Gentle Reminder: Daylight Saving Time Starts Tomorrow
March 7, 2026
Benjamin Franklin's supposed proposal for Daylight Saving Time was actually a satire mocking Parisian habits, not a serious recommendation for energy conservation.
Skeptoid #1030: Testing the Rossi E-Cat
March 3, 2026
The Rossi E-Cat, claimed to produce clean, free energy via cold fusion or zero-point energy, is scientifically implausible due to claims that violate known physics, such as generating extreme temperatures without material failure or dangerous radiation.
Skeptoid #1029: How to Become a Sovereign Citizen
February 24, 2026
The core motivation of sovereign citizens is a desire for liberty that allows them to ignore laws and taxes while retaining the benefits of living within a country, often relying on invented legal fantasies like strawman theory and redemption theory.
Skeptoid #1028: Manipulative Advertising
February 17, 2026
The core purpose of the Skeptoid episode "Skeptoid #1028: Manipulative Advertising" is to debunk common myths about advertising's power, such as the ability to make people buy against their will or the effectiveness of subliminal messaging.
Skeptoid #1027: Radioactive Relics: The Missing RTGs
February 10, 2026
Abandoned Soviet RTGs, primarily the strontium-90 powered Beta-M model used for remote navigation beacons, pose a significant, ongoing radiological hazard in Russia and have led to severe accidents when scavenged for scrap metal.
Mic'd Up: Brian's Blood Donation Interview
February 6, 2026
The episode features Brian Dunning, host of Skeptoid, being interviewed by John Yeager of Bloodworks 101 while donating blood at the Bloodworks Northwest Vancouver, Washington Donor Center.
Skeptoid #1026: Vintage Ceramics: Decorative or Deadly?
February 3, 2026
While initial intuition suggests lead in properly fired ceramic glaze is chemically bound and inert, lower-temperature firing methods used historically created unstable silicate glass containing free lead oxide that can easily leach into food, especially acidic or hot food.
Skeptoid #1025: Pop Quiz: Space Quandaries
January 27, 2026
The "Lucifer Project" conspiracy theory falsely claims NASA's Cassini probe could ignite Jupiter into a star using its RTG plutonium, ignoring the lack of critical mass, insufficient mass for fusion confinement, and the low energy yield of RTGs.
Skeptoid #1024: The Van Meter Visitors
January 20, 2026
The core subject of Skeptoid #1024: The Van Meter Visitors is the 1903 sighting of a winged, horned creature in Iowa, which the episode frames as a century-old hoax that has recently resurfaced.
Skeptoid #1023: What Accounts for Ghost Encounters?
January 13, 2026
The host of Skeptoid #1023: What Accounts for Ghost Encounters? asserts that ghost experiences are likely caused by a combination of neurological triggers, perceptual/cognitive errors, and environmental factors, rather than actual ghosts.
Dr. Flint Dibble Interview: Our Resident Expert for Málaga to Nice!
January 7, 2026
Dr. Flint Dibble, an archaeologist specializing in the Mediterranean, is joining the Skeptoid Adventures trip from Málaga to Nice to combat fake history and pseudo-archaeology related to the region, including claims surrounding Atlantis.
Skeptoid #1022: Blood Donation Myths
January 6, 2026
The vast majority of donated blood (about 98%) is used for routine medical needs like cancer treatment, anemia, and surgery, not for highly visible trauma and accident victims (which account for only 2%).
Skeptoid #1021: The First Middle Finger
December 30, 2025
The popular origin story linking the middle finger gesture to English archers at the Battle of Agincourt is false, as historical documentation is lacking and the premise is illogical regarding archer skill and injury severity.
Your Donation Is Being Matched This Holiday Season!
December 25, 2025
The Skeptoid podcast is running a limited-time, year-end matching donation campaign where every listener contribution is doubled until December 31st.
Skeptoid #1020: Yule Logs
December 23, 2025
The popular belief that the Yule Log tradition is an ancient Norse pagan custom is false; it is actually a much more recent medieval tradition that was later given a fabricated ancient backstory.
Skeptoid #1019: Testing the Thunderstorm Generator
December 16, 2025
The Thunderstorm Generator (TG) is essentially a combination of an exhaust heat riser and a water injection system, mechanisms known for over a century, despite its creator Malcolm Bendahl's claims of utilizing complex pseudoscience like plasmoid unification.
Skeptoid #1018: Might Ghosts Exist?
December 9, 2025
The episode Skeptoid #1018: Might Ghosts Exist? begins by establishing that having a family ghost story is common, but the central goal is to scientifically determine if ghosts might actually exist within physical reality.
