Ruth DeFoster and Nate Pedersen

Saturday, November 8, 2025
1:30pm, Riverview Room (located upstairs from the Book Fair)

What drives our fears? What drives our beliefs? Delve into the sciences with Minnesota authors Ruth DeFoster, author of The Fear Knot, and Nate Pedersen, author of Pseudoscience.

About the Authors

Ruth DeFoster, PhD, is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Minnesota, where she also directs Undergraduate Studies for the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Her research on terrorism, mass shootings, gun violence, tragedy, and identity has been published in many academic books and journals; her first book, Terrorizing the Masses: Identity, Mass Shootings, and the Media Construction of Terror examines twenty years of media coverage of terrorism and mass shootings in the United States. She has written for many publications, including MinnPost, Star Tribune, and Minnesota Women’s Press.

Nate Pedersen is a librarian, historian, and freelance journalist with over 400 publications in print and online, including in The Guardian, The Believer, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Art of Manliness.