Skeptoid is a weekly science podcast dedicated to furthering knowledge by blasting away the widespread pseudosciences that infect popular culture, and replacing them with way cooler reality.

Each weekly episode focuses on a single phenomenon — an urban legend, a paranormal claim, alternative therapy, or something just plain stupid — that you've heard of, and that you probably believe in. Skeptoid attempts to expose the folly of belief in non-evidence based phenomena, and more importantly, explains the factual scientific reality.

From the sublime to the startling, no topic is sacred, politically incorrect though that may be. 233,000 weekly downloads. Read what people are saying.

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Latest Skeptoid Episodes...

Dec 4, 2012 - Setting the Bloop Straight - The solution to the Bloop mystery sound is finally revealed, and Skeptoid corrects some errors from other episodes.

Nov 27, 2012 - The Flat Earth Theory - Everyone knows the Earth is a globe, and we've known it since the ancient Greeks measured it. So why are there stories of a Flat Earth Society, and related legends?

Nov 20, 2012 - The Bermuda Triangle and the Devil's Sea - Pop culture tells us that an unusual number of mysterious disappearances have happened inside the Bermuda Triangle and Japan's Devil's Sea. Is this a true claim, or is there a yet-undiscovered explanation?

Nov 13, 2012 - How to Tell a Good Website from a Crap Website - A tutorial for learning some of the signs that laypeople can use to discriminate between reliable science information on a website, and crap information on a website.

Nov 6, 2012 - Cleansing Diets: Why or Why Not? - Cleansing diets are trendier than ever, claiming to clean out your body and cure all kinds of supposed conditions. Do they actually work as advertised, or is it just another trendy fad?

Oct 30, 2012 - The Betz Mystery Sphere - In 1974, a Florida family found a strange metallic ball that seemed to move around all by itself and had a myriad of other strange powers. What was it, and whatever became of it?

Oct 23, 2012 - Student Questions: Dancing Plague and the Cinnamon Challenge - Skeptoid answers student questions on the medieval dancing plague, the ketogenic diet, bee colony collapse disorder, devolution of humanity, death from cinnamon, and who built the pyramids.

Oct 16, 2012 - The Phantom Time Hypothesis - A few fringe conspiracy theorists claim that several centuries never actually happened, and were faked by the Church. How can we tell whether this is true or not?

Oct 9, 2012 - The Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter - In 1955, at the height of the UFO craze, a rural Kentucky fought a protracted gun battle with with they thought were aliens from a landed spaceship. What really happened?

Oct 2, 2012 - Hypnotism: Hijacking Your Brain? - There are many popular misconceptions about the origins and capabilities of hypnotism, including skepticism over whether it's even real at all or not. We look at what's actually known.

Sep 25, 2012 - Is She Real, or Is She Fictional? - Skeptoid takes a look at 24 women well known from history. But which of them are actual historical figures, and which are from the realm of fiction?

Sep 18, 2012 - Secrets of the Stradivarius - History's greatest stringed instrument, the Stradivarius violin, has an amazing reputation for incomparable sound that no other can match. Is there a secret, or is the reputation perhaps undeserved?

Sep 11, 2012 - Raiding the Ark of the Covenant - The Ark of the Covenant is regarded by many Biblical literalists as a real physical object, and it just so happens that that probably is indeed the case. Only, which Ark do they mean?

Sep 4, 2012 - The Mystery of the Vitrified Forts - About sixty prehistoric stone forts in Scotland have vitrified walls, where the stone was melted into glass. Some say this was impossible with the technology of the day.

Aug 28, 2012 - The Golden Ratio - Based on the Fibonacci series, the golden ratio is an interesting construct found in both mathematics and in nature. But is it really the end-all and be-all that its advocates make it out to be?

Aug 21, 2012 - Listener Feedback: That Darned Science - A lot of people have misconceptions about how the scientific method works and whether it's valid. In this episode we answer some emailed questions about this topic specifically.

Aug 14, 2012 - 8 Spooky Places, and Why They're Like That - These strange places around the world rank among the most macabre. Some have fascinating historical explanations, and others are explained by cultural traditions.

Aug 7, 2012 - Negative Calorie Food Myths - Negative calorie foods, said to require more energy to digest than they provide, are a popular food fad. But is this supported by science, or is it just another pop urban legend?

Jul 31, 2012 - Skinwalkers - Navajo witches and sorcerers are said to be able to shapeshift into dangerous animals that attack and harass the living. Some think there may be some science behind the tall tales.

Jul 24, 2012 - The Suicide Dogs of Overtoun Bridge - There's a bridge in Scotland where dogs are said to deliberately commit suicide. Is this indeed the case, or can science and observation shine a little better light on the question?

Jul 17, 2012 - Student Questions: Food Woo and Iron Man at the Airport - Skeptoid answer student questions surround various popular myths about food, brain training computer programs, miracle cancer cures in the rainforest, and whether iron in your blood can get you stopped at a metal detector.

Jul 10, 2012 - The Loch Ness Monster - There are many theories and many stories surrounding the Loch Ness Monster. We point the skeptical eye to see which are facts, and which aren't so much.

Jul 3, 2012 - Attack of the Nanobots! - Nanotechnology takes many forms - mostly industrial, but also in the possibility of an army of self-replicating machines capable of turning everything on the planet into a grey goo of nanobots.

Jun 26, 2012 - Al-Ghazali and Arab-Islamic Science - Arab-Islamic culture led the world in science and intellect during their Golden Age, but then it came to an end and there have been virtually no Arab-Islamic discoveries since then. Why not?

Jun 19, 2012 - The Tehran 1976 UFO - Declassified military documents show that Iranian fighter planes engaged a UFO in 1976. But is this all we know, or can we analyze details to get a better idea of what actually took place?

© 2012 Skeptoid.com

 

Skeptoid is hosted
and produced by
Brian Dunning

Setting the Bloop Straight

Skeptoid #339, Dec 4 2012
Read | Listen (13:03)
 

The Flat Earth Theory

Skeptoid #338, Nov 27 2012
Read | Listen (12:41)
 

The Bermuda Triangle and the Devil's Sea

Skeptoid #337, Nov 20 2012
Read | Listen (13:37)
 

How to Tell a Good Website from a Crap Website

Skeptoid #336, Nov 13 2012
Read | Listen (13:33)
 

Cleansing Diets: Why or Why Not?

Skeptoid #335, Nov 6 2012
Read | Listen (14:24)
 

#1 -	The Grey Man of Ben MacDhui Read | Listen
#2 -	The Mystery of the Mary Celeste Read | Listen
#3 -	Approaching a Subject Skeptically Read | Listen
#4 -	Pit Bull Attack! Read | Listen
#5 -	Korean Fan Death Read | Listen
#6 -	The Toxic Lady Read | Listen
#7 -	8 Spooky Places, and Why They're Like That Read | Listen
#8 -	Skinwalkers Read | Listen

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