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 #390: The Red Haired Giants of Lovelock Cave
November 26, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBSome say that an early Native American tribe were giant cannibals.
Skeptoid #389: The JFK Assassination
November 19, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBAfter so many decades, the number of incompatible conspiracy theories about the death of JFK continues to grow.
Skeptoid #388: 6 Problems with Wind Turbine Syndrome
November 12, 2013 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBDespite activist claims, wind turbines are not making anybody sick.
Skeptoid #387: Who Discovered the New World?
November 05, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 12 MBOf all the many claims of Europeans being first to the New World, only one is true.
Skeptoid #386: Tracking the Tasmanian Tiger
October 29, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MBSome say this extinct Tasmanian marsupial may still roam the forests. The evidence is against them.
Skeptoid #385: The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich
October 22, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBA young pilot who disappeared in 1978 might have been having a little fun, Spielberg style.
Skeptoid #384: Asking the Socratic Questions
October 15, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 12 MBA line of reasoning named for Socrates helps us help believers in the strange re-examine their beliefs.
Skeptoid #383: 5 False Arguments for Raw Milk
October 08, 2013 09:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBSome people who enjoy raw milk also make up false claims that regular milk is more dangerous.
Skeptoid #382: Into the Maelstrom (or Not)
October 01, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBA look into the plausibility and historicity of the ferocious maelstrom of legend.
Skeptoid #381: An Enthusiast's Primer on Study Types
September 24, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12 MBA quick look at many of the most common scientific study types.
Skeptoid #380: The Riddle of the L-8 Blimp
September 17, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBThe crew of a blimp mysteriously vanished in 1942, but their blimp came back OK... without them.
Skeptoid #379: I Think, Therefore I Err
September 10, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBSkeptoid corrects a bunch of errors made in previous episodes.
Skeptoid #378: Legendary Places: Real or Fictional?
September 03, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.9 MBWe look at twelve legendary places that you've heard of, but may not know whether they're real or not.
Skeptoid #377: Student Questions: Hangovers, Manuka Honey, and Probiotics
August 27, 2013 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBSkeptoid answers another round of questions sent in by students all around the world.
Skeptoid #376: Salt Therapies
August 20, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBA new trend in spas is to let people relax in salt caves, and it's based on solid pseudoscience.
Skeptoid #375: The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film
August 13, 2013 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBThe true history behind the iconic Bigfoot film that launched the legend.
Skeptoid #374: Listener Feedback: Alternative Medicine
August 06, 2013 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBSkeptoid answers a raft of listener emails pertaining to alternative medicine.
Skeptoid #373: The Secrets of MKULTRA
July 30, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBThe urban legend that the CIA conducted unethical mind control experiments has a grain of truth.
Skeptoid #372: Prove Your Supernatural Power and Get Rich
July 23, 2013 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBIf you can demonstrate a power unknown to science, there are people looking to write you a check.
Skeptoid #371: The Vanishing Village of Angikuni Lake
July 16, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBThe legend of the disappearing Eskimo village of Angikuni Lake turns out to be simple pulp fiction.
Skeptoid #370: The Science of Muzak
July 09, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBBackground music really can influence our buying decisions in a shopping environment.
Skeptoid #369: Student Questions: Magic Wristbands, Laser Danger, and ManBearPig
July 02, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBSkeptoid answers another round of questions sent in by students all around the world.
Skeptoid #368: Legislating Pseudoscience
June 25, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBLawmakers are often pressured by ideologues to pass laws based on bad science.
Skeptoid #367: Who Is the Grinning Man?
June 18, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBA mysterious "grinning man" is said to appear and terrorize UFO witnesses.
Skeptoid #366: The Sedona Energy Vortex
June 11, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBVortexes of spiritual energy are claimed to exist in Sedona, but science suggests we remain skeptical.
Skeptoid #365: The Black Knight Satellite
June 04, 2013 09:00 - 15 minutes - 13.9 MBAn object claimed to be 13,000-year-old alien satellite orbiting the Earth is just a piece of an old space shuttle.
