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What People Are Saying...Has Skeptoid made a difference in your life? Tell us your story in the Members Portal. I look forward to your podcasts every week. Thanks for all the great work you are doing with Skeptoid.com and your other projects. I made another donation. I’m very happy to support Skeptoid, a voice of reason in the din of chaos. As a licensed professional in various areas of health/wellness/nutrition/beauty, as someone who's spent over 2 decades working in as well as volunteering w/people & animals & as someone who's done all of this w/a spinal cord disability, I am so glad to have read what I have so far here! The internet today is no longer a place to gather factual information but a place full of sites ready to prey on anyone, most especially the young & vulnerable. Finding your site is a true breath of air! Thank you so much for all your hard work! You have another follower & I am so looking forward to hearing what comes next! As a man who both follows Jesus, believes in God, and regularly prays and talks with the Trinity, while ALSO being a skeptic when it comes to ghosts, crystals, pseudoscience, magnetic healing products, live water, anti-vaxxers, fad diets, and a believer in accepted science like evolution, climate change, modern medicine, etc... I find myself making enemies on both sides of things. I was glad that you approached this subject like most of your episodes, just simply looking at the available evidence, which I appreciate. Thank you for your work and keeping us all honest. Keep up the good work. I love reading your articles. I am a creationist, and I just read your article on Steve Austin's Mount St. Helens dating experiment. Thank you immensely for taking the issue seriously, without mocking or bashing. If everyone argued like you, the creation/evolution debate would make far more progress with far less stress. You have my respect. I have been a long-time listener of your show and more recently a donor but when I saw the topic of this week show I was left worried. I’ve never really had to challenge my beliefs like this before. It’s far scarier than I expected. Thank you for the skepticism. It’s always great to challenge the way you think. Just discovered Skeptoid, Googling "scalar weapons" after that term distracted me from my refresher course in physics/algebra basics. Intrigued, read the rhino horn piece. Glad you're out there. Thank you so much for making this podcast! For ages I've been thinking that the whole Internet has gone crazy with nearly every interesting subject being taking over by a popular uprising of wild conspiracy theories. Skeptoid stopped me from nearly destroying any device I owned that could connect to the web and heading into the hills alone to live an existence of rabbit cooking and wooden cutlery carving. Don't ever stop. My husband introduced me to Skeptoid years ago and I would read the transcripts from time to time. In today's climate of false information, claims and conspiracies, I find myself back more and more often just needing logic and reason in my life. It was great meeting you at NECSS and I'm enjoying the book I purchased. I just checked out your Skeptoid episode on the moon landing, and one more bit of evidence is that I was an engineer on the Apollo navigation system. I can't say enough how much your series have helped me in my everyday life. I like to call myself a scholar in the fields of religion and history. Also I'm too keen to engage in fruitless debates with people touting about conspiracies and alternative history, medicine or whatever. Your pods are the perfect easy to reach reference on sooo many subjects. And you have credible references. You've saved me from headaches more than once... Many thanks and keep it up! Thank you for the episode on Lucid Dreaming. I've never had one but my daughter claims she does. Till your scientific evaluation I just thought my daughter was 'wacko' now I wish I could have Lucid Dreams myself instead of those dreams where I'm always running late to catch a train. I'll try the exercises you quoted in the episode. Hi Brian,
Writing some curriculum documents which might (hopefully) be used as a pre-approved plan for a scientific inquiry-based course for year 12s across South Australia and the Northern Territory in 2019. I'm writing 'Principals of Curiosity' into the curriculum right before an assignment on investigating the myths on things such as water fluoridation and chlorination. Love your work. Thank you. Please don't stop. Hi. I accidentally came across the Don't Try It Before You Knock it article and felt compelled to applaud you and let you know the sigh of relief and vindication I felt at reading 1) your promotion of skepticism and scientific analysis and 2) your debunking of alternative treatments generally and of kenesio tape specifically. I train athletes for a living as a boxing coach, and the amount of unsubstantiated pseudo-scientific rubbish I see people waste time and money on is mind boggling. And getting people to listen to reason, to just take a moment to truly consider the methods they're employing to treat the bodies they care so much about, is just about impossible. Anyway, it was just gratifying (as it usually is) to hear my own sentiments echoed in an otherwise disinterested and unlooked-for forum. Thanks. I'm send the article to a pro fighter of mine who insists on wearing kenesio tape no matter how often I mock her for just being fashionable, that if it didn't look cool, she wouldn't wear it. And the irony is, she's a scientist! a frigging astrophysicist! As the texters say SMH. I just read your article on Hitlers secret artic fortress written in 2017. You do a great job of taking apart their logic or lack thereof. Keep up the great articles. I have been a James Randi, Joe Nickell type skeptic since before i knew who those two were. Its so refreshing to read blogs like this. Keep it up! This is the first podcast ive become a supporter of and the back catalog alone is worth it. Keep up the great work! Thanks, Brian, that was most illuminating. Hi, Brian, I just want to point out that I've been a fan of your podcast for some time. As I near retirement, I'm not sure if and when I can afford a contribution. When I can, I will. And I wanted to point that I worked with Mother Teresa in India for a number of years. Your episode regarding her a year or two ago was the most accurate and eloquent I've seen yet. I share what I remember of it with people who drool over the saintliness and all that. I want to be able to record that episode and memorize it word for word. Thanks for all you do. I just read the article about Mel's hole, and one about the biblical exodus, And I just wanted to say they were both well written, and the author Brian did a great job. I just have to say that I recently read your article on who has committed more murders, Atheism or Religion and I found it very poignant. I was just having this discussion with someone the other day that I believe was trying to make the same points but was not nearly as informed or eloquent. I found the article well written and the overall theme agreeable and well-informed. I read your posts on superhuman strength and the Rothschilds. You analyze with humor, insight, and considerable neutrality. Have you considered running for the POTUS slot, hopefully soon to be vacant? If so count me among your (pardon the expression) trumpeters. I am a criminal defense lawyer in Texas. All my clients are innocent. :) The website and content are well researched, thorough, and enlightening. I've learned much about many new topics over the past several months, and come back every week for new content. Thanks for all you do! I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your debunking posts. I have an adult son who has become mentally unstable due in large to the rhetoric spilling out from wackos who have no more in life but to create documentaries and web posts about such subjects as Zeitgeist and so many others. He has brainwashed himself into believing this stuff and as a result has slowly diminished his respect for reality and how to decipher between the two worlds. He is now sitting in jail for reasons too long to explain in an email. But in short, it is due to the overwhelming ability for these people that have addicted normally sane folks into subscribing to their agenda. Now I'm in a battle of wits with my son to sort out his mentality and help him back into the arms of reality. But I have to admit that I'm feeling like the mouse against the eagle. I came across your debunking posts and it has given me a reservoir into which I can fish for answers. Thank you. Thank you so much for your articles. I found my way to your site about four months ago following a link for your research on Hebrew slavery in ancient Egypt, which I thoroughly appreciated being both an African American and admirer of the Jewish people given our similar struggles. And I want to thank you again for the article on Irish slaves. I first came across the "story" years ago while an undergrad of African Studies and was interested in learning more but soon discovered to my dismay that it was nothing but a farce. I've come across the very sources that you've used to debunk the perpetrators of this heinous myth and have had to unfortunately correct people on Facebook who still believe this. I'm unable to financially contribute to your site at the moment but will as soon as possible. Keep up the good work. I had never heard of the Skeptoid podcast until yesterday. Today I made a contribution after hearing only one episode. It's GREAT to hear someone rational discuss these subjects rationally. There are so many kooks out there (Ric Gillespie, I'm looking at YOOOoou) and so many nuts with conspiracy podcasts. Science, empiricism, and rationality RULE! :-) Why do I love your web site? One reason is that you DON’T ridicule the people you disagree with on the different subjects you explore. That is rare, my friends, VERY rare. Sadly, it seems fashionable today to not just argue a point but to insult in the vilest way your opponent. I remember what Confucius once said: the ignorant are often loudest in an argument. So true. You don’t yell. You discuss. I congratulate you. The second reason I appreciate you site is it helps me seek the one thing more important to me in my job than anything else. The truth! I’ve been a paranormal researcher most of my life, somewhat in the same vein as Charles Hoy Fort except I don’t take things at face value. Over the years I’ve become disgusted with all the misinformation I encounter on a daily basis. I deal with urban legends, half-truths & just plain old lies. I’ve become extremely frustrated in my quest for what’s real & what’s nonsense. Things like the “mysterious disappearance� of Flight 19, the Bermuda Triangle, the Madonna of Bachelors Grove Cemetery & other such subjects have been debunked over and over again and yet there are thousands of web sites out there that report the same lies as genuine phenomenon. Once I found a site that mentioned 40 “strange disappeances� that have never been explained. I debunked EVERY ONE OF THEM. Yikes, it gets old. So, thank you for your efforts. You’ve been a tremendous help in my journey to the truth. I’m certain we may disagree on some things but I will never look upon you with anger or distain. I’d rather think of you as colleagues in the eternal voyage. Brian, thank you - and everyone else who shares their love of knowledge and the search for it. I was touched by the closing sentence of the latest Moon Truth article. "What we know is less important than how we know it, and if we can develop a love for the learning process, eventually we'll all end up with a better understanding of our world." I love that. A claim is only as good as the arguments supporting it - without those, it is nothing, no matter how "true" it is. Keep digging up those good arguments! I hope you do not buy into the conspiracy theory that Bielefeld does not exist... You're welcome to visit if you want to do some fact checking! ;-) Just wanted to thank you for creating Skeptoid and for all the effort you must have put into it. I hope you enjoy creating Skeptoid as much as I enjoy listening to it. I love the show and the search for what is the truth. Keep up the great work. I share the episodes with my science classes and it introduces great discussion. Very nice way to add critical thinking to my science classes. I have been listening for a long time and I am a huge fan. I now have my 12 year old listen when he comes home from school with questions or crazy stories he hears from his buddies. Guess what I am giving myself for Xmas? Premium Access!!! Thanks for all you do! Critical Thinking is especially important to young college students. I have been recommending Skeptoid to them for years. Rational and logical. Thanks for the great podcasts. This is to thank you for the excellent presentation of logical fallacies. I teach law at the community college level and really appreciate the design you used for this topic. Each item describes in down to earth wording that also does not patronize. Examples make things crystal clear. Thanks!. I want to thank you for your wonderful website, reading it is a refreshing experience. Well researched, well referenced, rigorous and well written. As a longtime skeptic, I feel a little less lonely now. Love the podcast! It's a great way for me to stay engaged and learning during my hour and a half of commuting each day to work. My wife and I listen to your podcasts while traveling around the country in our RV. We enjoy them very much and find them informative and interesting. Occasionally, I use them in my classes at VT, and hopefully I am driving new listeners to your program. I love science and the way you present it, in ways laypersons can understand. Thank you so much for your Shag Harbour UFO podcast! We enjoyed reading through this for our English revision! Just wanted to say thank you for your honest and thoughtful article on scepticism vs cynicism. I might add: these days I'm being more selective about which of the excessive number of distractions that flood my inbox that I choose to peruse. In the case of Skeptoid, it's articles like this that I value the most, because they give me practical tools to improve my ability to apply principles of critical thinking to my own experiences. I work in security. Coworkers have told me of or read me numerous 'scientific' or 'historical' articles with big eyes and offended tone...milk is full of pus, real statue of liberty was a black woman, cows milk is only for baby cows, the government invented AIDS to kill blacks, and on and on. I used to go to snopes for rebuttal info, hopefully your site will help too. Thanks. Very cool of you to let us read all the transcripts free. Thanks for being a fact disciple, especially now in this age of fake news and deep stupid. Great information for evidence gathering. I am 56 and in my spare time like to annoy some of my old hippy friends and I hopefully stop, them spending their hard earned cash on tripe. I seem to have acquired some tin foil hat friends as well so this site is useful to throw sabres at them with special numbers engraved on them. Thank you. Hi Brian, I've been listening to Skeptoid for years (nearly 10 maybe?) and your episode on False Pregnancy encouraged me to write. Thank you for dealing with such a difficult subject matter with compassion. As someone with pregnancy issues it can often seem that such topics of loss are taboo. Thank you for always talking about your subject matter with such
positivity. It would be so easy to slip into a snarky or sarcastic tone of knowledge based superiourity. Good on you for not doing that, in these discussions so often people fall back on calling the less scientific idiots etc. Keep it up, and thanks again for your conributions! Brian, I love your show and have been listening for years, often utilizing your knowledge and research with my college students. I truly loved your episode on the Rothschild Banking Dynasty. Past exceedingly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories surrounding this family -- there is a growing reinforcement about them rooted in hate and jealousy. There is so much misinformation about this family and a disproportionate amount of actual facts that finding accurate information is quite challenging. Thank you for a very concise explanation of the ethanol farce. I've been listening to Joe Rogan's podcasts recently, and his irresponsible commitment to dangerous ideas has been really pissing me off! He has so many listeners who just go with whatever he says, and he has a total lack of understanding of his responsibility to not give credence to bad science. I found your episode this morning, and I was happy to see someone challenge him! I realize it is many years old, but he literally hasn't had anyone else like you on because I think he's afraid of looking stupid. He gets stuck on such inconsequential points... it's so frustrating! I can't imagine how you made it through that interview. Looking forward to reading & listening to more of your content! Lovely writing about Bloody Mary and phantom pregnancies, especially the very last line. I recently received the USB drive from Skeptoid and can not wait to listen to it. I am saving it for my upcoming military deployment to a landlocked country in South Asia. It will be a nice reminder of home when I will be about as far away from home as I possibly can be.
Thank you for Skeptoid and keep up the good work. Just read and enjoyed the Mandela effect piece - thanks! Without detracting from your point, most of us South Africans have an intensely personal take on Mandela, our much-loved and charismatic first democratic president. He is sorely missed. You have made me start to wonder how many realities link to the term "the Mandela effect " ! Love your podcast, and your continuing crusade in support of critical thinking ("the other national deficit"). Have listened to every episode and am continually impressed by the research you do, and that you never run short of topics. Kudos on the outstanding quality of each episode, and of the valuable corpus of educational material you have produced. I wish you continued success. SD I've selected Skeptoid as my charity of choice on Humble Bundle. And, as a Gamer, this donation triggers rather consistently. Excellent piece "How Your Password Got Stolen". Really useful, even for technology savvy people. Extensive in-depth research on the topic. Job well done! Thank you. Skeptoid has given me a lot of food for thought over the years, I think I'm overdue to give some support, so I just joined at the Minion level. Now more than ever, we need to support critical thinking education as much as possible. Thanks and keep up the good work. I just wanted to say how thought provoking and insightful Skeptoid is, and would like to thank everyone who works on the podcast for an enjoyable experience. The listing of the source material is brilliant in providing more in-depth explanation of the topic at hand. Just like to say, thank you! Came across your site several years ago when I questioned the validity of something (can't quite remember exactly) said on Ancient Aliens. The search led me to your site. Since then I'm hooked, brilliant thought invoking articles. I now try and educate the uneducated with facts and data from your site. It works, some of the time- though the Organic lobby(my mum), you may as well piss in the wind, some things will never change. Keep up the good work. An excellent website. I am particuarly interested in Cryptozoology and until I stumbled across your article on the PG film had been convinced of its authenticity! Your entertaining article cut straight through the mystery without bias while still respecting Patterson and his motivation. Thanks! Skeptoid is one of THE best podcasts out there and I apologize for not donating sooner. Just gave you folks $100! It is really the least I could do! Thank you. I have been in a brainwashing situation for a long time and skeptoid has started to give me back my critical reasoning skills and reminded me of the intelligent person I used to be. i never realised how deeply you can be brainwashed without even realising it. This site is like holding on to some ones hand while you jump to safety. Dear sir, I feel most compelled to inform you that you have a phenomenally helpful web site. I must confess that the only thing that I don't like about it is the fact that I wanted to launch something similar a few years ago, and you beat me to it. Keep up the great work. In scientia et philosophos. Hello, I've been listening to you since the beginning and even even my two boys (8 &10) listen in the car with me. Keep fighting the good fight, and I hope you are able to make good use of the $1k that I donated today. I'm sure that you'll probably spend it on chemicals to spray out of airplanes, or truffles to eat at your Bacchanalian dinners where you decide global policy with your ZOG/Illuminati cohorts. All I ask is that when your New World Order takes over and you start lining people up against the wall, you remember: "Hey, that's Mike! He tossed us some cash a ways back. Let's spare his life!" Just Kidding. Thanks for the great content, and I wish you continued and increasing success. Dear Brian and Co, thank you for your wonderfully entertaining and informative site. Beside all the interesting information about phenomena I always wondered about (for example why people deny the moon landing), I'm so grateful for the possibility to read the episodes. More and more information today is spread by podcasts, and for a non native english speaker, it really is hard to assimilate information that way. Your articles on the other hand, is always a pleasure to read. Thank you! Hi Brian, I just wanted to tell you how much I love this site. Not only is it useful when I'm researching for academic purposes, it's also a great place to go when I'm feeling bored and need a good mental bone to chew on. Thank you! I absolutely love Skeptoid. Always balanced, always fact based, and always an enjoying listen. Brian also has a really calming voice! I cannot praise Skeptoid enough. i love skeptoid. and i love brian. Delighted to log in today and find that, thanks to my history with Skeptoid, I am now an Illuminatus! My Dark Plans will surely come to fruition!! Keep up the great work, Brian and friends. Brian- I very much appreciate your hard work and the fact that you do great fact checking and are honest and transparent enough to admit when a mistake has been made. My company is now a supporter as we all enjoy the podcast and learning new things! Thanks! I'm so tired of the conspiracy theorists and their mindless ramblings. It is great to see a voice of reason. Thank you so much.
Is your question about 2 + 1 = in base 10 or some other base? LOL. Just had to yank your chain a bit. Hi, I used to listen to a whole bunch of science and critical thinking podcasts. But over time, I've stopped listening to podcasts in exchange for books. Well, I've stopped listening to all, but one. Every Tuesday, on my lunch, before I start playing mobile games, I listen to the latest episode of Skeptoid. I've seen that Skeptoid will be at DragonCon, which I plan on attending, and would love to meet a person, shake a hand, take a picture, and contact aliens. Or any three of the four. Thank you for your time. I just listened to #502, and I wanted to say thank you for responding to the hateful and paranoid comments in a healthy way. I wish more people understood how their ability to comment on a website is entirely up to the admins that run the websites and their choice to let you or others do so. I hope that you get at least a few positive responses regarding the work and effort put in here that will help overlook the salty and irrational ones. I recently started reading your podcast transcripts during lunch at work. I always find something interesting and unique to enjoy. As I read episode #529 with corrections and clarifications I decided I needed to tell you how much I appreciate the immense amount of research and fact checking you do. Thank you. I was skeptical enough to check the shows for which you posted corrections to see if they reflected these changes. Of course they did. Skeptoid Podcast is my new Facebook favourite, thanks Brian. Mr. Dunning, I have been a huge fan of Skeptoid since I first heard your first episode, I'm not entirely sure where I first heard of you podcast, but it may have been rationalwiki.org, which I love. Your episodes have given me a fantastic dose of reality in a world dominated by sensationalism and insanity. I do not intend to overreact here, I am being completely serious. I find that modern culture is suffused with nonsense and ill-informed information. Your podcasts have given me a refreshing look on the world and have taught me the basics of critical thought. I count your podcast, along with Astronomy Cast, as my favorite weekly escapes to reality. I really hope you acknowledge and appreciate my email. My entire purpose here has been to express my appreciation and thankfulness for your program. Your programs are carefully investigated, thoughtfully constructed, and intelligently produced. I am in your debt, sir, in a very real way, because the thoughtful process behind your show shines through in your excellent product. Thank you. I just heard your interview on The Night Time Podcast and truly enjoyed what I heard. I look forward to checking out some of your shows and becoming an active member. Never seen this site before. Now its midnight and im addicted! I love it. I was reading about why you removed comments. I like them for the popcorn which is exactly why you are right to have removed them lol. The site comes off as very concise and clean. I'll be following for sure! Thanks for your hard work. ok, so I totally found your site by accident, and I haven't stopped reading your articles for the last 3 days. Fantastic work all around. I have just found the website, then I couldn't stop reading and listening to one episode after the other. I just wish I could contribute with money, I'll certainly do it as soon as I can. I'll be , however, following the page closely and always share and let everyone know of its contents whenever possible. Congratulations, Hope you can keep up the good work. And thank you for allowing me to learn for free. Thanks Brian for such a well done podcast. I have always considered myself a skeptic, but after listening to over 100 episodes in a row, I now realize that I was only a hack. I've learned so much and been thoroughly entertained. I just wanted to say a big thank you for cleansing my mind of a few more myths. Being of the skeptical persuasion already I was fairly confident I didn't buy into any ideas that weren't backed up by science. So I was surprised to find 5 separate episodes that dispute things I "know" to be true. So, no stranger to questioning my own knowledge I took to the internet to find legitimate scientific research to back up both my claim and Brian's. After considerable time on each topic I was able to conclude that I was mistaken and was on a few occasions even able to find the flawed logic or data that had led me to my previous conclusion. It is for this reason that I am now happy to consider Skeptoid a trustworthy resource (though I'll always continue to double-check). One of the best feelings I can get, is the moment I realize I was wrong, when my view of the world or a specific topic is fundamentally changed. I read, view and listen to a huge amount of scientific content, trying constantly, to experience the rush. However week after week this podcast manages to challenge my understanding of the world. Please keep up the great work. Also come to Australia, we have a thriving scientific entertainment/education community in our media and I am sure the listener base could be expanded here in Oz. Howdy Brian! I love your podcast and everything you contribute to critical thinking and skepticism. Skeptoid is one of my favorite podcasts including The Skeptics Guide, Skeptic Zone, and Geologic. Keep up the good work, and thank you very much for what you do. "Not explaining science seems to me perverse. When you're in love, you want to tell the world." - Carl Sagan Excellent, Brian. I love reading your transcripts, articles, episodes. Thank you so very much for your balanced reporting. Thanks for all the hard work you do on Skeptoid, Brian, keep it up! It's one of only 2 podcasts I make time for (and I spent a year catching up on the 400 episodes you did before I first heard about Skeptiod). Excellent! I love your writing, your reports. Kudos! I just wanted to say I love this show. It was recommended to me by the skeptics guide to the universe, my other favorite educational podcast and I wasn't disappointed. The episodes are short but thorough, so I get to learn without it being a lecture that requires a time commitment. And the lack of ads means I don't have to skip through anything or hear the same annoying ads back to back when I listen to several episodes at a time. Keep up the excellent work. I absolutely love the podcast. I've been catching up on old episodes and dreading the day when the backlog runs out and I have to wait to get my next fix. I suppose I could learn Chinese to absorb your other content. Or there's always cocaine. Equally addictive to Skeptoid. I recently listened to the Trinity Interview episode and I have one criticism/suggestion. Please, please, please put a warning that it shouldn't be listened to when driving or operating heavy machinery. Please. I almost crashed my car laughing so hard and I don't think my insurance would accept 'podcast' as a reason for claiming ;) I plan to turn the chorus into my ringtone. Maybe I can get more people interested that way. Absolutely love you guys!! Love the show. I discovered it about three weeks ago and have since made it through all 500-odd episodes. I especially enjoy the listener feedback episodes. The comments I find particularly entertaining are the ones where someone says something like, "I really enjoyed the show until you did the episode about X brand of pseudoscience that I buy into. Now I'm unsubscribing because you tried to debunk my preferred delusion." These people completely fail to realize that the method used is exactly the same for every episode, no matter what the topic is. I thoroughly enjoy the show and now that I'm current on the episodes, I'm becoming a monthly micropayment supporter. Keep up the great work. I love the show, think it's great, especially your ability to engage detractors. Clears and elevates any doubt that you are sufficiently doubtful. Never had a problem with what you have to say, especially not the way you package and present it, even when I've disagreed. It's a good show when you can enjoy disagreement as freely as agreement. I have seen your podcasts change people's thinking: my wife believes more crazy stuff than Fox Mulder. Now she listens to Skeptoid and she GETS it! She actually realizes how crazy most of the superstitious nonsense she grew up believing in are just that: nonsense. Please keep up the excellent podcasts and I'll keep up the monthly micro-payments. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed Episode 503, "Bad Science on PBS." The combination of investigative reporting plus editorial was really compelling journalism. I still enjoy the classic "myth busting" episodes, but I think there's a genuine need for more programming out there that addresses issues in science communication about which the average listener may not be aware. As a science writer myself, I believe that this program was one of your all-time best, and I hope that you do many more like it. I just want to thank you for bringing skepticism and a little humor into my life. It has been an absolute joy following the articles on your site these past five years, and my only regret is that I didn't find them sooner. I will continue to follow your work as long as you are doing it. I read (and listened to) the article Your Body's Energy Fields and I'm very impressed both by the content matter and the ingenious use of popular culture (reference to Star Wars). I work at a Technical University and I am sure many of my students would love this site. I am going to recommend it to them for sure while look forward to exploring the site. 500 weeks, my goodness, it doesn't feel like that long. I had to go back to the list to find out when I'd started listening and it was #19, I have this intense dislike for the words "organic" and "natural and some comment sent me here for "Organic Myths". I really liked this episode, it reminded me of why I love Skeptoid. It keeps me thinking and reminds me not to assume anything. Doubt things that seem to be too easy and too obvious, and most of all never stop discovering and always, always stay curious. Thanks for a great 500 weeks and looking forward the next 500!? Thank you for radiating the highly enjoyable and informative beam of rational sunlight which weekly pierces an otherwise dark, dank, dreadful, heaving and massive superstitious cloud of irrational popular culture and mainstream press. My background is computing and engineering and I relish stories of the real, the rational, the scientific. Very nice article about Solfeggio Frequencies. Congratulations. I was impressed with the deep details of your writing, It was very entertaining. Keep it up! I do love the show. Just finished listening to every episode in about a months time. I have listened to Skeptoid for several years. In fact, it was one of the first podcasts I ever heard. It is entertaining and packed with useful information. I was a regular listener to Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell and have liked television shows about aliens, ghosts, conspiracies and the like since I was a teenager. I didn't necessarily believe everything these programs purported as truth but found it fun to know some of the beliefs that are out there. I have loved hearing Skeptoid give a reasoned, rational explanation of many of the events and theories with which I was already familiar and some that were new to me. I hope to be listening to Skeptoid far into the future! Just a note to say how much I love the show - really admire all the work you do, and it's a refreshing counterpoint to the woo out there on the web and other media. I am a graphic designer and illustrator and I really enjoy your podcast. I made this comic… http://hellosectorsix.tumblr.com/post/128054962441/sasquatchs-discuss-the-podcast-skeptoid Enjoy. What a great work ! The explanations are even clear for non scientific people...and for non English speaking people mr dunning talks as well as a BBC speaker...so merci= thank you Love your podcast. Love it love it love it.
Love the web transcripts too.
-r
-=- Hi Brian Dunning from skeptoid dot com! I am one semester away from finishing college and want to let you know how much I appreciate everything you've done. I started listening about four years ago. Skeptoid was the first podcast I discovered. I was watching "Ancient Aliens" and monster hunter shows a lot with my dad at the time, and your show was so much more entertaining. I loved how effortlessly you would shoot down all of their outrageous claims in a way that no sane person could logically disagree. That sort of sound logic and skepticism has been integral in navigating my way through college. I take everything someone tells me with a grain of salt and always do my research before I make a decision. As soon as I graduated and landed my teaching job, I planned on giving back to the creator of this program. Regardless, Hope the show goes on forever. Hey Brian,
I do you your site and the great job that you do here. I will contribute to your cause soon. Dave It is fantastic to finally find a good, solid, logical, skeptical podcast that uses as much real science as possible to explain the myths, pseudoscience, and conspiracies that plague our world. I would heartily recommend this series to anyone who loves objective thinking and holds a skeptical view of the world and its inhabitants. Your listening archive is large enough for me to listen for hours while I'm at work. Keep up the great work, and thank you to everyone at Skeptoid! I have just discovered Skeptoid and am enjoying it so far. I'll just mention a few things I've found useful: debunking those Rothschild memes on internet media; the explanation of why (most) conspiracy theorists aren't really crazy; the discussion of "Freeman On the Land" ( from reading, not listening). Keep it up, please. I have to say I love your site and approach. Myself, I would rather learn as much as possible about the unknown rather than just chalk it up to being mysterious. I find the supernatural, the unexplained and its like to be absolutely fascinating. But the true fascination lies in learning what lies beneath the surface of these phenomena. Great job! Hey!
Greetings from London. I listen to your podcasts while at work, it's actually improved my productivity! And I come home and have loads of stuff to talk about as well.
Keep up the good work! Hello & here's why I love you--FYI , have just moved from Tennessee to Southern California to be closer to my kids, only to find that my daughter was viewing the "documentary 'The Secret'" (!).... and as soon as I viewed that website, right away Googled "What is wrong with 'The Secret'" and so was led to your site = Yay! (& 'Hallelujah Chorus'!). Once my daughter gets off of her 'defense donkey', I will be sure to send her your critique--especially since she won't listen to me--totally disregarding that my own Master's thesis was on the history of the 'Self Help' industry in America--from the time of Benjamin Franklin up to the HEIGHT of the 'victimization' trend in the mid 80's (sheesh--is it not OVER yet???!) Anyway, as a result I will totally become a dues-paying member, thanks!!! A real soothing read for late nights when you want a comforting, well reasoned bedtime story. Thanks. I would like to lodge a complaint: having recently chanced upon Skeptoid podcasts, I have become so addicted to listening to current and past episodes of Skeptoid by Brian Dunning that it has seriously encroached into time I might have otherwise spent falling asleep on the train, staring into space etc.
Seriously, these podcasts are great work - keep them coming! Just one small criticism: I have found you referring regularly to scientists as "he", and to the sceptical "brotherhood" or "fraternity". I teach research methods to postgraduate psychologists, many of whom are almost certainly women, and they seem to understand science just as well as the men. Also, I am married to a full professor at this institution with over 50 peer reviewed articles to her credit, and when last I checked she was certainly female. So, can we have references to "he or she" when referring to scientists? And perhaps the "community" of sceptics? Thanks! The most refreshing web site on the internet. I simply want to sat that I've been enjoying Skeptoid since it's infancy. It's really helped me grasp the concept of critical thinking. My skills are very much a work in progress, but I'm learning how to express my position with eloquence.
The podcast is high quality, great website, top notch contributors. I recommend and share articles with anyone who I think will appreciate the value of the content.
Thanks for the great work! Dude-This podcast has changed my worldview. I'll be honest, half your topics, I dont care about....but the beauty is in the art of this skeptic formula you've introduced to me. I can honestly say I now feel five times extra competent having intellectual debate/discussion. I call people out on making far reaching comparisons. I stick to the point. Running narratives get dangerous fast. Thanks for keeping it simple and helping me grow.
Also-as someone that lives with occasional high levels of anxiety, you're helping me with that too... The worldview shift of questioning narratives, the narratives in my head that are creating powerful emotions are losing their power. You're helping cut off the self-perpetuating thoughts. Brian Dunning you're the man and you've got a new soldier. I wish you were my uncle and you should sell t-shirts. in order to not sound like too much of a fan boy, your voice on the intro to your podcast is ridiculous :) Just wanted to say I love Skeptoid and look forward to my inbox on Tuesdays.
This has probably come up hundreds of times, but has Skeptoid ever pitched itself as a TV show (beyond the InFact videos, which are also awesome)? There are so many shows promoting the paranormal and pseudoscience - most of these airing on science or history channels. Wouldn't it be great for these channels to air programs that are, you know, based on fact and/or the scientific method?
Wishing Skeptoid could reach more people. I mention it whenever I can. Keep up the stellar work! Hey Brian, I'm not sure if this site is solely administrated by you but I just wanted you to know that you have been ... Well you are certainly in the top 10, as far as life influences so far. I believed a few conspiracies for a while, rotschild conspiracies and such. I saw your YouTube series "InFact" a few years ago and, instead of crediting my open-mindedness - I would say your presentation helped me enormously in recognizing what cause or message might be fueled by this or that industry. You also helped me move past my juvenile vehemence for industry in general. I realize nothing is as simple as it seems now, and really, you are one of the few people that were able to articulate that to me in a reasonably unpatronizing way. The patronizing you did use was clearly due to your own disgust of the way certain ideologies tend to "recruit" funders and message spreaders.
