Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena

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Since 2006, the weekly Skeptoid podcast has been taking on all the most popular myths and revealing the true science, true history, and true lessons we can learn from each. The Internet stream has 190,000 weekly listeners, plus many more on syndicated radio. The web site and podcast are ad-free, nonprofit, and listener supported. Learn more

Your Thoughts on Making Skepticism Commercial
Episode 514, April 12, 2016
What can be done to make skeptical programming more attractive to a larger audience?

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Recent Programs

Why Musical Aliens Probably Use the Same Scale We Do
Episode 513, April 5, 2016
Reliance on universal mathematical principles may mean alien music is similar to our own.

Decrypting Mother Teresa
Episode 512, March 29, 2016
Is popular criticism of Mother Teresa directed at the right person?

Firestorm in Waco
Episode 511, March 22, 2016
How much truth is there to the conspiracy theories that the FBI deliberately killed the Branch Davidians?

Student Questions: Multiple Intelligences and the Gender Pay Gap
Episode 510, March 15, 2016
Skeptoid answers another round of questions sent in by students all around the world.

Ninjas Unmasked
Episode 509, March 8, 2016
These superheroes of martial arts lore may not be exactly what you thought they were.

Demythologizing the Knights Templar
Episode 508, March 1, 2016
More pseudohistory than fact surrounds this ancient's order's depictions in pop culture.

No, Hitler Did Not Escape
Episode 507, February 23, 2016
There is no truth to the popular myth that Hitler escaped Berlin and went to Argentina.

Bad Skepticism: Why You Should Challenge Popular Assumptions
Episode 506, February 16, 2016
From swamp gas and waterspouts to alternative medicine, the harm of not challenging popular assumptions.

You've Got to Be Wrong to Be Right
Episode 505, February 9, 2016
Skeptoid corrects another round of errors from past episodes.

Growing Skeptical of Hair Restoration
Episode 504, February 2, 2016
As long as people lose their hair, the market will remain flooded with sham remedies.

Bad Science on PBS
Episode 503, January 26, 2016
Does PBS bother to distance itself from the pseudoscience informercials aired during pledge drives?

Listener Feedback: Killing the Comments
Episode 502, January 19, 2016
Your comments on our decision to remove the comments from Skeptoid episode transcript pages.

Schrodinger's Cat and the Bomb Detector
Episode 501, January 12, 2016
Whatever you think you know about Schrödinger's famous cat is probably wrong.

A Little Curiosity
Episode 500, January 5, 2016
Have you found your curiosity in the first 500 episodes of Skeptoid?

The Hope Diamond: A Curse Deconstructed
Episode 499, December 29, 2015
Find out how the obviously false story of a curse came to be associated with this famous diamond.

Did the 1914 Christmas Truce Really Happen?
Episode 498, December 22, 2015
How true are the stories of WWI soldiers laying aside their rifles on Christmas 1914?

A Skeptical Look at the Rorschach Test
Episode 497, December 15, 2015
Most consider the famous inkblot test to be a window to the subconscious. Is it?

The Russian Sleep Experiment
Episode 496, December 8, 2015
Russian test subjects are said to have done unspeakably horrible things when sleep deprived.

Updated: Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Web Sites
Episode 495, December 1, 2015
The worst offending sites on the Internet for promoting bad misinformation.

Black Mold: Peril or Prosaic?
Episode 494, November 24, 2015
Black mold is commonly believed to harbor many deadly diseases. How much truth is there to this?

How Real Is the Stockholm Syndrome?
Episode 493, November 17, 2015
Is the Stockholm syndrome a real psychological phenomenon, or a media buzzword?

Pouring Cold Water on Cryotherapy
Episode 492, November 10, 2015
Questioning whether this new spa treatment provides all the medical benefits it claims.