & Littlefield).
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2020 "Michael W. Burke-Gaffney and the UFO Debate in Atlantic Canada, 1947-1969," Scientia Canadensis 42(1): 54-74.
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2018 "Social Media, the Folk, and Bizarre Stories of Nova Scotia," Canadian Journal of Media Studies 16 (Winter): 76-98
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2017 ""Then the Saucers Do Exist?": UFOs, the Practice of Conspiracy, and the Case of Wilbert Smith," Journal of Canadian Studies 51(3): 665-696.
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2017 “The Funeral Director and His Film,” Studies in Social Justice 11(2): 307-315.
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2017 “Causing a Ruckus: Complicity and Performance in Stories of Port Moody,” Public History Review 24: 38-53.
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2017 “Never Mind the Ballots: The Edible Ballot Society and the Performance of Citizenship," Contention: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest 5(2): 1-27.
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