Karen Stollznow (born 12 August 1976) is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n-American writer,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, and

skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

. Her books include ''The Language of Discrimination'', ''God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States'', ''Haunting America'', ''Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic'', ''Hits and Mrs'', and ''Would You Believe It?: Mysterious Tales From People You'd Least Expect''. She also writes short stories, and is a host on the podcast Monster Talk.

Career

A student of linguistics and history at the University of New England in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, she received First Class Honors in

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, and went on to a PhD in the area of Lexical Semantics. She graduated with her doctorate in 2007. In 2004 she relocated to California to become a Visiting Student Researcher with the Department of Linguistics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. In 2005 she became a Researcher for the Script Encoding Initiative, a joint project between the UC Berkeley Department of Linguistics, and the

Unicode Consortium The Unicode Consortium (legally Unicode, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated and based in Mountain View, California. Its primary purpose is to maintain and publish the Unicode Standard which was developed with the intenti ...

. From 1997 to 2009 Stollznow was a prominent investigator and writer for the

Australian Skeptics Australian Skeptics is a loose confederation of like-minded organisations across Australia that began in 1980. Australian Skeptics investigate paranormal and pseudoscientific claims using scientific methodologies. This page covers all Australia ...

and served as Editor of their magazine ''The Skeptic'' for which she also wrote many articles. She has also written for publications such as ''

Australasian Science ''Australasian Science'' was a bimonthly science magazine published in Australia and was the longest-running scientific publication in the country, from 1938 to 2019. It contained a mixture of news items, feature articles, and expert commentary. ...

'', '' Neucleus'', ''

Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''. Mission statement and goals Daniel Loxton, writing in ...

'', and others. Karen Stollznow Presents at TAM 2012

Between 2009 and 2011 she wrote the Naked Skeptic column for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ( CSI), now rebranded as The Good Word for ''Skeptical Inquirer''. In 2010 she began as the Bad Language columnist for

Skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

. She has been a host of the

Skeptics Society The Skeptics Society is a nonprofit, member-supported organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs. The Skeptics Society was co-founded by Michael Sh ...

's ''

MonsterTalk ''MonsterTalk'' is an audio podcast originally presented by the Skeptics Society's ''Skeptic'' magazine but broke ties in 2019. Since 2019 it has been an independent podcast under the "Monster House, LLC" banner. The show critically examines the ...

'' podcast since its beginning in 2009 and in 2010 she became a host of the

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...

's ''

Point of Inquiry ''Point of Inquiry'' is the radio show and flagship podcast of the Center for Inquiry (CFI), "a think tank promoting science, reason, and secular values in public policy and at the grass roots". Started in 2005, ''Point of Inquiry'' has consist ...

'' podcast as well. In 2011 she presented a talk at the Colorado Springs

SkeptiCamp SkeptiCamp was founded by Reed Esau in 2007 and is small grassroots conference where scientific skeptics come together and participate and present. Skepticamps are held in varying formats worldwide and are operated in the style of an unconference ...

on Making (Up) History, and at the Denver/Boulder

on Braco the Gazer. In 2012 she was a speaker at

The Amazing Meeting The Amazing Meeting (TAM), stylized as The Amaz!ng Meeting, was an annual conference that focused on science, scientific skepticism, skepticism, and critical thinking; it was held for twelve years. The conference started in 2003 and was sponsored ...

in Las Vegas, giving a talk titled "Prediction and Language", and in 2013 giving a talk titled "What an Excellent Day for an Exorcism". Stollznow is also a Research Fellow for the

James Randi Educational Foundation James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of ...

. She is a Contributing Editor for ''

'' magazine, a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Selected publications

* Stollznow, Karen (2017). ''The Language of Discrimination''. Lincom GmbH. * Stollznow, Karen (2017). ''Would You Believe It?: Mysterious Tales From People You'd Least Expect''. Amazon Digital Services. * Stollznow, Karen (2016). ''Hits and Mrs''. Amazon Digital Services. * Stollznow, Karen (2014). ''Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic''. * Stollznow, Karen (2013). ''God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States''. * Stollznow, Karen (2013). ''Haunting America''. James Randi Educational Foundation. . * Stollznow, Karen (2010). Skepticism and the Paranormal: A Rose By Any Other Name. In Bonett, W. (Ed.) The Australian Book of Atheism. Scribe Publications * * * * * * * * *

Personal

Karen Stollznow is an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

Australian and formerly lived in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

, California. Born in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of Manly, she grew up in Collaroy, on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Stollznow lives with her husband and their son in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

References

External links

* *
MonsterTALK
– cryptozoology podcast she co-hosts
The Good Word
– past ''Skeptical Inquirer'' column {{DEFAULTSORT:Stollznow, Karen 1976 births Living people Linguists from Australia Women linguists Australian science writers Australian sceptics Australian women bloggers Australian women podcasters Australian podcasters People from New South Wales