

Erin McCarthy
Joined: Nov 21, 2012
Erin was the Editor-in-Chief of MentalFloss.com, host of The List Show on YouTube, editor of Mental Floss's book The Curious Reader, and the creator, executive producer, and host of the History Vs. podcast. She joined Mental Floss in 2012. Previously, she covered everything from natural disasters to bridge engineering to the science behind sci-fi movies for Popular Mechanics magazine. Her work has appeared in O: The Oprah Magazine, Town and Country, Parents, and Esquire. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her karaoking, reading, or hanging out with her cats, Oliver and Pearl. She lives in New York.




We might have co-living spaces to thank for this strange idiom.
Everywhere you turn these days, it seems like there’s a new—and wildly successful—book, podcast, or show devoted to a crime. Which raises the question: Why are we so obsessed with true crime? Here’s what the experts have to say.
The idiosyncratic director behind films as diverse as ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ and ‘Grizzly Man’ knows how to hypnotize chickens—and has no need for drugs.
See if you can guess where class was in session.
‘Venomous’ versus ‘poisonous.’ ‘Hominin’ versus ‘hominid.’ Scientific terms can be confusing to non-specialists—so here's how to use them correctly.
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs get underway, here's a look back at the sport’s most brutal injuries—and how they made the game safer.
Profound quotes about books and reading from the likes of Toni Morrison, Jane Austen, George R.R. Martin, Salman Rushdie, and more of your favorite authors.
We flipped the script on the Mental Floss contributor, ‘Jeopardy!’ host, and author of ‘The Complete Kennections,’ asking him to figure out what these folks all had in common.
Mental Floss talks to Jennings about his new Kennections book, the wrong ‘Jeopardy!’ answer that haunts him, and what he’s reading now.
John Humphrey Noyes wanted to build a heaven on Earth—but for Charles Guiteau, life at the Oneida Community was a living hell.
Here‘s one quick and easy way to get rid of spotted lanternflies when you don’t feel like stomping on them (and a few other methods, too).
Can you figure out what the song is, or who performed it?