The Straight Dope

"The Straight Dope" is a newspaper column.  Its author uses the pen name "Cecil Adams."  Readers send questions in to Adams, and he answers them.  He often uses humor in his answers.

The first Straight Dope column was published on February 2, 1973. As of 2013, The Straight Dope was published in the Chicago Reader and syndicated in eight newspapers in the United States.

Creators and format
Most reader questions are answered by Cecil Adams.  Adams describes himself as "the world's most intelligent human being."  He describes The Straight Dope's goal this way:

The name "The Straight Dope" comes from the American idiom meaning roughly "the true information; the full story". The column covers many subjects, including history, science, urban legends, myths, and inventions.  The column's motto is: "Fighting ignorance since 1973 (it's taking longer than we thought)."

The Straight Dope is illustrated by Slug Signorino.

Website
As of 2016, The Straight Dope's website includes all of Adams' new columns, and archives of his past columns.  There are also online forums where users can discuss Adams' columns, as well as many other topics.

Books
To date, Adams has published five collections of his columns, and his "assistant," Ed Zotti, has published a children's collection in the Adams style, Know It All.

Television
In 1996, the A&E Network briefly aired a show based on The Straight Dope, hosted and co-written by comedian Mike Lukas.

A "Straight Dope" podcast was briefly released in November 2009, but was then cancelled.

Related pages
 Urban legend
 Snopes.com
 FactCheck.org
 TruthOrFiction.com
 The Skeptic's Dictionary
 MythBusters
 List of common misconceptions

References

Other websites
 The Straight Dope


Category:Newspapers in Chicago
Category:Columnists
Category:American entertainment websites
Category:1973 establishments in Illinois