Issue: No. 7 – Southern Haunts: a Black Perspective
Joshua Dairen is a transformative voice in 21st-century storytelling. He is a critically recognized content creator, cultural researcher, and modern-day archivist whose work interrogates how we remember, whom we uplift, and what we choose to forget. A native of Alabama, Joshua draws from his Southern roots to uncover the stories that history has overlooked, reframing the margins of collective memory with clarity, care, and conviction.
Shaped by a background in journalism, Joshua fuses investigative rigor with emotional depth. His narratives explore the intersections of history, identity, folklore, and the supernatural, often revealing the truths that resist erasure and the voices that refuse to stay buried.
As a freelance contributor for Den of Geek, Joshua brings the same depth and nuance to genre television and film, crafting longform cultural commentary that blends pop culture analysis with deeper philosophical and social inquiry. He is especially focused on representation, legacy, and how media mirrors the hidden systems shaping our world.
With more than 300,000 followers and millions of monthly views across platforms, Joshua has cultivated a global audience drawn to his ability to make the invisible visible and the complex accessible. His content sparks dialogue around race, legacy, belief, and the truths that history often hides.
Joshua’s work has been featured by National Geographic, The History Channel, Buzzfeed, NPR, Wondery, Tubi, and AL.com. He has spoken at nationally recognized events including Strange Escapes and leading paranormal conventions, and his research has been highlighted by institutions such as the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Alabama. Historical societies and preservation groups regularly invite him to bring voice to stories long excluded from public record.
What sets Joshua apart is not just what he uncovers but how he brings it to life. His work lives across oral history and archival research, digital storytelling and live performance, critical analysis and cultural memory. Whether uplifting the legacy of marginalized innovators or investigating haunted landscapes shaped by injustice, Joshua creates bridges between the past and the present, the forgotten and the remembered.
He approaches every story with the belief that truth is power, visibility is justice, and the unknown deserves both curiosity and reverence. His mission is clear: to recover what matters and reveal what was left behind.
Joshua Dairen is not just telling history. He is changing how we remember it.
Follow Joshua:
TikTok: @joshuadairen
InstaGram: @joshuadairen