To The Source: Differentiating Ad Fontes from “Fact Checking”

By Steven Specht No comments

While Ad Fontes does not hold itself out as a Fact Checking organization, here is an example of how Fact Checking can dovetail with our methods to elevate quality sources and identify sources with poor credibility or bias. An article published on the website, Principia Scientific International on January 26, 2021 leads with the headline, […]

An Evening on Tinder as a Woman

By Steven Specht No comments

This was originally published on Medium. If you like this story, please give it an applause on Medium by following the link at the bottom of the page. An Evening on Tinder as a Woman I’ve been working on a novel with a female protagonist and wanted to get a better perspective from women on […]

Background Music™

By Steven Specht No comments

This is a short story in Just Comply, a collection of short stories published in July 2021. If you like this story, please consider buying the book using the link at the end of the story. Background Music™ Tom opened his eyes. The sound of Thunderstruck was streaming directly into his brain through his specially designed cochlear […]

I’m Ronnie Calvin

By Steven Specht No comments

This is an excerpted chapter from my nonfiction work I Suck at Everything. If you like this excerpt, buy the book at the link below. I’m Ronnie Calvin With four degrees under my belt and parts of two more, I have always fancied myself an intellectual, but in reality, I’m just really good at falling into rabbit […]

This Is Exactly Who We Are

By Steven Specht No comments

It’s been almost two weeks since a mob attacked Congress in hopes of subverting the presidential election results. In those two weeks, I keep hearing the same thing. “This is not who we are as a nation.” I challenge this notion. Looking at our own bloody history, this is very much who we are. The […]

Running to Conception

By Steven Specht No comments

This is an excerpted chapter from my nonfiction work I Suck at Everything. If you like this excerpt, buy the book at the link below. I suppose you could look at my failure in pararescue training and my success at DLI as a life lesson. Though my body is strong, my mind is the far […]

How Pro-Defendant Defamation Law Empowered the #MeToo Movement in the U.S.

By Steven Specht No comments

This article was originally published on the Concord Law School Blog. The author is a professor at Concord Law School. While the #MeToo movement in the United States has resulted in an upset of numerous prominent leaders in government and industry, there has been a relative lack of results overseas. This is in part because […]

The Dangers of Single Source Financial Journalism

By Steven Specht No comments

Dear Ben Winck, I am writing in regards to your July 27 article regarding the SunTrust position on the Tech rally (Winck, 2020). While I understand your role as a journalist for Business Insider involves reporting on financial institutions, I am concerned about your single-source article. To assert the stability of the Nasdaq and Tech […]

Shit

By Steven Specht No comments

This is an excerpt of my book Parenting as a Contact Sport. If you enjoy this excerpt, please consider purchasing it through the link at the end of the story. Shit “There’s shit everywhere!” [Adorable Giggles] “THERE’S SHIT EVERYWHERE!” [Adorable squealing] There was shit everywhere. Oozing out of the leg holes of a diaper and […]

Trump as Kafka’s Merchant

By Steven Specht No comments

In rereading Kafka’s The Trial I am struck by a similarity between Herr Block and President Trump. Block is a merchant who has been enduring his own version of the legal system* for nearly five years. His character exists as a contradiction of itself. One minute he is on hands and knees in complete obeisance […]