Introducing the Premium edition of the Skeptoid Podcast

Skeptoid is growing!

So we're changing things around a bit. And when I saw "we" I mean myself (Brian) and Skeptoid Media's board of directors, for whom I work, strictly speaking. Thebasic change is that there will now be two editions of the Skeptoid podcast: the free version, which will be ad-supported and will now be limited to the 50 newest shows; and the premium version, always ad-free and provides access to the entire catalog of shows, and is available to all financial supporters of the show at $5/mo or more. Here's a bit more info on each:

The Free Version

The basic version of Skeptoid, available at the same feed URL (skeptoid.com/podcast.xml) as has always been listed in all the major online podcast catalogs, will continue to be available to anyone and everyone as it has always been. Listeners will begin to notice ads in the show, at the beginning, end, and/or in the middle. The feed is also limited to the newest 50 episodes. This should give all new listeners plenty of content, and hopefully treat them enough to want access to the back catalog too.

Past, present, and future subscribers do not need to change a thing.

The Premium Version

Those who support the show financially get access to the full catalog of ad-free programming as they always have, and also are offered a neat Skeptoid USB Flash Drive pre-loaded with the entire history of content from all the programming Skeptoid Media has ever produced.

Listeners will need to make a change in whatever app you use to listen to the podcast. You can unsubscribe from the regular Skeptoid podcast you're currently subscribed to, and then resubscribe to the new premium feed (http://skeptoid.com/premium.xml). Those needing a bit of explanation can get it here.Your podcast app will ask you for a username and password, and those are the same email address and password you use to access the Members Portal (if you haven't been there and don't yet have a password, just go there now to create it. You can also resetyour password there if you don't remember it).

A monthly donation of at least $5 a month, or donations totaling at least $50 in the past year, will qualify you for premium access. Those who have old legacy PayPal automated payments will also be grandfathered in.

Premium subscribers who have logged into the Members Portal will also be able to play all the episodes ad-free from the episode transcript pages on the web site. (People who aren't logged in or aren't supporters can only hear the newest 50.)

For grins, the basic support levels are named thus:

• Sheeple: Listeners to the free version who don't support the show. Sheeple is a word conspiracy theorists use to describe non-conspiracy theorists, kind of how Harry Potter charactersdescribe non-wizards as muggles. Being one of the Sheeple is free, but you can still get the Skeptoid Companion Email and other stuff.

• Minion: The entry level, $5 a month, gives access to the premium feed. A Minion is one who does the dirty work, the lowest level of supporter.

• Shill: The most common support level is $10/mo, and is the requested monthlydonation. Please "shill" for Skeptoid! Tell your friends, that's all it takes.

• Disinfo Agent: For those who really like the show. $15/mo makes you an official Skeptoid Disinformation Agent, which is what conspiracy theorists, UFOlogist, and alt-med promoters often call me.

• Conspirator: $20/mo makes you an actual co-conspirator with me, spreading the evils of science and true history. A lot of people really hate us for this.

• Illuminatus: Anyone who has donated a total of $1000 or more, ever, achieves permanent Illuminatus status. This is a lifetime achievement, and unlike the other support levels, you will have the highest level of access even without any future donations. And you probably also get some other secret benefits too.

Visit the Members Portal to see your level, or to create one if you're presently one of the Sheeple. And don't forget the Skeptoid Media is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and allof your donations are tax-deductible for US taxpayers.

But I Want to Send Old Episodes to My Friends!

A lot of you like to send links to old episodes to your friends, and you might be worried that those episodes are no longer available. Don't worry, that still works. When you email someone a link to an episode, all the web pages are unchanged. We did a data analysis and found that when people enter the site via a link, less than 2 percent of them ever clicked the link to listen to the audio, and less than 0.5 percent of them stayed on the page 12 minutes to hear the whole thing. So when you send people a link, they've only ever been reading the page, and that still works the same as always. So have no fear, Skeptoid still remains the same anti-woo resource it has always been, for you to annoy your woo-loving friends.