Erin McCarthy

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Erin is the Editor-in-Chief of MentalFloss.com, host of The List Show on YouTube, and the creator, executive producer, and host of Mental Floss's 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. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her karaoking, reading non-fiction, watching Investigation Discovery and hockey (go NYR!), or hanging out with her cats, Oliver and Pearl.

19 Fascinating Behind-the-Scenes Facts About the Harry Potter Books

Philip W. Errington’s 'J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997-2013' sheds a light on the editorial process of this beloved series... READ ON

15 Vintage Photos of Nuns Doing Normal Things

They're just like us!... READ ON

The Science of 'Self/Less'

The movie hits theaters today.... READ ON

5 Gorgeous Old Pictures of Seashells

From a new book by the American Museum of Natural History.... READ ON

11 Insane Aquatic Toys You Can Buy

Forget pool noodles and squirt guns—these aquatic accessories will help take your water activities to the next level (provided you can afford them...).... READ ON

Watch This Vending Machine Make Pizza

News broke today that Sprinkles Cupcakes will install New York City's first 24-hour cupcake ATM at its Upper East Side location next week. The unit has a 760 cupcake capacity and can dispense up to four sweet treats at a time. That's pretty cool—but not as cool as a vending machine that makes fresh pizza in under three minutes.... READ ON

New 'Harry Potter' Play Coming to the West End in 2016

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" will open in London next year.... READ ON

This is What Happens When a Python Tries to Eat a Porcupine

But this meal, the snake's last, was not something as mundane as an impala.... READ ON

15 Post-Harry Potter Revelations from Pottermore

Since J.K. Rowling launched Pottermore in 2012, she's been steadily revealing secrets of the wizarding world.... READ ON

Tips and Tricks for Conquering Bad Breath

28 Historical Photos of Dads Doing Dad Things

Happy Father's Day!... READ ON

Watching Cat Videos Boosts Energy, According to Science

The next time your boss busts you for watching a cat video during work hours, tell him you’re doing it for your well being.... READ ON

First-Person View of a Rocket Falling From Space

Ever wonder what it would be like to be inside a rocket falling to Earth? Look no further than this video.... READ ON

Q&A: Jack Horner on Creating a Genetically Modified Dinosaur for 'Jurassic World'

The genetic-hybrid dinosaur Jack Horner created for 'Jurassic World' is lot more terrifying than his own (still hypothetical) dino-chicken.... READ ON

Make this Delicious-Looking Ice Cream in Just Two Steps

No cooking required.... READ ON

13 Creatures that Could Show Up in ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’

Thanks to a book version of 'Fantastic Beasts,' with Rowling writing as Scamander, we can get a glimpse at some of the creatures that might make cameos in the new film. Here are a few that seem particularly cinematic.... READ ON

11 Items for an Awesome Picnic

It's picnic season! Grab this gear to make sure your friends are talking about your picnic for many summers to come.... READ ON

6 Awesome Things Bill Murray Has Done

Netflix just put out this teaser for Bill Murray's Christmas special. If it leaves you wanting more, you're in the right place.... READ ON

How Chuck Jones Animated the Mongoose in 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi'

How Chuck Jones Animated the Mongoose in 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi'... READ ON

Where NASA Tests Hardware Bound for Space

A Brief History of LA's "Witch House"

7 Tips for Better Barbecue from a BBQ Master

Original 'War of the Worlds' Illustrations Up for Auction

When Henrique Alvim Corrêa read H.G. Wells’ 'The War of the Worlds' in 1903, he couldn’t help but pick up a pencil.... READ ON

5 Awesome Things Identified at the American Museum of Natural History's ID Day

6 Tips for a Better Margarita

Q&A: Morgan Freeman and James Younger, Executive Producers of 'Through the Wormhole'

Pop Chart Lab Creates Awesome Harry Potter Poster for Pottermore

10 Awesome Rick Baker-Created Movie Props You Can Buy

You Could Own This Idyllic (But Haunted) Ghost Town

Johnsonville is still on the market!... READ ON

13 Facts About 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'

Author John Irving’s book about a boy with a “wrecked voice” who believes he’s an instrument of God is a staple on high school summer reading lists. Here are a few things you might not have known about it.... READ ON

Roosevelt's "The Man in the Arena"

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better."... READ ON

Why Are Hammerheads' Heads Shaped Like That?

How does a hammer-shaped head, with eyes on each end, help the shark survive?... READ ON

A Visual History of Hockey Jerseys on One Awesome Poster

What We Can Learn From the Earth's Tiniest Fossils

Watch High-Speed MRI Images of Someone Singing "If I Only Had a Brain"

Clear Waters of Lake Michigan Reveal Shipwrecks

11 Beautiful Bookmarks Bibliophiles Will Love

5 Awesome (and Occasionally Terrifying) Marine Worms

The Key to Fixing These 4 Human Genetic Diseases Could Lie in Cat DNA

Making Ice Cream That Tastes Like Color

10 Extreme Animal Facts from the American Museum of Natural History's New Exhibition

Now You Can Own Harry Potter's 'Monster Book of Monsters'

The Most Secretive Book in History

A bizarre medieval manuscript written in a language no one can read has baffled the world’s best cryptologists, stumped the most powerful code-breaking computers, and been written off as a masterful hoax. Can the hive mind finally unlock the secrets of the Voynich Manuscript?... READ ON

Q&A: Roel Reiné, Director of 'Admiral'

17 Cool Old English Bookplates

"The outward and visible mark of the citizenship of the book-lover is his book-plate," British author Edmund Gosse once wrote.... READ ON

How One Resort Turned a Helicopter into a Cottage

How Scientists Use Images of the Sky to Time Travel to Stars

The Stories Behind 6 Classic Stephen Sondheim Songs

Composer, lyricist, and Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim turns 85 today. Celebrate with a look back at a few of the many iconic songs he has written in his career.... READ ON

How a Brilliant Intelligence Officer Used 'Monopoly' to Free WWII POWs

Christopher Clayton Hutton's concealments were genius, but the Germans inevitably figured them out. All of them, that is, but one, which wouldn’t come to light until the documents were declassified four decades after the end of the war.... READ ON

A Brief History of the Magna Carta

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