The Straight Dope


"The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under a pseudonym of Cecil Adams and illustrated by Slug Signorino, first published in 1973 in the Chicago Reader as well as syndicated nationally in the United States and a website by the same name.
Following the column of June 27, 2018, the "Straight Dope" column was placed on hiatus, with no decision made regarding its future. The website and associated forum continues to be active.

Name and tagline

The column derives its name from the American idiom meaning roughly "the true information; the full story" and covers many subjects, including history, science, old wives' tales, urban legends, and inventions. The column appeared under the tagline: "Fighting ignorance since 1973 (It's taking longer than we thought.”

Books

Five collections of columns have been published, sometimes referred to as the Straight Dope Cyclopedia of Human Knowledge:
In addition, the 1993 collection Know It All was published for younger audiences by Cecil's "assistant" Ed Zotti.

Television

In 1996, the A&E Network briefly aired a show based on the column called The Straight Dope, hosted and co-written by comedian Mike Lukas.
A podcast has also been released sporadically.