The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network

Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has written over a thousand articles on a wide variety of topics, including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy. He is author of eight books: Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking (with sociologist Robert E. Bartholomew); Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us, examining the ways in which deception is used in various media to influence decisionmaking and public policy; Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World’s Most Elusive Creatures (with Joe Nickell), a scientific examination of lake monsters around the world; Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries; Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore and The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes (with Bob Bartholomew, 2011); Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment; and his novel The Merchant of Dust. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelors degree in psychology from the University of New Mexico and completed a masters degree in education from the University of Buffalo. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the American Folklore Society, the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club and the American College of Forensic Examiners International, among other organizations. Radford is a regular columnist for LiveScience.com, Discovery News, Skeptical Inquirer magazine, and the Skeptical Briefs newsletter. Radford created Playing Gods: The Board Game of Divine Domination, the world’s first satirical board game of religious warfare. He has also made two short films: Clicker Clatter (2007), and Sirens (2009). Radford is one of the world’s few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into mysterious phenomena in sixteen countries on four continents including psychics, ghosts and haunted houses; exorcisms, miracles, Bigfoot, stigmata, lake monsters, UFO sightings, reincarnation, and crop circles, and many other topics. He is perhaps best known for solving the mysteries of the Santa Fe Courthouse Ghost in 2007, and the Hispanic vampire el chupacabra in 2010. Radford has appeared on Good Morning America, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Learning Channel, CBC, BBC, CNN, and other networks with three letters. He also served as a consultant for the MTV series The Big Urban Myth Show and an episode of the CBS crime drama CSI. Radford has appeared in many publications including the Wall Street Journal, Wired, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Time, Outside, and Ladies’ Home Journal, and quoted by Parade columnist (and world’s smartest person) Marilyn vos Savant, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, biologist Richard Dawkins, and others.

Elizabeth Fournier, affectionately called “The Green Reaper,” is the author of The Green Burial Guidebook: Everything You Need to Plan an Affordable, Environmentally Friendly Burial. She is owner and operator of Cornerstone Funeral Services, outside of Portland, Oregon. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Green Burial Council, which sets the standard for green burial in North America. She lives on a farm with her husband, daughter and many goats. Find out more about her work at www.elizabethfournier.com.

Helene Arts - The occult is Helene’s life-long passion. She has been influenced most significantly by Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune, philosopher Colin Wilson,and witchcraft of a Left-Hand Path persuasion. She is an Initiate in the Temple of Set. Helene is a practicing astrologer, and regularly teaches public workshops on a variety of occult-related topics. She enjoys participating in podcasts and audio programs, and is a regular speaker and workshop leader at a number of occult-related conferences and events. Several years ago she purchased the lands and premises now known as Witch Hollow, and her work there can be seen on the website www.witchhollow.ca. She is a contributing author to PILLARS: The Scalding of Sapientia, and is currently writing a book with author Don Webb on the topic of the Left-Hand Path (both under Anathema Publishing).

Helene is also a specialist in conflict resolution and a professional mediator. In this field, she is a university professor and author with a focus on the creative arts industries. She has co-authored Conflict Resolution for Musicians (and Other Cool People); Keep the Drama in Front of the Camera: Conflict Resolution for Film and TV; and Conflict Response Roles Inventory: the Book. Helene holds a BA in Religious Studies and an MA in Human Systems Intervention.

Helene Arts - The occult is Helene’s life-long passion. She has been influenced most significantly by Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune, philosopher Colin Wilson,and witchcraft of a Left-Hand Path persuasion. She is an Initiate in the Temple of Set. Helene is a practicing astrologer, and regularly teaches public workshops on a variety of occult-related topics. She enjoys participating in podcasts and audio programs, and is a regular speaker and workshop leader at a number of occult-related conferences and events. Several years ago she purchased the lands and premises now known as Witch Hollow, and her work there can be seen on the website www.witchhollow.ca. She is a contributing author to PILLARS: The Scalding of Sapientia, and is currently writing a book with author Don Webb on the topic of the Left-Hand Path (both under Anathema Publishing).

Helene is also a specialist in conflict resolution and a professional mediator. In this field, she is a university professor and author with a focus on the creative arts industries. She has co-authored Conflict Resolution for Musicians (and Other Cool People); Keep the Drama in Front of the Camera: Conflict Resolution for Film and TV; and Conflict Response Roles Inventory: the Book. Helene holds a BA in Religious Studies and an MA in Human Systems Intervention.

Brandy Stark started her foray into the paranormal world in 1997 as an undergraduate at the University of South Florida. She wrote her first paper exploring the role of ghosts in ancient Greek writings. She started to research paranormal investigation and joined email list groups with other paranormalists who mentored her in doing field research. She did several investigations on her own but it was after she gave a talk on local lore and legends that she met others interested in field research. In 2000, this small group united to form the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg. Since that time, the group has evolved and changed. Stark, herself, has done approximately 400 cases over the past 21 years and continues to write academic papers on the role of ghosts in culture, including two academic thesis papers/projects featuring the Role of Ghosts in Roman Religion and the Dance Macabres des Femmes as a Form of Protofeminism. She continues to present on local ghost stories and legends, and even hosts a few pop up ghost tours. In 2015, she released a book called “Shadows in the Sunshine: The Lesser Known Haunts of Pinellas County” based upon years of research on three local sites.