Skeptoid #1017: The Bell that Tolls for the K-129
December 2, 2025
The central mystery explored in Skeptoid #1017: The Bell that Tolls for the K-129 is how the CIA obtained the K-129's ship's bell, as evidence suggests the recovery mechanism (Clementine) failed before it could reach the bell's location in the sail/conning tower area.
End of the Year Matching!
December 1, 2025
The primary focus of this segment of the Skeptoid episode "End of the Year Matching!" is a fundraising drive tied to Giving Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of listener support for the nonprofit's science education mission.
Skeptoid #1016: The Case for Carbon Dating
November 25, 2025
The primary opposition to the scientific validity of carbon dating, as discussed in "Skeptoid #1016: The Case for Carbon Dating," comes from young Earth creationists whose belief system mandates the Earth is only about 6,000 years old.
Skeptoid #1015: The Alaska Triangle
November 18, 2025
The popular narrative surrounding the Alaska Triangle, often amplified by media like the 2020-2021 Travel Channel series, relies on grossly exaggerated figures, such as claiming 20,000 disappearances, which the host debunks using official statistics showing only 1,334 unsolved missing persons cases since 1948.
Skeptoid #1014: The Giant of Kandahar
November 11, 2025
The story of the Giant of Kandahar, which claims US Special Forces fought a massive humanoid in Afghanistan, originated with author Stephen Quayle on the radio show Coast2Coast AM in 2005, likely as promotion for his book.
Skeptoid #1013: Medbeds: Sleeping in Bunk
November 4, 2025
The 'medbed' conspiracy theory, which claims miraculous healing beds are hoarded by elites, is fundamentally rooted in the social allegory and class warfare depicted in the 2013 movie *
Skeptoid #1012: The Rake That Comes for You in the Night
October 28, 2025
The creature known as the Rake, or Pale Crawler, is an internet urban legend originating from a crowdsourced creation thread on 4chan around 2005, later popularized by a 2006 blog post.
Skeptoid #1011: The Not-Deer and Weird Appalachian Lore
October 21, 2025
The modern legend of the Not-Deer, which emerged around 2019/2020 on social media, is a contemporary phenomenon rooted in the cultural trend of "Weird Appalachia" rather than genuine, long-standing Appalachian folklore.
Skeptoid #1010: Pop Quiz: 19 Years of Skeptoid
October 14, 2025
Skeptoid #1010: Pop Quiz: 19 Years of Skeptoid is a trivia episode testing listeners' knowledge with one question from each of the previous 19 years of the podcast.
Skeptoid #1009: Facts and Fiction of Polynesian Navigation, Part 2
October 7, 2025
Polynesian navigation relied on an extremely accurate, 32-point star compass, requiring memorization of over 220 stars and their seasonal rising/setting points, which rivaled later European compasses.
Skeptoid Adventures Sets Sail! Malaga, Spain to Nice, France 2026
October 1, 2025
The Skeptoid Adventures trip is an ambitious voyage aboard the SV Royal Clipper, the world's largest sailing vessel, offering hands-on sailing experiences and a skeptical mini-conference.
Skeptoid #1008: Facts and Fiction of Polynesian Navigation, Part 1
September 30, 2025
The episode of Skeptoid #1008: Facts and Fiction of Polynesian Navigation, Part 1 aims to separate the verifiable science from the sensationalism and mythology surrounding ancient Polynesian wayfinding skills.
Skeptoid #1007: The Pilots Who Landed at Area 51
September 23, 2025
Despite its reputation for extreme secrecy, Area 51 has always been publicly mapped and advertised for employment, with its operations, including the Janet fleet, visible through public tracking services.
Skeptoid #1006: Deconstructing Structured Water
September 16, 2025
The concept of "structured water" is a pseudoscientific claim that lacks scientific basis, with proponents falsely asserting that water can be chemically altered into a more beneficial form.
Skeptoid #1005: Debugging Done Diligently
September 9, 2025
Skeptoid actively corrects past errors to maintain its accuracy as a resource, demonstrating a commitment to scientific integrity.
Skeptoid #1004: Dating the White Sands Footprints
September 2, 2025
Fossilized human footprints discovered in White Sands, New Mexico, suggest humans were present in the Americas much earlier than previously accepted timelines, potentially challenging established paleoanthropological models.
Skeptoid #1003: History's Weirdest Science Findings
August 26, 2025
Counterintuitive scientific findings, such as black robes being cooler in the desert or woolly mammoths coexisting with pyramid construction, challenge common assumptions and highlight the importance of rigorous research.
