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. 201,000 weekly downloads. Read what people are saying.

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Latest Skeptoid Episodes...

Sep 10, 2013 - I Think, Therefore I Err - A raft of corrections or errors made in previous Skeptoid episodes. Remember, if you ever find an error, please send it on in!

Sep 3, 2013 - Legendary Places: Real or Fictional? - We look at twelve legendary places around the world that you've heard of, but may not know whether they're real or not.

Aug 27, 2013 - Student Questions: Hangovers, Manuka Honey, and Probiotics - Skeptoid answers student questions about hangovers, horse milk and manuka honey as miracle cures, car batteries stored on cement, translatability of ancient texts, and probiotics.

Aug 20, 2013 - Salt Therapies - Salt therapy is being touted as a new miracle treatment for just about anything. You relax in a cave made of salt and breathe salt dust. Why?

Aug 13, 2013 - The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film - The famous 1967 Bigfoot film by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin was certainly the launch of the legend, but where did the film actually come from?

Aug 6, 2013 - Listener Feedback: Alternative Medicine - Few pseudosciences are believed as fervently by their proponents as alternative medicine. Today we answer some emails from alt-med proponents.

Jul 30, 2013 - The Secrets of MKULTRA - During the cold war, rumor has it that the American CIA conducted 20 years of illegal research on American citizens without their knowledge. How much truth is there to this?

Jul 23, 2013 - Prove Your Supernatural Power and Get Rich - If you can demonstrate that you have a power unknown to science under controlled conditions, there are many groups willing to pay you for the proof.

Jul 16, 2013 - The Vanishing Village of Angikuni Lake - Old stories claim that a remote village of Eskimos disppeared in 1930, leaving everything behind. Some claim the people were all abducted by aliens.

Jul 9, 2013 - The Science of Muzak - Muzak has long been played to improve sales and increase worker productivity. But what can it really do under the microscope of science?

Jul 2, 2013 - Student Questions: Magic Wristbands, Laser Danger, and ManBearPig - We to explore the question of whether Stanley Kubrick made The Shining as a confession that he was behind the alleged moon landing hoax; whether acupressure wristbands are a way to cure nausea or just a placebo; whether you should use hydrogen peroxide as a bactericide on minor wounds; the song Gloomy Sunday and if it has indeed been connected with an increased number of suicides; the true nature of whatever danger can be expected from common laser pointers; and whether we need to worry about hoards of human-animal hybrids swarming down from the mountains.

Jun 25, 2013 - Legislating Pseudoscience - Not every law passed by legislature is based on sound science. All too often, ideologues try to use the cloak of sciencey-sounding language to fool lawmakers and the public alike.

Jun 18, 2013 - Who Is the Grinning Man? - Stories tell of a tall man in a shiny green suit with a maniacal grin on his face who appears to UFO witnesses and terrorizes them.

Jun 11, 2013 - The Sedona Energy Vortex - Some say that Sedona, AZ is home to a series of spiritual energy vortexes, of a type unknown to science, that energize and relax the faithful.

Jun 4, 2013 - The Black Knight Satellite - Plenty of history supports the claim that a mysterious 13,000-year-old alien satellite is orbiting the Earth -- until you look at it more closely.

May 28, 2013 - Listener Feedback: Conspiracies - Another trip to the Skeptoid mailbag; this time we're focusing on answer comments from listeners who support conspiracy theories.

May 21, 2013 - All About Graphology - Graphology is the art of divining things about someone's personality and aptitudes by analyzing their handwriting. Is it scientifically valid?

May 14, 2013 - Polybius: Video Game of Death - An urban legend says that a 1981 video arcade game called Polybius sickened players, or even drove them to suicide, while government agents collected the data.

May 7, 2013 - The 16 Personalities of Sybil - The book and movie "Sybil" told the story of a woman purported to have Multiple Personality Syndrome. But how much of it, if any, was true?

Apr 30, 2013 - Lincoln Kennedy Myths - An old story claims a long list of astonishing similarities between the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy. Are they true, false, taken out of context, or something else?

Apr 23, 2013 - Cupping for the Cure - Cupping, the practice of putting suction cups on the skin to create bruises, has been around for at least 2000 years. Does its antiquity mean that it has healthful benefits?

Apr 16, 2013 - Listener Feedback: Aliens and UFOs - Skeptoid dips into the feedback mailbag and answers questions written in response to episodes about aliens, UFOs, and other scary things from space.

Apr 9, 2013 - The Aquatic Ape Theory - One popular fringe theory about human evolution states that we went through an aquatic phase, thus we are hairless, blubbery, and otherwise adapted for life in the water.

Apr 2, 2013 - John Titor, Time Traveler - An Internet legend claims that a man named John Titor is a visitor from the year 2036. Do we have any reason to take this story at face value, or to dismiss it at face value?

Mar 26, 2013 - The Airplane that Wasn't There - A B-25 bomber ditched in a Pennsylvania river in broad daylight 1956. Many witnesses saw it and the survivors are still here. But, incredibly, the big bomber has never been found in the small river.

© 2013 Skeptoid.com

 

Skeptoid is hosted
and produced by
Brian Dunning

I Think, Therefore I Err

Skeptoid #379, Sep 10 2013
Read | Listen (11:50)
 

Legendary Places: Real or Fictional?

Skeptoid #378, Sep 3 2013
Read | Listen (13:11)
 

Student Questions: Hangovers, Manuka Honey, and Probiotics

Skeptoid #377, Aug 27 2013
Read | Listen (11:01)
 

Salt Therapies

Skeptoid #376, Aug 20 2013
Read | Listen (12:32)
 

The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film

Skeptoid #375, Aug 13 2013
Read | Listen (13:37)
 

#1 -	The Hollow Earth Theory Read | Listen
#2 -	Was the Wow! Signal Alien? Read | Listen
#3 -	The Phantom Time Hypothesis Read | Listen
#4 -	Secrets of the Stradivarius Read | Listen
#5 -	Is She Real, or Is She Fictional? Read | Listen
#6 -	Men in Black Read | Listen
#7 -	Pope Joan Read | Listen
#8 -	Hypnotism: Hijacking Your Brain? Read | Listen

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