Skeptoid
991 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 2.6K ratingsThe true science behind our most popular urban legends. Historical mysteries, paranormal claims, popular science myths, aliens and UFO reports, conspiracy theories, and worthless alternative medicine schemes... Skeptoid has you covered. From the sublime to the startling, no topic is sacred. Weekly since 2006.
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Episodes
Skeptoid #437: Tube Amplifiers
October 21, 2014 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBThe audiophile preference for tube amps over solid state is based more on emotion than on science.
Skeptoid #436: Ionithermie
October 14, 2014 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBIonithermie is not effective for slimming or cellulite removal -- or, for anything, really.
Skeptoid #435: The St. Clair Triangle UFO
October 07, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBIn 2000, Illinois police chased what has come to be known as the St. Clair Triangle UFO. We found out what it was.
Skeptoid #434: The Braxton County Monster
September 30, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBA group of 7 West Virginians looked for a crashed UFO in the hills and ended up getting the fright of their lives.
Skeptoid #433: The Water Woo of Masaru Emoto
September 23, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBMasaru Emoto invented a New Age mythology in which water crystals reflect human consciousness.
Skeptoid #432: The Death of Rasputin
September 16, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBLegend says that Grigori Rasputin, the "Mad Monk", was hard to kill; but the truth about his life is the real story.
Skeptoid #431: Acupuncture
September 09, 2014 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MBAcupuncture, the safe and effective ancient Chinese medical treatment, turns out to be none of those things.
Skeptoid #430: Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
September 02, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBThe clash between the champions of scientific skepticism and supernaturalism.
Skeptoid #429: The Many Voices of Frank's Box
August 26, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBFrank's ghost box is a radio designed to hear communications from ghosts. Here's how it works (or not).
Skeptoid #428: The Haunted Dybbuk Box
August 19, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBA popular tale tells of a haunted Jewish wine box that brought ill fortune upon its owners... apparently.
Skeptoid #427: The Legend of the Flying Dutchman
August 12, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MBThe real source of the ancient nautical legends of the Flying Dutchman ghost ship.
Skeptoid #426: The Baldoon Mystery
August 05, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MBThe surprising truth behind Canada's most famous ghost story.
Listeners Have Another Say
August 01, 2014 09:00 - 4 minutes - 3.8 MBSkeptoid supporters reveal the reason they decided to join the team.
Skeptoid #425: Albinism Facts and Fiction
July 29, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBEven in developed countries, myths persist about people who have albinism.
Skeptoid #424: The Santa Barbara Simoom of 1859
July 22, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBStories of a lethally hot storm wind in Santa Barbara in 1859 persist to this day.
Skeptoid #423: 12 Step Programs
July 15, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBReligious-based twelve step programs are no better at stopping addiction than other programs.
Skeptoid #422: Lie Detection
July 08, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBPolygraphs are no better than a roll of the dice at determining whether you're lying.
Listeners Have a Say
July 04, 2014 09:00 - 4 minutes - 3.54 MBGiving the Skeptoid listeners a chance to have their say.
Skeptoid #421: Student Questions: Internet Tracking and Plasma Cosmology
July 01, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBSkeptoid answers another round of questions sent in by students all around the world.
Skeptoid #420: Hillary vs. Mallory: The First to Everest
June 24, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBFrom the evidence we have, it seems clear there's no way Mallory could have beaten Hillary to the summit of Everest.
Skeptoid #419: Slacktivism: Raising Awareness
June 17, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBClicking a "Like" button on a web site is not only useless, it may actually be counterproductive.
Skeptoid #418: Left Brained, Right Brained, or Hare Brained?
June 10, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBPop psychology tells us we're all either left brain or right brain dominant, a concept with no scientific support.
Skeptoid #417: The Riddle of Flight 19
June 03, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBThe 1945 disappearance of five fighter planes in the Bermuda Triangle was real, but hardly how it's portrayed.
Skeptoid #416: 5 Conspiracy Theories that Turned Out to Be True... Maybe?
May 27, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MBSkeptoid listeners are always asking for conspiracy theories that turned out to be true. Here are the best I found.
