Talks

Join us for our monthly social event.

Our socials follow on directly from our board meeting (starting at 7pm) which you are also welcome to attend. After that there is no formal agenda or schedule, just a group of existing or would-be friends meeting up to talk about whatever catches our attention.

We always have a good mix of regulars and first timers so please don't be shy, we're always friendly and welcoming so don't worry about attending on your own or bring your friends along too!

We're excited to launch a new social event in Knowsley. Maybe you're always busy on the first Thursday of each month, or find our venue in the city centre too far away, or you just need more skepticism in your life? If the answer to any of these is yes then we have a social event for you!

There is no formal agenda or schedule, just a group of existing and would-be friends meeting up to talk about whatever catches our attention.

We always have a good mix of regulars and first timers so please don't be shy, we're always friendly and welcoming so don't worry about attending on your own or bring your friends along too!

As skeptics and critical thinkers, free speech is a value we must strive to uphold, and to defend. Yet, the free speech argument has often been weaponised by opponents of skepticism, in order to promote pseudoscientific ideas – from creationism in classrooms, to intimidatory anti-abortion protests, to climate change denial. Most recently, prominent “race realists” have appealed to the concept of academic freedom in order to garner support for unscientific eugenicist arguments. Using real life cases from across the last decade, Michael Marshall will show how skeptics have seen our commitment to free speech hijacked and weaponised by the very pseudoscientists we seek to counter.

It seems like the term ‘trauma’ is everywhere now; it has become one of the central lenses through which we view our experience. However, trauma as a medical diagnosis – PTSD – is very young. It only entered the diagnostic mind in 1980, based largely on research from the Vietnam War. The returning soldier is a familiar character across American popular culture forms, especially film and television. And their depictions follow a narrow model, both instantly recognizable and mostly inaccurate.

This talk addresses the direct representation and erasure of traumatized veterans, while also considering the wider representation of trauma at play in popular culture. Beginning with a brief overview of the relationship between the Vietnam War and trauma, I show how vets are either ignored or painted in offensive, inaccurate ways. And finally, I will attempt to answer the question ‘so what?’ What does this mean for vets, for comics, and for our understanding of trauma?

Content note: some images of combat and violence; sustained discussion of trauma and PTSD.

Ever since ancient times, people have believed that giant, monstrous animals inhabit the seas. If such creatures are real, could they have a direct relationship to the giant sea reptiles - in particular the long-necked plesiosaurs - of the geological past? Join esteemed author and palaeozoologist Dr Darren Naish as he explores our developing ideas about sea monsters past and present, a subject that combines developments in palaeontology with studies of mythology and popular culture.

For almost 20 years, Michael Marshall had been investigating those who claim to have psychic powers. He has had his palm read by suspect psychics in Blackpool, gone undercover to report from mediumship shows and spiritualist readings, and scientifically tested the ability to talk to the dead. Here he will tell tales of what happens when you begin to crack the surface of the pseudosciences that surround us – revealing the surprising, sometimes-shocking and often-comic adventures that lie beneath.

From best-selling books to viral TikToks and food documentaries, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become public enemy number one in the world of nutritional ‘wellness’. But is the panic justified – or are we being fed a different kind of harmful message? In this talk, registered dietitian Maeve Hanan will break down what UPFs actually are, the roots of UPF panic and what the evidence really says about them. We will also explore how the cultural obsession with purity and perfection in eating can do more harm than good, all too often spiralling into food anxiety and disordered eating. This talk challenges black-and-white thinking around food, encourages a more balanced perspective, and asks: what if our fear of food is more dangerous than the food itself?