Skeptoid #364: Listener Feedback: Conspiracies
May 28, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBSkeptoid answers questions sent in by listeners pertaining to conspiracy theories.
Skeptoid #363: All About Graphology
May 21, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBIn fact, handwriting analysis tells us nothing useful about the personality and aptitudes of the writer.
Skeptoid #362: Polybius: Video Game of Death
May 14, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBThe infamous arcade game Polybius, said to drive players to suicide or madness, was never more than an urban legend.
Skeptoid #361: The 16 Personalities of Sybil
May 07, 2013 09:00 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBThe book and movie "Sybil" told the story of a woman purported to have Multiple Personality Syndrome.
Skeptoid #360: Lincoln Kennedy Myths
April 30, 2013 09:00 - 11 minutes - 11 MBAn old story claims a long list of astonishing similarities between the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy.
Skeptoid #359: Cupping for the Cure
April 23, 2013 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBSome believe that bruise-causing suction on the skin provides a variety of health benefits.
Skeptoid #358: Listener Feedback: Aliens and UFOs
April 16, 2013 09:00 - 10 minutes - 9.92 MBSkeptoid digs into the feedback mailbag and answers questions about aliens and UFOs.
Skeptoid #357: The Aquatic Ape Theory
April 09, 2013 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MBThere is a popular fringe theory about human evolution that claims we went through an aquatic phase.
Skeptoid #356: John Titor, Time Traveler
April 02, 2013 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBAn Internet legend claims that a man named John Titor is a visitor from the year 2036.
Skeptoid #355: The Airplane That Wasn't There
March 26, 2013 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBA B-25 bomber ditched in a Pennsylvania river in broad daylight 1956 and, seemingly impossibly, was never found.
Skeptoid #354: The Pentagon and the Missile
March 19, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBSome say that it wasn't an airliner that struck the Pentagon on 9/11, but a missile.
Skeptoid #353: Pope Joan
March 12, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBThis apocryphal Middle Ages pope said to be a woman in disguise probably never existed.
Skeptoid #352: Facts and Fiction of the Schumann Resonance
March 05, 2013 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBThe Schumann Resonance, 7.83Hz, is one natural radio band in our atmosphere, but holds no mystical powers.
Skeptoid #351: Men in Black
February 26, 2013 09:00 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBA look at the mysterious government agents said to intimidate those who witness flying saucers.
Skeptoid #350: Trinity: Interview with Dr. Oz, Alex Jones, and Deepak Chopra
February 19, 2013 09:00 - 7 minutes - 6.54 MBSkeptoid interviews three of the most popular and controversial figures in modern pseudoscience.
Skeptoid #349: Top 10 Best Pro-Science Celebrities
February 12, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBA list of ten Hollywood celebrities who have leveraged their fame into the promotion of science.
Skeptoid #348: Ganzfeld Experiments
February 05, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBThe true history of the experiment that is said to present the strongest evidence yet for telepathic abilities.
Skeptoid #347: The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine
January 29, 2013 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBThis most famous of all fabled "lost mines" has a history that fails to stand up to skeptical scrutiny.
Skeptoid #346: Listener Feedback: Me and My Terrible Arguments
January 22, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBSkeptoid responds to another round of listener feedback.
Skeptoid #345: The Cult of Nikola Tesla
January 15, 2013 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBThe name of Nikola Tesla is associated with crazy conspiracy claims that have nothing to do with his real work.
Skeptoid #344: Olgoi-Khorkhoi: The Mongolian Death Worm
January 08, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBMongolian tradition holds that a strange and deadly worm lives beneath the sands of the Gobi desert.
Skeptoid #343: The Hollow Earth Theory
January 01, 2013 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBThroughout history there have been a number of different beliefs that the Earth might be hollow.
Skeptoid #342: Was the Wow! Signal Alien?
December 25, 2012 09:00 - 12 minutes - 12 MBA signal received by a radio telescope in 1977 may be the best evidence yet for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Skeptoid #341: Free Energy Machines
December 18, 2012 09:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBSomeone somewhere is always claiming to have cracked the secret of free energy forever, no fuel needed.