Skeptoid #415: In Which I Am the Very Picture of Error Personified
May 20, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBSkeptoid corrects another round of mistakes made in previous episodes.
Skeptoid #414: Killing Princess Diana
May 13, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBSome say the death of Princess Diana in 1997 was actually a murder plotted by her government.
Skeptoid #413: 3-7-77: The Montana Vigilance Code
May 06, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBThis mysterious code representing vigilante justice has a history steeped in mystery.
Skeptoid #412: Animal Predictors: Psychic, Sensitive, or Silly?
April 29, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBDespite many examples being promoted in the press, animals do not have psychic powers.
Skeptoid #411: Your Body's Alleged Energy Fields
April 22, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBThere is no such thing as your body's energy field.
Skeptoid #410: The Black Eyed Kids
April 15, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBAn urban legend says that children with completely black eyes go around trying to be allowed inside.
Skeptoid #409: Oil Pulling
April 08, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBThis New Age alternative health fad is not, in fact, based on ayurveda.
Skeptoid Media is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity
April 04, 2014 09:00 - 1 minute - 1 MBDonations to Skeptoid Media are now fully tax deductible.
Skeptoid #408: 15 Phreaky Phobias
April 01, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBPhobias are irrational, yet the brain surprisingly has a good reason for creating them.
Skeptoid #407: The Death of Mad King Ludwig
March 25, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBWhat we do and do not know about the mysterious death of Bavaria's Mad King who built castles like Neuschwanstein.
Skeptoid #406: The Disappearance of Glenn Miller
March 18, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBThis popular bandleader disappeared over the English Channel during World War II, and here's what happened.
Skeptoid #405: Aromatherapy: Sniffing Essential Oils
March 11, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBIf you're expecting the pleasant aroma of certain flowers and herbs to be a medical treatment, you may be disappointed.
Skeptoid #404: The Boggy Creek Monster
March 04, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBThe Boggy Creek Monster captured our imaginations, but its true story is even more fascinating.
Skeptoid #403: Out of Place Artifacts
February 25, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBSome objects found around the world seem to defy rational explanation.
Skeptoid #402: Listener Feedback: Ancient Mysteries
February 18, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 12 MBI respond to questions and feedback sent in by listeners around the world.
Skeptoid #401: Hemp, Hearst, and Prohibition
February 11, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBA popular urban legend claims that William Randolph Hearst conspired to make cannabis illegal in the United States.
Skeptoid #400: It's Just Science
February 04, 2014 09:00 - 3 minutes - 3.38 MBSome pseudoscience promoters attack the messenger rather than the evidence.
Skeptoid #399: The Moving Coffins of Barbados
January 28, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MBAn old tale tells of coffins that jumbled themselves up in a crypt in Barbados.
Skeptoid #398: Solving the Lead Masks of Vintem Hill
January 21, 2014 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBTwo dead bodies were found in Brazil in 1966 with mysterious masks made of lead.
Skeptoid #397: Fukushima vs Chernobyl vs Three Mile Island
January 14, 2014 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBYears after the disaster, some claim that Fukushima radiation is still going to cause widespread death.
Skeptoid #396: The Biggest, the Oldest, and the Baddest
January 07, 2014 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBA tour of the Earth's biggest, oldest, and most lethal living creatures.
Skeptoid #395: Student Questions: Food Woo, Food Woo, and More Food Woo
December 31, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBSkeptoid answers questions sent in by students, all of them this week pertaining to popular food pseudoscience.
Skeptoid #394: Finding Butch and Sundance
December 24, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBStories that outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid might have made it back from South America don't hold up.
Skeptoid #393: The Hair of Samson
December 17, 2013 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBHold onto your hats: Growing your hair long will not confer super strength or vitality upon you.
Skeptoid #392: Listener Feedback: Consumer Ripoffs
December 10, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBSkeptoid responds to comments sent in by listeners who don't accept that they've been ripped off.
Skeptoid #391: 8 Secret Bases: Real or Fictional?
December 03, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBGuess which of these secret military bases around the world are real.