I don't want to make this too lengthy so let me just make two points. Firstly, I want you tell you are unique in how you approach certain topics that conspiracy theorists flock to. Secondly, I really, really hope to donate to your site and your living in general because you have helped me see things a bit better and hold scientific inquiry to a much higher degree than I once did. I'm currently a college student, but as soon as I come up with a billion dollar idea, you sir will be one of the first beneficiaries I seek out. Your educational capacity is unprecendented as far as I've seen in over a decade of schooling and I hope your style of outreach can be expanded by my donations (or the kindess of anyone else reading this with the power to do so).
Seriously. My life could've taken a far less productive or critically thought out path if I hadn't seen your InFact series. I am forever grateful to you. I also enjoy your site! Keep up the good work, friend Yes, I love Skeptoid. There, I said it out loud. And, then I wrote it, here. Out of the thousands of podcasts that are available in a myriad of topics, Skeptoid stands alone and apart from all others. It provides a concise and succint look at critical thinking in an easy to digest format. The episodes are informative and do not take up any time with fluff. It introduces the topic, then delves right into it. I absolutely believe this is one of the best podcasts ever produced. Great, great job, Brian. Hi i want to say that you are doing very nice job to bring some rational arguments in the whole conspiracy stuff. but i want you to ask if can recommend some good books or sources from which you make your articles. Thanks
p.s sorry for my bad english Hi again Brian!
I have offered my dog Jamil as a burnt offering (but not really) for another award for you. Running out of dogs, my Friend.
My Wife visited the famous faith healer Amang Hari on her 30th anniversary in Kawit, Cavite (Google her, that's another story which I will be more than happy to share with you when you get some time!)
My Wife said prayers and lit candles, of which we have a bunch, for your award.
Believe it or not, she, my Wife, is very religious but really enjoys the podcast and In Fact videos.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks,
Tom I just wanted to say, as a donator, how much I love your show.
Oh, and I think you'll love this.
http://www.crispian.net/PTIR/Nonsense.html Just a quick comment to tell you how much I appreciate Skeptoid and what you are trying to achieve. I know people who believe in phantoms and fairies, people who embrace the latest fad diet or health craze and people who go to psychics and fortune tellers and pay money to be told “everything is going to be ok!� I have personally experienced a few strange things but I understand and recognise how fallible the human senses are. Keep up the good work you are doing, your articles on pseudoscience are particularly engaging! There are so many people who believe in miracle cures and self help claptrap and it annoys and frustrates me! If you want to lose weight and be healthier eat less, eat healthier and exercise more. There are no miracle drugs or supplements or diets. Put the fork down and get some exercise. I suppose we both hope common sense will one day prevail. I have two favorite websites: Skeptoid & Cracked. I stumbled across Skeptoid (probably a link on Cracked) several months ago and have been reading all your articles in chronological order. I'm only up to July 27, 2010...but I'm getting there. I love it. Keep up the great work! Found your site on accident when looking for critical thinking information. I really like the content. The world needs more critical thinking, or at least a dose of healthy scepticism. The article about the slacktivism was spot on! Kony 2012 was the "origin" of my conscious critical thinking as I felt ashamed that a simple video clip could make me feel emotion for something that is not actually true. You've got yourself a new reader/listener! Keep up the good work sir! I've grown up listening to Skeptoid in the car with my dad. Whenever I was driving with him, I begged for him to play the latest episode. For someone who grew up in a very science-based family, Skeptoid has always been intellectually stimulating and strangely comforting, especially on my recent long drives to and from university. From an avid fan and lifetime listener, thanks Brian Dunning for entertaining skeptics and reasoning with believers worldwide! Brian, I have been listening to Skeptoid off and on since 2007, and I figure it's time I finally say thanks. (I sent a small donation last week.) I love that your podcast is direct and to the point without ever making personal attacks against people who believe weird things. Skeptoid is great to listen to when going for a short walk, washing dishes, or shoveling snow. Hey Brian, Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your show, having recently started listening. I enjoy indulging in "conspiracy theory" podcasts and television shows even though I, myself, am a skeptic. Your podcast satiates that part of me that gets annoyed when other podcasts use phrases like "some say…" or only offer unsubstantiated, third party hear-say. You're the voice of logic in a realm primarily dominated by an utterly baseless majority. I will be donating soon! I simply wanted to say "thank you" for helping to spread the word about my Mars/Cydonia movie. And I wanted to let you know, if you didn't, that I actually modeled my podcast off of yours and AstronomyCast, so thanks for the inspiration. I love Skeptoid and eagerly await each episode. Skeptoid is superior to any other skeptic podcast I've heard because it is neat, clean, focused and well researched. I don't want to hear about what the host ate for lunch today, I want to learn about the topic at hand and rejoice in the debunking! Thank you! Skeptoid is my breath of mental fresh air: it lays it all out there saying "Here's what I found, what do you think?" Working in law enforcement in a support capacity, Skeptoid saves me from becoming permanently convinced that everybody out there is afflicted with concrete brain cells. Thank you!! I love your website. Your information is so factual and relevant. Thank you for debunking and demystifying certain theories that exist in the world today. You are truly a hero. I have been listening to Skeptoid for over a week, it had started from some myths poster to imgur and one of the Skeptoid podcasts was linked. From there I got a bit hooked. It's replaced Pandora's former place as my radio. I went on like this until tonight I actually found out there was an app. I just bought it and I am now going to find an excuse to take a drive. Cheers on all your work. I recently discovered this podcast and have been enjoying going through back shows. I love that the sound quality is good -- too many podcasts sound like they were recorded using the built-in microphone on a cheap laptop halfway across a large, echoey room. My only criticism is that I think that the podcasts are too short. I'm probably in total agreement with Brian's skepticism on his subjects, but I think some of them, no matter how fanciful, are pretty entertaining and worth a little further exposition. I work in broadcast journalism and the media, so facts matter to me, especially when pertaining to stories that seem sensational at first glance. I've always been fascinated by stories containing seemingly unsolvable mysteries, cryptids, UFOs, etc., but as a skeptic, I've always found it hard to find reliable sources of information and interpretation regarding these stories. Typically, most websites discussing these matters are unabashedly biased toward paranormal explanations of these events, and I am always disappointed to find a lack of credulity.This is why I love Skeptoid. I get my fix of weird, challenging mysteries, but from the rational perspective of a skeptic. Best of all, the alluring sense of mystery is not sacrificed, and Brian is always willing to admit when he's made an error - something we do not see often in the media these days. Keep up the great work! I'll always be an avid listener. I just made another small donation, as I have many times in the past. My 13 year old son and I both love listening to every episode in the car each week. Thank you for all of the information and entertainment. A good friend in South Korea put me on to this podcast and im hooked. Brian Dunning delivers an entertaining podcast in such a way that makes your inner Fox Mulder excited then Brian brings home the logic and tells you why everything you ever thought you knew was actually wrong. HAHA! just brilliant. Thank you Brian and keep up the good work. I just found your podcast and it mostly makes me very happy. The guys at work who have had to listen to me babble about my binge of over 300 episodes in a week are less enthusiastic. Thanks for giving me a concise place to point people when I tell them that I'm not the only person that believes in finding evidence before "going with my gut." the only times I haven't been happy is when I've had to go back through my own evidence on why something is bad and be more critical. But to be true to myself, I do this and have always found you to be correct. Keep up the great work! I have found a magic cure for an ailment I suffer from occasionally and wanted to let you know that these types of remedies DO exist. Sometimes I have nothing going on and I get a case of boredom. When this happens I turn to the remedy mentioned above...I listen to Skeptoid. BAM!! Boredom cured! Thanks Mr. Dunning! Hi, Brian. Love the site and look forward to every Skeptoid episode - a real treat, and the perfect antidote to the misinformation that seems so common these days. Keep up the good work! Thanks Mr. Dunning! An environmental group at my university (CMU) is screening GasLand and its sequel. I suggested to the even organizer that your inFact video on fracking on be played and she agreed! Thanks for the great tools for getting people to consider issues beyond the flashy info in the news. Hopefully it will gain you some new viewers and subscribers as well. Best! Thank you so much for producing the podcast. Being a college student, I hear a lot of pseudoscience being thrown around and it is always great to be able to have a place to refer people to. I thought I was rational and logical and skeptical - you have really opened my eyes to things I sort of believed in without really thinking about them too hard. Thanks a bunch! My vitamin cupboard is much smaller now... Hi Brian, I just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed the last episode where you address listener feedback. The format where you share listeners feedback and then elaborate on their thoughts is greatly amusing. My days of random donations are over, I'm happy to say that I've finally signed up for the monthly donation plan. You're doing a fantastic and important thing Brian, keep it up! Whether or not I agree with Brian's conclusions, I usually find he gives his topics the respect of thinking them through to the best of his ability (no one can be an expert on everything) and using valid arguments to try and make his point. If nothing else, if get to find out about some of the really ... shall we say "interesting" things people are observing and their "creative" ways of explaining them. Brian, I love your site. Thanks for fighting the good fight for science, logic, and reason. I'm currently in "job search mode" (ie, unemployed), but I've put a reminder on my calendar to contribute to Skeptoid once I'm receiving a paycheck again. In the meantime, I've given my friends a list of Skeptoid T-shirts as gift ideas for me. I've also posted a link to your Just Say No T-shirts at the Facebook group GMOLOL. I want you to know that I appreciate you. Skeptoid has entertained me, shaped my brain, and encouraged me to begin my own podcasting endeavor. You're one of my role models. Thank you, Brian! I work construction, and my guys on the site are always talking to me about conspiracies and urban myths, I say to heck with that, give me the cold hard facts and a container of coffee and I'm fine. Brian Dunning tells it like it is, but what the heck do I know, you can leave all that urban myth nonsense to the fat cats on wall street. I always listen on my way to work, give me a Skeptoid podcast and a buttered roll, and I'm fine. Thanks Brian. I woulld like to thank you. I listen to your podcast and many others while I do activities outdoors and because of this according to my scales I have lost about a hundred pounds or about 45 kg in last couple of years. Sorry no cash donations yet but keep the good work. Thank you so much for your well-informed, well-researched articles! I almost got sucked into the rabbit hole of many badly-researched blogs, and I genuinely appreciate the level of research done for this blog Hi Brian. This is going to sound like an odd request, but I'm a big fan of your work and I'd like to buy you a beer some time. Next time you come to Australia, first round is on me. I can't get enough of Skeptoid! Not only is it informative, it is highly entertaining. I listen to it with my 13 year old son and it has given us a lot to talk about. I'm voting every day until Dec 22 for a repeat Stitcher Award for 2013. Because I'm a huge fan...yes, but more because after some critical analysis - YOU DESERVE IT !! 2014 Resolution is to support Skeptoid more than in 2013. Cheers! Dear Brian, I love your mentality to reasonably scrutinize popular phenomena and I really find it inspiring the way you do it: free and - as it seems - independent of any economic 'power that be'. I hope that you are able to keep up this attitude and be critical towards ANYTHING that claims to be true. I'm personally concerned with demasking claims of thruth as simply being money (or power) driven. Which is understandable because the majority of people still seems to be convinced that we live in a world of scarcity and we have to own as much as possible. Thank you and I will make a donation to you/skeptoid to buy good cat food, it will get smarter from fresh fish ;-). Good luck, enjoy. Skeptoid is an entertaining education for becoming a better skeptic. Brian is doing a great job. Thanks for your always-excellent podcasts. Your work is the best of all the podcasts I listen to and I look forward to each new episode. I just made a small donation to help support you. Please apply all of it to your efforts. No need to send a DVD. Thanks for "keeping it real"! Thank you. You've changed my mind on a lot of issues. I feel I've always been a skeptic at heart, but the true value is learning how to convince others to convince themselves, without trodding on their beliefs. Before discovering this podcast, I had a lot of trouble determining what was real science and what was pseudoscience. After ten months of listening to the podcast on every car ride, walk to class, and 90 minute commute to work, I've finally got a handle on finding the information I need to make informed decisions and helping my friends and family do the same. I've fallen in love with the scientific method and finally understand concepts like the "null hypothesis" and "falsifiability." Using those tools and others Mr. Dunning shares with his audience has let me spot the logical fallacies present in much of the media presented everyday and form cogent, sound, reasonable arguments. I have been listening to Skeptoid for the better part of this year -- including going through past episodes -- and really appreciate it. Yesterday gave me an example of how much I appreciate it. I was listening to Science Friday's "Navigating Dietary Supplement Regulations" and found myself identifying the logical fallacies that one of the two guests for that segment made. Before listening to Skeptoid, I would have known that some of her arguments made me uncomfortable and seemed wrong. Thanks to Skeptoid, I was able to label each specific logical fallacy that I noticed. Thanks for that! :-) I am a history professor at a liberal arts college, and I recommend Skeptoid for my students in Historical Methods so that they can see great examples of critical thinking and source evaluation. Skeptoid is the smartest thing on my iPod. Hi Brian, a friend of mine recently showed me your website and I felt obliged to tell you that I have really enjoyed it. The articles I've read so far have been well-written and well-supported. I will be passing your website on to my friends and colleagues. Your sane and logical explanations of these all too common conspiracies and sensationalist brain-farts is great. Thank-you for the work you've done, and keep going! Great site! I stumbled onto skeptoid.com by complete (and lucky) accident and I'm glad I did. Insightful, interesting, and often hilarious. I wish I had time to read everything you've got here. Great podcast; very evenly presented. I just saw the "All About Fluoridation" inFact video, and wished it had been available a few months ago when the misinformation and emotion was high in Portland, which ultimately rejected fluoridation. As a physician, I find Brian organizes information in a way that can be presented to patients regardless of their underlying bias. Good work! I'm a subscriber! I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I run my own paranormal team with my husband and I absolutely love this site. There are hundreds of groups out there claiming they use "science" or "scientific methods" to hunt ghosts but we've always said there is no proof they even exist so how can you claim you're hunting them? We are firm believers in critical thinking (well, we're the mean ones who get lots of crap because we know most other groups make it up as they go along with all their "orbs" and claims of helping people with "demonic possesions!"). As it stands, we seem to be the only team that uses no gadgetry at all apart from a CO meter and infrasound detector. Thanks again, and keep up the amazing work. You rock! :D My husband and I are monthly supporters, and we eagerly consume each new episode. I wanted to offer particular praise for the raw milk episode, which demonstrated an ability to debunk the ridiculous raw milk health claims without vilifying or insulting those of us who, as rational adults, understand the health risks and choose to occasionally consume raw milk anyway (darn it, it's just so good). Keep up the good work! Brian, I wrote to you quite a while back when I was living in Abu Dhabi. At that time I did not have a job but listened to your podcast every week. I told you I would help you when I got some money. Now I have a little income and would like to contribute to help you to continue making a difference in this whacked out world we live in. Please keep up the good work!! Your friend, Dear Brian, I just recently discovered Skeptoid and I'm already loving it!! I'm now trying to catch up with the almost 400 episodes. Great podcast, high quality, good critical thinking... Greetings from the Netherlands. I discovered the podcast while looking for information to heal my brother of a bad case of 9/11 truthism. Although I failed in that pursuit, I have since listened to dozens of episodes, on various topics, and have become a huge fan. Thanks for the hard work and thorough research. Keep the episodes coming. Brian, I've always listened to your show for its entertainment value. I am a supporter, and I love the work you do, but I'm a pretty skeptical person to begin with, and you have never saved me from a trap until now. A dear friend of mine has fallen into the darkness of pseudo-science, and is taking Bodytalk classes, chiropracty, vitamin mega-dosing, and so on. I turned her to your podcast, and she is on the road to understanding. Thank you so much. She has real health problems, and thanks to you, she is going to get the help she needs. I heard about Brian and his show through listening to The Pod Delusion and thought I'd give it a try. It's a brilliant, well researched and informative program and whilst I like think of myself as being quite doubtful to any outlandish claims since I was quite young, this has made me think much more about the how's and whys of exactly what is wrong with... For example, homeopathy, reflexology and other such pseudo-scientific areas. Basically I thought they were all crap, and now I know they are! keep up the great work and you found another contributor right here! Thank you for your podcasts and the good that you have done through them. Brix I've been getting into skepticism and was subscribing to various podcasts for it. Skeptics Guide To The Universe, Skepticality, and a few others. I found this one and decided to give it a listen. I liked the short run time and instantly fell in love. I immediately had to pull down all 300+ old episodes and have been listening to them pretty much non-stop for the past few weeks. I have watched Here Be Dragons and have been posting often on Facebook links to the text transcripts of the episodes of the podcast. I love the promotion of good science and critical thinking and absolutely love the quack filled listener feedback episodes. My favorite thus far is still the Secret of the Gypsy Queen. Absolutely fantastic work Brian. I can't wait to save up some cash and get me a shirt and setup a micropayment. I also will be leaving a review on iTunes. (You can now transfer the Amero's to my secret Illuminati bank account with the Rothschild's for the endorsement.) Just wanted to thank Brian for the work he put in on Skeptoid. It's wonderful and what is needed. So, Thanks Brian. I'm gonna go donate a little right now. I stumbled upon skeptoid.com when assessing the credibility of naturalnews.com, after someone in a Facebook group on Gardening posted a questionable article. I'm a sophomore biology student and find widespread irrationality downright depressing. Thanks for what you're doing. You guys rock. I love all your podcasts and am going through them one by one. Due to Brians dulcet tones if I ever heard his voice in public I would know him instantly. "This is Brian Dunning". I am nearly 50 years old and have always been a skeptic and consider myself a clear thinker. I have used your podcast to enlighten quite a few. Keep up the good work. Now . . . I can support you by getting a t-shirt or something hmm. Brian: Thanks for a great site - I stumbled on it in following up a link from Australia's Radio National page discussing aquatic origins of humans. I like your personal tone - in contrast to so many sites which seem to think this kind of tone might interfere with their credibility. Thanks, Brian, for not only possessing a great sense of humor, but for exercising integrity and honesty in your efforts here on Skeptoid. I find it ironic that scores of people...self-styled "truthseeksers" as it were - devote such energy in attacking your character whenever you dare to seek the truth. It's a rather sad commentary about our species that so many people would rather spend their lives examining their own posterior than be bothered to yank their heads out and take a look at this amazing universe we are a part of. Brian, you do a marvelous job and are really great about correcting any inaccuracies in your previous episodes. I don't get the whole, "you are the arrogant Mr. Science guy thing" You're pretty humble bout things. For this reason when you do go off on a comment and get sarcastic with some of the insane feedback, I fall off my chair laughing. Episode 150 was hilarious! Thanks for all you do and I have done my 2 and 2. When my checks from the freelance work I do starts coming in I will make a donation because what you are doing is popularizing science in a way that not many people have a knack for. Thanks again. As a devout Christian, I approached your podcast with some trepidation, suspicious that it would primarily be thinly and/or not-so-thinly veiled attacks on my worldview. While I imagine, perhaps unfairly, that you've been tempted to devote a few episodes to various aspects of religious belief, I've been pleasantly surprised to find the podcast generally steers clear of that subject and onto roads much less traveled. Bravo, sir... while I am certainly not afraid of a critical analysis of my faith, those ruts have been thoroughly worn by others, and I very much enjoy the discussion of lesser-known phenomena. I just signed up for a monthly donation, and look forward to future podcasts! I was setting up a new podcast player on my phone and putting in the Skeptic's Guide to the Galaxy and accidentally hit the button too early with only 'skep' and it showed me this podcast. I started with the latest one and I'm blown away with the quality show after show. I just got past epsidode 300 with the opera and just loved how it was done. The only thing I don't like about the show is that I wish they were longer, which I guess speaks volume to how much I appreciate everything. I'm looking forward to becoming a supporter soon after I can put away a little money. Well, just wanted to let you know you that you make my life better. Love your comments - watched "Here Be Dragons" and was enthralled! Sent the site to my kids - they are so easily fooled!
You go, Brian - good work! I love this podcast and website. I am thoroughly addicted since I just started listening. I go through at least 4 episodes a day (it would be more but work keeps requiring me to talk on the phone). I learn something new every episode. Even for topics on which I consider myself very well read, there is always a new piece of information, a nuance, an interpretation that I can add to my knowledge base. I am so happy that I can listen to this podcast. I feel like a smarter person and a better skeptic for its existence. And it helps that Brian has a great voice to hear! I just received my autographed copy of "Skeptoid 4: Astronauts, Aliens and Ape-men" and wanted to thank you for that AND I wanted to thank you for the "shout out" you gave me on Lewis Schofield's radio program. [Oh, I was the guy that sent you a screen shot of the Thunderbird email program awhile back with the "Here Be Dragons" warning in the adjustments for that program.] Again, many thanks! Just wanted to say that I'm a big fan and have not one criticism to offer. You hit everything right on the mark of my 'yup, that feel about right' first instinct truth check. I love conspiracy theories- reading about and/or discussing them. Upon discovering your podcast I found the balance. Sometimes it's easy to get pulled over to the 'dark side' on less fantastical topics, and it's nice to have something like your podcasts to listen to to keep me even keel. I appreciate your line in the sand. Keep up the good work. You may very well get an introduction to my checking account (a first for me). I studied critical thinking at university several years ago and took it for granted the tools I had learned to cut through the BS. Your goal of spreading critical thinking in schools and young people is truly commendable. Science, and our standard of living will only progress with critical, analytical people who are willing to question and know the actual truth. You are contributing to the next generation of important people. Love the podcast. Keep up the good work. Don't let the angry haters and oxygen thieves bring you down. Hopefully their children will be a little more open minded thanks to people like you. I'm delighted to find this website. Just beginning to access it, but it's clearly based on critica and informed orientation to the factual world. I hope to support it as I can. Love the show! I just donated $20. Thanks for a great show! Hi Brian, I have been listening to your podcasts for a while now and just listened to your second listener mail one. Anyway, my point is that I wanted to say after hearing all the idiots dumping on you and saying so many bad things about your podcasts, that a true sceptic gathers all the facts to present an argument and then presents it, just like you do. Just because (to quote Jack Nicholson) they can't handle the truth because it upsets them is their problem. So anyway, keep up the great work, I will be listening to the rest of the podcasts until I am caught up. Thanks for enlightening me on so many issues. Jim I'm a college government professor (and make "micro-payments" if I remember correctly what you call them). Each semester I offer extra credit for students to listen to one of your episodes and submit a brief comment on it. I always get a (very) few "This guy's full of it!", and even more "I hate you because now I'm going to have to listen to all the episodes!" Love your show - going back to it after you were on the 'smart people' podcast ...thanks. Skeptoid is my favorite podcast: it's entertaining, interesting, and well-researched. Dunning's approach is not dismissive - he strives not only to apply critical thinking skills to the subject, but also to teach these skills to the listener by walking you through his process. I cannot get enough of these episodes. The mix of well known and obscure topics makes a great mix, and Brian Dunning is one of the most entertaining people I have ever heard. A cut above the rest. Thanks for your well researched shows and great articulated delivery in your podcasts that you produce each week. Your show is entertaining, informative and useful. You don't often get to see that combination in pod-casts. Very few can claim that trophy. I only listen to the cream of podcast shows and rank you as number one along side the ABC (Australian Broadcast Corp) Science Show hosted by Robyn Williams. (If your not sure who he is, just take it as a huge compliment). Hey Brian, I saw you on TV! Did you get to actually meet William Shatner? I'm guessing probably not, since you guys were never in the same shot together. It sucks that they completely failed to mention how the film not in the box under the control of the seance people at the Scole experiment didn't have images on it the film. I'm sure you had a whole lot to say on the matter, but they only used 45 seconds of your input. Anyway, good on you! I'm a longtime listener and financial supporter. Skeptoid is the podcast to which I look forward the most each week, as are your posts on Skepticblog. I admire and support your project of trying to make a living out of combating that which earns con men great riches. Thanks for the show! it is amazing and has improved my critical thinking skills by leaps and bounds! I am proud to support something I believe is critical for people to know. In what seems to be the second dark age in terms of critical thinking skeptoid is a shining beacon I hope to share with as many people as possible. I have made a few comments here and there on your various articles. You are one of my personal heroes (I find a great deal can be learned from skeptics and scientists and those are my heroes). The work you are doing is truly not wasted and is making the world a better place. Reality is more fantastic than any myths humans could ever dream up (and boy are they proficient in the craft of mythopoeia). It is comforting to know that there are people out there who are as excited about reality as you are. And with every episode of Skeptoid there are more and more of them. Good luck with all your work, always have fun and never stop. Hearty congrats on the Stitcher award. To my mind you are performing an INVALUABLE public service whether you realize it or not. KEEP IT UP! Mr. Dunning,
I was just listening to one of your student questions episode where you made the following comment; that western medicine isn't just about the disorder or condition and that it was about the patient.
I only mention this because of the experience of a dear friend who had an extremely rare liver disorder. So much so that if you were to look up the prevailing literature it is entirely likely that she was the subject referenced. She often commented that conversation would devolve to "the liver" when discussing her and that she would find herself speaking up with "Ahem, the liver has a name you know".
Not to disparage your efforts but that statement rather hit a spot and I felt compelled to speak. I otherwise am endeavoring to listen to every single one since your start. They all show the mark of good research and honest inquiry.
The best to you and your investigations,
Gary
PS - unless I missed it an episode on your favourite search engines, resources might of great interest.
thanks First: Thank you. Second: These podcasts are like popcorn. Once I finish one I immediately listen to another. Third: I have difficulty expressing how thrilled I am to have these little doses of skepticism. Fourth: Thank you. Skeptoid is by far my favorite source for critical thinking and rationality. I love the short format and the fact that episodes are scripted. This makes each episode clear and coherent and eliminates wasted time. In addition, Mr. Dunning's smooth delivery makes listening a pleasure. Glad to see a site that debunks a lot of those "fairy stories" that are passed around as the truth. I personally can't stand it when even legitimate sources try and sell the people a bunch of hype. I also like the transcripts of the episodes. Like one of your other fans, I too have a hard time paying attention to video/audio and I much prefer to read. Thanks, keep up the good work. I just wanted to thank you for providing a transcripts of videos. I absolutely loathe watching videos as I don't take in information very well by hearing it. I much prefer to read text and so often now websites opt just for video. It's always such a relief to find there's a transcript. PLUS, w hen there is sound on my computer my cats come and stand in front of the screen. I discovered the skeptiod podcast via some internet comments some time back. I am now a contributing member because the episodes are excellent and entertaining and because Brian is doing a great service by teaching the world how to think critically. Even though I find many of the urban myths suspect to begin with, the means in which it is disproved is fascinating. I also get a great deal of insight into science and history that I have discovered on my own. Thank you for your time and effort Mr. Dunning! I just wanted to thank you for the great service that you are offering to society. I have always thought that I was a fairly skeptical person myself, until I started listening to your show, and it has opened my mind that much more. I particularly loved your episode about being able to tell what websites are most likely reputable places to find valid scientific research. Also, with the help of your Cleansing Diet episode, I have managed to save my friend a good lump of cash! I will definitely continue to listen, and once I get paid on the 15th will donate to your cause. Please do not ever stop doing this show! Hey, Brian. I have purchased your first three books, read them lovingly, and have spread them around to quite a few Privates in the US Army. As Privates will do, they have "used" (IE: destroyed) them thoroughly, and, without any sense of greed, I am asking you for a few additional copies. Would it be possible to send a few of your extra copies my way? Love the podcast. I've listened to about 300 since I discovered it while searching for science podcasts on Itunes a couple of weeks ago. Keep up the good work. Great job with the podcast. A voice of sensibility and reason in a world going mad. Working my way through the back catalog of episodes. Thanks for all your work. Mr. Dunning I just want to tell you how much this pocast has come to mean to me. I came upon your show via your recent appearance on SGU and I must say I am hooked. I have at listened to nearly every episode of Skeptoid, working backwards by year (which is amusing since it sounds like you're going through puberty in reverse) and I am changed person forit. I can honestly say Skeptoid has changed my life. Critical thinking and skepticism has gone from a passing interest to my passion. I've started my own blog about hogwash and hokum. I just want to say thanks. As soon as I am done typing this I am going to sign up to make my micro payments. Keep it coming! The discussion about conspiracy and conspiracy theorists is constructive and helpful. Thank you. I just wanted to say that even though I've only really been introduced to the skeptic community for a few months now, (I always just considered myself a cynic before that), Skeptoid is one of the best skeptical podcasts I listen to. I like the short format that focuses on a single topic, and the information is always presented in a very entertaining manner. Please keep up the good work, and here's hoping for 350 more episodes (at least)! Skeptoid is exactly the kind of thing that pop culture needs. Rational and critical thought should never be fringe and Brian Dunning is doing a great service to all. As a proud alumnus of Thunderwood University, I can vouch for the insight and temerity of the Skeptoid team. Dr Dunning, et al, have produced a first rate program that never fails to ask the hard questions and turns the skeptical eye to any number of cherished idiocies. Three cheers for Skeptoid, and many happy years ahead. I'm not just a supporter, I'm a graduate! Well, as of tonight, I've listened to every single episode. It's been a pretty wild trip. Surprisingly, the most disturbing one was the Lost Cosmonauts, and it haunted me for days. Fortunately you gave me a bit of closure with the WVU talk I found on YouTube. Thanks for your commitment. It shows. Now, I suppose I'll get cracking on all your videos next. Also, I've got a couple show ideas I'm sending via the appropriate channels. Hello Brian. I have actually only just recently been introduced to Podcasts by my father, who is an engineer at Lockheed Martin, and loves to listen and learn about all things science related. Among the many shows he has introduced to me within the last month, yours is my absolute favorite. I have always been interested in urban legends and anything "paranormal", not because I really believe any of it to be true, because it's a well-known fact that none it is has been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt, but because it's just an entertaining concept. I love to listen to your views on these topics and just about every other topic you discuss, and to be honest, listening to your show has actually replaced pretty much all of the time that I would normally spend watching what little is left of any quality programing on various learning channels. However, I must admit that I get a good laugh every now and again from shows that suggest that there's absolutely no way that Albert Einstein could have been as intelligent as he actually was without the influence of extra-terrestrials. Thank you for your sensible contributions to the world of critical thinking, and for providing quality entertainment and a new opportunity to learn. Keep up the good work, and I will keep listening. I love your show. I like that in only 10 minutes you can fill me up with so much information. I like that in 10 minutes you can destroy some of my 20-year-old false beliefs. I was sad for the Bermuda Triangle though. But I was happy for the organic food stuff. I can't afford to eat too much organic, so I'm relieved. Hi Brian, Thanks very much for the Skeptoid podcast! As someone who's been diagnosed with ADHD, I get to see all kinds of wacky pseudoscientific "cures" lobbed at our community. I feel like parents of kids with ADHD are one of the largest target markets for hucksters bearing snake oil and false hope, possibly second only to parents of kids with autism. Science isn't some arcane art practiced by people in lab coats, but our way of reasoning about the world every day -- our way of objectively figuring out what reproducibly works rather than relying on subjective impressions and gut feel. In a world that seems to measure the truth of a statement by how frequently and emphatically it's made, it's heartening to have a weekly reminder that I'm not the only one who would rather make important decisions based on *evidence*. Mr. Dunning, just thanking you for your podcast. I live in an area where critical thinking is hard to find. I heard you on skeptics guide and have been listening like crazy the past few weeks. I am signing up for the monthly donations. Things are super tight with my family but I figure if I can buy that 6 pack of beer I can support you. Sorry it has taken me 6 years to find you. I have been listening to you for roughly two months now and love your show. I've even got two of my co-workers who carpool with me interested and we listen to older shows to and from work. Keep it up. Thank you for your clear-minded analysis of the painful nonsense that fills the internet. Far too many people I know believe the most unscientific blather and numerous conspiracy theories. It is beyond annoying listening to their drek. And I'm old enough now that I feel disinclined to waste my valuable time trying to 'disprove' fairy tales. You've provided a valuable resource. Thanks! I just wanted to let you know that I've found your podcast to be one of the internet's best. While many who have emailed you may disagree with me, I think that you are honest and fair in your assessment of various topics. Rather than let your emotions get the better of you, you calmly state the facts as you see them and as they have been found by various researchers. You simply present the raw facts for the consideration of the listener and allow them to decide what they make of them. Thank you for being a light of reason and rationality on an internet filled with insanity. Congratulations on the Stitcher Award. Well deserved. Brian, I started listening and now subscribe via iTunes. Outstanding entertainment with substance. Good use of contemporary as well as historical material wrapped in good humor and, what is sadly missing from most media, logic. Recently began re-reading Carl Sagan's "Demon-Haunted World" at your instigation. Thanks for reminding me of that. Great video, by the way. You just received via PayPal a share of my annual charitable donations ... and I don't care that you're not a 501(c)3, yet. It's not the tax deduction, it's the chance to support "a single candle in the darkness." Just heard the Chinese woman advertising Skeptoid on "The Skeptic Zone" (as is wont to happen there -- a habit of theirs that I thoroughly approve of). Her voice is amazing -- I nearly melted in my chair. You have the sexiest Skeptical podcast intro (for the Chinese populace, anyhow) on the net, bar none! And,of course, are right up there in the top three over all. Thanks Brian, for all you do. My friend has been raving about you podcasts for a couple months and I finally listened. What took me so long? I love your style. Nice work. I'm enjoying Episode 300 right now. A friend introduced me to your podcast and I have been hooked since the first episode I listened to about Organic Food Myths. My sister is a firm believer in many forms of pseudoscience and homeopathy, not to mention anti-vaccine and she often makes me feel like she thinks that I am crazy for not believing those things as well. Thank you for validating my opinions and helping me to site actual scientific research when we debate. I find most of the topics fascinating and I have learned a lot from listening. I very much enjoy listening to an episode and then researching it on my own. Your podcast is amazing. I can't thank you enough for introducing me to critical thinking! Once before, I used to believe in ghosts, horoscopes etc. Now I know that most things have a more realistic explanation. There should be more people out there, that promote critical thinking. In Australia, we have several high profile people such as Karl Kruszelnicki and Richard Saunders. I also admire people such as Richard Dawkins and Penn and Teller, as they do not hide their atheist or critical thinking views. I have listened to your podcast archive once through already, but I usually put a podcast or two on, to ease me into sleep at night. I love the varied content, and I find the episodes refreshing and easy to understand. I also love how you mix in other countries content, and I loved the Westall UFO episode, and the episode on the Port Arthur Massacre, as these were local stories I knew of. I have just downloaded and watched "here be dragons", and I will distribute it to people I know. Schools need to promote more critical thinking, as it is a important life skill. Thank you for opening my eyes to Critical thinking! I just wanted to say I love the show and also just watched the first episode of "Truth Hurts" and really enjoyed it. Is there anything I can do to help get the show on the air of a real network? Hello Brian, I just donated $35.00 to you. When everyone asked what I wanted for Christmas this year, I simply said: Money do donate towards my favorite podcasts. Here is the result. Merry Christmass and have a great year. Keep up the good work and all you do for the community. As a new listener to your podcast, Mr. Dunning, I must say that I am now a die hard fan! Much like a select few of your listeners, I am a Christian, however I do understand the dividing line between belief/faith and science. I must tell you that you have opened my eyes to a better way of thinking, a new & shall we say 'critical' way to look at things. I have recently received "Demon Haunted World" by Dr. Carl Sagan as a Christmas Present, per request, thanks to you, and I am looking forward to learning from it. What YOU are doing, is a GOOD thing. When I can afford to, I will be making contributions for Skeptoid.com, hopefully soon (I'm starting a new career), but until then, please know that I'll be listening to everything you have to say. For what it's worth, Merry Christmas, and thank you for opening my eyes to truth!!!! Congratulations on the Stitcher award and for your recent expansion into Chinese! This is the best written and produced skepticism podcast I've yet found. Your writing is really sharp (even barbed at times) and I'm always amazed at how much ground is covered in about 15 minutes. I wish I could get MORE Skeptoid every week. I've even turned a few friends and my brother onto the podcast. We love it! (God that sounds excessively effusive, but it's all true.) I donated a litle bit recuring payment to your acount. I know it is not much, but... I listen to your podcasts in my car. You really opened my eyes in many ways. I hope the universe will find a way to reward you. Recently discovered your web site and have become an avid reader and follower. I find your Episodes contain more information in a single sentence than the majority of thousand word articles. Have found a few points I will be responding to, but for now, I for one appreciate the knowledge as invaluable. Brian, congratulations on your recent Stitcher award for best science podcast. I couldn’t agree more with the choice…well deserved! Of all the things you do, I believe your work with school groups and youth in general is the most important of all. I find fewer and fewer young people that understand what critical thinking is let alone apply it in their lives. Keep up the great work! Hi Brian, please remove by previous (recent) comment and replace it with this one. I hate reading "thing" three times in my text. Thanks, and apologies!
