I was featured in a very thoughtful (and wide-ranging) piece published today in The Lever. While it started with exploration of the competition to find a piece of magic that is exclusively auditory in nature, it expanded to touch upon how politicians use techniques similar to those of magicians and a deeper analysis of the role that vision plays in our lives. It starts with a rather disgusting piece of imagery (seen above) and ends with an embarrassing one (that you'll have to seek out in the article)! Have a look at https://www.levernews.com/the-art-of-deception/.

Just in time for Halloween, a piece has been released on Yahoo!Life outlining six psychological techniques that magicians use to deceive you. I was quoted a handful of times in the story. Have a look!
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/magic-works-magicians-share-6-090006410.html

I had the pleasure to be featured in a new popular science book for young readers. “Do You Believe in Magic” explores the history of scientific interest in magical phenomena and why humans seem to have an inherent tendency toward belief in the supernatural. Author Laura Krantz interviewed experts from a variety of fields to better understand the history of belief in alchemy, magical potions, curses, and other superstitions. She also traced these beliefs forward into some of the psychology that allows modern theatrical magicians to shape the beliefs and perceptions of their audiences.

Krantz visited me in Kenosha to accompany me to a magic performance by my buddy, Joe Diamond. She later interviewed us on the interplay of science and magic…and some of the historical conflicts between the two endeavors. Ultimately, Krantz concluded that magic (in every sense of the word) has a place in the modern world, saying:

“Mysteries and things that seem like magic keep us asking questions. Even when we do know the answers, it doesn’t have to make what we’re wondering about feel any less like magic. And it’s that feeling of magic — of wonder, of curiosity, of possibility — that’s magical in and of itself, even if there are no wands involved.”

Zachary Elwood invited me to join him on his People Who Read People podcast for a discussion on how magicians manipulate their audience's attention. We had a fun chat that covered a lot of ground. I talked science and a little smack (about magicians who behave in a less-than-ethical way). Elwood's background is in reading poker tells, so he brought an interesting perspective to the discussion. Elwood shared further background about our discussion at https://behavior-podcast.com/how-magicians-misdirect-attention-and-manipulate-audiences-with-anthony-barnhart/. Stream the episode below.

This summer, Sarah Tuchel, and I will be traveling to London to present some of our work at the British Society of Aesthetics (BSA) Workshop on the Art & Aesthetics of Illusions, funded by BSA  and co-sponsored by the Science of Magic Association (SoMA) and in collaboration with The Magic Circle Foundation (TMCF) and The Magic Circle (TMC). In collaboration with Gustav Kuhn and Dan Simons, we've been interviewing expert magicians in an attempt to find the boundaries of performance magic. Where does magic end and some other performance art begin? Here is the abstract for our presentation:

I had a fun conversation with my friend, Andy Luttrell, on his "Opinion Science"podcast. We covered a lot of ground, from magic and mentalism to attention to education to skepticism. Andy's pedigree is similar to mine; he was a mentalist before he was a psychologist. Consequently, we went down some fun rabbit holes. As the kids say, "smash that 'like' button and subscribe" to Andy's podcast.

Today, September 2, 2022, is World Magic Day. Coincidentally, it also marks the release of a special issue of Vanish Magazine devoted to the interaction of science and magic. The issue includes a piece by me, exploring the pedagogical value of using magic in the classroom. It also includes pieces from many of my friends and colleagues, including Gustav Kuhn, Jason Leddington, Jeanette Andrews, Jamy Ian Swiss, and Richard Wiseman. The issue is free to download at https://joom.ag/IjId.

I had a lengthy conversation with Milena Korostenskaja for her Neurocareers Podcast...So lengthy that it will be broken into two parts! We covered a lot of ground, from the science of magic to how undergraduate students can set themselves up for success in graduate school and on the job market. The first part is out now. I'll update this post once the second part becomes available.

08/29/2022 Update: And Part 2 is now available!

I'll be presenting my "Magic in the Lab" talk virtually for the Capital District Humanist Society on August 14th at 1pm Eastern Time. The event is free and open to the public with registration. To register, send an email request to w[email protected] several days prior or  login to their Meetup page:  https://www.meetup.com/Capital-District-Humanist-Society/.  Click on Join, then on Attend, and use the RSVP function. The Zoom link will then be available to you.

Update: Video from this presentation is available below!

It's been three years since I hosted the Science of Magic Association conference in Chicago. After our pandemic-induced hiatus, the SoMA committee is excited to host our third biennial(ish) conference in London next month. For my part, I will be presenting data from my newest publication, in press at Psychology of Consciousness. It will be officially released in September, appearing in a special section devoted to understanding consciousness through the science of magic. We have an incredible line-up of peer-reviewed presentations and keynote addresses. You can peek at the conference program here. See you on the other side of the pond!

Update: Video from my presentation at #SoMA22 appears below.

I am pleased to announce the publication of some research that has been a decade in the making. We set out to find concrete evidence of self-deception among performing magicians, but we ended up finding something arguably more interesting! This work was carried out in collaboration with Kaitlyn Richardson and Shawn Eric. Kaitlyn was an undergraduate working in my lab. She is now in law school at the University of Nebraska. Shawn Eric is a professional magician living in Phoenix. This work is being published in a special section of Psychology of Consciousness devoted to the science of magic. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000321

Updates: This research has now been featured in a few popular media stories, linked below.

• PsyPost
• DailyMail
• Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland)
  

The entire special section has also been packaged together in an open-access format by the Science of Magic Association. You can read all the pieces, including mine, at https://scienceofmagicassoc.org/blog/2022/10/11/soma-special-section-2022.

I had the pleasure of moderating a rich conversation on magic and creativity for the Science of Magic Association. My panelists were an international group of magicians and creativity researchers including David Parr, Cyril Thomas, Matt Pritchard, and Amory Danek. The video is available below, and accompanying content is available at https://scienceofmagicassoc.org/blog/2021/8/23/magic-creativity-webinar.

Jeniffer Ortega, my collaborator at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia is building a nice research program exploring metacognition as it relates to attention and perception. Along with Patricia Montañes, Gustav Kuhn, and me, she has published new work in i-Perception showing that people's metacognitive judgments are heavily biased by their own experiences. People who experienced change blindness or inattentional blindness were more likely to think others would experience the same. Dr. Ortega's paper is open access at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20416695211039242.

On May 27, 2021, I will be contributing to a virtual symposium at Poland's Jan Dlugosz University, where the science of magic will be an emerging theme. The event is free and open to the public, with registration. I will be accompanied by some familiar faces from the Science of Magic Association, including Richard Wiseman and Vebjørn Ekroll. Details and registration at http://wns.ujd.edu.pl/art,826,scientific-symposium-evening-with-psychology-3-international-edition-27052021