Much of her creativity intertwines with her educational endeavors. Her undergraduate studies produced a double major in History and Classics from the University of South Florida. She holds a graduate degree in Religious Studies, also from the University of South Florida, and a second graduate degree in Humanities from Tiffin University, Ohio. She obtained a doctorate in Leadership and Education from Barry University in 2010. In December of 2017 she obtained a third graduate degree in Liberal Studies from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. She won two National Endowment of the Humanities grants to further her research; Transcendentalism (Concord, Massachusetts, 2009) and Georgia O’Keefe (Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2012).

She is a full time faculty member at St. Petersburg College in the Fine Arts and Humanities Department. She teaches Religious Studies and Humanities courses at the Downtown and St. Petersburg campuses, including subjects in the Honors College, Study Abroad, and Interdisciplinary Studies programs. In her effort to increase student-artist interaction, and to provide a free location for artists to share their works, she secured supplies and funding for art display areas at the Downtown and Allstate Center campuses. Local artists and art groups are invited to show in these spaces, and to do short talks sharing information on the creative process, experiences as artists, and inspiring students to learn more about the arts.

Brandy Stark started her foray into the paranormal world in 1997 as an undergraduate at the University of South Florida. She wrote her first paper exploring the role of ghosts in ancient Greek writings. She started to research paranormal investigation and joined email list groups with other paranormalists who mentored her in doing field research. She did several investigations on her own but it was after she gave a talk on local lore and legends that she met others interested in field research. In 2000, this small group united to form the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg. Since that time, the group has evolved and changed. Stark, herself, has done approximately 400 cases over the past 21 years and continues to write academic papers on the role of ghosts in culture, including two academic thesis papers/projects featuring the Role of Ghosts in Roman Religion and the Dance Macabres des Femmes as a Form of Protofeminism. She continues to present on local ghost stories and legends, and even hosts a few pop up ghost tours. In 2015, she released a book called “Shadows in the Sunshine: The Lesser Known Haunts of Pinellas County” based upon years of research on three local sites.

Much of her creativity intertwines with her educational endeavors. Her undergraduate studies produced a double major in History and Classics from the University of South Florida. She holds a graduate degree in Religious Studies, also from the University of South Florida, and a second graduate degree in Humanities from Tiffin University, Ohio. She obtained a doctorate in Leadership and Education from Barry University in 2010. In December of 2017 she obtained a third graduate degree in Liberal Studies from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. She won two National Endowment of the Humanities grants to further her research; Transcendentalism (Concord, Massachusetts, 2009) and Georgia O’Keefe (Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2012).

She is a full time faculty member at St. Petersburg College in the Fine Arts and Humanities Department. She teaches Religious Studies and Humanities courses at the Downtown and St. Petersburg campuses, including subjects in the Honors College, Study Abroad, and Interdisciplinary Studies programs. In her effort to increase student-artist interaction, and to provide a free location for artists to share their works, she secured supplies and funding for art display areas at the Downtown and Allstate Center campuses. Local artists and art groups are invited to show in these spaces, and to do short talks sharing information on the creative process, experiences as artists, and inspiring students to learn more about the arts.

Richard Estep (Boulder, CO) first got involved with paranormal research in 1995 in the UK after attending an overnight investigation at the infamous St. Botolph's ("Skidbrooke") church. He spent the next five years investigating the haunted hamlets of Great Britain as a member of Andrew Wright's Leicester-based team. Richard co-founded Boulder County Paranormal Research Society (BCPRS) with his wife, Laura, after relocating to the United States in 1999. Visit him online at http://www.richardestep.net/.

Richard Estep (Boulder, CO) first got involved with paranormal research in 1995 in the UK after attending an overnight investigation at the infamous St. Botolph's ("Skidbrooke") church. He spent the next five years investigating the haunted hamlets of Great Britain as a member of Andrew Wright's Leicester-based team. Richard co-founded Boulder County Paranormal Research Society (BCPRS) with his wife, Laura, after relocating to the United States in 1999. Visit him online at http://www.richardestep.net/.

Nicole Strickland currently resides in San Diego, California, and has been innately intrigued with the paranormal since childhood, having thus studied the field for many years. She has been actively investigating historical landmarks and private residences for paranormal activity since the early 2000s, after a profound experience with the spirit of her beloved grandmother.

She is the Founder and Director of the San Diego Paranormal Research Society (SDPRS) and serves as the team’s audio specialist and historical locations case manager. Nicole has worked with various Southern California paranormal research teams prior to developing SDPRS in 2009. She was also a core member of the Ghost Research Society from 2009 – 2017, serving as the Southern California Area Research Director. Nicole also serves as a consultant to World Paranormal Investigations as well as a California Representative for the American Spectral Society.

Nicole Strickland currently resides in San Diego, California, and has been innately intrigued with the paranormal since childhood, having thus studied the field for many years. She has been actively investigating historical landmarks and private residences for paranormal activity since the early 2000s, after a profound experience with the spirit of her beloved grandmother.

She is the Founder and Director of the San Diego Paranormal Research Society (SDPRS) and serves as the team’s audio specialist and historical locations case manager. Nicole has worked with various Southern California paranormal research teams prior to developing SDPRS in 2009. She was also a core member of the Ghost Research Society from 2009 – 2017, serving as the Southern California Area Research Director. Nicole also serves as a consultant to World Paranormal Investigations as well as a California Representative for the American Spectral Society.