About Jordan Liles
Hello. My name is Jordan Liles. I am a Senior Reporter for Snopes.com. This website, JordanLiles.com, is my personal website where I publish additional reporting based on topics of interest. I started this website in 2012 with the help of my former Rockstar Games coworker Patrick Conroy. Conroy helped to set up the first elements of the blog. His assistance aided me in providing a jump-start for the website eventually becoming what it is today.
This blog began on WordPress. Somewhere along the way, either in 2012 or 2013, I decided to move this website to Squarespace. At the time, many podcasters advertised Squarespace and it seemed like a new and interesting platform. However, in 2024, I moved the blog back to WordPress. Many website creators back WordPress as the gold standard for website management. Further, the number of themes and plugins available with WordPress made me believe it was a better option than Squarespace.
Early Projects
The initial intent of my blog was to share stories of interest. That mission remains the same to this day.
In this blog’s early days, I shared stories about Charlie Chaplin, abandoned places and New York history. I also recorded and edited videos for some of these stories and uploaded them to YouTube. Some of the videos ended up receiving millions of views thanks to the interesting nature of the subjects. For example, in 2013, “Tennessee Wonderland” explored an abandoned hotel annex and row of vacation homes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Also, in the same year, “New York Now and Then: A Tribute to George Bradford Brainerd” compared photos spanning across more than 140 years of change.
One of the best memories I have of these early projects was riding my bike around both Brooklyn and Manhattan to capture the photos for the George Bradford Brainerd project.
In 2024, I found on Google Drive an old photo probably from 2011 a friend took showing me sitting on a bench looking out at the Brooklyn Bridge. An iPhone was likely used to snap the picture.
My Interest in New York History
If you asked me when I was a teenager what my biggest interest would be, I wouldn’t have guessed New York history. However, after living in the city for just over four years, I developed a love of everything making New York what it is today.
My interest in New York and Brooklyn partially stemmed from my own pursuit of creativity. Another slice of how I became interested in the city’s history is because of Ric Burns’ documentary series, “New York: A Documentary Film.” That very long documentary series and its music inspired me to create whatever content I could find that might further extend the interest born in my watching of Burns’ work.
If any readers have watched Burns’ documentary episodes about New York, they might be familiar with the fact the series’ prominently features former New York Gov. Al Smith and the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. One episode also looks at an old pear tree.
Why would a pear tree be a subject of great interest? After all, it’s just a tree, right? I suggest anyone who wants to find out to watch the entire documentary series. Or, you can simply visit the NYHistory.org website.
Where I Am Now
I live in California with my family. During weekday daytime hours, again, I am a journalist with the title of Senior Reporter for the fact-checking and urban legend-debunking website Snopes.com. I started with Snopes.com in 2016 and previously held the titles of Video Producer, Newsroom Editor, and Reporter.
Plans for the Future
The purpose of this website is the future publishing of reporting regarding topics of interest users might search for. In today’s online world, too many small-subject topics receive little attention. Sometimes, those smaller topics can be a much bigger deal than some readers might believe. Thus, I will seek to cover many of those subjects as best I can, whether they be New York history subjects, documenting abandoned places or filling in the gaps regarding news and politics.
When I first started blogging for video game websites in the late 1990s, I never believed the practice would turn into a career. At the time, I disliked writing term papers for school and doing anything involving writing. However, nearly three decades later – and with a lot of experience under my belt – I feel ready to build this website into a much bigger venture. One of my goals is to build a base of subscribers. Somehow, even here in 2024 when I am writing this page, this still feels like the beginning. My other hope is that by filling this page with at least 800 words, Google will be happy. Regarding that matter, only time will tell.