Logo of the Merseyside Skeptics Society

The Skeptic Podcast

The official podcast of The Skeptic, the UK’s longest-running publication offering skeptical analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal.

Produced by Kat Ford and presented by Michael Marshall.

Latest Episode

Episode #003

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. 

On this episode: 

  • Why we should listen to Flat Earth believers (even though they’re completely wrong), by Michael Marshall, from February 2021

  • Are digital pregnancy tests simply taking the pee?, by Alice Howarth, from September 2020 

  • Chiropractors love to claim their treatments are ‘individualised’, but they’re wrong, by Sarah Hearne, from September 2020

  • First do no harm? Treatments don't need to be harmless, as long they do good, by Edzard Ernst, from November 2024

Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic

Previous Episodes

Episode #002

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020.

On this episode: 

  • The Atacama mummy: putting together the pieces of an “Archaeology bombshell”, by Paul Duncan McGarrity, from August 2020

  • Conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and alt-med quackery put our pets in harm's way, by Danny Chambers, from September 2020

  • Putting some skeptical mantras to bed, by Jonathan Jarry, from January 2021

  • Exploding the myth of the longevity “Blue Zones”, where people live beyond the age of 100, by Carlos Orsi, from September 2024

Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic 

Episode #001

From the pages of The Skeptic magazine, this is The Skeptic podcast, bringing you the best of the magazine’s expert analysis of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and claims of the paranormal since its relaunch as online news source in September 2020. 

On this episode:

  • Coronavirus, conspiracy, challenges and compassion, by Michael Marshall, from September 2020

  • Hydroxychloroquine: When bad science goes mainstream, by Carlos Orsi and Natália Pasternak, from September 2020

  • ‘Mask Mouth’: A real dental phenomenon, or merely a confection?, by Shaun Sellars, from September 2020

  • The Battersea Poltergeist, and the role of the paranormal investigator, by Deborah Hyde, from May 2021

Find more from The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk, or to support the show, take out a small voluntary donation at patreon.com/theskeptic