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I've been enjoying the Skeptoid podcast for some time now. I am enjoying it even more since I recently became a paying supporter. It must be, you know, this psychological effect that makes you appreciate more the things you pay for. Or maybe that I see it a little bit as my own podcast. Who knows. In any case, it is an experience I recommend to every listener of the Skeptoid. Thanks, Brian! Congratulations Brian for receiving the 2012 Stitcher Award. A well deserved honor for a great podcast. Thanks for correcting the Betz sphere St George Island mistake... I have a place there and was going nuts trying to figure out some of the facts based on the wrong location. Enjoy the show, thanks. I found your site while reading about the sliding rocks of Racetrack Playa (I'm sure I solved it) and I am so amazed. It is very hard to find people with both common sense and an education. You have more than your share of both. I love Skeptoid! It is sad that you don't do politics, but of course no one would listen, and half of the population would hate you. But they wouldn't be able to do the math to post. Thanks so much for your podcast that I listen to in my car to and from work. The most amazing thing I found was the fantastic quality of the shows both in information and audio quality. You're very professional. PS. I'm one of the micropayment people :) (but I chose yearly) Please keep up the fantastic work, I really do love listening to your podcast. PS. Expect a postcard in the next couple of weeks! :) :) I stumbled upon your podcast while browsing itunes for something constructive to listen to, while i go running. I randomly picked some episodes that seemed interesting and was repeatedly, positively surprised, how you manage to convey a sense of critical thinking whithout any sort of preposition or ideology. This is how i like to gain knowledge and how i might eventually arrive at previously unthinkable conclusions. Your work is very much appreciated. I've been following Skeptoid for quite a while now and I have to say that it taught me how to think critically. Keep it going! Thank you very much!! Recently discovered your show podcast. Its great, keep up the good work. My break with Christian fundamentalism began while I was deployed in Iraq. I was separated from my now wife and tried to strengthen our relationship by a parallel reading of the scriptures. As it turns out--my connection with religion and faith broke in that study. It might have had something to do with my third world situation in combo with the drivel i read throughout the deployment there. I only wish I had been aware of some such resource as the one you offer. Your clarity is refreshing and humbling and with each episode I find myself less suffering from guilt over my lost beliefs and more confident in my new-found knowledge. Bless you and the SGU Rogues for helping me through this transition. Hoping that one day my wife will join me in the ranks called skeptics...until then. I'll be exposing her periodically to your wonderful episodes in hopes she will see me less as an immoral man pridefully making a god unto himself and more so as most of all are--normal people that do good things on a daily basis. I love what your'e doing and I am so happy to add my support to our cause. Thank you very much for the work you are doing. Listening to your podcast has really opened my eyes to some of the shams and schemes that are out there. Your film Here be Dragons was really informative and interesting and has given me the tools to see through the misinformation. Thank you once again Brian and keep up the good work. Thank you SO MUCH for your info on the Kangen water system. I was approached by one of their sales people after an exercise class. I was going to run it all by my husband, who is a scientist and a skeptic! but thankfully, with a little diligence i found your site! You just saved me a bundle! (not that i would have caved...but i might have!) I have recently uncovered many things about the war (what it is about... or what people think it is about), the Illuminati, Rothschild, conspiracy, conspiracy, conspiracy... It was my first time ever uncovering conspiracy theories. I was so over-whelmed that fear took over. I couldn't stop reading and I've been sacrificing precious sleep to delve deeper only to find more and more conspiracy. It is not often you run into fact. I never tried to debunk anyone, as I didn't have facts but ask anyone for them and you're met with... ...nothing. I hope for the sake of mankind that there are no true conspiracy such as I have read about. You gave me some peace of mind tonight, and I thank you. Although I do feel like we all deserve to live a better, different life (we work together, sow often, put value in our earth not the monetary system, etc.)I find it hard to believe that things are that bad. It does not seem like, especially with so many people in the "know", anyone -no matter their position in life, could successfully pull off such conspiracies. I do not even believe that the bible is correct as far as predictions for all this go either. If it were, why has there been so many theories on our high power? Why were so many Gods and Goddesses worshiped in the history of man? I believe that there will be new gods, new beliefs, and that's all they are. Beliefs. If there were one, we would all know it. Life is what we make it... Make it good. Anyway, thank you again. I sincerely appreciate you for this! I really like Brian. I enjoy his smooth baritone voice, his sense of humor, and his ability to tell interesting stories and educate us about the scientific aspects of these stories. Thanks Brian! I just read your article on fluoridation that was printed in today's (Oct 20th) Ottawa Citizen. Excellent article and very typical of your objective, reality based podcasts. I loved the Canadian references. Brian, Skeptoid is a brilliant Pod cast short and to the point. As a regular listener to Dr Karl on JJJ, the Novellas and co on SGU and Dr Pamela on Astromony cast, Ive now made enough space in my week to get another 30 mins of entertainment via Skeptoid. Im starting to wonder if too much is too much... nah, there enough woo in the world to balance it all out. Keep up the good work. BTW Podcasts are a great way to get fit, I seriously dont notice the hour go by on the spin cycle, you guys are saving my life literally!!! Been following Skeptoid for a few years now and I'm always impressed with the dedication that Brian puts into each episode. Have just subscribed for a monthly (modest) donation but its my way of saying Thanks! Just wanted to say thanks for *adding* corrections to past articles as visible updates, rather than just *fixing* them to be as they "should have been". It's a small thing, but displays that extra bit of open honesty that we all value about Skeptoid. Good stuff. Right stuff, I would say. Especially I like the non contemptuous approach, opposite which I sometimes find in otherwise high quality skeptical stuff in internet. Brian, Love what you do. Thanks for producing such great shows. Hi Brian; I am a faithful reader (I go for text versions rather than audio playback). I tried to donate to you via Paypal, and receive your CD-ROM. But for me, the most important part is giving you recognition for your hard work; the CD-ROM is just bonus. Keep up the very good work. I am impressed with both your dedication and your professionalism. First off, thank you! I am a born-again skeptic. I used to suscribe to just about every crackpot conspiracy theory out there. I now tell everyone I debate, about just about everything, to re-examine their point using the null hypothesis. Thank you! Keep up the great work. Brian, you have my utter gratitude. I am a 15-year-old atheist boy living right in the middle of the bible belt. To top it all off, my parents have raised me to believe that ghosts, aliens, demons, and pretty much anything you can think of are real. I couldn't sleep at night, and every time I told my parents I was scared of something coming to get me, their standard answer was, "Well, if they haven't come for you before, why would they come tonight?" Not very reassuring, I know. Thank you soooo much for being in the podcasting business Brian, you are my hero. I am an avid listener of your podcast and have enjoyed listening pretty much to all of the first 250 episodes in 2 weeks. I enjoy the idea of critical thinking and would like to know of maybe other podcasts or things to do with critical thinking for which you may refer to, I enjoy George Carlin the comedian for the same reason. A lot of his comedy is based on critical thinking. Keep up the good work. Skeptoid changed my life, or at least my way way of thinking. Although not overzealous, I was a believer in all manner of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. I frequented websites such as above top secret (as an example) and was mainly lured in not by the facts but by the way that believers made their claims, and by the way they presented the facts. With an emphasis on presented. I don't know how I stumbled upon Skeptoid but I am sure glad I did. Even though it was hard at first, listening to Skeptoid made me change my mind about many things, both science (911 engineers) and political related (global warming). Keep up the great work! Have been getting into your podcast lately. It really is stunning work. Listening to ep. 207 today, you made mention of the Thagomizer. Just wanted to tell you I haven't laughed that hard in years. I'm probably lucky I didn't wreck. Ripping off 30 year old gags may not be the height of humor, but Milton Berle did pretty well with it for 70 years. It was just so unexpected, it really cracked me up. You made my day. So now I guess I'm gonna have to break down and throw money at you. Keep up the great work! This morning I was reading the latest listener/reader feedback. I chuckled at some of the comments in submitted emails and more so by the replies you offered. I visit your web site on a regular basis. I enjoy the clarity you offer in your installments. The only time - very few times - I will raise an eyebrow is when I note the article has been condensed. This is done, I assume, for conserving space. So, other than my occasional muttering "um, you forgot about this," or "had you added this, or known about that author's research, you would have a more complete article," I truly enjoy my time reading the content of your web site. I just found your podcast and i find it interesting and a well spent listen. This show is excellent. Brian is very forthright and insightful not to mention funny. Anyone who has something between their ears would do well to listen to the show! Brian, you and the Skeptoid podcast are fantastic, such a breath of fresh air. I just made a donation through paypal - it isn't much, but hope it goes some way in helping skeptoid continue for a very long time. So, one day in my class in school, everyone one was in debate about the truth about the Illuminati, cause all teenagers love a good conspiracy. The teacher was just kinda playing along with it, and told me to check out an article about the Denver Airport mural. I am so glad I read said article. Ever since, I've been hooked on your podcasts and listen or read every week. As a teen, I feel it is extremely helpful to have somewhere like this to discredit some of the claims I'm bombarded with everyday, and also gives me the evidence I need to make my mum aware of some pseudoscience scam or another that she'll get herself sucked into. And although your topics about the paranormal sometimes challenge what I WANT to believe (not necessarily what I do believe) I like to think that I'm, slowly, starting to develop a critical sense of thinking when it comes to claims that, more often than not, are too good to be true. I just wanted to thank you so much for all the work you put in, and tell you how much I appreciate it. Keep it up! Howdy, just wanted to quickly say I'm a relative new-comer here but that I love your podcast and some of your other content too! My friend who is a microbiologist turned me onto your show and I've been loving it ever since. As more of a layperson it's so refreshing to find a show that doesn't have a huge bias! Thanks for all your hard work! Hi Brian! I just wanted to say thank you for making these podcasts. I listen to them frequently when traveling, as they help make long car rides much less painful. Keep up the good work! I just learned about Mr. Dunning and this site quite unintentionally. I was perusing Joe Swams' blog when I saw the picture of a dragon. It didn't seem too scientifical so I checked out the video. 'Here Be Dragons' was a stunning revelation for me. Mr. Dunning enunciated everything that I thought I knew but was unable to formulate into actual intelligible words. Thank you , thank you, thank you. I feel like standing up and shouting "I CAN SEE!!!' Hi Brian, I love your podcast and I've just subscribed. One of the first I heard was the Old Man of Ben MacDui. I've climbed it many times! Cheers, keep up the skeptical work! Just wanted to share an experience: Coming back from a business trip on a weekend, I decided to wear my "No. The Earth is not 6000 years old" T-shirt for the flight home. For the first time since I can remember, I've gotten favorable comments on my T-shirt from perfect strangers. Also a couple of odd looks from some Orthodox Jews, but that's to be expected. Anyway, keep up the great work - I'll try to buy another T-shirt or other swag when my budget permits. Just letting you know that I really enjoy your podcast, I have just recently started listening and I am hooked. The research and work you put in to each episode is amazing! My critical thinking skills are increasing and I am getting quite good at casting my sceptical eye over new fads, natural therapies and pseudo-science "mumbo-jumbo". (It's everywhere!) At the moment I am still catching up on all of your old episodes, I'm sure I will be upset when I have to wait a whole week for a new one! So thanks again Brian, I'm looking forward to your future "skeptoid" episodes and I hope to see you down here in Australia sometime soon! I just wanted to say keep up the great work. I listen every week and am always impressed by the quality of show you can turn out on a weekly basis. Now that I'm graduating & will not longer be a poor college student, I'm going to send you a donation when I move into my new apartment and start my new job. Thanks again, friend. Just discovered these podcasts and wanted to say thank you. A huge amount of time an effort must be expended to produce over 300 episodes. I thought I would mention that I found out about your site from a Dr Karl podcast, from whom you get occasional (very positive) mentions. Just wanted to say thank you for being one of the few vocal individuals who makes the effort to clear away the BS, exaggerations, and just plain untruths that clutter the popular imagination today. I just watched two of your videos and they are spot on. I think I'm starting to get hooked... When podcasting first came about. I immediately loaded up on all the Nessie and haunted house podcasts I could find. Admittedly, this had more to do with the fun of the "what if factor" than any strong beliefs. I also added some of the more skeptical podcasts. I did this reluctantly as I figured I'd hear nothing other than pessimistic rants that rained on my parade and took all the fun and mystery out of these things. I just realized that I've actually never heard a critical analysis of any of these topics that left me feeling as if I've been deprived. I've always come away more excited and interested in the facts behind these things than the lore itself. As you've said yourself, the real story is infinitely more interesting. I've lost track of the number of times I've found myself looking into the factual details of topics you've discussed. Thanks for everything. Keep up the great work! Firstly I'd like to thank you for your continued efforts in making a great podcast. I don't think I would be exaggerating when I say you have pointed my family and I down the path of constructive skepticism and I'm very grateful for that. As an engineer who has almost completed an Open University physics degree in my spare time, podcasts like Skeptoid and SETI's Big Picture Science have complimented my studies fantastically, and together these elements have really changed my world view, hopefully for the better! I just wanted to thank you for these podcasts, they are excellently presented and well organised leaving them very easy to follow. In particular I really like how the podcast is structured, covering the popular beleifs and also importantly why these beliefs might be held (just listened to the Zeitgeist episode). Thanks again and keep it up! I appreciate your podcast. I consider your work to be a above all similar efforts I know off. And since your podcast excels in sound quality, it's perfect listening material for my daily commuting. I have always valued critical thinking but you did help me to improve my own skills in this area by providing a clear and easy to understand framework. What I have undoubtedly gained trough your podcast is also the realization of just how dangerous pseudoscience and practice of taking things at face value really are. That this lack of critical thinking makes our world much worse than it would have to be and effects all aspects of life, from medicine to politics. The sad part is actually also the best one. Critical thinking is fairly easy to learn. Common logical fallacies are well known, all it takes is some self discipline to apply your knowledge. I loved your shows on logical fallacies and the movie here be dragons. I have started reading Nonsense: A Handbook of Logical Fallacies, which I found to be recommended reading in on one of the episodes, hoping to improve my skills even further. Thank you for your work. Fantastic site! It's a great example of how to be informative and entertaining at the same time. Probably the best compliment I can give is that my teenage kids are now hooked on your podcasts. Keep it up! I am a teacher and I teach a HS astronomy class. For the final project I gave them a list of "paranormal" subjects to investigate skeptically. I leaned real heavy on some of your past podcasts. One girl passed High School because of her cool report on the "shadow people". Thanks. I was introduced to podcasts by a "Stuff You Should Know" recommendation. After listening to everything they have, I went on a mission to find other great podcasts and learned quite fast that great podcasts are indeed, a rare gem. After listening to countless people rambling in no direction and laughing at their own horrible jokes, I was fortunate enough to find Skeptoid, just before I threw in the towel. Bravo Brian. I've only washed down about 50-60 episodes so far, but I wanted to quickly touch base and say, great job! Keep it up. Hi, I will try and keep my comments short - but the main point I want to make is a simple "thank-you." I had recently heard about a recent “earthquake swarm� taking place off Vancouver Island. So the other night, embarrassed by my ignorance on the subject, I decided to try and find some factual information regarding what an earthquake swarm was. However, my general search on the internet was a big mistake and I ended up entering the abyss of dis-information on earthquakes, including coming across the many conspiracy theories regarding HAARP. Well, curiosity got the better of me, and I spent my evening reading some of these sites and was became increasingly agitated and infuriated with such nonsense appearing to be so accepted among a portion of the world's population (me and my husband know people who have been 'taken-in' by many of these types of conspiracies). I was overcome with the feelings of hopelessness and despair that these ideas should receive any notice or recognition. To some people, these may feel like overly exaggerated feelings – but believe me this is exactly how I felt. However, the last website I read that evening was yours and the article dispelling the myths about HAARP. I can't tell you the sense of relief I felt while reading this and just wanted to say 'thank-you', not just for the above mentioned article, but for many of the articles / podcasts produced. My husband and I have young children and want to raise them as critical, scientific thinkers. We often get into heated debates at work and even at the school waiting to pick up our kids on subjects such as vaccines, big-pharma, and many other pseudo-science subjects. Just when we have heard it all, we hear some new crazy-idea that we then go off and research for the arguments against. For example, the other week, a mom at our children's elementary school informed us that we shouldn't drink diet-pop because it can cause diabetes and infertility......huh....what...say that again....are you serious???!!!! Anyway, your site offers unbiased and thoroughly researched facts that are truly invaluable to us. Thank-you. Wow. I was going through memebase on in my daily routine that I peform everyday and I was linked to your Infact video on "Cellphones of aeroplanes". I then proceeded to watch all of your Infact videos. Loving every minute of it. You're amazing. You use simple logic that can't be argued with. And now that I have found skeptoid, I am looking forward to the hours I can linger here. What a gem. Just wanted to say great work man. And Thank you. Love your podcasts. Critical thinking seem to be a lost skills in the age of Internet when "social", or "groupthink" seem to dominate individual thought. What you are doing is vital and I experience this wave, a popular wish to believe in the unprovable and unfounded' every day and it is depressing and increasing. Keep up the good work. I have bought the T-Shirt and subscribed. If the wave of superstition goes on increasing we will be back to the Salem witch trials. Mr. Dunning, I am a HUGE fan and glad someone is doing what you do! The Northwest (Seattle) is such a fertile breeding ground for knee-jerk allegiance to anything "Natural/Organic" or of Eastern modality. It is so refreshing to have a thoroughly researched, objective presentation that is entertaining at the same time. Please keep up the good work and I will continue to do my part by telling everyone I know to listen to at least one podcast (they almost always get hooked). One last thing, do you offer a simple t-shirt with just the "Skeptoid" logo on the front and nothing on the back? Thanks again for all you do and I wish you much [overdue] success! I thank you from the bottom of my skeptical heart for establishing this website. In this current society where people use little critical thinking and buy into the latest fad or ridiculous belief, your website is a godsend for a public that is in desperate need of a reality check. Thank you so much for doing this. I have only just stumbled onto your podcast. I understand what the word skeptic means, I guess I understand that I've always questioned things but after listening to a number of your podcasts I actually get it, I am a skeptic!! This is a good thing. I think you're encouragement of using ones brain is pretty good advice (understatement) I wanted to thank you for your podcasts and I'm going to keep listening. :) Thanks for the podcast. You've helped me increase my critical thinking skills, and I'm very grateful for that. I'd like to say I've become better at checking my ego at the door when listening to different points of view, and watching debates with no preliminary expectations. Thanks! This is very valuable information, which I have slowly passed on to family and friends, especially my younger teenage sisters. Thank you! One of the things I find myself thinking about in contemplative moments is why did I believe in all these ridiculous conspiracy theories, folklore and myths when I was younger. Skeptoid put me straight, I used to enjoy watching X-Files and somehow believing it was non-fiction. I stumbled across Brian when he was a guest of Dr. Karl on his Triple J podcast and immediately downloaded and loved the 200 or so episodes that were available at that time. I then became a contributor and now have to wait a week for each episode, but I'm going back and listening to them all again. Love the commitment that you bring to your work, wish that you get enough support so that you can keep doing this for a long, long time to come and slowly, slowly start to amass the strength of people who see logic as a asset, and arm more against the drivel that gets fed to us in society via the mass media. I'm watching X-Files again and enjoying it for the pure fiction that it is. Congrats Brian, keep up the great work, and really hope I get the chance to meet you one day, perhaps when you visit Australia again. I would love to contribute more and definitely will when I am financially able. I strongly suggest others to set aside a few bucks per week to help Skeptoid. Thank you for Skeptoid! Over the years I've developed this annoying inability to concentrate on the written word, making reading books difficult. Your short and enjoyable podcasts have allowed me to relax and learn once more! My favourite thing at the moment is putting as many episodes on my iPod as possible and listening to them at night. After 3 or 4 I can fall asleep (no small feat for an insomniac) and the next day I can look forward to the next lot.
I still miss reading books, but this has soothed my frustrations no end. Each episode makes me think, shake my head, or enlighten me on something I've never thought of before. Your recent ep. on vinyl records had one of the best and clearest explanations of how they work I've ever heard.
Thank you again for bringing a candle into my day and new ideas to my mind. :) I really like the topics you cover in this podcast - right on for the kids in my 7th grade science class, who are just learning that science can be so much more interesting than pseudoscience. Dear Brian, a recent job change allows me to finally start participating in financing Skeptoid - well, not exactly true, I donated once before - one time payment. I have always felt that I should support your efforts and excellent work. Now I finally can. A heartfelt thanks for a great programme: your fan from Germany. Hello Brian, I am an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, majoring in Evolutionary Biology, but I also have been taking extra classes in Critical Thinking and Rhetoric. I LOVE Skeptoid, though I do not love that it distracts me from my school work. Thank you so much. Almost shocked at how well you addressed this puzzle. Your lucidity remind me of H. von Helmholz. I do love Skeptoid, in fact I record them on casette so I can listen while I do my daily walk. Thank you. Keep up the good episodes....InFact, also. Great stuff. Keep it up... Thanks so much for the 300+ episodes; they've taught me a lot of interesting facts, misconceptions and ways in which to question anecdotes. Brian, What you do is very inspiring and enjoyable. A while ago I was diagnosed with testicular cancer with metastasis intrusions into my brain and lung. That eventually caused me to have a stroke which caused temporary partial blindness (due to the blood on my cortex) that made it hard to read anything. So I turned to audiobooks and podcasts and discovered this place. I downloaded a ton of episodes before I had to go for inpatient chemo at 1 week long sessions 4 times. Inpatient care can drive you nuts. Nurses waking you up at 5am to take blood every day, terrible food, small tv, and the constant vomiting, blood transfusions, weird drugs, Having your parents and family visit and seeing the look on their faces. I am 6' and dropped to 98 pounds. I saw what it looks like for a father to look at his son dying. Your podcast got me through all of this. I learned so much and had a way to pass the time and not think about my condition. Before all this, I was a person that watched Ghost hunters and believed it all. I didn't know anything about pareidolia until you pointed it out in a very understandable way. I am in full remission now thanks to some incredible doctors at Jefferson university hospital. So thank you for giving me all of this. You have incredible teaching skills and I'm glad you are using them to promote critical thinking on a global scale. I do love Skeptoid very much, I thrive on unadulterated facts. Episode 300 was a triumph! Bravo. I just wanted to tell you how much your show means to me. every week i eagerly await your new release and try and share it with as many people as possible. My most rewarding experience with sharing skeptoid came when my friend cat and I where drinking beers and debating astrology. she was convinced that it was real and that my being a leo with an outgoing personality proved this. a loud, friendly, drunken shouting match ensued. no matter how loud I yelled at her I could not get the point across. The next day I played Skeptoid for her and after hearing you describe the foundation of astrology, she "saw the light". Thank you for helping to make my world a bit more rational. I have wanted to tell you this for a while but only now ad a financial supporter of Skeptoid do i feel I can hold my head up with pride and say... THANK YOU!!!!!!! (I hope you can feel all the positive vibes I am sending your way) BRIAN. #300. What a trip. You hit the ball out of the park and outdid yourself this time! That was a complete shocker and I loved every minute. Thank you so much and here's to another 300! Loved episode 300. Well written, informative and entertaining. Good job to you, Mr. Sanders and Ms. Bloom. Thank you very much for what you do. Your podcast has helped me to see things in a whole new way. Good on you. I've been an avid listener for several years and always find your commentaries entertaining and enlightening. Recently, Skeptoid managed to save my family nearly $1300 and some face. My poor wife has been dealt a bad genetic hand and has a host of psychological disorders, as well as scoliosis and fibromyalgia. She's receiving expert psychiatric care for the former, but still has frequent bouts of pain due to the latter. In an effort to alleviate her symptoms, and just because she was curious, she signed up for a free chiropractic consultation. It eventually turned into a sales pitch for a year's worth of treatment. Thanks to Skeptoid, we were able to recognize the warning signs early, and escape unscathed. Thanks for all of your hard work. It really helped us. Thanks. I am a biology teacher at a small college in Northern NY. I try to teach critical thinking to all of my students and have used some of your examples from episodes in class. I thoroughly enjoy every episode and the work you do. I've listened to ever audio podcast you've posted, and finally got around to watching a few of your InFact video episodes. I finally just have to say thanks for being a voice of researched-reason, in among the many....many.....MANY....voices of "I read/heard that someone read/surface-researched/googled" garbage. I've been involved with MLM (didn't survive past the first cult-meeting), and BPA (from friends that "read about _____." I find it sad that I trust you...a person I have never met...above friends I've known for many years. You're doing a public service. Keep it up :-) I am so pleased that Skeptoid exists. It is a fantastic resource. I've pointed friends and relatives to Brian's work on several occasions when I thought that a bit of skepticism and rationality might help them with a particular topic or idea. I have also turned to Skeptoid myself for answers and analysis and really enjoy my weekly dose of skepticism. I love the show and the way you directly apply critical thinking to topics of pseudoscience, mysticism, and conspiracy theories. Hi Brian, Love the show! I recently got "plugged in" to skepticism via Mark Crislip's Quackcast and the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. Your exploits in skepticism were referenced several times on the SGU (and you were also a guest at least once), which sent me looking for your show. Until 6 months ago, I didn’t know that skepticism was a 'thing'! Needless to say as I browse the web/podcast content I have gone through several waves of relief and reaffirmation that there are "my people" out there, which serves the basal impulse for us humans to pick teams, but most importantly the movement is producing a ton of great content for budding or recently awakened skeptics such as myself. My day job is as a training physician-scientist - I am in the D.O.-Ph.D. program at Michigan State University studying lung inflammation/asthma, and this keeps me pretty busy, though I am chipping away at the podcasts during my commutes. My skeptical interests are not surprisingly medical-related, but I also have a huge passion in promoting scientific/skeptical media. Thank you for what you are doing - it makes a difference, and it's important! I just signed up for the $4/month club, and I hope to upgrade when I can rise above the grad student stipend. Hope it helps. I am glad there is such an availability of content, and am very happy to see how much you have on your site. I will definitely pass it along. I also joined the JREF since they seem to be a good way to get connected. Thank you, Mr. Dunning, for all of your work and evidence gathering. I have many friends that are die-hard conspiracy theorists, and although I've found it nearly impossible to convert them to more logical thinking, even after presenting them with substantial evidence, it's still nice to know there are others striving for the truth, and not taking wild stories at face value. I'm not a member yet, but I will certainly be joining soon to contribute to your great site. Thanks again. What a breath of fresh air! I've been listening to Skeptoid since around March 2007. I've always enjoyed the show and eagerly look forward to 9am every Tuesday morning. I appreciate all the work you put into the show, Brian. Thank you for all you've done. By the way, I just set up my paid subscription for the show. Do I get to call myself one of Brian's paymasters now? I took the time yesterday to stop at the store and buy an itunes card so that I can start paying for your shows, not donating but paying as they are worth the money. I am the kind of person who cannot watch the same movie twice in a 10 year period, dont know why just cant do it. However I find myself not deleting your podcast but listening to them repeatedly to get the story straight and other reasons. So no more free loading for me I would not like it if you where to quit this show, thanks for your work. I look forward to each new episode of your excellent podcast. Skeptoid's like an antidote to the pseudoscience and metaphysical mumbo-jumbo I am subjected to daily on the Internet. You do good work-- keep it up! Happy Birthday! Love the show. I especially like to listen to them back-to-back, so I can hear "You're listening to Skeptoid! You're listening to Skeptoid!" Hi, Brian. I'm a huge fan of your books and videocasts. I bought the first two books (in Amazon) a year ago and just finished them (yes, I'm a bit slow in english). Soon I'll buy the third. Now I'm reading "Flim-Flam", thanks to you also. You have many others fans here in Brazil. Come pay us a visit, sometime! There's a lot of funny stuff around here. Thanks! Lovely site you have here Brian. I have always had a healthy interest in the unknown (Cryptozoology, UFO's and the like), yet I was unable to find a place where the application of logic, reason (and sometimes down-right common sense) was valued. That was until I wandered into this little Goldmine of course. Thank you for the many informative articles. Best wishes for the Future. Brian, this is just a quick note of thanks, in appreciation of your tireless work promoting stuctured, critical thought. I don't always agree with your conclusions, but I point others to your process as a prime example of skeptical enquiry at work. I expressed my appreciation as a financial supporter in 2011, and shall continue to do so in 2012. Thank you. Thank you Skeptoid! I have listened to you since the first episode. I am a in my last semester of Student Teaching in the area of science and I am going to be playing you in my classroom as a critical thinking event for my young students. You guys are awesome! I just discovered Skeptoid on iTunes! I'm now a fan. It's nice to see a clear head on the internet. All these stupid stories that frighten people into thinking the end is near or monsters exist. The real world is scary enough without placing myths into our heads. Thanks for setting us straight. Hi Brian, I just wanted to say I love what you do and how you do it. You have more than opened my mind on some absolute fallacies in which I once believed and am taking a much more critical look on all things. Thanks. I just discovered your site recently, and I find it an excellent leveller to read when getting carried away with some of the info on the web. I was asked a while ago why I have “Faith� in science. I responded the scientists demonstrate that they know what they talk about. Also I could perform any experiment and independently verify any claim made. So I could eliminate the trust aspect by simply repeating the experiment myself. Additionally I talked about how science reevaluates itself if new evidence is encountered. Keep up the great show. I love Skeptoid and you, Brian. I have a mildly amusing office job; your podcast makes my days go by fast. Keep up the good work, your check is in the mail and your brand of dissention is my favorite kind, keep the masses thinking. I work late and get out around the time a certain nationally popular radio program that supports pseudoscience is on, and I used to listen to it every night on my way home more out of boredom than belief. I just found that it passed the time while I drove home. Then, a few months ago I discovered Skeptoid and it's literally been my driving soundtrack ever since. There's even been a few times where I've unplugged my player, and the pseudoscience show would come on talking about the EXACT topic I was just listening to you talk about. I just had to laugh. Keep up the great work and thank you for the show! Bloody marvelous, keep up the good work old chap. I like your podcasts very much and though I might not always agree they usually make me think and give me reason to research a product before buying or consuming. I find that I tend to disagree because I wanted to be right, not because I am. Keep up the good work and I hope to hear much more for many more years to come. Skeptoid is the only podcast that I subscribe to and donate towards, as well as buying the books, as it continues to maintain the high standard of critical discussion that so attracted me to the site in the beginning. Keep up the good work!! the path to critical thinking passes through skeptoid. A good source of actual critical reasoning in practice. ANYONE can say they BELIEVE anything, but as we learn more and more through actual STUDY of how the universe works, mythology and magical thinking are replaced by rationality. AND, a good scientist is open to the possibility that he/she may be wrong, that more evidence may come along that should change our understanding of how the universe really works. And a good scientist is willing to say, "I don't know" when that knowledge isn't really there. Just a quick one here Brian, I have been listening to and enjoying your brilliant podcasts for years. I think my first taster was one you did on wheatgrass juice... and this was hours after I had been forced to try a shot by a well meaning friend. It felt like fate... (in a completely non metaphysical way... of course. :) I was hooked, to your brilliant podcasts obviously, not to the gross and pointless wheatgrass. Keep up the great work! Just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your work. I went to see you when you were in Melbourne, speaking with Rebecca Watson and loved the presentation. Also picked up a couple of your books while I was there. Since becoming a regular listener, I have gradually shed all of the superstitious beliefs I used to have (at lease, the ones I am aware of lol). I used to be a huge believer in UFO's for one and have an embarrassing large collection of books, all postulating one side of the argument. I recently read the Demon Haunted World, on your recommendation and now recommend it to as many people as I can. Thank you for caring enough to do what you do. I am a student at present, but as soon as I have fulltime work I will become a regular contributor. Hey Brian, Listener of over 4 years. Blaw blaw blaw love your writing. If I get a tattoo of your "critical thinking eye" logo. Would you send me a free t-shirt ? Ill take video and whatever evidence you'd require. Mr. Dunning, I had the honor of meeting you last weekend in Portland at the Humanist Film Festival. I had enough courage to shake your hand and ask for an autograph, but failed to thank you. Thank you for changing my life. I was quite helpless before discovering skepticism. I was constantly looking for "signs" to tell me how to live my life until analyzing such behavior with my new skepticism glasses freed me. I realized that I am the writer to my story and how, wouldn't it be a much better one without all the bullshit. Step 1 was discovering podcasts. Step 2 was subscribing to your podcast. Step 3 was growing a brain and liking it. So again, THANK YOU!! I hope to meet you again one day and express this to you in person. I can't thank you enough for your podcast, I don't think there is an episode I haven't listened to more than once. I have also found it a great way to introduce my son to various topics, how to use critical thinking in everyday life and that skepticism can be entertaining. Hi Brian, I really like your podcast. I find myself agreeing with pretty much every position you have on this site (but only after doing my own research! lol) Anyway, keep up the good work. Just finished a project, and celebrated by watching your Google Talk. Bravo to you. Thank you for your entertainment, or should I say education into critical thinking . I greatly enjoyed your episode on "Conspiracy Theorists Aren't Crazy", and I am enjoying getting up to date with your podcasts yet again. Thought it was about time I contributed to your excellent work, as we don't always have time to research issues/myths the way you do. I have just created a monthly subscription. Thanks again. I think this is one of the most useful websites around. Brian Dunning explains scenarios based on facts, and this is what makes his explanation plausible and unbiased. 10 out of 10 always Hi Brian, I've been listening to Skeptoid for months now and have finally come to the end of your back catalogue and felt it was time to start donating. My 10 year old (and now my 5 year old who likes to follow in his big brother's shoes) are avid listeners and I thank you for presenting critical thinking in the entertaining and engaging way you do. One of our main goals in our children's upbringing is for them to think critically and you have made our job so much easier. I just wanted to let you know that I think your podcast is great. Interesting topics, educational and fun. Perfect combo! I got hooked a couple of weeks ago and now I've listened to all episodes, can't wait for the next one. Keep up the good work! I just started listening to your podcasts 2 days ago and fell in love with all the topics you discuss. I have always had a horrible time explaining or arguing my point of view (skeptical). I have been discussing things (or attempting to discuss) logically for many years. I always come off as close-minded, extremely arrogant, or the one that always has to be right. I do not want to always be right especially if it was amazing. Your approach has opened my eyes to new ways that I had never imagined (maybe I should've researched more). I am currently switching careers from the computer to medical field. This kind of knowledge is helping me communicate better and actually helping me inform my 3 children to be better critical thinkers. Call me non-believer, atheist, or something; just don't call me late to eat! Brian, I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your Podcast. I've always been a critical thinker and a skeptic, but I've been a lousy one who would communicate my skepticism awfully, and usually get shot down or flamed for it. Listening to your podcast as allowed me to notice Logical fallacies, and call them out or ignore them, respectfully debate pseudo-sciences and the supernatural, and try to not pass on any information that I haven't personally spend time studying. I greatly enjoy your podcast weekly, and go back over quite a few just to get some refreshers (such as the logical fallacies podcasts - my favourites!) Keep up the good work! Hi Brian, I just recently became aware of skeptoid.com. As I admittedly can be somewhat of a conspiracy theorist at times, I wasn't sure what I'd think. Then I started listening to the archived podcasts. I *love* them. They're well-researched, enlightening, and I enjoy the humor you put into a lot of them. I'm informed and entertained whether you're confirming my theories on the topic at hand, or dashing them. Thank you. Please keep these podcasts coming! I'm currently listening to about a dozen science and skepticism podcasts, and this is by far my favorite! Whenever my BS detector goes off, I immediately go to Skeptoid.com to find out exactly why. I love the short format because it's quick and efficient. Thank you! Brian just subscribed again. Love the depth of your analysis and your training in sceptical thinking. Some USA stuff is a bit irrelevant to us outside the US but the lessons are always good. Thank you for always taking it a step more. Thank you for such great and interesting topics, it has really opened my eyes to a wide range of issues affecting the world today, I also like the humour you inject into your topics. I first heard you speak in Australia on TripleJ, a radio station, with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and decided to look up your page on the internet. I really hope that you will return to Australia sometime to do some talks/ seminars and would appreciate it if you would visit sleepy old Perth, on the other side of the continent. I would definitely like to meet you if/ when you visit. If critical thinking were treated as a necessary subject to study in school, like history, math or ethics, then this podcast wouldn't be necessary. Alas, critical thinking is not so highly valued as it ought to be. I have always underutilised my critical thinking skills due to lack of experience and knowledge; ever since I have started listening to Skeptoid, however, the world has opened up for me. It isn't going to provide you 'The Answer.' Rather, Skeptoid will provide you with the means to intelligently evaluate the world. There is no greater gift. Hi Brian, Having listened to all the episodes of Skeptoid I have come to the conclusion that no one person could possibly do all the research and produce all this material in their spare time, therefore you do not really exist but are in fact a team of CIA operatives spreading disinformation to hide the fact that they really do have captured UFOs in area 51. Of course if I really believed that there would be no point sending you this email as you don't exist, or would deny everything anyway. I always enjoy your podcast, it is always informative and well balanced, however episode 250 was such a work of genius and must have taken such an incredible amount of time that I feel compelled to make a donation. I suspect there was a subliminal message hidden in the music, but who cares. Keep up the good work. Hello Brian, I've been listening to Skeptoid and love the show ... just heard about the reaction to the Fracking episode ... and I know it isn't much ... but I just sent $25 ... Thanks for the entertaining truths. Geez, Brian. You had to go and make a site this good? I just stumbled across Skeptoid by accident -- and blew the past three hours on a work computer reading it when I should've been doing my job instead. Great work. Thanks for what you do. Thanks for all your hard work. I've done three podcasts and gave up on them due to lack of time. Your work is very important and I wish more people could hear your podcast. You should really get paid well to do this. Please don't give up on your podcast like I did. Keep up the great work! Thank you for your articles. I was a victim of some quackery and woke up thanks to quackwatch.com. Now I find your site and am twice blessed for finding another out there who values truth above pet theory. Keep telling the truth, some people out there, like me, do find freedom through it. I just wanted to say I applaud what your doing and that you have taught/corrected many logical falicies that I have once believed in. I love your show and have been listenning on WPRR here in Grand Rapids for the last 8 now, love your show! I'm not a letter writer so forgive my bad writing. But I just wanted to send some praise your way. Keep up the great work! You do a fantastic job. Keep up the good work. I spread the word about your podcast as much as I can. That's all! Have a fantastic day! My fiance got me into your podcast a few months ago. They are amazing!!! I download them 30+ at a time to catch up and now I'm going back to the very beginning and I love the first episodes! You're so sassy! I don't listen to ANYTHING else in the car now (not even all that expensive music I downloaded!). I can't tell you how refreshing it is to know that someone addresses these crazy stories you hear everyday, everywhere! Heard about the Philadelphia Project in high school and it never made sense. My favorite episodes are about Organic Food and Vaccines. Thank you so much for putting a skeptical eye on these issues that seem to have taken hold of everyone around me. Keep it up! As a teenager growing up surrounded by sensationalist news reporters more interested in ratings than honest reports, conspiracy theories for everything under the sun, quack medical treatments and pseudo-sciences, misinformation in general, and friends and family who buy into any and all things that fall into any of the above categories without a second thought, I can honestly say that your podcast is one of the few things that allows me to feel like I'm not the crazy one to be questioning rather than accepting blindly, as most seem to do. At least for the ten to fifteen minutes the podcasts last. I just want to say how much I love Skeptoid. Listening to it is one of the highlights of my day. I've played many episodes for my 10 year old daughter. I think she's slowly beginning to understand what critical thinking really means. Having someone else besides their dad tell them how important evidence is in deciding fact has been invaluable. The ultimate reward, the other day my daughter was talking to her friend. Her friend was spouting a rumor she heard about a classmate. My daughter's response -- somthing like "Yeah. But do you really have any proof that it's true. Do we really know? You'd be surprised how many things people just believe without really trying to find out if it's true." Makes a Dad proud! Thanks again for the wonderful podcast. I signed up for an annual donation. I've just recently discovered your podcast. I love it! Every aspect, especially that you fess up to mistakes. You so eloquently state thoughts I feel but cannot express, thank you. I've forwarded you on to all my family and some friends I consider semi-critical in their thinking. Thank you for your time, keep up the great work! I thoroughly enjoy your podcast. I make an effort to be observant of my surroundings, to keep a calm and open mind, and never just believe a given "fact" without conducting my own research. It seems that Skeptoid follows a similar mantra. I am always impressed by the way Brian parses his emotions and personal opinions from the topics he covers. I find his style quite refreshing. Keep up the great work!
Thank you,
Mike I wanted to thank you for all your great work. I recently discovered your podcast, and I've found it engaging, informative and fun. It was also extremely helpful when, on a business trip, I had a long, polite conversation with a pleasant but slightly paranoid gentleman. So again, thank you, and I'll be looking into a donating next week (where I will get paid for having said conversation with an otherwise well-meaning gentleman). I subscribed to lot of conspiracy theories. I want to thank you for debunking a lot of them and also pointing out many ways people use semantics to try and prove points that aren't even really there. Also want to thank you for the fresh view on things and a few new tools in my belt to cut through the BS! Love the show. Just made a donation. Keep it up! Love the show Brian, thanks so much for your hard work in making the world a more rational and interesting place. Just bought the Skeptoid app for my new android phone, and it works great - thanks again. HIGHLY recommend your show. Brilliant podcast! Got hooked after I took a mini-enrichment course on skepticism at the local university! Keep on doing it! I'd love to shove this podcast in my believer friends' faces and tell them exactly how wrong they are about stuff. But that's rude so instead I'll promote your ingenious podcast as best I can. First and foremost, this site is an absolute godsend - in the secular sense. I stumbled on it today and have been binging on every podcast I could get my hands on. I imagine I'm feeling what a lot of newcomers to this site must experience. The core values that I hold regarding the criticism new age mysticism, popular conspiracy theories, hysterical alarmist rubbish etc are better articulated here than I could ever possibly hope to myself. Cannot express my thanks enough for putting the effort into this. Brian does an excellent job of using scientific facts to examine commonly held beliefs. It is a pleasure to listen to this podcast. I am new to the skeptical community, and it seems I have a lot to learn, Whilst I sit and critique homeopathy and alternative medicine, I supported ethanol and organic and free-range farming without looking at the bigger picture. Thank you for opening my eyes. Thank you so much for your podcast. It keeps me company while I do chores (and screw around) during my 2-year-old's naps. My dearest connection to skepticism and my daily retreat into adult topics and humor. You are helping me hone my skills for raising a critical thinker. I just signed up to pay 4 dollars a month. I've been getting your podcast for a long time, and though I much prefer a longer format, you've always made for a decent 15 minutes a week. I particularly decided you were worth supporting after the "Mao's Barefoot Doctors" and "Curing gays" episodes, because you demonstrated a willingness to look at perspectives that aren't usually taken. There aren't a lot of Americans who will give Mao's communist party, or anything related to it, a fair hearing. I'm hardly a communist myself, but my impression of American sceptics as being knee-jerk far-right Libertarians usually keeps me from providing a lot of support. I've found that most political arguments are rational given certain premises, and the major difference between political factions are which premises they accept; However, a lot of self-proclaimed sceptics - on both sides, though this doesn't excuse it - arbitrarily proclaim their own values and thus their own conclusions to be sacred. I understand that it's hard to recognize the value of other people's opinions on political topics, but I don't think intransigence constitutes sceptical thinking.
Anyway, enough ranting. I hope my support helps. Good to hear so much common sense and reasoned arguement against all the supernatural and pseudoscience clap trap out there. Keep it up, the truth will always shine through. Hi Brian. I just wanted to say that as someone who went through the March 11 earthquake, volunteered in the tsunami hit areas, and who lives 50km from the Fukushima nuclear plants- that the outrageous and predictable conspiracy theories do nothing but insult the memory of those who perished in the disaster. There are probably conspiracies for sure, but more so of the variety of typical government/ TEPCO blundering, ineptitude and indecision which are reported on here in any case. I haven't heard any local in this prefecture make any mention of the disaster being an insidious attack, but it seems there are people out there in the wider world who can't resist airing their own paranoia and stirring a pot that shouldn't even be. Maybe if they came over here and put in some time actually doing something good, they might also see the fact that this catastrophe was just what it was: a one in 1000 or so year major tectonic shift. To me, that delusional behavior detracts from the hard work that so many have been doing to get this area back on its feet. Thank you for intelligently scoffing at the HAARP nuts. If the Illuminati/Jew/Masonic/Grey Alien-led world government wanted to destroy us, I think it would've been able to ages ago with little effort, and without a bunch of antennas or nanotech viruses. Keep up the good work, and thanks again! Thanks for your awesome podcast, I have only recently discovered it and have been listening to 2 eps each way on the way to and from work for the last few weeks. I must say I'm a little hooked! I want to say thank you for the constant reassurance that I am not alone as a logical thinker! I wanted to say THANK YOU to Brian Dunning. This is the only website I have found that logically deals with the ridiculous theories that people spread over this planet. My best friend believes in EVERY conspiracy out there. He attempts to sway me almost daily with the laughable stories he brings home every week. It's impossible to explain things in a logical manner to this guy, so it tends to become a shouting match. What really gets me is that EVERYTHING is a conspiracy with him...EVERYTHING. Our friendship has been strained to the breaking point over the past 3 years because of his theories. I seriously can't wait until Dec 22, 2012. So I can knock on his door and say...HI, Still here I see! Please keep up the good work. You Brian sir are my new best friend. Your latest podcast had me laughing out loud. It's nice to see there are still plenty of nut jobs to keep us amused. A while back I heard about Skeptoid from another website that I no longer remember. I decided to listen to every episode, starting with the first one. I think that was a couple of years ago. Today I finally caught up to the present. I recently moved to a new city and don't have a job yet, so hearing from other people through podcasts has been quite nice. These podcasts have helped me develop my own critical thinking skills and have encouraged me to use them instead of letting everyone persuade me as they like. Thank you, and keep up the good work! This show is wicked tubular. All of the episodes are hella mondo! Keep on keepin on! I really appreciate the work Brian Dunning is doing with Skeptoid. I particularly enjoy that the show goes beyond the traditional skeptical talking points to find fresh and interesting topics to explore. The approach to the subject matter is always fair but rational. Keep up the good work. As soon as my PayPal account is set up, I'll be a proud recurring contributor. If only everyone would read your site and actually believe it. Every single article makes complete sense and I have the same opinion about all of them, and now I have some extra arguments to fight ignorance around me. Holland is probably not so bad as the US, here it's no crime to be an atheist and people won't hate you for it. Religion is bashed more, luckily. Still, ignorance is all around me in my country. My parents are convinced that homeopathy works and that stones can heal them and stuff like that, they are not stupid whatsoever, but I never believed them. You can't fight personal experiences. Everyone is always so convinced about that. I talked to people who saw aliens, ghosts, god, angels and talked to trees. It is rather tiresome. Brian, thank you for all the hard work you put in to the production of Skeptoid! I've been listening to this great podcast for about three years now, and I look forward to each episode. It's a great blend of topics on controversies I'm well familiar with, things I'd like to know more about, and mysteries I've never even heard of. You give a wealth of hard data and ask hard questions, encouraging listeners to be on the lookout for unverifiable claims and logical fallacies. I don't always agree with your conclusions, but that's the real beauty of a show like this; you're not asking anyone to accept what you say at face value. Skeptoid has prompted me to do hours of my own research! Brian, I am a biologist and I wanted to say how much I love your cast. I spent 10 years in the Marine Corps and I have heard just about every tall tale you can think of and I very much enjoy passing your podcast on to my old jar head friends. You truly do fine work. I hope you continue to stay free and clear of big business. Just wanted to let you know I really appreciate your honesty and integrity to expose so many frauds, especially the Kangen water fraud..my friend almost bought that piece of junk..thanks, B Good Podcast, keep up the good work. Although you are pissing into the wind trying to educate our idiotic species I wish you all the best in this noble cause. There are many wonderful podcasts out there... But of those of the continuing variety 'Skeptoid' is much my favorite. In fact I think so highly of it, I'm donating. Now this is truly remarkable, because I'm about as cheap as they come, I donate to nothing...except, apparently, Skeptoid. Remarkable. Keep up the good work! Hey Brian. Love your work! I've just become a paid supporter. Looking forward to your next episode. An excellent podcast series! It's fascinating to hear the reality behind so many myths - some I've heard repeated for over 30 years. Long live free speech and the embrace of reality! Hi Brian - I am a huge (OK, I'm probably about average size for my demographic profile) fan, in general. I am a monthly financial contributor (as evidenced by my bank statements over the past year or so), and run my own blog and skeptical website in the UAE. Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your offerings. I have only recently found Skeptoid - was wondering how I missed it in the past! Slowly working my way through the back issues - great to hear 'common sense' applied! Just a note - discovered Skeptoid after listen to a Dr Karl Triple J podcast where Brian was a guest. That episode sure packed a punch - Dr Karl AND Brian!! I am a relatively recent accolyte and am playing the probably all too common game of catch up previous episodes. I just wanted to say how much joy and information you give me on my commute to work. Thanks to you (and the SGU) I am getting the reputation as "that sceptic guy". Only today I had the honour (without histrionics) of advising a friend via one of your posts on Skeptic blog of the scam that is power balance bands. He is now sending it back for a refund. Anyway, the point of this post is to say how much I enjoy your podcast (on many levels) and hope you can find the energy to continue for many more episodes. I, like many of your devotees, agree that the podcast is too short and they are too far apart. Otherwise it is the one of the three very best podcasts I have run across. I recommend Skeptoid to someone virtually every week. I also follow up by asking how much they enjoyed listening. I find that most actually listen and then become fans too. I read the other comments about the show and decided rather just tell you how much I love your show, I would just prove it with a monthly donation. I see it as an investment in my never ending quest for the truth. You really do make a difference you know! Thanks Brian for all the work! I have been listening for a few months now, downloaded every episode recently and am working hard to listen to them. I enjoy the podcast so much but as a student it's difficult to part with any spare money; but what's one dollar a week! So I just signed up to the monthly donation. Really hope the Skeptologists TV show comes around because I heard it's been in the pipeline for a while now.
Thanks again! I hope I am just the sort of fan you want! I have been listening for years and a $1 per episode donor for over a year. I also just got the android app! I am so willing to support you because you work has helped embolden me when I encounter woo in my own life. My mother is one of those sweet people who has fallen into countless pyramid schemes and health fads. Through some combination of science from my bio BS and PhD in progress and the argument formats on your show, I've managed to talk her away from Ambrotose and dehydrated fruit to regular exercise and medication to help he hypertension. The show also forms as a great talking point to stay close to friends I have moved away from! Thanks so much for all your hard work! Skeptoid is an important part of my life! I love Skeptoid, I listen to you at work, holding a freaking sign all day gets really boring, you are pure entertainment good sir!!! Thank you! I love your show Mr. Dunning. Tuesday is my favorite day of the week because of your show. Great show, well researched. I listen whilst riding push bike into town. Excellent writing style and great content. I can't quite discern whether the majority of the population has little or no scientific knowledge/general logic, or if it is just this group that are attracted to your forums! Always good for a laugh. Keep it up, mate! Thanks so much from the site! I'm an Iranian American currently living in Tehran, Iran. I'll donate once I come back to the States. Hey Brian, thank you for putting in the hours. the show is an indispensable resource for anyone with the sense to pay attention, and is unparalleled in its unbiased analysis of deceptively simple myths and misunderstandings. It has quickly become my favorite podcast. I love science, reason and rationality...As a lad I grew up reading Asimov, Clarke and Sagan....when they passed away I felt that the lore of reason was in danger...then came along Richard Dawkins, David Suzuki and Brian Denning and others to carry the load...never give up the fight against what Asimov called the purveyors
of 'nitwittery'...Your site is a gem in the otherwise sordid quagmire of irrationality....you do us proud. Dr Karl once wrote a note in a book of his I was buying for my son, "Keep asking questions!" I'm sure you'd agree. Sixty years on and I still have and will keep, a questioning mind. It's amazing how much bullsh*t my workmates accept without checking. Keep it up mate. I hope my small donation will help. I stumbled across the Skeptoid podcasts two weeks ago and find them absolutely enthralling, witty, well researched and all-around cool. I've listened to over 60+ episodes so far and appreciate how you take on pseudo-science regardless of religious or secular in origin. While I don't discount the supernatural, I do consider myself a skeptic and would like nothing more than to spread skeptical thinking among my fellow theists. I conduct scientific research as an engineer for a federal laboratory and mention Skeptoid to my colleagues all the time. Thanks for the service you are doing. The greatest benefit of listening to Brian's podcast (only up to 118 so far) is NOT the facts that Brian presents against the idiotic ideas that pervade our society. For me it has been a new way of thinking. I will never view a fantastical claim or an outlandish story the same way ever again. I am sure I can feel the new neural network paths forming in my brain as I type. I encourage anyone and everyone to listen to Brian's work, keep it up. I listened to you on the Mormon Expression podcast. I enjoyed it very much. I have since listened to podcasts from Skeptoid.com. I am just getting into the skeptic movement. I really appreciate the logical, scientific methods that are used to interpret the world around us. I recently happened upon the Skeptoid podcast (my very first podcast, actually). I've since realized that I had a major misconception about medical health: that Chiropractic is a real and legitimate practice. I feel like a large part of my perception of reality has been suddenly nudged into the correct position. I am extremely grateful for your desire to learn and teach what you have learned. And you're funny, too. This isn't a requirement, but it's definitely a perk. Thanks, not only to you (Brian), but to everyone involved in promoting critical thinking. And, of course, to everyone involved in my favorite podcast: Skeptoid. I just wanted to say I really enjoyed reading your religion as a moral center. I believed for the longest time that religion was needed by all government to keep the society peaceful and law abiding. I just wanted to say thank you for helping me show some family members that the $150 they spent on the Aqua Detox treatment was money wasted. I'm sad they're out that money...but I love being right. :) I love Skeptoid, and new episodes are one of the highlights of my week. I always learn something. Skeptoid is also helpful in the classroom. I teach composition, one component of which is critical thinking. It's helpful to be able to point students to Skeptoid episodes (such as the ones on logical fallacies) as another resource to help them learn. The Internet is often more exciting than their boring old professor. :) Thanks for your hard work! Hi Skeptoids, My vote goes to skeptoid for best podcast on the net. Always informative, always funny and always thought provoking. Just started 'micro payments' and looking forward to watching the DVD. Keep it up, mate. I'm one of those listeners who've enjoyed your podcast for months without making a contribution, though I've been so impressed by the quality of your research and presentations that I've been leaning heavily toward doing so. I finally surrendered after listening to your delightful episode titled "The History of Knowledge," which proved that, along with great scholarship, you (and your minions) are capable of tremendous humor and creativity as well. Kudos, well done, and I'll do my best to help pull my weight from here on! Brian, I picked up on the whole "Skeptic" thing when it arrived at Dragon*Con a few years ago. Didn't know that I've been a skeptic all these years. When I learned about Skeptoid, I started downloading the podcasts starting at both ends. I'm up to 118 on the front end and listening to the current one each week. My wife, who is anything but a Skeptic (she used to work for the Psychic Readers Network), even likes most of the shows. Keep up the good work and I'll see you at Dragon*Con. I am confident in my beliefs, and about 99.9% of the time they match yours. My ability to articulate my positions has greatly improved, thanks to you. Most importantly, I am using these new skills to think more critically on a daily basis. Thank you for that. Hi Brian, I just started micropayments for Skeptoid. I passed on the DVD - hopefully I can get your autograph for free if I can make it out to TAM again! I hope that you will be able to continue to produce your podcast every week for a long time - you are providing a valuable and important service to the community. Thank you! After your endless whining about donating it occurred to me: I spend more time with and get more enjoyment from Skeptoid on a weekly basis than I get from some of the magazines I subscribe to. I think if people thought of 99 cents per episode/week in comparison to what they spend on periodicals and newspapers they might make a choice about what's more important to them. Please post this comment if you feel it would help. And don't send me any DVDs or swag or stuff: plow the money into the podcast, I'll forgo the icing for the cake. Besides, I probably can't play the DVD in Europe anyway. Send a DVD to Oprah, see if you can get on one of her last shows. In fact, tell her you and the SGU rogues and Derek and Swoopy and Desiree and Massimo and Julia and George and . . . whoever would like ONE SHOW to present a riposte to some of the things she's been saying over the years. Approach her producer . . . it'd sell, they'd all love to argue with youse guys. If you get Alex Tsakiris on as well it could be VERY entertaining. Don't want to give up 'balanced reporting' now do we? I have to commend you on your good humor with respect to user feedback. I do not feel so alone. I thought I was the only one surrounded by the misguided, unknowing and easily misled. Keep it up. Your in the fight for reason. I just wanted to express my joy concerning the last three episodes. The Voynich mauscript episode was one of the most fascinating ever and the two before were funny as hell. Actually, listening to them on my iPod on the train home was slightly embarrassing, since I laughed out loud several times and got strange looks from fellow passengers. ;-) I promised myself that if I finally got that promotion I'd rid myself of the guilt of freeloading Skeptoid episodes for the past three and a half years. Thanks Brian for all of the superb work that you do. This is by far my favorite podcast. Sorry it took me so long. There is a certain feeling one gets upon listening to a particularly skilful verse of poetry, or an effective musical score, a shiver up the spine and often an unbidden smile upon one's face. I can happily tell you that I got this feeling upon listening to your 'Sarah Palin is not stupid' edition of Skeptoid. I think it was the best I have heard so far (I am working my way back through the catalogue) maybe partly because it was a more articulate expression of my own feelings on the subject. I live in a community which is unfortunately riddled with conspiracy theorists, though slightly less inclined towards pseudo science than most. I am Muslim and find myself constantly at odds with the most bizarre amalgamations of conspiracy theories. Your podcast has inspired me to start a blog aimed at raising critical thinking within my own community, and my first post has a quote from you at the top 'I don't know does not mean "I do know, and it was a UFO". So my profound gratitude goes out to you. Much respect and I hope that your work and the podcast continues its success. G'day. I have to say that I have a nomination for the James Randi prize. I have been listening to your podcast every night for months when going to bed and ... I have gone to sleep every single night! This is absolute proof that you MUST have paranormal powers to exercise an hypnotic control over my mind, and therefore deserve the reward that the Randi Foundation is offering! :-) And if THAT doesn't get you the money that you so richly deserve for a show of such consistent quality, veracity and entertainment then, dammit, I suppose I'll just have to donate some money myself! Thank you Brian - if your work and dedication can touch even the life of a sleep deprived antipodean like me, then I have no doubt that every one of your episodes makes the the world a better and more rational place. And no - I don't mean that the podcast is so boring that it sends me to sleep! Life can be messy so it is enjoyable to relax my mind at the end of the day with some crystal clear logic and reason. Thanks mate - much appreciated. I would gladly give you all the income I have had since January. That is actually nothing so here it is, nothing. Honestly I love the podcast along with many other skeptical podcasts. Keep up the good work. I just wanted to say I enjoy your show. I watch paranormal shows. I don't buy into everything I see but I guess parts of me wants to believe in some of the supernatural. I do appreciate how you bring fact and logic to legend and conspiracy. It's a bit depressing to find out some things but I enjoy it all the same. Thanks! Just wanted to send you a quick not to say that It is good to have someone out there who is challenging things, rather than accepting blindly as so many people do. Your podcast is always fascinating, and I've been listening for free for months now ... but then the History Of Knowledge musical episode made me crack up at work and distract all my colleagues. And so, you win -- I've made a donation. Keep up the awesome work. I discovered the Skeptoid podcast a couple of months ago, and I'd just like to thank you for producing them. I enjoy the level of research you do into each topic, yet still manage to make them very entertaining. I've found out about many things in the world that have warranted me looking at more. I was even more delighted at the recent Westall 66 episode, as this happened in my home town. I find it interesting that you have so many detractors that go on rants and raves about you not knowing anything, and to check your facts. If only they would actually listen, because you are constantly saying you are open to correction. It amazes me that they tell you to check your facts, yet don't bother to say where you can find those "facts". Anyway, keep up the good work. I enjoy it so much, that I'm now making the micro payments, so I guess in a way that makes me one of those evil overlords that keeps getting mentioned. My ego is booming, and so cheaply too. :-) Thank you for clarifying that mercury amalgam fillings are most unlikely to trigger Migraine attacks. I consider myself an open minded person. Perhaps too open minded at times. I'm not gullible but I have a sort of fanciful nature; that indescribable human fascination with myth, legend, folklore, and unexplained phenomena. It is extremely healthy, however, to have a nice sobering dose of critical thinking and what is more likely than not the reality of any given situation. Skeptoid provides this medication (endearing term) very well. The part I like best is that its very laid back and is intended for the friendly and free exchange of ideas instead of trying to cram evolutionary theory down your throat, for instance. Thanks, Mr. Dunning. Well done. Hey Mr. Dunning, I'm a 15 year old who just wants to say I'm like the hugest fan, I have my stickers, and am a friend on Facebook. In art we're drawing portraits and well guess who I'm drawing. I will post it on YouTube when it's done. PLEASE look at it. If I knew that Brian Dunning saw it I would would be EXTREMELY honored. THANKS Hey Brian! As an Objectivist (non-Randian) I totally enjoyed reading your site. Now I can return to programming with the knowledge that rationality is safe :) Totally fabulous information containing fantastically awesome reasoning employing radically critical examination with significantly wide coverage of amazingly idyllic nonsense employing logically fallacious belief systems in a totally credulous environment. <---- Not an actual sentence. Great work Brian. Thank you for not being an idiot... There seems to be a dwindling number of people capable of logical criticism. Hi Brian, Just wanted to say Love your podcast! I found out about your podcast only a month and a half ago and have finally finished listening to all of them ( I feel like an addict who has run out of his drug of choice). I now have to wait a whole week to listen to whats next. My long drives to work are just not the same anymore. Keep up the good work and I really hope you keep doing well, It will be good to see you on TV with your pilot and hopefully future episodes, People like you that take on the duty to inform us all with no expected financial gain deserve to do well and need to be heard more. This is my NEW favorite site! While I find weird phenomenon fascinating, I am a skeptic at heart. I like your respectful analysis of different topics. Critical thinking! What happened to it? (hey that sounds like a good title for your next podcast.) Thanks, Brian! Skeptoid is cool. Science is cool. You deserve an award for service to mankind! It's funny how the facts are free but we all pay for pseudoscience in one way or another. I have been listing to skeptoid for a couple of months now, a friend of mine told me that it would open my eyes and my way of thinking and he was right. I wish my teachers when I was in school thought like you do, I would have paid more attention. I would like to see you on TV with your own program one day. I have never been good with words but I think it is good manners to show my gratitude. Thank you for changing my way of thinking and helping me understand the way other people think. Hi Brian, thanks for everything you do. It's amazing what a bit of critical thinking and common sense can do. I heard you on Triple J with Dr Karl a few weeks ago and have since been through all your podcasts. Keep em' coming! You're freaking great... the scientific ammunition that I get from your show to disprove my hippie housemates is priceless... You've won me many arguments Brian, cheers! I received a link to one episode of Skeptoid and have been hooked ever since. I'm currently working my way through the listener feedback. It's hilarious. Please keep sharing the science behind the mysteries, conspiracies, and (most interesting to me) things I took for granted to be true. I love the show. Thank you very much. Please continue the excellent job. Your show is GREAT!!! I am not alone anymore! I was already a skeptics as teenager. Being later a PhD in Physics and seeking out dowsers and buying expensive Kirlian kits and attending UFO conferences did not go down well with colleagues. Being a skeptic with friends is a NO! -"Everyone *knows* that Homeopathy works"; "It is science that destroyed our world"; "Good thing I could pay off the physician to sign the vaccine proof needed for school attendance instead of injecting the potentially lethal stuff". I stay low in face of what I consider stupidity, but I felt really alone. Now I can listen to you with the volume way down... Thanks ! Just came here to tell you that I really Skeptoid, especially the episodes on alternative medicines/therapy. Keep up the good work! I don't remember how I stumbled upon your podcast, but it was during a time when my religious faith was starting to deteriorate. There wasn't anything specific in your podcast that convinced me that my faith was false, but they opened up new ways of thinking, and I was introduced to a new concept called "facts". Thanks Brian for doing what you do. Just found you today - thank the heavens. I'll be reading you regularly. Keep going... we need you! Well I think since you were on Triple J with Dr Karl you have gathered quite the following from many Aussies whether they be supporters or detractors. I fall in to the former category. At school I loved physics, chemistry and maths. All the things you could prove with numbers and science!! I will be passing on your podcast to many friends who love things like, wheatgrass and astrology. I love your tongue in cheek approach to the many hilariously nasty emails and posts you get. Some of you topics have been so educational and about subjects I had never heard of before, however listener feedback is I think my favourite! I just wanted to thank you for an aspect of your work that is particularly relevant to me. As a person diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when I was around 16, I am rather frequently disgusted with all the idiotic schemes people invent to "cure" autism. I understand why parents don't want to have a child who is completely out of whack, but most people with ASD are (relatively) high-functioning, as bright as anyone else, and often very happy and productive people. I don't like the idea of "curing" an aspect of my personality I draw a lot of strength from; I don't know why I am autistic, I don't know if it's purely genetic, or whether it's developed after birth, but I damned well know that as long as these hairbrained "remedies" are propagated, me and my kind will never be respected as the sane, rational, and intelligent people we are. Besides, quackery in all forms are a mockery of all of us, because everyone eventually gets sick and if it was up to the quacks, we'd stay sick and lose our money, to boot. Anyway, the bottom line is, thank you for protecting me and mine from what many of us consider incredibly disrespectful and hurtful ideas. Just a short note to let you know how much I like your podcast. Its role is much in the style of Snopes where a short and quite well referenced story can straighten out things. As a side comment I will let you know that my two early teenage children also listen to you and other skeptical podcasts and it has helped them in a surprisingly large way to recover from the emotional and psychological abuse they were brought up in until a year ago. By reinforcing the idea to think for yourself and check references they have been able to put together a mindset that is taking them forward and away from the confusing and circular past of abuse. Thank you for all the hard work you do and please don't be discouraged by people that just don't get the point of Skeptoid. I have enjoyed your podcast. It has helped the last 12 months of deployment go by much more quickly. I am so glad I found your site about wheat grass my daughter has lymphoma and was going to waste her money on it for a cure, until yoiu told us the truth!!! thank you so much for having this site it is so helpful for people before they waste their money on this nonsense. I have a strong science background and was a leader in science education for 32 years in Maryland. I am now retired and only recently discovered your podcast (I found that I don't need an iPod to do that.) I am now addicted to your podcasts. You might think you are a voice in the wilderness, but the good science you expound is highly valued by me. You are clever with a wry sense of humor that I find very entertaining as well as informative. You have earned my respect. Thank you for all your efforts to be a leader in this area. If you ever get over to this little island, give me a holler. Brian, You're freakin' awesome. I heard of you in December via a show you did with the fantastic Dr. Karl, another fantastic podcast-ist, and I checked out your podcasts and, well put it this way, I'm working my way through the lot and I'm up to number 103!! I love it. The chemtrail one made me laugh out loud when you read out the passage from the worker "exposing" the hidden tanks, pipes, etc etc. Brilliant. It's only the last couple of years that I've really listened to the skeptic community, after being happy with my generally critically thinking attitude. So I've been trying really hard to listen to as many podcasts from the archives as I can, from the SGU, Astronomy Cast, Dr Karl, Skeptoid... I just listened to some listener feedback episodes, and wonder if there is a file-drawer effect of positive feedback as there is for inconclusive research. So this is my contribution to letting you know what a wonderful job it is you do, and all the other skeptics out there that try to make this wonderful & wondrous universe a more enjoyable place. From those that let their friends know that maybe that that little tonic they got is just water, to people such as yourself who broadcast well researched, light hearted content. I first hear of you through a Dr. Karl podcast when you appeared as a guest. I have since been listening to your podcasts and working through the backlog. I want to thank you and Dr. Karl for making a deference in this world. We need more like you and Dr. Karl. Just met a few distant relatives of mine and all they could talk about were conspiracy theories. I politely listened and just researched a bit of what they went on about and I just wanted to tell you how amazing I think your pieces are. Your work embodies what I wanted to tell them, along with what I am sure other people want to tell people with outlandish theories. I am glad to find a man with such optimism rather than conspiracies. Dear Skeptoid, You are providing an INVALUABLE service to the world. Too many people are too quick to believe any bit of information they are heard without the slightest bit of skeptical analysis. I appreciate your appeal to reason! I just wanted to say thank you. I discovered Skeptoid a while ago, and spent a whole weekend on my computer going through all the episodes. The only bad thing was, I was easily distracted. A few weeks ago I discovered another great thing -- if I gid out my old MP3 player, I could listen to books and podcasts on it. Well, duh... But it never occured to me before. Now I go out 30 earlier each morning, taking a walk instead of the bus, and listeing to old Skeptoid episodes on my way to university. And it's a great start of my day! So, thank you for making this possible! I have been hearing your podcasts for so many months that I can´t remember when it started, but for me is my No 1 podcast. Its very well produced, the information that you provide comes from a very thoughtful research, it´s an excelent work. I think that the world will be a better place with more skeptics like you around. Your work is very transcendental to the world and even more in your country, the leader of the world who is falling under so much stupidity like teaching creacionism in the schools. This is by far the most interesting podcast ive ever come across. And you are by far one of the most reasonable individuals ive ever listened to. Im going to give you money. Just so you donate your brain to science. Humanity have an urgent need to make more of you! Skeptoid is by far my favorite Podcast. You are consistently both informative and entertaining. I enjoy Skeptoid so much, that I am actually going to send you real money to relieve my guilt and to support your efforts. Keep up the good work, and I hope to see you on TV soon! I listen to Skeptoid every week and I love it. I don't always agree with everything in the podcasts but that's the point, isn't it? If I always agreed with everything, why listen to the podcast? The important thing is that you always take a reasoned approach to your topics and provide lots of links for people to investigate further for themselves if they so wish. Keep up the good work! Hi Brian, thanks for the effort you put into making the podcast. Started listening after hearing you on with Dr Karl the other week and have notched up 200 episodes already. It's been great to challenge beliefs that I'd had, some of which had no real basis. It's not always easy to put a mirror up to yourself like that but your humour has made it easier to do so. Thanks again. I have a man-crush on Brian. I love hearing people who do not listen make an argument against something which is not related to the topic and have Brian elegantly point this out to the masses. Brian is a cool guy and this is what makes his podcast not just a script of lame monotonous facts. I just got hooked onto your podcast when I heard your appearance on Triple J radio with Dr Karl here is Australia. I downloaded the eps and in the past week also got my sister and another friend hooked! The critical thinking has helped me in my PhD studies, so what my supervisors say is starting to fall into place. The Star Trek and Firefly (I know, there's only 1!) and other TV references make me laugh. I really don't like the whole UFO thing and your podcast is great in that sense, reminding me of something from the X-Files, saying, if there is intelligent life in the universe why would they fly here? They'd do what we do and send probes out into the solar system. I have been a listener for a year now, and I recommend your show all the time. I wanted to say thank you; between your and Star Trek TNG, my faith in science and humanity has been restored. I also wanted to relate this story: I am interning at a high school in my town, and my mentor teacher was telling me about this new weight loss method that he was on, called CHG. It took him an hour to explain it to me, two minutes for me to decide it was bunk, and 30 seconds to find an article about it on quackwatch.com. thanks for helping me develop my skeptical mind. I owe you a lot. Hey Brian, I am just writing to say it was great listening to you with Doctor Karl on Triple J last week! I have been listening to you since 08; keep up the great work! I hope you have a great time at TAMOZ and also in the rest of Australia. Cheers! I am a long time listner and I was so pleased to hear you on Dr Karl's BBC Radio 5 and JJJ shows. I hope it introduced your fabulous podcast to lots of listners. You probably have a million messages like this one so to keep it brief, thanks for a great show and keep up the fine work you are so well payed for by big "pharma" or the "illuminati" :) I only found out about your website and podcasts a few months ago. Since then I have listened to dozens of episodes and love them. You are a warrior in the war against pseudoscience! Rarely have I listened to such rational and well researched arguments. I look forward to listening to a lot more episodes and I will certainly refer others to your website. TAM Australia was a huge success in no small part because of the contribution of Brian Dunning. I had the opportunity to speak to Brian on a number of occasions and appreciated his humour and grace. I purchased "Here be Dragons" and discovered the podcast. LOVED the one on how to be a skeptic and KEEP your friends because there is little point in being skeptical and alone. (please consider making more of these ones on "How to win friends and be constructively skeptical") I look forward to using these tools to help educate my daughter in critical thinking. Hello Brian. I found your podcasts a few month back and really enjoyed listening to them. This is down to earth information, not a whole lot of talk. We need that, especially in my country where the daugther of the king is teaching how to see angels, and claiming that she can see aura and talk with dead people! Keep it up! Brian, I'm generally a dyed in the wool liberal, however I'm smart enough to welcome all points of view and make my decisions after carefully examining the facts. I love your show and look forward to new shows each week. I have learned a lot of things that I never knew before from listening to Skeptoid. Thanks for such a smart and insightful program. All the best. Mr. Dunning, Your skeptoid podcast is great. I'm a cancer biologist and have been listening to your podcasts for the past year while I do my cell culture work. Usually cell culture work is boring and tedious, but listening to skeptoid makes splitting osetosarcoma, lung cancer, kidney cancer and cervical cancer cells tolerable. Keep up the great work - squirting growth factors or chemotherapeutics on cancer cells just wouldn't be the same without a hearty dose of your critical thinking! I love your podcast. Hello Brian, my girlfriend went to a hippie private school where the science teacher was a former chiropractor and taught the medical efficacy of homeopathy. She had no particular interest in science when I met her. Now, six months later, she has changed her college major so she can take more science classes. This was thanks, in part, to your podcast. Thanks for the help, Brian. Your work is not in vain. Honestly, I'm very tempted to pretend to be some nutjob for half a message, telling you that you are a government stooge, and then segue into a sincere message about how much I love your podcast. It's good to see that there is still logical reasoning left in the world. Hey mate. Just discovered Skeptoid recently. Brilliant program. What a breath of fresh air to see such a significant volume of solid, rational thinking and proper, evidence-based investigation amongst the tsunami of nonsense out there. Keep up the great work! Brian, I think this is the greatest website... ever! Common sense, what a novel idea!! Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see." But, I didn't hear him say it. I do enjoy hearing Skeptoid quite a bit though. It's nice to hear someone who actually thinks about what they say before it just flies out of their pie hole. I want to thank you for helping me achieve my goal--finishing my first marathon (NY marathon, Sunday, Nov 7)! I listened to your and several other Skeptic podcasts during my endless hours of training. Not only do I now have a sound body, but a sound mind as well! Thanks again!! Thank you for all the work you put in. Your podcast has been a bastion of sanity and reason that I truly needed while surrounded by ignorance and idiocy. Your efforts are doing more for the side of reason than anyone I know of. I'm a lecturer in Psychology at Cal State Fullerton and Santiago Canyon College. I teach a variety of psychology courses, one of which is the critical thinking class. I just had an opportunity to watch "Here Be Dragons", and I loved it! It is a terrific overview of the important issues in critical thinking. As a skeptic (a fan and frequent listener of the Skeptoid podcast), a psychological scientist, and an educator, I'm always looking for cogent, well-packaged ways of getting the essence of skepticism and critical thinking across. Here Be Dragons is definitely an excellent way of communicating these ideas. I'm planning on showing it in my critical thinking class this semester -- I think it will be the perfect "wrap-up" at the end of the course! Thanks so much for putting this video together, and all the intelligent ways you promote skepticism! I continue to look forward to your weekly podcasts and appearances at local conferences (I recently saw you talk at the Freethought Alliance conference in Costa Mesa...a very interesting talk you gave on the Lady of Guadalupe!). I sleep with Brian Dunning every night. Let me explain...my husband has suffered from insomnia for many years, and recently I began to suffer as well. My husband (my real husband, also named Brian) introduced me to the idea of listening to Podcasts to help me fall asleep, and pointed me in the direction of Brian Dunning's Skeptoid Podcasts. I've been hooked ever since, and eagerly await my nightly settling in with Brian. Sometimes I make it through an entire podcast before falling asleep; sometimes not, so I repeat a lot of Podcasts. Am always fascinated, particularly with the medical-based Podcasts. This experience is slowly teaching me to become a more critical thinker. Thank you Brian. Night night! Oh...and before I forget...I'll be shuffling through the Santa Clarita Marathon this weekend, plugged into Skeptoid Podcasts to help me pass the time. I started listening to Skeptoid recently, then I subscribed, and in a few weeks I've already listened to the first 110 episodes. I'm an academic and I will defintely be recommending your podcast to my students and downloading "Here Be Dragons". I want to tell you that you have been a big help in assisting me with getting my 16 yo son interested in discussing psudoscience. Your podcast is now his favorite and I have just signed up as a supporter. I will give the DVD to him as soon as it arrives. I was at Dragoncon this year but was unable to get in to see you. Thats a shame as yours was one of the ones I was most interested in. My son wanted me to get your autograph. Your shows help me unwind from a long day of dealing with nonsense. I really appreciate all of your hard work and am looking forward to future episodes of Skeptoid and inFact. Thank you! Thanks for doing what you do, Brian. I encourage everyone to listen to your podcast. My daughter said ,"Dad, you will like this site." She was right. Hi Brian. I'm new to your podcasts and I'm really enjoying them. Thanks. Skeptoid is a breath of fresh air, in a demon haunted world (to quote the late Carl Sagan). Ever since my first encounter with Skeptoid, I've been continually impressed, informed and entertained by Brian's excellent podcast. It seems to occupy that rare but wonderful place free from politics, name calling, sloppy thinking, boring theme music, and all those cringeworthy attempts to make science 'exciting' for 'the kids'. It's just the facts, the reasoning and the conclusions. With some well placed wit and good humour thrown in. And how many other podcasters are honest enough to include corrections or to ask their listners not to take their word for anything but to find things out for themselves. So many pundits out there on both 'sides' of the arguments are convinced of their own correctness and intellectual superiority and are drowning in their own smugness. There's none of that self-righteousness with Skeptoid; even dealing with the most rabid and insulting messages from detractors becomes a lesson in how to improve one's own critical thinking (ok, so maybe there's a few funny put downs too!) I hope Brian keeps up the good work and gets more people listening and learning. Thank you Brian! I was raised LDS/Mormon and most of my family and friends are members of the church. I can see why people who are raised in religions and are surrounded by people with the same beliefs will never really question what they are being told. It is hard to deal with the fact that all my family believe things that are nonsense. I have slowly exposed some of my more open minded friends to critical thinking and the majority of them seem to really respond well to the podcasts. Anyways thank you for the work you do and for reaffirming my beliefs. Favorite Episodes: 43, 168, 86, 176 I really enjoy your podcast and look forward to it every week. I came across your podcast by accident and am so glad I did. I am a scientist and so approach strange phenomenon with the attitude drummed into me throughout studying that hypothesis and statements require proof. I have listen to other skeptical podcasts but they are all on the side of there is nothing in any of the reports whereas I love your approach of measured research to find alternative explanations but the fact that you are also prepared to leave your mind open to the possibility of evidence being produced that would contradict what you believe and so it is your open mindfulness that I really appreciate and respect and make this podcast essential listening for anyone interested in strange phenomenon. I listen to your show all the time and really enjoy it. This is an exceptional podcast and site. I thank you deeply for your efforts and results obtained by your good self. Well done, the world needs you. I discovered this fab podcast only a few weeks ago and can't get enough. Working my way through am currently at episode 121 and am often finding myself laughing out loud. Suggestion - warn listeners to strap ribs before pressing play! Keep up the amazing, informative and entertaining work. Yours is the best thing I have found in the audiocast world and I thank you for your time and trouble. I enjoy your show and how you not only discuss scientific but social fallacies that are broken down in such a way that the listener not only is aware of the fallacy, but can see both sides, regardless of the level of prior knowledge of the subject. Thank you for the show. Brian, I really appreciate the work you put into the podcasts. I hope my small contribution assists you in the production of your wonderful program. I just referenced your podcast about the Meyers-Briggs personality test in a paper for my MBA program. Keep up the good work, sir. Skeptoid is not only one of the best skeptical podcasts out there, but it is one of the best podcasts out there period. The Skeptoid podcast consistently delivers high value content with no frills or distractions. Skeptoid is making a positive impact on the collective knowledge of the human race. Let's hope it's here to stay for many years to come. Love, LOVE the podcast. You are responsible for many a guffaw on the NYC subway. And some strange looks. Maybe it's me but when I have facts and validated reasons why I do what I do, life just seems easier. And a hell of lot cheaper! Having a healthy dose of Skeptoid reminds me I am not crazy and always puts a smile on my face. Thanks! Just saw initially stumbled across "Here Be Dragons" in a search for a picture of an ancient map with such words. I then downloaded the movie and am thoroughly impressed and glad that there are other people who have shared intelligence and logic. I will now be following this podcast, and will definitely be sharing the movie with my friends. All the best. An accidental meeting, no magic, I just fell over you. Thank you for being there. Listening to your podcasts makes me feel sane again. Thank you so much. Thanks for the show Brian, it is informative and enjoyable. I am a Nutritionist by profession always searching for truth.. one which is not tainted by self-interest or greed. I really enjoy listening to your podcasts and find them enlightening. Keep at it! Just wanted to say that it was great to hear you on BBC Radio 5 Live today. You reached a big audience - several million. Interesting to note how sceptical the interviewer was with the natural remedy guy. I like to think the tide is turning; thanks to people like you! Thank you for being willing to stick your neck out there and deal with the frightening stupidity in the world. My Mother-in-Law, whom I adore, has been completely and totally drawn in by the Kangen Water junk. It's pretty much destroying her retirement. If you can keep somebody else from going that way, it's well worth the idiots that are happy to spam you. I love skeptoid. Why? I love good thinking. I love logical, fact-based thinking. Skeptoid. A breath of fresh air. I love listening to Skeptoid, but I recently developed a greater appreciation for the research process involved in the creation and presentation of each episode. Thanks, Brian, for continuing to wade through the vast and treacherous swamps of information, and for encouraging me and many others to think critically. Brian commits an astonishing amount of his personal time to the great cause of education and the pursuit of truth. Skeptoid makes being skeptical fun. Keep up the great work. Hi Brian, i recently found your podcasts a few weeks ago and I cannot get enough of them. Im working my way through them from the beginning and have around 100 to go. I don't quite know what i will do when I'm up-to-date. I applaud your approach, it is like a breath of fresh air. One other thing I really like is your sense of humour. Keep up the good work Brian. My beloved massage therapist asked for some of my podcast recommendations. Yours was among a list of about 10 I wrote down for him. When I saw him the following month, he specifically mentioned yours as one of his two favorite podcasts. He further stated that he had listened to almost EVERY episode, and that it had really changed him. You are changing the world. Thank you for your work. I will definitely be a contributor from now on. I wanted to offer my sincere thanks for your tremendous efforts. I am grateful for having discovered your work. I intent to support your efforts in as many ways as I am able. Brian! The podcast is incredible, and the pleasure that I get from listening to it has paid dividends. Not only has it improved my personal level of knowledge and critical thinking, but it's allowed me to converse with the not-so-skeptical and feel confident. All thanks to you! Brian, just want to take the time say a big thank you for your podcast, it's awesome! Cheers. This podcast is a great way to get knowledge and a good belly laugh at the same time. Keep up the wonderful work. Thank you Brian, you have been an intricate part of me growing up mentally and seeing things in a safe, correct and amazing way. The way true knowledge gets us ever closer to understand the flaws and glitches in our logic, moral and ethical behaver and towards knowledge about the cosmos as it is, not as we want it to be. I found your site because my creationist friend tried using the Mt. St. Helens argon dating argument against me. Well needless to say I learned the details (which seem to be amazingly underrated and understated) and passed them on to him. Thank you for all the great information! I recently watched 'The Business of Being Born', a documentary espousing home birth. The curse of having an open (or possibly credulous) mind is that, by the end of the movie, I was convinced that home birth was better and safer than hospital birth. But using the critical skills I learned here, I was able to once again restore rationality. Thanks very much! Just wanted to drop you a line telling you how much I love your show! It's great to hear a voice of reason over the howling insanity that is the internet! After a lot of searching on the net, I have come to believe Skeptoid is one of the best critical thinking resources out there. I teach LSAT classes to prepare ambitious students for the exam. I always direct them to your site to help them learn how to think critically for the exam. As a result, you've indirectly helped some of these students go on to become attorneys. Hopefully you aren't too ashamed at helping people become lawyers. If it's any consolation, my MCAT classes also get directed to your podcast. I thought I was alone or at very least an extreme minority. Now, I know where ever I am I won't be the only skeptic. Hey I just wanted to drop by and say I really enjoy this podcast. I'm working my way though all of them (eventually). Of course conventional wisdom can be wrong. As you might guess I am a skeptic too, and going to school to be a journalist in order to help spread skepticism. Mr Dunning I just sent a donation to thank you for your podcasts. They are so entertaining and helpful. I am a medical practitioner and clinical senior lecturer in a graduate med school. I often want to put an argument across with a skeptic viewpoint and you are just so succinct that I envy you your clarity and communication skills. I quote you as a source of rational thought. Continue the good work. I've been turning as many people on to your podcast as I can. I am ashamed to admit that I had bought into a couple of the hoaxes you've debunked! Keep up the great work. Just quickly, Love the podcast, Enjoy having my thoughts provoked. Appreciate the humour. I've given you a good review on Stumble and recommended you. Hope to increase your listener base. When I was young (way back in the '80s!) my father would encourage me to watch and read Carl Sagan's Cosmos, and anything by David Attenborough. Skeptoid is having the same positive influence on my children. To the point where I saw my eldest squeezing some lemon juice juice onto her tongue whle we ate some fish and chips to see if "the man on dad's iPod was right about it tasting the same wherever it is on your tongue". So thank you Brian Dunning for a fantastic show, it is an invaluable program for everyone who enjoys thinking critically. I just wanted to drop a line and let you know how much I enjoy the program. I would also like to thank you for helping me study for the LSAT (the law school entrance exam). I had been listening to your podcast for a few weeks when all of a sudden I did particularly well on one of my practice exams. “Was it possible,� I wondered, “that listening to Brian Dunning successfully root out logical fallacies had put me in the right frame of mind to do the same thing myself?� In case you don’t know, approximately half of the LSAT consists of an “arguments� section in which the test taker is given a statement or argument and then asked to modify it in some way (ie. make it stronger or weaker, identify a parallel argument etc.) almost all of which boils directly down to finding the logical flaw in the argument and then acting on it. Anyway, I just got back my score from the actual test, and thanks in no small part to your podcast (at least in my humble, non-scientific perspective) I scored in the 99th percentile. Thank you for all of your help and for a great podcast. This podcast is timely, witty, and bursting with endless streams of razor-sharp logic. You have the courage to own up to your errors, the tact to desolve the most cancerous (look! a weasel word!), harmful ideas. Critical thinking is as routine now as breathing. My wife and I listen to your podcast daily and want you to know that you've had an incredibly positive influence in our lives, which we are now sharing with the rest of our world here. Thank you. Just a note to say how much I enjoy your podcasts and comments! Thank you... Keep up the great work! One of the best podcasts I've ever listened to. Finally an application of critical thinking and logic in a country addicted to pap, drivel, and mythology. Believe me, in my area of Nascar, Beer Alcoholics, and hillbillies who slam anyone questioning the status quo as an "Educated Idiot", your podcasts are a very large breath of fresh air. You saved me. If there is anything tangible in my personal life I can consider a savior, it's Brian Dunning. There are many proponents of junk information which I have spent endless hours researching. I must admit Skeptoid has saved me many years of personal, social, financial and psychological harm. In turn I will be supporting this site and promoting it to friends and family. Once again my gratitude extends to you for dedicating your time and effort to providing some of the sharpest tools for critical thinking available with the epitome of good intentions. Brian you are simply amazing and necessary. Love your podcasts and eagerly await them. I have a super iPod where I collect them and listen at night to my delight. I also hook them into the car and enjoy on trips. I'm a huge fan, I've just found your podcast existed a few weeks ago, and it has been playing almost constantly while I caught up on all the past episodes. You make critical thinking wonderfully entertaining and logical, you are doing a great service to humanity. I look forward to listening in the future, please keep up all the good work. Love is too strong a word, but I definitely enjoy Skeptoid and appreciate the range of subjects you explore and the honesty of your approach. I just wanted to write and give you kudos and tell you how much I enjoy your podcasts. They are very thorough for the short amount of time you have in each podcast. I really like the fact that you are able to take in all the facts and possibilities of a certain event without bias. It allows the reader or listener to draw their own conclusions before you give your take on it. Great podcast, love it, keep up the hard work and thanks for the entertainment and mind floss if you will. Mr. Dunning, I came across your podcast a few days after after randomly remembering a skepticism class I took in Fresno in 1999, which was centered on the outstanding book "Why People Believe Weird Things," by Michael Shermer. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that Skeptoid is by far the best podcast that I have come across in my extensive research. I'm an EFL teacher in China now, and I regularly teach my students about the importance of logical thinking (believe me, the Chinese are in desperate, desperate need of some sound logic), and have used your podcast as listening practice and discussion topics. Keep up the good work! I'm a science and math teacher in Edmonton, Alberta Canada and absolutely love your work. Keep up the great work and I'll keep spreading skeptoid to my students and colleagues! Thanks so much Brian. So far you have assisted me in helping a loved one cope with the reality of pyramid marketing schemes and is currently assisting me in helping my sister to escape a world dominated by pseudoscience beliefs. The quality of your podcast has made the task of inoculating myself and others against some of the practices of con artists and the simply misguided a real pleasure. Never lose that touch of humor, it really helps some people laugh at themselves as well.
