Einstein and ``Mental Radio:'' How addressing purported paranormal claims affected his scientific rhetoric

One of the most surprising of Einstein's contributions was his preface to Upton Sinclair's 1930 book on telepathy, ``Mental Radio.'' While he likely wrote that piece as a favor to Sinclair, it was emblematic of a period in which other believers attempted to pin down Einstein's position on paranormal phenomena. Thanks, in part, to J.W. Dunne's widely selling ``An Experiment With Time,'' Einstein was asked to address false claims of connections between relativity and precognition. Conceivably, such encounters contributed to Einstein's later rhetoric in supporting local realism versus quantum entanglement.