The Skeptic Podcast

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: The real-world harm of nutritional misinformation, by Maeve Hanan, from October 2024 More wishful thinking than medical reality: "Placebos" by Kathryn T. Hall, by Dave Hahn, from December 2022 Toby Young's Daily Sceptic and Free Speech Union are no allies of critical thinkers, by Michael Marshall, from June 2024Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode:“Who decides?”: how fair questions can derail meaningful action, by Aaron Rabinowitz, from March 2021From the archives: Twitching sticks - the (pseudo)science of dowsing, by Anthony Garrett, from October 1989Racism is a real phenomenon, but that doesn't mean that the idea of "biological race" is real, by Natalia Pasternak, from August 2024 Monkey Business: humans aren't alone in recognising a good bargain, by Deborah Hyde, from February 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: The 'Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis' that wants us to believe aliens have always been among us, by Dave Hahn, from August 2024 The story of the Satanic Panic is a tale of religious and cultural paranoia in America, by Deborah Hyde, from June 2021Moms for Liberty: serving moral panic with a side of BASIC cannibalism, by Aaron Rabinowitz, from April 2022From the archives: Homeopathy and the 10:23 campaign, by Mark Williams, from July 2012Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: Are you skeptical About Free Will? Prove it!, by Aaron Rabinowitz, from December 2020We all need good hand hygiene, but antibacterial soaps are a waste of time, by Alice Howarth, from December 2020From the archives: Korean fan death, the curiously-local mass killer, by Deborah Hyde, from January 2011How to engage with arguments rationally, respectfully, and with humility, by Michael Marshall, from May 2024Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: Patience isn’t just a virtue, it’s a crucial part of showing compassion for conspiracy theorists, by Michael Marshall from May 2023The mosaic of memory: how we constantly rewrite our memories of our past, by Chris French from January 2004 A visit to Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, the UK's only explicitly creationist tourist attraction, by Sarah Hearne, from January 2022An Unhealthy Dose of Viral Conspiracy, by Hayley Stevens from October 2020 Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: Whisper it quietly and go heavy on the caveats, but David Icke is right, by Dave Hahn from March 2024From the archive: Forgive us our trespasses - Rendlesham and diplomacy, by Peter Brookesmith from April 2006Mas Sajady: the Get Well quantum guru who just wants to know if he makes sense, by Michael Marshall from October 2022Christmas as we know it is appropriated, co-opted, bastardised… and thoroughly magical, by Paul Duncan McGarrity from December 2020Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: Gerson Support Group cancer 'cure' charity removed from register by Charity Commission, by Michael Marshall from March 2022Rhyme and Reason: a Rael expert takes a look at the Raelian movement, by Steve Donnelly from April 2002Echo chambers create an illusion of consensus around medical misinformation, by Michael Marshall from March 2022The many traditions of Christmas that are now lost to history, by Toby Howard from December 1989Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode: Why I called for the Brazilian Senate to impeach President Bolsanaro over our Covid crisis, by Natalia Pasternack from July 2021From the archives: Why Do People Believe in the Paranormal? Skeptical happenings in Lowestoft, by Jean Dorricott from May 1990When we talk about the scientific consensus, we need to be clear what we mean, by Michael Marshall from February 2022When it comes to conservation, cat-fights only hurt our communication efforts, by Ada McVean from September 2022Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode: From scam product ads to conspiracy theories, misinformation always adapts to survive, by Michael Marshall from November 2020From the archive: Explaining the Turin Shroud - the creation of a religious hoax, by Steve Donnelly from November 1988How alternative medicine radicalises believers into Qanon conspiracy theories, by Dave Hahn from April 2021The Lacerta Files and its reptilian hybrids show the persistence of appealing myths, by Mark Horne from November 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: Closing the information gap on GM technology means addressing fear, as well as ignorance, by Natalia Pasternak from September 2021Is the pandemic turning young people to god? Don't believe the prayer PR, by Michael Marshall from October 2021Distinguishable from intelligence? Don't mistake technology with superiority, by Wendy Grossman from January 2003Sine Missione, and the conspiracy theorists who use graffiti to spread pseudoscience, by Mark Horne from May 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode: Misleading propaganda from 'Care Not Killing' is designed to poison the well on assisted dying, by Brian Eggo from September 2021Everything you ever wanted to know about astrology – for free, by Chris French from November 2024A historical Dutch UFO hunt - How one phone call roused all Amsterdam, by Marcel Hulspas from September 1988Nikola Tesla and the Cult of the Mysterious Genius, by Mark Horne from June 2022Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: Natural" health influencers will tell you sunscreen is bad for you - are they right? (No), by Alice Howarth from June 2023 When shows like Pod Save America run psuedoscience ads, they undermine their credibility, by Michael Marshall from February 2021Are there hidden messages in the Bible? Revisiting the claims of the Bible Code, by Klash Schmeh from October 2011 Blackpool's 'Chariots of the Gods' park is built on racist assumptions about the past, by Mark Horne from February 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode: David Icke’s 2018 live tour sowed the seeds for his move back to the mainstream, by Michael Marshall from April 201810 persistent HIV myths we need to move past to break the stigma of the disease, by Alice Howarth from February 2021Technophobia: Facebook and computers cause cancer; typewriters apparently don’t, by Mark Williams from January 2011(35:59) 2019’s ‘The Mandela Effect’ is a stylish, shallow exploration of a rather silly conspiracy theory, by Mark Horne from April 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode: Climate change deniers set Net Zero as the new target for their misinformation, by Michael Marshall from January 2022Science can be a candle in the dark, as long as you're not actively trying to avoid the light, by David Weinberg from June 2022When The Skeptic came of age: a 2011 reflection on the first 21 years of the magazine, by Wendy Grossman from January 2011The real story behind those crystal skulls Indiana Jones went looking for, by Sean Slater from July 2023Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic 

