I’m Dr Karen Stollznow - Linguist, Writer and Podcaster.
kstollznow@centerforinquiry.net
I have a doctorate in linguistics from the University of New England, and
specialize in lexical semantics. I’m an adjunct lecturer and have taught
at several national and international universities. I also work in
research and have published papers in various journals, including Language
in Society (Cambridge University Press) and the Journal of Language and
Politics. I am a former Visiting Scholar with the Department of
Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2005 I have
been a Researcher for the Script Encoding Initiative, a joint project between the
Unicode Standard and UC Berkeley Department of Linguistics.
I am a prolific writer and podcaster about science and critical thinking.
I had writen the Naked Skeptic column for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
(CSI), a column about paranormal and pseudoscientific beliefs and
practices.
I am the Bad Language columnist for the Skeptic Society’s Skeptic
magazine, where I write articles about language, cognitive science and
critical thinking.
I have been a Host for the Center for Inquiry’s popular Point of Inquiry podcast, I
present alternating episodes with Professor Robert Price and Chris Mooney.
Along with Blake Smith, I am a Host of the Skeptic Society’s Monster Talk,
a podcast about science and cryptozoology.
I’m a Contributing Editor for Skeptical Inquirer magazine and a member of
CSI’s Executive Council. I am also a CSI Fellow and was Managing Editor of
their peer-reviewed psychology journal the Scientific Review of Mental
I’m a Research Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) and
a contributor to the JREF’s blog Swift.
I’ve spent 17 years researching pseudoscientific and paranormal beliefs
and practices, including: ghosts, aura reading, psychics, medical
intuitives, alternative therapies, mediums, miracles, faith healing,
conspiracy theories, cults, pareidolia (seeing faces on places other than
heads), religion, haunted houses, and many other claims of anomalous
phenomena.
As a linguist, one of my interests is language myths and mysteries, such
as glossolalia (speaking in tongues), automatic writing, body language,
graphology, alien and monster languages and writing systems, reverse
speech, Electronic Voice Phenomena, codes, cold reading, speed reading and
unorthodox theories about language.
I am on the Editorial Advisory Board for The Skeptic UK.
I’m a former Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Skeptics.
I was formerly the Associate Editor of The Skeptic magazine, published by the
Australian Skeptics and was a writer and investigator with this organization for 13 years. In this capacity I used to write a column about science and skepticism for Australasian Science magazine. I had a brief tenure in 2009 as Executive Officer of the Australian Skeptics, and the Editor-in-Chief of The Skeptic.
Originally from Sydney, Australia, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area,
California, for 7 years. I recently moved to Denver, Colorado.