Thanks inordinately. Brian, I discovered the Skeptoid podcast quite by accident very recently, and have spent the past couple of weeks devouring episodes. It is without a doubt one of the most informative and well-produced podcasts available. I'm particularly impressed with your frequent reminders to your listeners not to take your word for anything, but to do their own research. In short, great job. Thanks for reminding us all to think critically. Just sending some praise from the UK. Not only do I enjoy your podcast and recommend it to others, but I think it is incredibly valuable in today's increasingly irrational society. Keep up the good work! Greetings, I've been following advances in science, religion and even "Fortean" or Urban-Legend subjects since I was a kid. I wanted to state that it was refreshing to find a site wherein facts were presented in a manner quite balanced, without degrading into an air of smugness I have found at other sites. Kudos to your objective nature and easy-going writing manner. Keep up the good work. Thanks again! Just found your podcast, and listening to them all from the beginning. I can't say how much I appreciate your work. I can tell it's a daunting undertaking, and I want to encourage you to continue. I am not sure I could put up with all the lunatics emailing me constantly and telling me how I am tool of the government! You're a positive influence on the American culture curing itself of venomous politics, and the general polarization of the masses. I'm not sure it'll ever happen, but if we can get critical thinking into our public schools, we might have a shot at being less crazy! Thank you very much. Just wanted to say that I listen to several podcasts, several of which are skeptically oriented, and recently came across yours. It's a great addition to the stable of podcasts I listen to because your short topical format is very concise, and your frankness about sources, opinions, and methods are forthright and allow me to do some research on my own. Thanks for your efforts. Why is common sense no longer common? Mr Dunning, thank you for bringing us back to the real world! I am always impressed with the way you frame the topic of each show so that you can answer every relevant question while being entertaining and keeping the podcasts short. The advanced planning and research really show through. I am greatly relieved to have found many skeptic sites which use EVIDENCE to debunk the normal myths and conspiracy theories floating about. There are way to many of these conspiracy nutcases on the net, spewing forth unsubstantiated and misresearched rubbish! Keep up the good work. Just found this website and it's a refreshing slice of sanity. I'm working my way through the archives as we speak. Thanks Brian. Thank you for doing this. I have started pushing people to your site. I have listened to about 50% of your posts/casts now. I do so when I run or bike. You do a great job, and your dry humour wins. It took about 120 seconds into "The Truth About Remote Viewing" to hook me Brian. Skeptoid is anything but boring and the length of the pocasts are so dead nuts on. But as I learn and digest somehow your content moves me into theta waves :) Keep up the excellent work and we hope you come to Des Moines soon. Thanks SO much! I love the podcast. I've been following you since the early episodes were coming out (5 or so) and I listen every week. Keep up the GREAT WORK! I love this podcast. As soon as I earn my own money I'm donating. Please keep it up. It is very hard to think of anything more important than what you are doing. I recently subscribed to Skeptoid. I love the short episodes and bare-bones format as I can easily digest the information and understand it. Being a college student, I often find myself avoiding homework to listen to your podcast. I recently turned my brother, a high school student, on to your podcast. I think he will soon be a strong proponent of it as well. Keep up the great work. I would like to thank Brian for Episode 116, "How to be a Skeptic and still have friends." As I am only a college student, I am glad I made the mistake of being too critical of my friends this early so that I don't repeat it in the future. I look forward to more useful advice from you, and your book definitely has a place on my coffee table... as soon as I get one. First, I'll have to say that you do have an uniquely awesome voice. Second, I, like probably many others, am very appreciative of the professionalism you employ in the production, research and presentation of your show. Quality in. Quality out. It shows (or sounds). Lastly, although I could go on with many more kudos for your work, ethics, content and motives, I simply want to wish you continued success with this venture. No doubt that your commitment will reap tangible personal benefit for you, as I am sure it has had for your listeners. Enjoying your good works as always. I'm such a big fan of skeptoid. It's rare to find something that is so entertaining yet so thought provoking. Thanks Brian!! I love Skeptoid and tell folks about it often. Brian I have been listening for about 6 months now and wanted to thank you for taking the time to produce Skeptoid. Your dedication is admirable and I appreciate your work. Keep it up! I downloaded the Skeptoid podcast on the advice of a friend, who assured me that it wouldn't cure baldness, burn fat, or clean stains despite being thoroughly informative. I listened to fourteen or so episodes during my first go, and am now a rabid fan. Thanks! I can't tell you how much I appreciate and enjoy your show. I've only recently discovered your podcasts and am one-third the way through them. I find your concise, direct approach mixed with hilarious wit and delicious sarcasm refreshing while I listen to you daily at work. I also like your vast range of skeptical subjects. Many other podcasts, though very good, mostly rehash the pseudo-medicine and paranormal topics. You leave no skeptical stone unturned with your critical thinking lessons from finance scams to bad movie science. I'm totally addicted and only wish each episode were longer! Thanks for all your hard work and research, and for the wonderful show you put out! You do the podcast world a great service! Critical thinking is grossly omitted from the education of America's youth. I have done my part trying to educate my 3 children and you have done much to help. Thanks Brian. You make everyone who listens smarter and more informed. Just started listening... I just got onto iTunes and subscribed to your excellent podcast. My only comment is something that I hear in my head (voices??) at the end of every epidode. You always say: "I'm Brian Dunning...from Skeptoid.com." Great podcast... keep having fun (because it sounds like you are...). Love the show! I think you are doing important work, and I wish more people would approach life with a more critical eye. Keep up the good work. Skeptoid is an enterprise that quite clearly has evolved to a level of sophistication that is both admirable and exemplary. It's good to know that there are a multitude of voices carrying the message of practical and applicable rationalism and so called skepticism in the United States of America. And Skeptoid is doing a tremendous job being one of those voices. Skeptoid serves me personally as a well produced reminder that there are people who need this kind of injection of applied common sense. (Being one of those highly rational and ice bear wrestling swedes I do not consider myself part of the target audience.) Thank you for 200 rather enjoyable episodes! I plan to continue to listen for as long as Skeptoid is available. Thank you, Brian, for your excellent podcast and for all of the hours of effort spent researching and crafting each episode. Since finding Skeptoid a couple of months ago, I have been working my way through all of the episodes and have thoroughly enjoyed them all. Not only are they informative, but they are highly entertaining. And I happily - as should all of your listeners - just put my money where my mouth is and made a donation. Keep up the great work! Glad to find your website. It's gotten to the point even the 'facts' websites must be viewed with skepticism. I look forward to paying attention. Brian, I just wanted to acknowledge my appreciation for your "un-biased" informative articles. It is so refreshing to be able to have access to credible information. I have heard we are in the "information age". I disagree, I believe there is too much information to disseminate and people are more confused than ever... I've been listening to Skeptoid for almost two years. I think this podcast has the virtue of being entertaining and at the same time educational, with a well balance of time of duration for each show. Some of the topics have been of personal interest, they have helped me to find material and resources to answer some crucial questions. Thank you Brian and keep the excellent work. Finding Skeptoid has turned out to be one of the most fortuitous accidents in recent memory. Brian, you are performing a very valuable public service…if only more of the public would read/listen and understand. Your primary emphasis on the process of critical thinking, rather than the validity of any specific pop phenomena, is excellent. Your work is enjoyable, stimulating, and enlightening. I can only hope the majority of the 110k weekly listeners spread the word about your good work. Thank you for your continued efforts…I have decided to become a contributor. I discovered your site recently and I'm really enjoying your podcast. I have been a skeptic and atheist for my entire adult life. Keep on going, we're in the same boat. Very enjoyable show - a breath of fresh air in our media-obsessed society of brainless celebrities, quackery, bad science and scare-mongering. I have listened to and enjoyed all of your podcasts. This weeks' episode on Cargo Cults was quite possible the most thought provoking. I found it enlightening, educative, and informative. Thank you for the time and diligent effort you put into producing this weekly endeavor. I found this show about a month ago and after i listened the very first podcast I put all the shows in my downloading list(around 50 are left now). I am big fan of you. I am a 12th grade student and had view exactly like yours but i couldn't explain it well to others so thank you a lot. So glad i found your site. As an aetheist/Jew, the Jewish holidays have always brought much confusion and doubt to my own skeptical mind. Enough already with the constant "victim" role of the Jew. Thank you for this clarification of ancient history. Love the show! I was recently introduced to the podcast by a friend and cant get enough.. working my way through the list a few a day. A great unbiased look at many of the things that bug and I don't know how to word the argument but you do it perfectly and concisely showing both points of view without assumptions. Keep up the good work! I just want to say how awesome it is that you take your free time to try to enlighten people. Especially with the kind of grief you get when you tread on some one's sacred cow. That and just making the human error of getting a fact or two wrong out of a dozen or so and having people jump on it like it's the end of the world. Once again, fantastic job, guys like you are heroes as much as some guy that runs into a burning building to save others. I love how concise and to the point your episodes are, and how careful you are with language. Keep up the good work! I found Skeptoid about a month ago and have listened to every episode. Love it! Perfect for my commute time. You make chaos feel orderly to start my day. Great job, Brian! I love your podcasts, you are doing a great service to the online community. Keep it up, please! I just want to congradulate you, Brian, on my hearing skeptoid on FM Radio. I was scanning stations on my way home from work not to long ago when it stopped on a station and "Denver Airport" episode was playing. I was shocked and surprised and then excited. One of my favorite podcasts was being heard by the general public. Keep up the excellent work. Hi Brian, I love each and every episode, and although I may not agree with you 100% of the time, it is clear that you spend considerable time and energy in researching each episode and that you do your absolute utmost to get it right 100% of the time, given the available evidence. Thank you for giving me 10-15 minutes of listening pleasure each week. If you keep making them I'll keep listening to them. I came across your site when I typed in a search for "debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories" after a conversation with my Greek waiter last night, who assured me that 9/11 was a US government plot and he had the evidence to prove it. I appreciate what you're trying to do, enjoyed reading several of your columns and listening to some of the podcasts. I do think you have a good opportunity to positively influence some of your younger audience, and with that I wish you all the best! I just want to say how much Skeptoid is awesome. I'm a High School student and it's easy to notice the lack of critical thinking in the Brazilian Society. Congratulations and thank you! I just found your podcasts and I totally love them. I work in a health food and vitamin store and all day long have to listen to stories of woo and the benefits of organic lifestyles. I've always been a skeptic and thus conflicted about working as a peddler of such things, but your podcasts have helped me find the best words to explain my views to others in a non-confrontational manner. Keep up the great work! I came across the Skeptoid podcast a few weeks ago and I really enjoy it. I listen to each new episode, and I'm working my way through the past episodes. Informative, entertaining, and all-around awesome! I love your podcasts and I show Here Be Dragons to my college Physiology classes. Keep up the good work. This show is for anyone who wants to enlighten themselves and possibly save themselves some money and embarrassment. Join the growing community of people who are tired of listening to unproven statements and take a stand for Science and the betterment of society as a whole. One of the great thrills of my 20s and, I hope an ongoing theme of my life, has been the forming of a skeptical outlook and the honing of critical thinking skills - things I was not raised with. It has been an amazing journey - something that keeps getting better and better as I feel myself coming through the fog and developing discernment and incredulity in a way that actually makes the world seem more beautiful and more fascinating than it did before. In short, your podcast was a major component of the early days of my skepticism and continues to be a highlight of the week. I had never known there was a term for it before! Rest assured what you spend so much time on DOES make a real difference in how people see and interpret the world around them. And it is much appreciated. Thank you. Since I started listening to Skeptoid, I have since quit Scientology and I haven't ear candled once. Skeptoid has saved me from the stupid! It burns! I really appreciate your critical thought and especially your open presentation. Your example of arguing your points calmly and without attacking opponents is a model that this world can really benefit from. Perhaps after debunking pseudoscience you could consider relationship counseling! :) I have been listening to your podcast for quite some time. I am quite pleased with it and have even watched Here be Dragons. I have been watching from the first episode and have not yet reached the most recent but i hope to be soon. Pure awesomness and #150 made my jaw hit the floor. Your attention to details in every episode is amazing. Keep rocking and thank you! I love your podcast. It's fun, interesting, and the perfect length for my short drive home. Hi Brian, big fan of the whole Skeptoid thing... you rock. Keep up the great work and I really enjoyed your latest appearance on the SGU podcast - you fit right in like you had been there forever. Living in the South, I find I need to "mega dose" on the new-age energy vibes of Skeptoid, and the fresh corporate paycheck that comes with it. If you found fault with any of that then you will love this podcast. A breath of fresh air in a smoggy world. Keep up the good work Brian. I have begun downloading the episodes recently, I love listening to them. Just a quick note to tell you how much I enjoy your podcasts. You certainly put a lot of effort and yourself into each podcast. It's a real lesson in critical thinking to see how you break down some topics and apply logic and reasoning to them to get a plausible, scientific explanation for some of these "phenomena". I just want to say how much I love the show, the SGU turned me onto your show so I grabbed the latest one last week... and since then I have listened to about 65 more at work. Thanks a ton for doing this, and I definitely love the Listener Feedback episodes, they always make me laugh. Hi I'm Campbell and I'm 14 this is by far one of my favorite modes of entertainment. Ive even passed it along to some of my friends at school and I use it as reference material for the final blow in an argument regarding auras and others, THANK YOU AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! What an excellent website. Great work on all of your research. Keep it up. I appreciate the amount of research you do for each episode of Skeptoid. I am also thankful that you issue in print the podcast topics. I so often want to share what I learn with my hearing impaired mother but cannot. Thank you for making your articles understandable to the laymen. You make very important facts understandable to people who would otherwise be too lazy to seek understandable knowledge. I am a true fan of your work! I LOVE THIS PODCAST!!! It is rare for completely credulous, psychic-seeing, anything-swallowing, wayyy-too-open-minded New Agers to swing from that end of the spectrum to the other, but that is what I have done through the help of your podcast (and many other skeptic themed podcasts/websites/etc which I have been voraciously digesting over the past couple months). After spending years seeing psychics, paying thousands for stupid self-development courses and books, and taking very very bad health advice from naturopaths and "organic lifestyle coaches" - I am finally free and looking forward to living in the real world. Thankyou for providing a voice of reason that is also entertaining, interesting, and 'enlightening' - pardon the pun. Brian Dunning - YOU ROCK!! Thank you for a wonderful site. Enjoy the Podcasts and will continue to follow. Thank you. You sir, are an absolute blast to listen to. I first got into skepticism randomly with Carl Sagan, and you carry that banner just as well and elegantly as he did. Every week I can't wait to hear another mystery, and your clear and concise dissection of all the woo too. You're like Coast to Coast for not crazy people. Keep up the work that so many are gifted to have you give. Thank you for your Podcasts which are well researched and presented. I like the fact if later research changes an earlier podcast, you'll happily correct. No sweeping under the carpet incorrect information. I certainly look at things with a more skeptical eye now. I love researching hoax emails and finding their original sources (most August email revolves around "how Mars will be as big as the moon" and that rot!). Keep up the great work. Please! Your Podcast is one of the best skeptical podcasts that I listen to. You have created an entire series of shows that encourage people to think critically and inspire those like myself to continue to be a skeptic. Dont ever stop generating material for Skeptoid! I am a college student and my twin sister turned me onto the skeptoid podcasts at the start of this winter break. I have been listening to them nonstop, and I can't wait to catch up. I will most certainly tell my friends about your podcast and I plan on buying your books as gifts for some of my family members. All I can think to say is that I'm definitely one of your podcast's biggest fans and if you ever stopped I would be so sad. I discovered this podcast a few weeks ago and started listening at episode #1. I've been listening frequently to try to catch up. I especially enjoyed the two episodes on logical fallacies. Thanks, Brian! I just wanted to say thank you for the Skeptoid podcast. I thoroughly enjoy listening and I appreciate your clarity and sense of humor. For me, Skeptoid acts as a vaccination against wayward memes that exploit or otherwise distract from a fascinating world. I've been listening to Skeptoid for some time now. I've probably heard them all. Recently I was tipped off to a cartoon that Build-a-Bear was using to teach kids about Global Warming. Thanks to your program, I was able to answer his seemingly logical arguments with my own, while gently accusing him of several logical fallacies. Thanks, Brian! I thought 'The Most Effective Homeopathy Podcast Ever' was brilliant, and then I just heard episode #150. It's obvious you are having WAY too much fun - stop making skepticism so enjoyable! We're supposed to be miserable curmudgeons! I applaud your contribution to humanity, sir. I am frequently mortified at the number of people I encounter in daily life that, to varying degrees, live in seeming comfort with their vision clouded by superstition, ignorance and group-think. To embrace clarity of thought alone is commendable, to encourage others to do so as well, especially in a climate that is sometimes hostile to rationality, is laudable. Thank you for being both a source of encouragement to others sharing your desire for our species to embrace progress, and a personal inspiration for me to attempt the same with those I encounter. I just read your piece on Bigfoot and Dr. Jeff Meldrum. You were very fair and caught my interest immediately! Great work Brian and thank you for being fair to both sides!! I enjoy your podcasts. Keep up the good work on exposing frauds and explaining myths. I just wanted to take a moment to applaud and thank you for producing and delivering one of the finest podcasts (or programs of any sort) available anywhere. Your approach is grounded, fair, well-supported, and just as importantly, fun. One does not have to agree with every given position you put forth...in fact, your credibility is elevated because you ask your listeners not to simply accept your arguments as proof. You challenge us to listen with an open (and skepical) mind, and then perform our own additional research in our own way to draw our own conclusions. It probably does help, I might mention, that you just happen to be right about most things! Funny how honest pursuit of truth using clearheaded and scientific methods works that way, huh? Bravo, sir. You do good work and I enjoy you tremendously. Love your show, even though it's too damn short. All the best. Brian, I just wanted to say thanks for your excellent site. In this day and age of information overload I think it's crucial that people equip themselves with the proper tools to separate good information from bad, and Skeptoid is a great resource for doing just that. Keep up the good work! I really do love your Podcast. I was one of those gullible folks that have spent thousands on magic cures. I won't name any of them and I will say a few have helped, by helping me relax and think before acting, but they were never a cure and I have yet to wish my way to fame and fortune. Reality is a bitter pill indeed but one I need to swallow and glad I finally did. I got to the point where I had to choose between paying rent or getting the next level meditation tracks. It was when I was given a free copy of that next level that I discovered it didn't do anymore than the prior level, and so went the rest of my test. I began to question all of the supplements, videos and magic answers and the end result landed me in the land of Skeptics, asking real questions and looking for real proof. Keep up the good work! I work as a Pediatric/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. Your podcast has truly made me a better clinician as I educate my families regarding various treatments/non-treatments. NP's do not receive the science education MD's do and I feel they may be more pulled into CAM's and the like. I just wanted to share this with you so you know that you no doubt probably impact many more that you might think. Thank you! It's always a pleasure to "meet" like minded people who never stop questioning life. I have just "encountered" your site and my whole day went onto reading just about everything on it. Fantastic. Thank you. Just wanted to Thank you for all that you do. I can't make a contribution yet, but as soon as I can spare some loot I will be sure to. Your podcast is a breath of fresh air... and I even had the opportunity to play your recent show about 'big pharma/vaccines' for my mother... who unfortunately has been 'sucked in' by all of the conspiracy talk and 'they're out to git you... steal your money and your freedom... blahblahblah'. Thank you for providing a voice of thoughtful and RESEARCHED reason in this day of blather and sensationalistic noise. :) I look forward to hearing your weekly show. I love Skeptoid! It's just what I was wishing for every time I heard some out-there-claim from my friends. Almost all my questions and random thought about Pop-phenomena I only knew vaguely is somewhere here. I admire Brian's Critical Thinking and I try to do the same. To sum up: I love Skeptoid! Brian, your podcast is my new favorite - unfortunately, I've listened to them back to back for several weeks and now I've run out! I'm afraid I'm now feeling a large gap in my life that can only be filled by asking you record at least 25 Skeptoid episodes per week from hereon it. No? Seriously, thanks for your podcast, you are, as in Carl Sagan's book sub-title, A Candle In The Dark. I continue to anticipate new episodes eagerly! I have enjoyed your weekly podcast for quite some time now. It was the very first podcast I ever listened to, but I had been visiting your website before that. Love your shows (and transcripts)! Today, I'll be making a donation to your good work. Hope to see your other fans do the same. Keep up the great work, Brian! I anxiously anticipate each new Skeptoid podcast and enjoy your sense of humor. I like to listen to your latest opus on my daily walk. I challenge my friends and family to listen... if they dare. I am a twelve year old kid, and I have to say, I love your little show. I am not some guy here to say: thank you for supporting our cause and keeping us a secret for so long. Sadly, I cannot donate because, well I'm twelve. And I have tried to recommend it to my friends, but they just smile and walk away, so as far as I know, I'm a loner on this. I don't know if there is any kid who has enough intellect to stop listening to Jay-Z for 10 minutes and listen to something that is actually interesting and informative. I don't expect to be featured on an episode; frankly because I'm not heretical, but I just want to say thanks for giving me something good to listen to after school. Thanks Brian. I love the podcast. I think that I have listened to every episode over the past month. Unfortunately, I now have to wait a week before I can listen to another episode. Thanks for all your hard work. My boyfriend recently turned me on to your podcast, and I must say I am highly impressed AND entertained by your show. It's enlightening and so helpful to listen to someone who truly applies science and skepticism to real-world, every day issues. It gives me hope for the human race! I've learned a TON just from listening these past few weeks. I'm a fan; keep up the great work! What a fantastic web site I stumbled upon tonight. I have always considered myself a skeptic -- but in the best way possible of course. Your work is a great service and sensible counterweight to what passes for news these days. Well done. But, you're killing me over here because I now have nearly 200 episodes to catch up on. With my 50+ years I am not exactly a student any more, but I would like to congratulate you for this invaluable web site. Not only I appreciate your clear thinking, but also your precise and clear articulation, which makes it a real pleasure listening to the podcasts, even for a Bavarian hillbilly like me. :-) I just signed up with Paypal for a small monthly contribution, and I hope you'll get enough supporters for many future episodes. I just watched "There Be Dragons" to preview it before screening to my class of 10th grade Honors Chemistry students tomorrow. Huzzah, and well done! I am looking forward to their reactions... being boys, they are quick to buy into anything supernatural or Hollywoodized, so I often find myself trying to quell their enthusiasm for such stuff (and I don't do that lightly, as enthusiasm and curiosity should be encouraged, not quashed). I've enjoyed your podcast for about a year now and I consistently find it entertaining, informative, and outright funny. Thank you for fighting the good fight. The first thing I check after syncing my iPod is my Skeptoid Podcasts in hopes there's a new one waiting for me to listen to. Your podcast is absolutely excellent. Keep up the great job and thanks! Many thanks for a great show! All the best. I found your website while searching for information on the "2012" end of the world myth. While I am not in complete agreement with you (that would be too weird), I find your page to be very good and your adherance to science refreshing. Brian - thanks for all your hard work. More than once I have been party to conversation with people who deny the holocaust, think 9/11 & the lunar landing was a hoax, & your episode helped me keep my cool and explain what we know and how we know it. Thank you! Thank you very much for what you're doing here, Mr. Dunning. I have been listening to your podcasts for the last few months (more so in the past week, when I broke down and downloaded all of them) and you have helped me immeasurably to approach things which have become commonplace in my life skeptically. Keep up the good work. Keep up the good work - science, science, science. Only just discovered this thoroughly enjoyable and informative show. I listen in the car and now look forward to my long journeys and the playing of many episodes. You've given me the tools and information to proactively apply critical thinking to the high levels of religiousity and pseudo-science out there. Thanks Brian and keep up the great work. Very enjoyable series - discovered your site quite by accident last year. Pity it's not compulsory listening for politicians.... Thank you for your episode on ghost hunting tools! My readers loved it! I started listening to your podcast about 3 weeks ago, and work in a large retail store. I now look at the labels and advertisements for these products and noticed a few dodgy words, such as "Helps prevent infections", "Helps treat such disease", and then the famous "These statements not approved by FDA". It is amazing how much money people spend on the stuff that really does not help them one little bit. It's amazing what some critical thinking will open you up to. Thanks. Found a great quote that made me think of your podcast: "It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument." -- William G. McAdoo (lawyer and politician, 1863-1941) Keep up the good work! I came across Skeptoid accidentally about 2 years ago, and have been hooked ever since. Listening to someone who only wants his listeners to question the world around them is refreshing in this time of prepackaged radio and TV comment and paid "Advertorials" presented as fact. Keep up the good work Brian, and keep your clarity of thought. The time and effort put into each episode is obvious and heartwarming. The messages in each show are inspirational. I want more of this kind of content, where important questions are asked and science and reason is listened to, in pop culture. Great show, Brian! We should all make it our quest to stay informed, educated and enlightened. Such a shame how many people live in the dark, only to become all the more credulous and ultimately victimized by nonsense and scheming charlitans. Skeptoid is one of my candles in the dark. Easily the best skeptic podcast and a serious contender for the best across all categories. Always informative, clear, level-headed, well-considered and amusing. Hey Brian, I just wanted to drop you a note about how much I appreciate your podcast. It's great to hear something that promotes real critical thinking, even if I may not agree with everything you say. I take your podcast along wherever the military sends me, and your show has turned me on to other geniuses like Randi and Shermer. Keep up the good work, man. I just signed up for the monthly payment schedule. Since I just discovered you, and have been consuming multiple podcasts daily, I feel like the least I can do is give you something back. I like very much that your style of education is neutral in tone and understanding that for the most part, people are just misinformed. Thank you for your hard work. I hope that you are successful in your television persuits, as I am increasingly aware of how poor the quality of information coming out of ostencibly "educational" networks (watched the History channel lately? UGH!) Can't wait for what comes next. I just wanted to drop you a love note for doing this podcast. I am really enjoying learning about critical thinking and how to apply it to everyday situations we often come across and don't know how to evaluate. I like that you are a positive person and present your information in a way that shows one can be skeptical yet not negative. I appreciate your sense of humor too. I see how easily I can be led one way or another. Learning critical thinking from you is a pleasure. I'm glad you followed your heart. It works for me! I will certainly recommend you. Mr. Dunning, I recently found your podcast on iTunes and I have to say I am hooked. Excellent work and I find I am getting more and more interested in researching things on my own. My one problem is that I want to believe in ghosts and you are just not making that possible. Again, thanks for the hard work and rest assured, I am doing my part to introduce others by to your podcast. I have a great deal of admiration and respect for the level-headedness and courtesy you show others when the same is not being shown to you. You are a gentleman skeptic and that alone makes you stand above many. Please keep up the fantastic work! Thnx Brian for making me fall in love with Science! My husband and I love listening to your commentary. Love the show. You're an inspiration to critical thinkers everywhere. I just wanted to drop you a brief note to say that I've been enjoying your podcasts. I recently saw you in person at Dragoncon and thoroughly enjoyed your panel (the podcast Raining Fishes and Frogs). Please consider coming to Dragoncon every year! I heard about Brian and Skeptoid through the SGU podcast and have been listening to your backlog of podcasts for a couple of weeks. I just want to congratulate you on your excellent work. I think every school kid should be shown your "dragons" video at least once during their schooling. Please keep up the incredibly important work that you do. 56 year old Skeptic, always have and always will be. Just discovered your shows, and would just like to say how much I love them and how much I appreciate all the hard work you obviously put in to each episode. If you ever plan to come over to Scotland please get in touch. Just attended Dragon*Con yesterday and had the time of my life. You delivered above and beyond any expectations I had (which were lacking, due to your typical 10 min format). The email you dissected and ripped apart was one of the best, if not, most entertaining skeptical-related dialogue I've heard to date, scripted or otherwise. Overall, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to come to Atlanta to do this event. I hope you will come back next year, as your panel is the sole reason I come to this event. Thanks for everything Brian. "There are 2 reasons not to wrestle a pig: first you get all muddy, second, the pig likes that you get all muddy." - Winston Churchill. I admire your dedication to the "I don't want to be educated" but I and so many others enjoy listening and learning. Thank you. Like your show a lot and I hope it continues for a long time. I myself, have spent hours on the most wackie topic of 'em all: UFO's. I really got obsessed by the subject for some months there, until I finally convinced myself to seek a decent site like yours, and I must say, you cured me from this paranoid Big Brother feeling that had been haunting me for some time. I just discovered your podcast a few days ago and you do an amazing job. Your podcast is a tremendous resource for critical thinkers. I'm listening to the listener responses episodes and am appalled at the things some of these people write to you. I've downloaded all the episodes and can't get enough. Thanks for what you do. Skeptoid is one of the best podcasts I've heard in a long time. I have just discovered your podcasts on ITunes. They make my trip to work bearable. Anyway, the podcasts are great, you are great, website is great, long may it last. I have been a student of yours since episode 1. I just wanted to say thank you for having such a big impact on my life and way of thinking. I was a amateur skeptic before Skeptoid but now consider myself amateur-professional....my friends consider it annoying. Please keep up the great work!! Thank you for Skeptoid. I never miss an episode. The city I live in (Asheville, NC) is a largely hippie/new age believer area and I'm surrounded by "open minded" people who let everything in without a filter. It's nice to be able to discuss alternative viewpoints to the commonly accepted pseudoscience. Once again, thank you and please continue the awesome show. I really enjoy Skeptoid. It's reminded me why it's so important to be skeptical, and it's helped me to reframe how I think about skepticism and open-mindedness, which is very important to me as a prospective teacher. I heard about your podcast from a friend, downloaded/listened every episode at iTunes and I felt compelled to say "Thank You." Big fan of the podcast. Thanks for taking time to put this podcast out there. I just want to say that Skeptoid has to be one of my favorite podcasts. I usually listen to science podcasts but for entertainment I also listen to some of the paranormal ones. It was great to find your podcast. It too has great entertainment value. Keep up the great work. I listen to several really good podcasts and cannot contribute financially to all, so I had to pick one. I have just sent you a donation. I enjoy your podcasts very much for several reasons. Apart from the high quality research and very interesting topics, the size of the podcasts is perfect. You hit a single topic and do it well. This is so tremendously useful. The biggest reason I felt I needed to donate is that my 13 year old son is now a fan. I listened to one episode with him and he was hooked. It was the Hadron collider episode. My son is a bright kid and wants to be a physicist so he knew more about the collider than I did, so I had him listen with me. You can reach kids and educate them and me, that is not easy! Good luck and thanks for the great work, best of luck. I absolutely love your podcast. Not only for the rational take on pop fads, trends, legends, etc, but your laid-back delivery and non-hypey presentation. If people actually listen to what you're saying, they might not write so many hysterical emails. You present your arguments in a straightforward manner that has to change some minds. And a playlist of Skeptoid episodes makes for a great bedtime audiobook. And, no, not because it's boring, but because your voice is very clear and calming. And along that line, thanks for no theme music and blustery production values. I plan on doing my part with the "2 and 2." 2 friends and 2 reviews. I am a Nurse Practitioner in Rhode Island. I am befuddled and distressed about the time I have to spend in my office discussing "alternative Medicine", Chiropractic spinal alignement or other assorted bunko. I have adjusted my office discussions because of your advice related to skeptical arguments with friends. You have excellent advice about making a patient consider a claim critically without making them feel like I am speaking down to them. This has enhanced my practice and made it easier to maintain trust levels. Thank you. I also am very jealous of your ability to research the topics you disscuss. I have difficulty critically analyzing peer reviewed studies in a timely fashion. Keep up the good work and I will keep listening. Skeptoid has opened my eyes to an impressive array of critical analysis tools. (e,g, the misrepresentation of a position, then attacking that instead of the actual position). Thanks. I've been enjoying your show for a while now, and the amount I've learned is amazing. Brian, I absolutely love your show. I just discovered it a couple weeks ago and I'm now up to episode 100. I've sent several episodes to specific friends who have particular reality "issues". A look through my iTunes podcast list told me recently that I've been listening to your podcast for a year now, and what a year it's been. Ever since I accidently stumbled onto your podcast I've been hooked. You've opened my mind to all types of scams and quackery not to mention that you've got me hooked on other podcasts like the Skeptic Zone. I wish to sincerly thank you for your podcasts and books, you are making a difference all over the world and I hope you continue to do so for a long time to come. Started downloading you off iTunes on a whim, but I enjoy the podcast very much. Listened to many episodes with an old (also skeptical) friend as we drove from Denver to Fargo earlier this summer. I'm impressed with the apparent amount of research you do for each podcast and I would encourage you to increase the flashes of wry humor that especially come out when you're responding to email from people who accuse you of being a Gray in a Black Suit sent by Big Corn to convince the sheeple that they don't really need free energy. Anyway, looks like you have quite a success on your hands, and I congratulate you. Just wanted to say how pleased and thrilled I was to come across your podcast via ITunes. Your podcasts are both interesting and informative and really jump start the old grey cells!! Your podcasts have really changed the way I think, process and analyse things, it's great!! Well, what can I say... A wonderfully done podcast, with just right the ammount of information that is needed, skillfuly explained and - more importantly - researched. As you can see, I'm from a far away country, with a very different language. And your podcast is really easy to listen to, loud, clear, crisp, it's just perfect. It couldn't get any better. Please, keep 'em coming! Just found you and am now seriously hooked. (also the first response to a podcast I have made.) I listen while driving from jobsite to jobsite and you have made it much more enjoyable. Also I am setting up a few episodes for my grandkids -- been trying to teach critical thinking and a skeptical mindset for years. Thank you for your efforts and PLEASE continue. Irreverent and deliciously logical reality check presented in succinct and concise weekly doses. I love it :) My older brother got me listening to Skeptoid on holiday last year and ever since then i've been listening to your podcast whenever I can. I love it! I especially love listening to the listener feedback, it really makes me laugh. Just keep doing what your doing and I'll be happy. My Physiology professor recently posted a link to Here Be Dragons on his blog (he might detest pseudoscience even more than you). I just wanted to say how much I enjoy and appreciate your efforts! Keep it up! I just want to say thanks for educating me, them and the world about these topics. Thanks for a great program. It is wonderful that you produce these shows like you do and do so in such an entertaining and educational way. I have personally introduced your show to three friends of mine. I know that I probably would not have the courage to do what you do and not to mention the credentials that you have which make skeptoid even that much better and more credible. Thanks again and keep up the great work! I just wanted to say how refreshing & brilliant your podcasts are. I always look forward to the next episode. I only found Skeptoid about a Month ago & have already listened to about 90% of them! Anyway, thank you Brian, you are the best science podcast out there by far!!! I have a six month old son and I intend to keep a copy of your Sarah Palin episode to play to him at the appropriate time in his development. It's a perfect encapsualisation of why reasoned and respectful debate is so important, and why simple minded attacks, while great for letting off steam, can be so destructive. Thank you for giving wisdom and clarity in a world where both are so lacking. Freshly returned from TAM 7 and inspired by Tim Farley's workshop regarding skepticism on the web I was trolling iTunes for podcast goodness and found your most recent episode. I was listening to it in the grocery store and I was LOL-ing up and down the aisles especially the last letter. I am looking forward to the episodes that engendered these comments. I really like this website, you really seem like someone that is neutral on all subjects until you independently investigate and find the best or most resonable conclusion for yourself. Also challenging both sides of the story equally without bias. Excellent!! Thank you for being a voice for rationality not just when taking the strange to task, but also when confronting attitudes likely held by many in the skeptic community. Skeptoid is a gem, and I look forward to each new episode. Maybe there is a conspiracy to keep the world dumb. The world seems to be full of pseudo science. Seemingly intelligent people believe all sorts of rubbish and are willing to pay well for it. Crystal healing power, homeopathy, spirits, etc etc. I am so glad to find there are a lot of other logical thinkers in the world. You're the man, you're the man, you're the man!! I just wanted to say that I have been listening to your podcast since about episode 20 and have been addict to your hilarious but educational weekly 10 minute rants ever since. I have learned a lot in the past 2 years and often find I say to myself "think critically" whenever I hear a new claim. You have turned me onto a life of critical thinking and skepticism. Thank you very much! I have been listening to your podcasts for at least 2 years now. I have heard all of them more than once. With out a doubt the best thing you do for a skeptic is make his or her life easy. We don't need to research subjects or memorise lenthy dialects about subjects of no interest just to debunk something that ticks us off. You my friend do that for us. My iPod is full of your podcasts except for some USA interest only ones. So I just stick it in their ear and say "argue after you listen to this". Thanks Brian. Love your work and as soon as I fix my credit card I will buy a book. Thanks a bunch Brian for doing this podcast. I am suprised at how much I have learned, and how much I thought I knew. I shared this podcast with my boyfriend and he loved it and spread it to his friends. Thanks again, and keep up the good work. Finally, I find someone in the publishing world who makes a whole lot of sense. You've been saying exactly what I've been thinking. Thanks for being here man. Keep on going. I just discovered you thanks to 365 days of astronomy and you're a breath of very fresh air. I just donated $25 to you and will continue to do so from time to time when I can. Love you analysis and your view. Gives me hope about humanity. Great job, thank you and keep it up ( wish you could come to the uk some time and give a presentation). I'm a relative newcomer to your podcasts (new-ish to my ipod too!) and have been enjoying them. The two part series on logical fallacies was excellent. I've had fun these last few days recognising red herrings, ad hominems, non-sequiturs and fallacies of the consequent, amongst other such logical fallacies used in arguments. I previously knew intuitively they were fallacious and my naturally skeptical and logical mind still works that way but I had never had the type and nature of them defined so neatly. I found that categorising them in my mind has armed me with more powerful means of responding, and helps to avoid falling into the same traps myself. Nice work, now I have a backlog of podcasts to catch up on. I just wanted to say, Skeptoid is by far my favorite podcast. Please keep up the good work, and I'll try to do my part by telling people about it. Thank you for the clear-headed reasoning. Hello Brian. I find your podcasts to be literate, thoughtful, even-handed where appropriate and, above all, skeptical. I know it takes a lot of effort to put together your weekly podcast and I applaud the result. I love your podcast. Could you do two shows a week? The ulitimate encouragement in this stupid world is to hear someone put facts and logic together so soundly. Thank you for the great podcast. It is impossible for a busy college student to learn about all these topics and keep their grades up. It is because of people like you that inspired me to go into medicine to help people with evidence-based methods and educate them on useful treatments. Thank you. I've become extremely spoiled by the internet. So many things I love and enjoy on literally a daily basis are completely free! It used to be that if I wanted to watch/listen a TV or radio program, I had to suffer through commercials, if I wanted to read an article out of Time magazine, I had to subscribe, and so on. Now it's all online for pretty much free, and sadly it spells the end for some of the organizations that have been forced to push their content out for nothing online to compete with others. Podcasts are one of those things I love so much and get for virtually free. Today I started supporting your podcast. Yes, I'm paying for something I can get for free. But I really don't want to see it go away. So thanks, and keep it up. You're doing the public a great service. I relish your podcasts and Here be Dragons. Keep up the good work. I love what you're doing! Keep up the good work! Brian, I just discovered your 'show' and absolutely love what you are doing. I have been spreading the link to your site like cow dung (organically, right?). I love the format of your podcasts and the fact that you provide the transcript. My iPod is full of clear headed thinking. Great while sipping coffee. My favorite episodes are the organic food, free range chickens, homeopathy and false argument techniques. I also appreciate the podcasts on religion. Being an atheist behind the Orange curtain can be frustrating sometimes. Don't stop! Just discovered your podcast after a recent reference on Skepticality. I love it! Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into each episode. After listening to one episode, I knew I needed to start from #1. I'm half way through. Some episodes have stung a bit as remaining tidbits of my non-spkeptic past are washed away. I equate that to the sting of anticeptic or the burn of Listerine... a sign that its working! Thank you so much. I hope I have the chance to meet you at one of your local appearances. Simply perfect. Much appreciated! I just want to say love your podcasts. Even as a young child I was a skeptical person. I remember on several occasions my friends discussing things such as the "curse" of King Tut or the Bermuda Triangle. At the time I could not provide the actual natural explanation but I was positive there had to be one. I just want to do a face palm every time when someone doesn't know an explanation and immediately jumps to the supernatural. Anyway, I'm so glad there are people like you and James Randi to explain there are rational, logical, and natural explanation for phenomenon. Keep up the great work! Last night I was watching tv... and a show on the History Channel cought my attention... it was about December 21st 2012. I have never heard about it in my life... the Hopis, the Mayans, the Bible coding, the Jewish 7,000 years, etc. All, very scary, so of course today I googled it to find out the details and start planning!! and what a great surprise to find your informative site. Thank you!! Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your podcast. There seem to be no sacred cows in your world, and I appreciate the work you do. With all the horrible junk that's so readily available on the nets, it's not very often that you actually run across something worthwhile. Well, this is one of the most worthwhile uses of the Internet I have ever had the pleasure to encounter. I enjoy your podcast immensely. Your sense of humour and wit, along with your rational reasoning and entertaining subjects, make for a supremely enjoyable show! Best wishes, with hope of many more future episodes to enjoy. Your articles are the perfect length to read. You get the point across but it also saves you time so you can read more. It's pretty amazing that all skeptics have exactly the same views, ya know, the truth. Keep it up! Great job Brian. I especially enjoyed "Screwed". This is a brilliant production. I look forward for each new podcast and play if for my teens in the car on the way to school to show how critical thinking works and how they can use it. I've been listening to skeptoid for a while now, and I find I greatly enjoy it. It's a result of this excellent work that I chosen to donate. Worth putting my money where my mouth is:) I have to admit, though, I've never enjoyed the taste of money.... A friend recommended the Skeptoid podcast to me and I have listened to the first 36 episodes. I have to admit that around episode 26, I began to think that someone was having me on; that it was all a well-executed prank. Biodynamic vineyard management? Chemtrails? Pond Magnets? My first reaction was that there cannot possibly be people who actually believe these stories. Then I remembered - humans can be convinced of anything if it answers something they want and/or need to be answered, especially if it doesn't challenge their current way of thinking. Personally, I am most grateful for your articulate, rational discussions of spirituality. As a recovering-Catholic-born-again-atheist, the most common way to describe me (in this part of the country) is godless whore. I became a loyal fan of the podcast by the end of episode two, which is the rational examination of religion as the only useful moral center. I have even played the episode for my spiritually like minded daughter who was actually accused of being a devil worshiper when she "came out" at school as a non-believer. So, you are in the company of Margaret Atwood, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harper Lee, and Martin Luther King, Jr. has required reading for her. I look forward to catching up on the rest of the episodes and having one more brilliant, rational, and exquisitely articulate brain in my life. Just a quick note of appreciation. I enjoy the podcast very much! Thank you for your hard work! Love your show. It has filled many hours with thoughtful discussion and humor. I love your show because it's short and yet I feel like I've listened to an hour-long episode because of all the to-the-point info. Thanks! I'm a science teacher in the St. Louis area. I have been listening to your podcasts for a couple months now, starting from episode 1. I'm up to #108. By and large, I have found them very enjoyable and thought provoking. One of the courses I teach is Honors Biology. I've always been an evolution enthusiast and have never shied away from teaching it. Over the last two days of class, I played the 'How to Argue With a Creationist' podcast as I displayed the text for the students to follow along with. We stopped at various points for discussion. It was cool. Most of the students were really interested and engaged. I'm even thinking of starting up some sort of skeptics club for next year. So thanks for the podcasts. They are a great form of brain exercise / rational thought training and have proved useful in my classroom. I have been an avid listener of Skeptoid for some time. I wanted to take a moment out of my day to thank you for the work you are doing. You are a bastion of reason, fairness and integrity. You are tireless in "fighting the good fight" and an inspiration to many. I know you take your work seriously. Please never get discouraged. I worry that you are too often inundated by kooks that completely misunderstand your motivations. Kooks have a way of being much more vocal than the rest of us that appreciate you. It truly frightens me that seemingly otherwise intelligent people so carelessly abandon the scientific method on a whim. If we as a species have a future it will be in no small part because of the efforts of you and others to educate the layman. I am not a wealthy person but want to donate. I will follow that thread and do so. Your show is like a ocean breeze to those of us trying to survive the enervating flood of popular culture baloney. I adore this show, I have only been listening for a few scant weeks but I have plowed through almost 50 episodes so far. One of which while sitting behind a man on the train reading literature about different Detox products. I have one comment regarding Alternative therapy and the like. When you hear anyone talk about these things they always use the word Believe. When discussing sciences people say theory or hypothesis, or idea. It is no wonder you can't reason with them. Belief like religion requires no proof just the fact that you believe. I jst wish to say how much this podcast has improved and changed my way of thinking. When growing up I heard of many myths and wonders. I thought that there was always something going on that people were just missing on some level. Things like Roswell and Bigfoot, ghost and spirits and the like. I just assumed that these things had to be real to some degree. That they had to be founded somewhere. I've read convincing biased articles and books and felt like I was getting in on some secret knowledge. This was all when I was a child. Now still only in my mid-twenties I've gotten caught up in all the nooks of adult life and just retained the memory that I believed these things. Still thirsty for knowledge and truth, I find this podcast refreshing to the highest degree. Having just discovered it I've already covered the first hundred shows in my spare time. I thank you with upmost sincerety. I've been meaning to become a financial supporter of Skeptoid for a while. The "Screwed" episode was the best reminder I could receive to remember to do this: OUTSTANDING work. Bravo. Thank you for promoting critical thinking. Thank you, as a new "skeptic" your podcast is something I look foward to every week. A little island of reason in a increasing unreasonable world. Keep up the good work I just want to thank you for your approach to rational thought, especially in the realm of debating Creationism. As a conservative fundamentalist Christian who is currently attending the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (not to mention the rare old-earth creationist/fundamentalist, or so it seems at times), it is refreshing to see someone on the internet who is willing to take on fundamentalism in a reasonable and level-headed manner instead of the "atheist rage" types of comments one usually comes across. Also, I'm a youth minister and want to encourage critical thinking skills in my students, and I will be recommending that they listen to your podcast and read the website. I've listened to every episode at least once each. The topics are always interesting, even though some of them don't grab me at first. Love the humorous and thorough presentation. Skeptoid is a fantastic weekly bite-size podcast, with a great balance between explaining and discussing general concepts of science and skeptical thinking, and examining the truth behind specific subjects and claims. If you want some background info to give you a head-start on knowing what to think about any phenomena about which grandiose claims are made - from aliens to apocalypses, terrorists to toxins, homeopathy to hadrons - or want to improve your understanding of how to look at such claims yourself, to figure out the truth when something seems amiss, then this is an excellent way to spend ten minutes each week. I love Skeptoid! I've been listening to the podcasts for quite sometime now and it's just as good if not better than when I started listening. :) I love the critical thinking that's used to debunk myths. I subscribe and regularly listen to over 30 different podcasts. Skeptoid is one of my favorites. Brian Dunning's research is impeccable, and his delivery is fantastic. Rather than making serious skepticism seem daunting, Dunning's style makes you feel like you're listening to a good friend. It's the only skeptical podcast I can get my 13 year old to listen to! Keep up the great work! I love Skeptoid! You do a great job debunking many common misconceptions and urban legends! Skeptoid is the end result of quality research and writing skills. Brian Dunning provides a service that many people simply don't have the ability to do themselves. Of those that have the ability, many of those don't see the need. I agree with Dunning's unspoken premise: there *is* a need for critical thinking, and there is *not* enough of it in our society. Indeed, people are harmed and killed by a lack of critical thinking skills. Dunning is a voice of reason in a credulous pop culture. We need more people like this. Wednesday evening is always one of my favourite times of the week, for when I get home I can download a fresh Skeptoid episode and enjoy. You have one of the best podcasts out there today. I enjoy Skeptoid because it reminds me how much silliness is out there. This is always amusing, sometimes frightening. Fantastic podcast! Perfect blend of fact, humor and ridicule. Skeptoid is a perfect blend of science, scepticism, critical thinking and wit - if that isn't food for the brain, then I don't know what is. I do enjoy Skeptoid. It was second podcast I've ever tried and it stayed with me ever since. Thought inducing, funny with good stories. Keep up good work, Brian! I really love your show. It's entertaining, informative and I always come away from an episode feeling like I have learned a great deal in a short amount of time. Thank you so much! Skeptoid delivers excellent and thought provoking podcasts! The show is amazing and very appreciated. Great show. Skeptoid rocks! Well-researched, well produced, entertaining, and informative. Keep up the good work! Skeptoid caught my ear as soon as I heard the first episode. It has actually spurred me to subscribe to 4 other skeptic podcasts, starting me down the rabbit hole of critical thinking, and ultimately completely changing the way I thought about the universe. Brian, Skeptoid is great. I have listened to every episode. I will say it was the 3rd podcast I got into, after Penn Jillette's old talk show, and then SGU. The short format really keeps it focused. I have used what I have learned from it a number of times, and I used 'Here Be Dragons' to get some discussions going with my teenage kids, since my mom-in-law is big into woo and such - she is a reiki practitioner, and makes them watch psychic shows when they visit her. Anyway, definitely keep up the good work. I look forward to each episode, and they never fail to be informative, and to point me to new avenues of discovery. Thanks. Skeptoid was the catalyst that evoked my interest in critical thinking and analysis of the world around me. I've thoroughly enjoyed every one of the 149 eps to date. Skeptoid makes me smarter than my co-workers. :D I love Skeptoid! I've listened to every episode multiple times. Informative and entertaining all at the same time, that is Skeptoid. I haven't missed a single episode and don't ever plan to. Without a doubt, one of the crown jewels in my subscription list of skeptical & science themed podcasts. Keep up the great & valuable work Brian! My favourite podcast of all time, perfect for listening to while knitting or driving! I subject my teenagers to it regularly too. Thanks Brian!! I very much enjoy your Skeptoid podcast and I'm not afraid to admit it. Even today I was using some of your information and quotes to defend against ignorance regarding *real* chiropractic and homeopathic medicine. Although I thought I'd let you know that in South Africa, homeopathic medicine is not just legitimate, but requires a full 6 years in University, the same as becoming a *real* doctor. So it is MUCH more respected there and supposedly, a bit more realistic, legitimate and practical as well. Skeptoid is a real gem. Funny as all-get-out. I love Skeptoid. New episodes are the highlight of my week. Interesting topics and Brian's occasional dry humor entertains me every time. Dunning is stunning. Plus he's really smart. Brian Dunnings podcast "Skeptoid" is one of the best podcasts available. It's inventive and entertaining. It doesn't hurt that he's a hottie either. I love Skeptoid and look forward to each new episode. I especially appreciate the many education outreach services Brian offers such as the addressing of student questions in select episodes and the free right to share episodes of Skeptoid and of his movie, 'Here Be Dragons', for educational purposes. Thanks for all your hard work, Brian. Way to cast some light into a world of darkness! This is one of my favorite podcasts. The only thing I could wish for is longer episodes more often. It is so full of great information on a wide variety of subjects. If Brian had the means to do a 30 or 60 minute show every week, well... those would be the best 30 or 60 min of my week. I think some of it has to do with his unprecedented thoroughness in his research. I don't think I've heard any other skeptic put as much effort into such a short show. Brian, you're the man. Have been a listener since day one. An excellent antidote to all the woo in the world. Skeptoid is one of the places that has given me the tools and the background necessary to keep my feet planted firmly on reality. Looking back at my past, I smile sadly at the imagination and mystery I left behind, but look ahead proudly to the new mysteries and wonders that I've unlocked without requiring any magical thinking. Thanks Brian! My family enjoys listening to your podcasts. Thanks for you hard work. It's very much appreciated! Skeptoid is an excellent podcast treating extraordinary claims with a demand for extraordinary evidence. Brian Dunning models excellence in critical thinking while remaining skeptical of the human beings making the claims that he examines. I can't do without this podcast. Every one of my family road trips starts with downloading the latest episodes of Skeptoid. Though Skeptoid has never promised to cure baldness, burn fat, improve my boner, or clean stains - it has been thoroughly informative and more useful than any Bible I have ever read. Brian Dunning is my new hero. I'm so greatful that we have people like him on this planet. Skeptoid is not only an amazing podcast, but also an eye opening tool that teaches how to think about, and view, our universe and ourselves. I am very thankful for Brian's hard work in researching his material. I'm telling everyone to listen to Skeptoid. I love Skeptoid and am happy to support it with my $4 per month. Skeptoid is awesome. Thank you Brian. Your podcast has enriched my life. Skeptoid is extremely educational, and I enjoy learning and honing my critical thinking and logic skills while listening to a humorous yet useful podcast. I've learned a lot, and am beginning to feel like I could hold my own in an argument against non-skeptics; further, I've used several podcasts in my argument course. Skeptoid is a quality podcast. It's funny, educational, well researched and well written. It's a weekly treat for me. I think the show is great. Brian Dunning does a good job of presenting ideas in a way that are accessible, fun, and useful for people new to critical thinking, but presents a broad enough swath of information that there is always something interesting for us more "experienced" skeptics. I discovered Skeptoid last fall, and listened to the first 120 episodes over a three week period, mostly while off work after Hurricane Ike. I frequently link your transcripts to friends in reference to discussions we have at work. My two favorites at the analysis of SUVs and the Giant Plastic Island. Hell yeah, I love this show and this guy!! Keep up the good work, Brian. Brian, you constantly make one of the brightest snappiest and most succinct, topical, critical-thought, shows. All who appreciate the potential for brevity (or pith) in reason must surely admire it. I have never been disappointed by our weekly meeting. But the math test at the bottom of this form is daunting to the feeble minded. I love it. Short, sweet, smart, scientific. My favourite podcast! Love the show! Ran across it by accident on iTunes. Skeptoid is ultimate in pop culture mythbusting and utter crap shilled by random sources. I love the show. Wish I had more time to tell you why. Too many reasons to enumerate at this time. Skeptoid is great. In my college, my Critical Thinking class taught us all about logical fallacies, but Skeptoid gives a lot of examples of how to identify them and debunk pseudo-science, quack medical cures, etc. I was already pretty good at spotting nonsense, but was never sure how to explain to others how I knew it was false. In a world too full of cons, suckers, and crazies, its nice to know there's an oasis of SENSE at Skeptoid.com. I listen to it on my iPod at work, while I study, and in the car. It should be broadcast in every classroom, and maybe someday the world will be free of all the flim-flam. You're fantastic, keep up the good work. Also, tweet more! Love your podcast, it really got me started listening to skeptical podcasting, now, I'm hooked, and I even got my 10-year old daughter hooked on your show. Keep up the good work. I enjoy listening to the Skeptoid podcast. the only drawback is I can't get any of my friends to listen to it, and they get tired of hearing me repeat the details of the latest fascinating edition. I will continue to listen, however, as I find it informative and entertaining. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think. I very much enjoy Skeptoid. I often play it for my wife & kids (18 & 14) and they also think it is good. The format is perfect... 15 or so minutes of excellent skepticism. I love to hear all this crap get debunked. This is a must have podcast for my iPhone! I've been a Skeptoid fan now for well over a year and appreciate all of Mr. Dunning's hard work! Excellent job. I love Skeptoid! Listen ervery night. Catching up on the old shows. A breath of fresh air down here in the South! First and foremost, Skeptoid is entertaining! But more than that, it is an intelligent, snarky, 10 minute slap in the face of all that would rather you rely on lazy thinking and logical fallacies! Skeptoid is one of my favorite netcasts. I listen every week. One of my favorite things about Skeptoid is the way it cuts through the crap and gets to the point in a very approachable and down to earth way. Skeptoid is a must listen for anyone who wants or needs the straight goods. I have just started listening to your podcasts and I have found them all to be (without exception) exceptional! Keep up the great work. I love Skeptoid and it was great to see you at TAM last year. Hope to see you again! Skeptoid is the best podcast in the world! Seriously I am always looking forwards to the next podcast update. I learn something every time. Everybody in America needs to be listening to this. Skeptoid is a fantastic resource for both skeptics and believers alike: the former to increase their knowledge about various "pop phenomena" and the latter to challenge their preconceived notions and get themselves thinking about what they actually believe in. Brian does a great job at being as meticulous as possible with his research, and leaves no vital stone unturned, and quite a few non-vital ones as well, in a good way, of course. Simply put, Skeptoid is one of the best podcasts out there, skeptical or otherwise, and is well-worth a listen by anyone, whoever you are. I'm a huge Skeptoid fan! Kudos to Brian! Skeptoid is one of my favorite podcasts. It's length is a double-edged sword, being short enough that I can digest it quickly or listen to it several times, but it always leaves me anxious for the next episode. Brian Dunning makes what appear to me to be honest efforts to inquire about the various topics he covers and he is masterful at showing how skeptical inquiry should proceed. He rarely, if ever, allows a logical fallacy to slip into his reasoning, and even when debunking, makes sure to keep his criticisms reined in to a level supported by the evidence (or lack thereof). For anyone interested in skepticism and well-reasoned investigation of paranormal or outlandish claims, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this podcast. I thoroughly enjoy Skeptoid and appreciate the time you put in to creating it. I like the fact that you address some common skeptical topics, such as vitamin water and homeopathy and more obscure things, such as crystal skulls and the Coral Castle. Thanks again for all your work. Mr. Dunning does good work. I love listening to Skeptoid it’s a great way to get a dose of skepticism in a neat little package. Its interesting and a good way to, start people down the path to critical thinking. Thanks for all the hard work you do! I am a critical thinker and a skeptic. While I would love to be able to critically examine all the claims made in the world, the reality is that I don't have time. Skeptoid is the best way for me to get critical analysis of pop phenomena without having to delve deep into the details myself! It's my short and sweet weekly dose of skepticism. I love Skeptoid and have been listening for quite a while. I haven't found an episode yet that didn't interest me in one way or another. Keep up the awesome work, reaching the public with rational thought! Skeptoid, to me, has been a fantastic mix of primers on all sorts of genuinely important topics across the board, and how to look at them critically. The episodes are short enough to not dredge on long enough to lose interest, but not too short as to leave out pertinent details. And it goes into enough depth that even on subjects in which I thought I was well-versed there's still something new to learn. They're great for brushing up on my arguments, and even better for non-confrontational introductions for non-skeptical friends. The only thing that would make Skeptoid any better is if Brian managed to put out exactly as many episodes as it took to fill my varying daily commutes over the course of each week. Skeptoid is one of the more concise podcasts available for skeptics. Rather than a rambling discussion. My favorite - and I have my own skeptic podcast. www.skepticdoc.com I love Skeptoid! It's one of the high points of my week. I've enjoyed Skeptoid for years! Thanks, Brian! Absolutely love the podcast and it always gives me something new to think about. I love your podcast! I'm a hopeless skeptic myself, but listening to your podcast made me realize that I accepted certain popular claims without thinking about them skeptically. Keep up the good work! Mr. Dunning, I am a soldier currently serving in Iraq and I just wanted to say how much I love your podcast. We don't get regular access to the internet so I take any opportunity I can to snag as many episodes as possible when I can. Sitting in an uncomfortable, hot, stuffy tank all night watching for IED emplacers we will sometimes hook our iPods up to the internal coms to pass the time. We're not supposed to but what can you do? Anyway, I had mine on random and your podcast came up. Not wanting my skeptism to be known amongst my unit, I tried to skip ahead but I dropped the iPod into the bowels of the tank where I had little hope of reaching it. Strangely the other crew members loved it. We listened to a few more episodes when I finally fished my iPod out of the gun turret. From the 24 M1A2 Tank crew from 2nd platoon, Delta Company, 2nd of the 5th Cav, thanks for making that long boring night a little more enjoyable. Thank you Brian for a very interesting podcast. I'm addicted. Not so much by your skepticism of "new age" treatments and the paranormal per se, but rather your clear and concise arguments and critical thinking. Please keep up the great work. I only recently discovered your program but I am already a huge fan of it. I have shared it with my wife and her family and it has already become a common topic of discussion amongst us. Keep up the great work. My 12 year old sister had to write an essay and she chose the Roswell incident. After explaining to me that the government was hiding a crashed ship and aliens, I suggested she check out your episode about Roswell. I told her to write what she really felt and not to be influenced by my direction. Well, she allowed me to review her essay and was pleased that she had turned a critical eye on the whole affair. Thank you Brian, for all you do and for potentially saving a young mind from falling into the abyss of woo. It is a lonely world out there for people who do not run their thinking on the “memes� of popular culture. Even those who regard themselves as rabble rousers are conforming to the popular shrink-wrapped standards for “alternatives�, spewing out the mindless drivel appropriate to their particular rebel class. Discovering the Skeptical community was at the very least a tremendous relieve for me, almost a spiritual experience. Thanks for the hard work guys; you and Rock and Roll preserve my sanity, and I am only saying this partly tongue in cheek! I am a big fan and make my friends put on the headphones and listen to your podcasts. At least they used to be my friends! Anyhow, I like them... You are truly a leader in the fight for reason. I thank you a million times for all the work you do. I hope to help the world as much as you have. Just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work you do. I am a biology teacher and I teach skepticism along with the biology curriculum. I use a lot of material from skeptoid. Again, thanks. It is fantastic to see a true skeptic out in world writing good literature and producing effective, and fair material. It is far too easy to fail into the trap of becoming a loony-leftist or raging-righty when the truth is not fastened to a political, ethical, moral or spiritual spectrum. It is fantastic to see someone out there doing that. Keep up the good work! I simply wanted to drop you a line to let you know how much I appreciate all of your hard work. I look forward to each and every episode. I truly appreciated all of the hard work/research that I am sure much go into every episode. Thanks so much for the great podcast, and please keep up the good work! Just wanted to say keep up the excellent work you are doing. Your podcast is a much-needed voice amid the ill-informed cacophony that seems to surround us. Skeptoid is a valuable public service. I would like content like this (critical thinking) to be a required part of every school course from K onward. I just recently started listening to your podcasts and find them to be both entertaining and eye opening. The length of your show is ideal to consume with a cup of coffee on my breaks at work, this combination is a perfect "detox treatment" to purge my head of the idiocy that is "dimming my aura" nudge nudge wink wink. Thanks. I just wanted to say thank you. I have just recently discovered your podcast and wanted to tell you how happy I am to hear you using simple everyday language to explain the pseudoscience and quackery out there. Keep up the good work! Thank you. I can't track it, but somewhere between my ignorance as a teenager, to my hesitancy as a parent, did I become susceptible to the idiocies of the modern culture. My lack of knowledge about anything to deal with 2012, made me easy prey. I was frozen in fear and paranoia, as we are expecting another child in August. I went to many other sites, and they were very good at debunking the theories based on fact and known science. But, I was still missing that vital component of what 'is' gonna happen in 2012. That's when my friend told me about Skeptoid. After hearing Brian's podcast, and comparing to the data I had already absorbed, I have been able to stop shaking in fear and uncertainty. Actually, I'm a tad pissed off at the jerks who are spreading lies around the web for profit. I believe I read there are over 91,000 entries at Amazon.com for 2012 books and products. My thanks to Brian. From the peace of my soul, and the smiles of my childrens faces, thank him for the good fight and bringing truth to the internet. I just wanted to tell you that the Skeptoid podcasts are terrific. Not only are they entertaining, but they excellent trenchant analyses of commonly misunderstood phenomenon. I especially like the critical unpacking of alternative health claims and products. Keep up the great work! Thank you very much for what you are doing! Just recently received an iPod as a gift from my son. Proceeded to fill it with programs I thought would be interesting to listen to while walking my dog. Down loaded well over 100 episodes of your program. Dog much healthier now - walks are a lot longer -sometimes 8 or 10 episodes long. My conclusion -iPods are good for dog's health. I'll send a message to Apple. Love your show - best line ever - "you should eat my used kleenex." Thanks for doing this. The podcast is absolutely fantastic in a sense that it acts as an outlet to reality. It feels good to realize that religious and "new age" b.s. gets cleaned up by someone. This is absolutely crucial for a healthy society. I recommend this podcast to absolutely all of my friends. Thank you! Keep up the amazing and so needed work! I discovered your podcast by accident after watching Michael Shermer's TED-talk a couple of years ago, and since then, I've been hooked. I simply want to thank you, sincerely for helping me out! I am currently teaching English and psychology at an upper secondary school in Stockholm, Sweden, and am daily faced with students most eager (like teenagers tend to be) to discuss the most tremendous claims of everything from ghosts to organic food and their dead grandmother talking to them from beyond her grave. It has been hard sometimes not to sound patronizing when trying to refute these claims. Thank you, Brian, you and your podcast (which I frequently use in class, both En. and Ps.) have been most helpful! Thank you so much for Skeptoid. I discovered it a few weeks ago and since then listen to 5-10 episodes on dogwalks in between NPR's science friday and skepticality. I am an anesthesiology resident and use skepticism daily in the operating room managing difficult patients with evidence based medicine. You are performing a great service to debunk the alternative and homeopathic medicine options that so drive me nuts! If there was evidence for these techniques they would not be alternative but mainstream! Keep up the good work. "What school's need is a moment of Science!" and Skeptoid of course. I wish the episodes were an hour long and 5 times a week. Thank you so much for your outstanding efforts. Thanks for a great podcast. Stimulates my desire to do followup research on subject matters I enjoy debating about. Just want to say how much I love the show. My kids love it so much that whenever we get in the car the first words are "Put on Skeptoid". I love the Skeptoid podcast! I have shirked my real responsibilities at work for hours on end just to keep listening to "just one more" episode of Skeptoid. As the resident office email hoax debunker (an easy enough task - just go to Snopes!), I find Skeptoid to be right up my alley. I'm spreading the Good Word of skepticism and critical analysis in my little corner of Georgia and pointing folks to your insightful and entertaining commentaries. Keep up the good work! I like your web site and your podcasts. But, I have to admit, I am becoming skeptical of Skeptoid. Does that mean that you have succeeded? Just finished listening to every episode, guess I'll have to get used to one a week rather than 10 a day. I'm a behavior psychologist and lead a data based life. How refreshing to hear opinions based on fact rather than supposition. Keep up the good work! Thanks for your work on the colon cleansing products. I was seriously considering one, but your comments made more sense than anything I read. Hello Brian, I came across your podcast a couple of weeks ago, downloaded every episode and have embarked on a veritable skeptoid-athon! I have a Ph.D. in Pharmacology, and have been working as a behavioural scientist for 8 years. You'd think that someone like me would embody much of the "skeptoid" philosophy, wouldn't you? However, it seems that the terms "scientist" and "skeptic" are not always mutually exclusive from "sucker". So thank you for reminding me that I went to university to learn, to challenge and to seek the truth for myself. Your podcast is entertaining, insightful and thought-provoking. Cheers, Marie The Skeptoid podcast is wonderful! I look forward to it each week more than anything else on the web. I have turned my kids on to the archives as I can think of no better adjunct to the their formal education. Keep up the good work I just have to say how glad I am that I found Skeptoid on the iTunes podcast list. I had a listen to a couple of the other 'skeptic' style podcasts and yours is by far the most accessible and well-presented. It keeps me entertained on the long commute to and from work, and during my lunch break. It also helps me mount a defense against friends who believe in idiotic things like detox, reflexology, and various paranormal phenomena (although the Amityville Horror podcast was a little too scary for me, even after your thorough debunking of that urban legend!) Thank you for creating these podcasts Brian, and please don't stop!! I wanted to say how much I appreciate your podcast. I am a logical person, but I grew up with a lot of pseudoscience and mysticism. As a child I was always told I did not understand, when in fact, I understood perfectly. It was a load of rubbish. This background did not help me, as I began to work for someone who was a close follower and believer of every guest on Coast to Coast AM. I have to say, the last 10 years have found me awaiting the earth's doom by a half dozen ways. While I do find some guests to be credible, or at least reasonable, it has taken me a while to realize that most of them are either crazy, trying to make money by fooling the masses or just trying to entertain. I am a huge fan of James Randy, however, your site and show is the only place someone can find concise up to date information to reverse the brainwashing effects of some of Coast's guests. I do not hold Coast or it's staff at fault, but I have to say the public is easily fooled. Keep up the good work. A shining light in an ignorant world. Its so soothing to listen to your podcasts, not because I have already decided to believe what you say but because I know you follow strict scientific method and conclude on sound logical basis, and that I don't even have to believe a word you say, you just present your research for free, for the benefit of everyone. Thanks for all your work Brian! Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Skeptoid is by far my favorite podcast to listen to- I listen to it in the car on long drives and I love it. Your research has taught me so much since I began listening. You also opened my eyes to so many things I would have otherwise simply taken at face value. I now try to be skeptical myself whenever possible. Keep up the great work. It took me seventy four years to learn: No one wants to hear the facts about anything.They want reinforcement for what they believe already. Just a note to let you know that as a relatively new skeptic, critical thinker, secular humanist et al that I am thoroughly enjoying your presentations. Keep up the good work, and like my old Southern tennis coach used to say: "Give 'em hell!" Thank you for providing listeners and readers world-wide with a high-quality, engaging, and at times quirky (in a good way) look at ourselves and the diverse ways we attempt to quantify and qualify what is happening in our world. I discovered the Skeptoid podcasts a few months ago and have shared them with dozens of other folks, including family, friends, students and fellow faculty members. I appreciate greatly the reasoned, rational, and clear-headed approach you bring to each subject or inquiry. You provide a true public service and template for a "way of thinking" that is vital to a healthy community--especially in a world in which many otherwise informed citizens still operate from points-of-view deeply mired in ideology. I love Skeptoid. I work in the medical industry, and it saddens me greatly just how many people visit quacks, most often chiropractors, instead of real doctors. 80% of the people I deal with see them for "preventative treatment" or "general wellness". I wish I could share this podcast with all those people. Keep up the great work! Just wanted to say how savvy your podcast is. I wish you could clone yourself so I could listen to two Skeptoid podcasts a week. Thanks, and keep up the good work! I am a regular listener and I just wanted to express me appreciation at your dogged determination to not suffer fools lightly. Keep fighting the good fight, your work is very much appreciated. I stumbled upon your pod cast this summer as a result of injuring my back. I started out with a few episodes on my iPod and then I was hooked. I downloaded the rest of them and, since I was immobilized for more than a week I more or less chain-listened to Skeptoid. The episodes are short and condensed and make perfect bedtime stories. Your voice and American English dialect is very articulate and easy to follow for a non native tounge. It is obvious that you have put lots of effort and research into each episode, which I really appreciate. The huge diversity between episodes is also appreciated. Skeptoid is a wonderful resource! I love your format: short, tight, and single-topic. I know I can easily find any episodes that deal with a particular topic, and I won't have to hunt through a lot of rambling chatter or unrelated topics in the podcast to get to the information I want. I especially appreciate the transcripts on your site - they make it easy to quote you accurately if I need to email someone a little dose of common sense. My only complaint is that, after discovering Skeptoid a couple of weeks ago, I've burned through all the episodes and now have to wait for you to publish new ones. Keep on skepticating! I've just signed up to monetarily support your cause. This is big as I am a student supported by loans and modest part-time employment. In this day with no functional Colosseum it is hard to define heroes in our society; I would count you among one of mine- you supply endless points I can use to support my endless struggle to save my mother from homeopathic medicine. Hi Brian-- A quick note to tell you how very much I like your podcast and the topics you pick. My niece, who recently picked up a diploma from Dartmouth, turned me on to Skeptoid. Sometimes she and I sit around being skeptical together. I just picked up my Ph.D from Thunderwood. Now I am as qualified as anyone to conduct "Paranormal Investigations". I especially appreciated your episode on "Ethics of Peddling the Paranormal" because, I guess, that's what I do. But I also peddle skepticism. It would be great to chat with you, but I'll settle for letting you know I'm a fan. With all best wishes. I am a recent subscriber to Skeptoid. I have a science/engineering background and am very pleased and gratified to find such a wonderful source of critical thinking and common sense. I seldom post on blogs and the like but was prompted to comment on Brian’s comments about lack of comments to Episode #13… “A Primer On Scientific Testing�. I strongly believe that the concepts explained here should be a mandatory part of every primary and secondary education curriculum. I would put episodes #25 and #37 in the same category. My only regret is that after I work my way through all the back episodes (all are on my iPod) I will have to wait a week for each new one. Keep up the excellent work. Just writing to say how much i enjoy the podcast. Me and my girlfriend work on a farm in the middle of no where and listen to the podcasts over and over makes the work day go quicker and you feel as though your learned something. I am so thankful for places like this. Somewhere where people stop running frantic, and finally start thinking. Fear controls way to many people's lives, its time we put and end to all this nonsense. Dear Brian Dunning,
I really enjoy your podcast, one of the primary reasons being that you are riding so many of my hobbyhorses. Although I try not to, I am still struggling with my mother-in-law who cannot distinguish believing from knowing (but who actually really can?). In this I get some comfort from hearing your podcast. I did not hear all your podcasts (some are less relevant here in Denmark), but perhaps you could talk about the placebo effect or about cosmetics.