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal. In this special episode, our editor Michael Marshall announces the winners of the 2025 Ockham awards.

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode: One small step at a time, the alternative medicine industry is radicalising people... with disastrous consequences, by Michael Marshall from November 2020The Canary Islands’ Black Pyramids: history doesn’t have to be mysterious to be interesting, by Mark Horne from December 2021From the archives: Jacques Benoit's (failed) experiments with telepathic snails, by Toby Howard from November 1988Why Inaccuracies in Bill Cooper's influential conspiracy theory book serve as its strength, by Thiago Vahia from September 2023Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode: What William Radam's "Microbe Killer" can teach us about modern stem cell quackery, by David Weinberg from May 2021Is the ultra processed food fear simply the next big nutritional moral panic?, by Alice Howarth from July 2024Despite what Jordan Peterson believes, medical error is not the ‘third leading cause of death’ by Michael Marshall from May 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic 

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. On this episode: Spending time outdoors is healthy and great - we don't need to sell it as "forest bathing"!, by Brian Eggo from August 2022Cognitive dissonance - the mental gymnastics that help us rationalise our sloppy thinking', by Lee Traynor from April 2006From the archives: Hear our prayers - the Northern Irish prayer efficacy study, by Wendy Grossman from October 1989The "purebloods": how the unvaccinated came to see themselves as superior, by Thiago Vahia from March 2023Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode:If anal sex injuries really are on the rise, it's not a question of anatomy, but of education, by Kat Ford from March 2023From the archives: The Demise of Parapsychology, 1850-2009, by Ray Hyman from April 2012How and why to set up and run your own Skeptics in the Pub group: top 10 tips, by Brian Eggo from September 2022Why I now believe parapsychology is a science not a pseudoscience, by Chris French from  September 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.On this episode:  In modern-day Scotland, there should be no mandatory acts of worship in schools, by Brian Eggo from May 2022 From the archives: Going to great lengths - long-hair pseudoscience, by Wendy Grossman from January 2011January 8th, and the insurrectionist riot provoked by Bolsonaro and the Brazilian army, by Thiago Vahia from February 2023The writing’s been on the wall for decades, but still the graphology persists, by Mark Horne from September 2023Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic