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: 

• When you understand 5G technology, the conspiracy theories simply don’t add up, by Sean Slater, from November 2020

• How to start having better arguments, according to the evidence, by Mark Horne & Matt Kemp, from November 2020

• "But it's just a joke!": why comedy's right to offend doesn't include the right to harm, by Brian Eggo, from August 2024

• Has the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an increase in ghostly encounters?, by Chris French, 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: 

• Conspiracy theories around the ‘feminisation’ of Western men shield believers from examining their own prejudices, by Thiago Vahia, from April 2021

• By invoking 'Spirit of the Blitz' nostalgia, we do a disservice to what was achieved on the home front, by Victoria Stiles, from October 2020

• The wealthy, conservative American Christian groups pushing anti-abortion protests in the UK, by Michael Marshall, from September 2024

• Institute of Biomedical Science falls for the Traditional Chinese Medicine hype, by Brian Eggo, 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:

• Headlines calling HPV swabs “home smear tests” risk putting people off cervical screenings, by Alice Howarth, from February 2021

• Rectal ozone therapy: Brazil’s latest COVID-19 pseudoscience, by Carlos Orsi and Natália Pasternak, from October 2020

• The “child identifies as wolf” story was only ever about bullying, not ‘species confusion’, by Brian Eggo, from October 2024

• Anti-fluoride activists may disagree, but fluoridation is social justice in dental care, by Shaun Sellars, 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: 

• Why we should listen to Flat Earth believers (even though they’re completely wrong), by Michael Marshall, from February 2021

• Are digital pregnancy tests simply taking the pee?, by Alice Howarth, from September 2020 

• Chiropractors love to claim their treatments are ‘individualised’, but they’re wrong, by Sarah Hearne, from September 2020

• First do no harm? Treatments don't need to be harmless, as long they do good, by Edzard Ernst, from November 2024

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: 

• The Atacama mummy: putting together the pieces of an “Archaeology bombshell”, by Paul Duncan McGarrity, from August 2020

• Conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and alt-med quackery put our pets in harm's way, by Danny Chambers, from September 2020

• Putting some skeptical mantras to bed, by Jonathan Jarry, from January 2021

• Exploding the myth of the longevity “Blue Zones”, where people live beyond the age of 100, by Carlos Orsi, from September 2024

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:

• Coronavirus, conspiracy, challenges and compassion, by Michael Marshall, from September 2020

• Hydroxychloroquine: When bad science goes mainstream, by Carlos Orsi and Natália Pasternak, from September 2020

• ‘Mask Mouth’: A real dental phenomenon, or merely a confection?, by Shaun Sellars, from September 2020

• The Battersea Poltergeist, and the role of the paranormal investigator, by Deborah Hyde, from May 2021

Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic