

Erin McCarthy
Joined: Nov 21, 2012
Erin is the Editor-in-Chief of MentalFloss.com, host of The List Show and Throwback 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.


12 Facts About the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Where Are All the Baby Pigeons?

10 Fascinating Facts About Khaled Hosseini's 'The Kite Runner'
14 Reasons We Love True Crime, According to the Experts
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.
8 Incredible Images of Earth From Above
Benjamin Grant’s Overview: A New Perspective of Earth stitches together satellite images to show our planet as we’ve never seen it before.
Emily Hampshire on Her New Graphic Novel, ‘Amelia Aierwood - Basic Witch’
Actress Emily Hampshire has graced TV screens in shows like '12 Monkeys,' 'Schitt’s Creek,' 'Chapelwaite,' and 'The Rig,' and now, she’s coming to bookstores, too: Her new graphic novel, 'Amelia Aierwood - Basic Witch,' is out on April 11.
7 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelists
The authors on the list are just a few whose novels have nabbed the prestigious prize since it began being awarded in 1918.
13 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Taxidermy
Think all there is to taxidermy is stuffing an animal? Think again. Since the days of William Hornaday and Carl Akeley, taxidermy has been a scientific art.
35 Things You Might Not Know About Harry Potter
Think you know all there is to know about the Boy Who Lived? Think again. Read on for what you need to know about the Harry Potter books and films.
30 Different Ways to Say "Fart"
Over the course of history, the human race has come up with many delightfully creative ways to describe the act of breaking wind.
20 Questionable Pieces of Old-Timey Relationship Advice
From the dangers of being a “sexual vampire” to the best ways to charm your in-laws, here’s what relationship advice looked like in the past.
5 Fast Facts About Cordyceps, the Fungus from HBO's ‘The Last of Us’
In HBO’s new series ‘The Last of Us,’ Cordyceps fungus has infected humanity, turning those unlucky enough to become hosts into clicking, screaming, mushroomy monsters. Here’s what you need to know about the real fungus.
11 Things You Should Know About Kazuo Ishiguro
Kazuo Ishiguro was 27 years old when he published his first novel, 1982’s ‘A Pale View of Hills.’ Since then, he has left an indelible mark on literature through works that the Nobel Prize committee described as “novels of great emotional force.”
Albert Einstein’s Letter About UFOs
By July 1952, UFOs were a hot topic—and Reverend Louis A. Gardner wanted to know Albert Einstein’s thoughts. Did flying saucers come from space? Or were they military technology?
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."