Skeptoid #1002: A Feast of Feedback
August 19, 2025
Feedback and follow-ups on previous Skeptoid episodes can refine understanding of topics like the "dingo ate my baby" phrase, earthquake prediction technology, and the Loveland Frogman.
Skeptoid #1001: The Phantom Clown Panic
August 12, 2025
The 2016 "phantom clown" panic, fueled by social media and latent fears, was largely a social delusion or mass hysteria, with no credible reports of actual harm to children, despite widespread fear and school lockdowns.
Skeptoid #1000: Candle on the Water
August 5, 2025
Skeptoid episode 1000 celebrates the podcast's 19-year journey of promoting science and critical thinking, highlighting its consistent presence in top podcast charts.
Skeptoid #999: Day of the Medieval Dead
July 29, 2025
William of Newborough, a 12th-century monk, documented accounts of walking corpses, which modern analysis suggests may be explained by natural post-mortem phenomena, sleep paralysis, and folklore influenced by societal anxieties and beliefs.
Skeptoid #998: The Manifestation Trap: OCD and the Law of Attraction
July 22, 2025
The principles of the law of attraction, which suggest that focusing on desires will manifest them, can be particularly detrimental to individuals with OCD by reinforcing their belief that their thoughts directly influence reality and can cause harm.
Skeptoid #997: Sounds of the Aurora
July 15, 2025
The sounds sometimes attributed to auroras are unlikely to be generated by the aurora itself due to insufficient energy and the anacoustic zone at high altitudes.
Skeptoid #996: Murder in Hex Hollow
July 8, 2025
The Hex Hollow murder, while sensationalized by media, highlights the persistence of folk magic and the dangers of moral panics fueled by sensationalism and fear of the 'other'.
Preview — Douglas Adams: The Ends of the Earth on The Internet We Didn’t Get
July 2, 2025
Douglas Adams possessed a remarkably prescient vision of the internet's potential, foreseeing concepts like user-generated content, networked information, and personalized digital experiences long before they became mainstream.
Skeptoid #995: The Eugenic History of the Body Type Diet
July 1, 2025
The concept of somatotypes (ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph) originated from eugenics and was used by William Sheldon to link physical appearance to personality traits, a practice now largely discredited due to racist undertones and fraudulent research methods.
Skeptoid #994: Making AI Environmentally Friendly
June 24, 2025
The increasing demand for AI computing resources is placing a significant strain on global power grids, mirroring concerns previously raised by cryptocurrency mining.
Skeptoid #993: How to Decide What to Eat
June 17, 2025
Fear-based marketing is a common tactic used to sell food products, and consumers can often ignore terms like "organic," "natural," and "processed" as they are not inherently meaningful for nutrition or safety.
Skeptoid #992: The Case of the Missing Beaumont Children
June 10, 2025
The disappearance of the Beaumont children in Adelaide in 1966 is Australia's most prominent cold case involving a psychic detective, highlighting the challenges and controversies of integrating paranormal claims into official investigations.
Skeptoid #991: Real Sea Monsters
June 3, 2025
The podcast explores the concept of "real sea monsters" by comparing modern marine predators and extinct prehistoric creatures, highlighting that many of the most fearsome creatures are extinct.
Skeptoid #990: Rethinking Science Education
May 27, 2025
Effective science education should prioritize teaching the critical thinking and information literacy skills necessary to navigate a complex world, rather than just memorizing facts.
Skeptoid #989: Are $1,000,000 Paranormal Challenges Effective?
May 20, 2025
Paranormal challenges, while often sensationalized, have historically served as a tool to expose fraud and promote skepticism, though their effectiveness varies across different categories of claimants.
Skeptoid #988: Chocolate Myths
May 13, 2025
Many popular beliefs about chocolate, such as its impact on acne, heart health, and weight gain, are myths or significantly exaggerated, with overall diet and individual factors playing a larger role.
Skeptoid #987: More than a Magician's Assistant
May 6, 2025
Rose Mackenberg was a pioneering female private detective and a highly effective investigator who worked undercover to expose fraudulent spiritualists and mediums, significantly contributing to Harry Houdini's crusade against deception.
A Brief Shake-Up at Skeptoid
May 5, 2025
Skeptoid is offering an exclusive three-day exploration of Death Valley from October 21st to 24th, including transportation, lodging, and meals, guided by Brian Dunning and geologist Andrew Dunning.
Skeptoid #986: Do Functional Mushrooms Function?
April 29, 2025
Functional mushrooms are a growing food fad marketed for non-psychedelic medicinal benefits beyond their nutritional value, but claims are often vague and lack scientific support.