Podcast
The Skeptic Podcast
Hosted by The Skeptic · EN
The official podcast of The Skeptic, the UK’s longest-running publication offering skeptical analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal.
16episodes
Episodes
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Episode #069
1w agoTap to summarizeFrom 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 the claims for using coffee waste in the garden well grounded? by Sarah Hearne, from September 2021The Overton window of conspiracy theories has shifted toward the extreme - we need to drag it back by Dave Hahn, from February 2022 The March for Life conference showed the US influence on UK anti-abortion groups by Abi Kennedy, from October 2025 The Quantified Self: technological gimmick or genuine game changer? By Al Isthifah Bin Mazlan, from July 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
Transcribe →Episode #068
2w agoTap to summarizeFrom 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: Contorium: how a conspiracy narrative embraced a Turkish parody crystal by Serdar Basegmez, from February 2025Don't Be A Dick: revisiting Phil Plait's 2010 advice to skeptics by Sean Slater, from February 2025The Russian Game: the conspiracy mongering propaganda techniques designed to stoke division by Dave Hahn, from May 2022Bill Cooper: the conspiracy theorist who links afrofuturist "Hoteps" with Alex Jones by Aaron Rabinowitz, 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
Transcribe →Episode #067
3w agoTap to summarizeFrom 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 theorists cry betrayal at Trump's selective approach to immigration by Dave Hahn, from February 2025Cannibalism: The long history of a modern propaganda tool by James Williams, from April 2025Project Blue Beam is finally happening... as long as you cherry pick very carefully by Nick Garratt, from February 2025JD Vance is right - for anti-intellectuals like him, the professors are the enemy by Edzard Ernst, 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
Transcribe →Episode #066
May 29Tap to summarizeFrom 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: Netflix's Seaspiracy, and how to spot misinformation in glossy documentaries by Sarah Hearne, from June 2021John Robison, the Illuminati, and the beginnings of a global superconspiracy theory by Dave Hahn, from October 2022Del Bigtree's Better Way conference seeks to turn Covid conspiracists into full-on anti-vaxxers by Aaron Rabinowitz, 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
Transcribe →Episode #065
May 22Tap to summarizeFrom 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 American Culture War: Coming to a politics near you by Aaron Rabinowitz, from June 2021Time to ‘drop the crop’ - why cutting off the tips of dogs' ears is never right by Robyn Lowe, from March 2023Spontaneous Human Combustion: The truth behind the myth of Mary Carpenter by Matt Mills, 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
Transcribe →Episode #064
May 15Tap to summarizeFrom 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: As a teacher, I wish I'd handled the conspiracy theorist in my class differently by Brian Montgomery, from March 2023Closed coffins and open coffers: the costs of Singaporean Chinese funeral practices by Ang Kai Randall, from July 2023In an increasingly secular America, religious conservatives exert power via the culture wars by Aaron Rabinowitz, from March 2022A Swift conspiracy: why almost all major celebrities get accused of being in the Illuminati by Dave Hahn, from November 2023Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic
Transcribe →Episode #063
May 8Tap to summarizeFrom 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: Andrew Tate's misogynistic BRUV political party is a joke we should take seriously by Abi Kennedy from February 2025 The Truth of Skinwalker Ranch… probably won’t shock you by Nick Garratt from April 2025 Perspectives on Peer Review by Edzard Ernst from November 2020The Better Way conspiracy conference went all-in on the moral panic around trans people by Aaron Rabinowitz from August 2023 Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic
Transcribe →Episode #062
May 1Tap to summarizeFrom 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 Tartarian Conspiracy: a silly pseudo-archaeology for our serious times by Dave Hahn from April 2025In the face of AI-driven encyclopedia, cherish Wikipedia - and original sources by Hayley Stevens from December 2025Lytham's 'Beast of Green Drive': The Monster that almost certainly wasn’t by Andy Owens from October 2022Understanding the origins of the 15-Minute City panic takes just 30 minutes by Tim Jokl from February 2025Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic
Transcribe →Episode #061
Apr 24Tap to summarizeFrom 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:Attempts to "bring back" the woolly mammoth distract us from vital conservationist goals by Sarah Hearne from November 2021The anti-fluoridation movement is born of public health mistrust and misinformation by Elissar Gerges from January 2025Auriculotherapy: why poking needles into your earlobe is, essentially, pointless by Edzard Ernst from December 2023Patients with Alzheimer's deserve care and dignity - not false hope of miracle cures by Lena Bohman from January 2025Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic
Transcribe →Episode #060
Apr 17Tap to summarizeFrom 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:Conclave raises fascinating questions about hypothetical scenarios within the Catholic Church, by Gabriel Andrade, from January 2025Coping with Death: Why the 5 stages of grief don’t tell the whole story, by Sarah Hearne, from May 2021A brief history of radio-phobia: new technology is always met with fear and uncertainty, by Sean Slater, from February 2024Brazil’s Covid-19 inquiry puts pseudoscience on trial, by Natalia Pasternak, from June 2021Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic
Transcribe →