Lastly, I want to tease you a bit. You talked about statistics and the problem being that the numbers were to small in all these meaningless internet polls, but perhaps the reason more likely is that the are not representative of anything. Also when you talked about chikings I've been listening to Skeptoid since episode 10 and am proud to say that I've stuck around to see episode #130 roll around and I have not lost interest yet. Skeptoid has effectively handed me a muck rake, and led me to seeking out the truth. Skeptoid has also helped give me the basis for seeking out knowledge in matters that concern me the most. Again I can't say enough how proud I am that I listen to Skeptoid and that I apply it to my everyday life. Keep up the good work and keep giving us truth seekers, a guiding light in a world of misleading, harmful darkness. Just have to say, you are AWESOME! I caught Skeptoid inadvertently through listening to the SGU, and your contributions to society are invaluable. I truly appreciate everything you do, and will continue to listen and read along, because I learn something new EVERY TIME I do so. Never, ever slow down. I just finished watching "Here There Be Dragons" and I wanted to drop you a line to let you know just how much I enjoyed it. It was very well done and covered excellent ground for a survey of critical thinking. I was impressed how you managed to not criticize creationism overtly, but subtly by merely defending the science and the notion of a scientific theory. My girlfriend watched it with me and is an elementary school teacher. She may consider it as something to show her students! So keep up the great work, Brian. Just a quick message to say thank you for your podcast. I have been listening from the start & enjoy your no nonsense style delivery. Listening to podcasts like yours has prompted me to joint the local Skeptic group & attend this year’s Australian Skeptic’s Convention. Thanks for all the effort it must take to produce the show. Thanks so much Brian for two awesome podcasts: the Betty and Barney Hill Abduction, and the Oak Island Money Pit. Great stuff! I’m familiar with both and I’m glad I got to hear your critical analysis and share it with my family. I appreciate all the hard work you put into the website and podcasts. Just a quick note to say keep up the good work. I love the delivery and style, which occassionally makes me laugh out loud, causing the other commuters to think they're sharing the train with a lunatic. But what the hell, it's not my fault commuters into London hate smiling. I'm a new subscriber to your podcast and enjoy it thoroughly. Your presentation is logical, concise, with a dash of humor and well placed and appropriate sarcasm. I subscribe to several other "skeptic" podcasts and they fall short. The seem to spend an inordinate amount of time interviewing other skeptics, interviewing themselves, tossing around snarky comments among each other and trying to be cute and funny. They don't spend enough time, in my opinion, on actual myth busting, deabunking and educating as you do. Thanks for your wonderful program and keep up the good work. I teach high school chemistry, but more important I teach science as a process. I use Skeptoid podcasts in my class to teach critical thinking and reasoning. Keep up the good work! I finally found an alternative treatment that really works! I felt lousy this morning. So, I stayed in my pajamas, sipped hot tea, and listened to all the old Skeptoid podcasts you released before I discovered your feed. Miraculously, now that it's early afternoon (and I'm out of unheard Skeptoids), I'm feeling completely better! I wanted to share this great news with you. There is now a cure for whatever ails you: just listen to every episode of Skeptoid. It worked for me, after all. Thank you for fixing me up! :) I have recently discovered Skeptiod through iTunes Podcasts and enjoyed it so much I have downloaded every episode and will be listening to them all on a long auto trip to the west. I have listened to about 20 so far and watched “Here Be Dragons�. Frankly, this should be required reading/watching in every school as well as a course in healthy skepticism. As firm believer in the scientific process, yet lacking the time for research, I greatly appreciate the work you are doing here. I've just finished listening to all of your podcasts to date. I felt compelled to drop you a line to say well done!! Please keep it up. It is always an interesting and at times enlightening monologue. Just goes to show that you can mix intelligence and humour and some people will still find it entertaining. Maybe the BIG Broadcasters should be paying attention to this kind of programming! Thank you for producing Skeptoid. You have gone to a lot of work and you have done a great job. I love it. I have only recently discovered Skeptoid through itunes and downloaded all the episodes and am listening to 3 or 4 a day. I am already dreading the day when I've heard them all and will have to wait for each new podcast. Just wanted to e-mail and say how much I enjoy listening to your episodes. The research and effort into the making of the shows is appreciated. Thankyou for making me really 'think' and to look at things from a different angle. Of all the skeptical podcasts, Skeptoid is my favorite! I love the format, short and to the point. I love how it can challenge anyone, even skeptics. I know it's challenged me. I loved your first book and I can't wait to read Skeptoid 2. I loved Here Be Dragons and posted it on my myspace page. I hope Skeptoid continues for the next 100 years and beyond. Keep it up! I am delighted that regular, long-running shows, such as Skeptoid, continue to uphold the flame of rational thinking and science in the gathering darkness of paranoia and superstition. As a scientist, I can also appreciate the skillful writing that allows you to condense your in-depth research into 15 minutes or less, all the while telling a highly entertaining story. Superb show! Thanks. Your podcast is brilliant! I've just started listening to it and when listening to several episodes in a row, it's VERY good that there isn't 30 seconds of intro and outro music before the good stuff comes. You're straight to the point, have a enjoyable voice, are easy to follow and the content is always spot on. Truly great stuff! I found your show thru iTunes telling me that people who subscribed to Penn Jllette's old radio show also enjoyed your podcast. My only regret is that I listened to all your back podcasts too quickly. I should have rationed them, so I don't have to wait so long to hear a new one. Like Penn's show, I love that you are skeptical without being rude to others or becoming a knee-jerk cynic. Keep up the good fight, and spread the catch phrase "Be skeptical". Your web site is great, I read it regularly in my lunch breaks, just to keep me sane! We love listening to your witty analysis. It's a great family bedtime story. My 6-year old son, loved hearing you mention his sweet talking "get out of the corner" technique on your last comments episode. I felt honored to have offered one of your favorite comments. Hi, just came across your excellent film on Google Video. It's essential that more people promote Rationalism and critical thinking, especially given the current consumer climate and recent political events. I recently stumbled upon your podcast. Since then I have become a great fan. I always wanted to send you a message of thank you. I really really appreciate what you are doing. I came from a foreign country. My first experience of America was rather shocking. I have never seen so much junk on TV in my life before I came to America. Abundance of Jerry Springer like, Cheaters, and reality shows, interrupted by video professors and commercials for penis enlarging pills make me really wonder how is that possible that America is so strong and rich while so many people are so naive and ignorant. So much money is made on this crap - it makes me sick. I am so happy I am too poor to afford a cable TV. Thank you very much for this great great job you are doing! I have been an avid listener for nearly 2 years now. I really enjoy your approach and you have helped open my eyes to critical thinking. My 6 year old son is also a keen listener and loved the HAARP episode. Keep up the good work. Dear Brian, I'm part of a small but passionate collective of professional thinkers dedicated to the proposition 'Question anything that sounds like crap', in order to spread a little sense and clarity during a period in human history that future historians will one day call 'The Stupid Ages'. Imagine my rapture in discovering the wonderful world of Skeptoid - there is intelligent life out there after all! Thank you for your work, I have all sorts of questions about all sorts of issues that you raise, but for now, I'm busy luring as many people as I can into the Skeptosphere. In a society that has progressed in so many areas, in the sciences and humanities, in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us, it can be frustrating to see critical thinking take a back seat to superstition and utter flights of fancy. Thank you, Brian, for being a beacon of rationality and (sadly not so) common sense. I will continue to spread the word about your excellent (if a bit brief) podcast. Kudos! I will be turning thirty at the end of this month and have decided to end my twenties writing thank you notes to all the people who have had positive influence in my life... Thank you so much for the podcast! Every episode has been informative and entertaining. The world needs all the skeptical voices it can get with the large amount of pseudoscience pushed on people. Thanks Dunning, you have made me so aware of many pseudo-sciences. I have to admit when I first started looking into the Scepticism I had found everything a bit confusing, but you made it clear for me, and now I know where I stand, a proud sceptic. It has also helped me realise some problems within my own life that I have managed to straighten out, and a certain comment you made in one of your podcasts I think of every day and it helps me so much to think about that one line. Loved your last episode and podcast. You don't always say what I want. I don't always agree with what you say. You always make me think. I am always better educated after your show. Great job. Hey Brian, your show rocks the house! You do a brilliant job explaining pop-culture beliefs; exposing the problems with many of the widely held, but erroneous beliefs and, at the same time, explaining the truth behind these things. I think you are doing a wonderful thing for the advancement of human kind. On behalf of the muggle population, I would like to extend our thanks. Keep up the good work! I can't thank you enough for all the effort you've put into this entire project. Your work in general has helped my family and I become closer and we can relate more to each other just by simply looking at things skeptically. Weird, huh? Thanks! Thanks for your podcast. I live in the industrial wasteland part of China, and podcasts are part of my way to keep in touch with the world outside the Happy Billion. Thank you for including Mark Twain on the reading list. Very insightful of you, and certainly an easier read than Dickens, although Hard Times, The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist have more than the common share of satire on human frailty. Just wanted to send a small message of thanks for all your work on debunking pseudoscience. I find the podcasts witty, interesting and just a real weekly treat, thanks so much, keep up the good work! I love your podcast. Someone needs to have Dan Aykroyd listen to your crystal skull episode. Where do I vote for your podcast to be #1? Love the podcasts. I've been listening for about half a year. I haven't gotten through them all yet, but I'm getting there. Here Be Dragons is great and it has actually helped a couple of people I know not be so... Well stupid. Invigorating. Your site has challenged my beliefs. It's also helped me get to the root of that niggling feeling in my guts about so many of the popular notions and topics that float around our busy lives bidding for our attention, our wallets and for some my friends, their lives. With each and every episode, whether I understood it or not, I come away a little more niggle free. I kind of love your podcast. Please never, ever, ever stop (personal circumstances permitting). :) I've been a listener for about a year and absolutely love your podcast! I keep old episodes and relisten frequently. My 12 year old daughter enjoys listening with me and loves pointing out logical falicies, etc. at her school or in the media. In short, you ROCK Brian! Thanks! Your podcast is very interesting, straight to the point and well...just awesome.
I'm a secular humanist and come from a country where religion is at the base of understanding everything! Between a weeping virgin here and a haunting djinn there, there's no place for skepticism. I'm converting my surrounding to skepticism and de-converting them from christianity or islam and I must say that your podcast is helping a lot especially in helping me pinpoint the fallacies in others reasoning. Keep up the good work. I'm an US Army Private stationed here in Texas and I just wanted to say that I love your show! I have a habit of mixing what I believe with some sort of political ideology and you have challenged me to think skeptically about some things like Global Warming and "Fast Food Phobias" other "liberal" causes. It's nice to hear the "other side" of the argument. Keep up the good work and if you ever find yourself in central Texas dinner's on me. Kudos to Brian for producing such a great podcast. Been listenning from almost the beginning. It's great to see someone tackling pop culture myths with wit and rationale. I'll continue to look forward to new episodes as I have been for some time now. i happened across your site while searching for a way to disabuse a friend of an ugly online hoax. as the "you f8*3)+! idiot" approach has invariably served me poorly, for all the reasons articulated by other commenters, I find your site refreshing, amusing, and perspicuously useful. Just caught your video on you tube. Really a great job. Thank you so much. Keep up the good fight! Congratulations on your concept and the strength to be producing the program. Your work has inspired me to be stronger when discussing some "new thing" that someone has "just discovered." You do a good job of researching and presenting. Keep neutral and keep going. You are adding value to the world! I've been listening for a couple of years and would just like to say, thank you. I've enjoyed every episode. Even though I consider myself a hardcore atheist skeptic, you've opened other viewpoints that I didn't consider. Makes me think I'm not quite the logical thinker that I think I am. Love the show! I don't always agree with you, but I love that you don't take yourself too seriously. I'm a huge fan of The Skeptics Guide podcast, but your sometime "snarkiness" is a refreshing contrast. Due to the recent increased internet bandwidth in this country I have recently found Skeptoid and been able to listen to the podcasts. I must say I love what you are doing and I wish more people applied skepticism to their daily lives. Well done and keep it up! Brian, Great job! keeping the episode to under 15 minutes allows the perfect excuse to keep listening! I've gotten many of my non-skeptical friends to listen just because it's easy to digest. Keep up the wonderful work. I just wanted to say that the podcast is excellent. Very informative and interesting. Keep up the great work. Brilliant! Everyone, whether they agree or not with Mr. Dunning, could benefit from the improvements in critical thinking skills he teaches. I was able to get some of my Ghost Hunting friends to start listening to the program by giving them samples of other topics I new they would find less an affront to them. Some have become subscribers & now a couple are even beginning to question the rationality of their Hunting pastime. Thank you! Skeptoid routinely adds to my perspective on any given topics. I'm happy to claim that Brian has set me straight on a number of very taxing issues. Perfect if you are unclear on something specific or if you just need your weekly fix of critical thinking. It's really refreshing to hear such clear, informed and sensible commentary on a wide range of topics. You do great work and you can rest assured your ideas and views are being liberally spread around Johannesburg. One of my favorite podcasts - and I listen to a lot. Nice to get a refreshing scientific view on pop culture. I'm glad I only discovered this now - gave me lots to listen to. Downloaded every last one. Only sad thing is I'm almost through them all. Excellent work! I just wanted to say how much I enjoy the podcast. I have just listened to the 'Missing Cosmonaut' episode and I was blown away (no pun intended)! As my Wife is a supplement fan, I have booked a time with her when she promises to sit down with me and watch 'Here Be Dragons'. I am sure she will listen to you more than she listens to her grumpy old man! Keep up the good work Brian. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the "Here Be Dragons" movie. I really appreciate that someone would stand up, and try to bring logical thought back to society. I really enjoy your podcast, and am looking forward to hearing more. Thanks again. I have just found this podcast and I am so completely addicted to it that I just may turn in my Raëlian VIP card and start the new Briänism religion! (umlauts included!) Even though I am a faithful, devoted Mormon, I absolutely love your style. I don't imagine I'll ever tire of your podcasts unless you start calling your listeners "Ditto Heads!" Thanks for the hours of listening pleasure. I've always (since a kid) been a skeptic, even if I found out a name for my "state" just recently. I absolutely love your podcast, as it's always full of actual facts, analyzed critically, with no punches pulled against all that nonsense that pollutes our world these days. Keep on the hard work, and congratulations on the best single podcast out there. I found your podcast about one week ago, while I was at work, browsing the internet. In just one week I listened to all of your episodes (most of them while working, so wasn't paying attention to some them, but I can always re-listen). I found all of them to be extremely interesting and I started changing my opinions about certain preconceived things that I had for years (with a bit of research of my own, of course). I just wanted to tell you that you are doing a fantastic job, keep up the good work, and I'll tell my friends about your podcast. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your podcast.
My only complaint is that I will soon have listened to them all and will suffer withdrawl symptoms since I will have to get used to waiting anxiously for new ones to be released rather than the rate of about five per day that I have been enjoying since discovering "Skeptoid"! I discovered the Skeptoid podcast about 2 months ago and now I cannot wait for my weekly 'hit'. Your rational and articulate explanations on such a wide variety of topics are a welcome counterpoint to the swill that passes itself off as mainstream news and commentary. My area of expertise is in energy, particularly nuclear. Your excellent treatment of various energy sources, particularly nuclear energy, gives me confidence that I am getting 'the straight dope' on the other topics as well. I just learned about the Skeptoid podcasts a couple weeks ago and have been listening to all the episodes. I just listened to another of your reports of user feedback and couldn't quit sighing / cringing (alternately). Just wanted to give you a few words of encouragement and praise. I think your work is fabulous. I agree with almost all of it. But your premise and main point is excellent - that being skeptical and following the scientific method is the right and only path to the truth. Anyway, keep up the excellent work and don't you dare get discouraged by petty and thoughtless comments. This really is a VERY important fight, in my opinion. As you know very well -- not all irrational beliefs are harmless. Don't agree with everything you say (I'm a little sceptical about some of it) but always enjoy these and you seem fairly well-informed and open-minded. Keep up the good work. I just want to say how much I like your podcasts. I've listened to the last 5 or so podcasts, and I liked them so much that I'm currently downloading the whole library of the earlier 100 episodes. Great stuff! I often wish they were a little longer, but maybe I wouldn't like them so much if they weren't as small as they are now? Some of them I've listened to several times! You're a very good and incredibly entertaining speaker, even if I would disregard the content. Skeptoid is something of the best I've ever listened too, and together with a select few podcasts, it's become the highlight of my week whenever I get the time to listen to it. I have been listening for a long time and enjoy the podcast. When my 6 year old son wants to sweet talk me he brings me my iPod and says, "Don't you want to listen to your favorite Skeptoid?? I started listening Skeptoid long after I heard of it, once I noticed how many pseudosciences my father and stepmother believe in. These include homeopathy and chiropractic. I find your show facinating and informative, and am going to inform my stepmother of it. Thanks so much for such a great podcast. I'm an American in Berlin, working as a research assistant at Max Planck Institute, and I have to watch monkeys for hours and hours until they do something interesting other than eat, fight, and have sex, so I just love having something scientific but lighthearted to consume while I'm waiting. I hope you continue to produce your podcast for a long time; I've been telling everyone about it, and I just enjoy it so much! Thank you! I love your show. Fancy that - critical thinking on the internet. There is so much jibberish and wibble online it is a relief to listen to such considered opinion where the only agenda to push is a search for the truth. I used to think that things like creationism, faith healing and the paranormal were for the deluded but harmless in society, but in the last decade more and more belief based on superstition, religious dogma and phony-science are creeping into state policy. That really bothers me but more so people should be worried in the states where unscientific policy making (i.e. stem-cell research) is based on totally unscientific methods. Your podcast is one of the few that can't wait to listen to every week. I only wish a new episode could come out every day. (I know that's not possible) It is just about the only podcast that I'm willing to listen to multiple times. You rock! Keep it up! Fantastic show! You often hit interesting topics that other skeptical media may have overlooked, and walk the line between cool logic and raging snottiness better than most. Brian, your work should be the starting point of every child's education. Teaching people to shake off the various pseudoscientific and flat-out absurd notions that they have acquired is very honourable... though teaching them how to think for themselves is an even grander goal. Your podcast does both extremely well. I am in the process now of writing the link to each episode on cards and handing them out to people as 'prescriptions' when they make 'sick' claims about what is true. Love the lastest homeopathy podcast. It was funny. I cannot believe people buy into these Homeopathy CD scams. Hey love your shows, seen the movie Let There be Dragons, it's excellent. Looking forward to The Skeptologists. I love your podcasts. Finally, someone who offers thoroughly researched and well presented information about topics that we are bombarded with every single day. Your podcast about a "Free Tibet" is a perfect example of the bullshit that is constantly thrown in our face, especially with the Beijing Olympics about to start. Dopey hollywood "Celebrities" who "speak Out" about anything annoy me and usually make me care even less about what ever crap they are waffling on about. Please keep up the good work, I'm spreading the word down here for you. I really enjoy your podcast: I discovered it really recently, and I'm now browsing through the past episodes. The research is amazing and I enjoy the seriousness and detail put in each episode. Keep on! Hey, just would like to say that your podcast is ace. i feel like I've learnt so much in the areas that you have discussed. Anyways; i made a picture in MSpaint to celebrate... well to celebrate how bad i am at using MSpaint i suppose, its about as good as the average Alien encounter, hope you like it: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/3dba212688.jpg This is a really brilliant podcast. I must admit, when a podcast by the name of Skeptoid was recommended to me I was a bit wary, but I've found almost all of the information within each episode to be well presented and tactfully shared with the listeners. Keep it up! Love your cast, keep it up. It's good to know that at least we are not alone when we collide with the massive solidarity of the morons. I'm a new fan of yours and I really appreciate your podcast. Though once or twice I have had small disagreements with you, I always admire the way you think critically and logically about a subject. Thanks for an amazing podcast. I’ve found the series great to share with my very enthusiastic 11 yr son. I was impressed to hear him lecture his mother tonight on his favourite logical fallacies. Hopefully (with your help) we are on our way training him "how to think not what to think". Thanks and regards. First I would like to say that I love the podcast. We recently drove from Oregon to New Mexico and back and, having recently discovered Skeptoid, downloaded ALL the episodes for the trip. It was an entertaining and informative way to spend part of the drive. Take care and keep up the great podcast. I should just like to say what a breath of fresh air this is. I am a natural skeptic and often face the onslaught of idiotic belief that surrounds us through media misrepresentation and, dare I say it, foisted upon us by dubiously quoted and misused statistics by the government of the day. Well done and keep it up. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE skeptoid! I listen to your podcast almost every day with my dad. I just turned fourteen and I really think Skeptoid would catch the attention of anyone at any age (either that or I'm just abnormal). I've listened to other podcasts like this, and those are always presented in a monotone as if the person just got bored at 3AM. Just wanted to say thanks!!! Also to inform you that I recommended Skeptoid to my best friend, and she loves it too!! :) Skeptoid is great! My dad introduced me to Skeptoid a few weeks ago and now I am hooked! Awesome job! I recently found your podcasts through iTunes and I'm really enjoying them! I make a ten-minute commute 4x a day, so it's great to be able to listen start-to-finish on my way. I just want to say thanks for providing a nice archipelago of rationality in the sea of superstitions. I often use the information I gain in the podcasts to stimulate conversation in the fluency classes I teach. Keep up the good work and thanks again! Skeptoid is amazing. Thank you SO MUCH for this podcast. I am SURROUNDED by the myth-minded and knowing there are other skepics in the world makes me feel less alone. You have even exposed some myths I tentatively believed myself. Thank you so much for the well-researched and rational explanations you provide. Keep up the good work. There are too few who really know how to question the world around them! I loved "Here be Dragons". I bought a copy for my mom for her birthday. I love skeptoid! I'm an atheist and have been for most of my life, so your podcasts on religion duping people are fascinating. The shows where you tackle celebrity science are my favorite and they should be mandatory in schools! Keep up the good work, and thanx for enlightening the world. Excellent podcast. I discovered it only two weeks ago and I've already gotten through them all. Skeptoid is one of the reasons I bought an iPod! Awesome report on Numbers Stations! I've been fascinated by this real mystery for years. Keep up the great work. I love your podcasts. It's a weekly nugget of common sense. I love this podcast. I eat it up wih a spoon. It is nice to get an opinion free answer to questions. "Just the facts, ma'am just the facts." I'm only thirteen, and started listening to Skeptoid after my dad showed me your video "Here Be Dragons." I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, so I listened to a few of your podcasts. I immediately subscribed in iTunes and appreciate your perspective on many different issues such as Creationism and several Alternative Therapies. You have encouraged me to look at the world skeptically, which I now believe to be a very important skill. Thank you. Bryan I just have to congratulate you for your excellent podcast. In Costa Rica, as in most places around the world, people have not any critical thinking skills; your sharp analysis brings some fresh air even in Latin America! Brian, I have an 11 year old son to whom I have introduced the idea of skepticism. Now, I am not trying to kill off youthful imagination and creativity, but I am trying to open his eyes up to the constant bombardment of popular culture children get each day. I showed him excerpts of 'Here Be Dragons' and explained the meaning behind it. Lo and behold, he now points to signs about reflexology, magnetic bed liners, reiki healers, etc and asks me, "Hey Dad, there be dragons?" I simply smile and wink at him. Thank you. Im fan of many skeptic podcast, but yours its the best by far. It has the right length, and goes right to the point in just two kicks. I wish there were something like this in spanish, the rest of the world is very much in need of the work of people like you. Thank you. Excellent education in critical thinking and always entertaining. A great way to spend 10 minutes every week. Yesterday I was browsing iTunes to see if could find any interesting podcasts. I found Skeptoid and I love it. Keep up the good work! I'm very glad to have found your podcasts and "Here Be Dragons" video. It's good to see that someone out there is promoting critical thinking on a large scale. I have long believed that critical thinking should be part of late high school and early university curriculum. While unquestioningly doing what you are told by your parents has a benefit at an early age, carrying that tendency into later life is ill advised. The best phrase in the world is: "Why?" Thank you for your great efforts ! I recently came across your podcast whilst trolling through the iTunes podcast directory looking for something worthwhile to listen to. I struck gold with yours. I've downloaded the lot and listen to them in the car everyday. Great work. Just wanted to thank you for coming to the Midwest Skeptics Society Meetup this last Saturday. I really enjoyed your talk. Just a quick note to say your production of "Dragons" was fantastic. I am a regular podcast subscriber and was interested in seeing your video. It blew me away; the professionalism of the project was impressive. I got a huge lump in my throat when you recommended "Huck Finn"-- what a brilliant choice! Thank you for keeping the door of reason propped open with you big old critical foot. Thanks for Skeptoid! Finally, there are bite-sized peaces of wisdom I can throw in the direction of my skeptically challenged friends. They can be listened to, even if you are new to skepticism, but provide enough information to really get you hooked. This is great, considering I heard about skeptoid at the SGU. SGU is a bit much for the people I want to inform about, say, pseudosciences. Therefore, I am glad I found your podcast. Keep fighting the good fight! Measured, intelligent, well researched (mostly!), eclectic enough to keep me guessing and above all honest. Utterly engrossing bite sized, 10 minute streams of reason. Ignore it at your peril. Hey there. I just started listening to your podcast, and I can't get enough! Although I don't always agree with your views or opinions, I really enjoy getting to hear about the other side of things. Plus it's always nice to hear some razor sharp wit (not being facetious here) thrown in the faces of people who are so inept at critically thinking that I often wonder how they chew gum and walk at the same time (without dragging their knuckles of course). Keep up the good work! Kudos to Brian Dunning and Skeptoid.com! The podcasts are insightful and interesting. The series should be a required part of high school and college curricula for the entire country! Bravo! My whole family loves SKEPTOID! I've been a skeptic for many years, but i still found your book (we listened to the audio format) to be full of illuminating and interesting facts. Can't say 'good on ya!' enough. you're doing a real public service. now if we could only get this way of thinking taught in our public schools... You should see if you can set up deals where interested people can buy one, five or ten (numbers are only suggestions) of your books for public libraries. work like this is too important not to be widely available. I'd buy them for the libraries near me... just a thought. Here's to ONE OF US! well done. Keep up the terrific work. I just want to thank you for your podcasts - I enjoy listening to them a lot! The podcast is great. The movie is awesome. I wish there were more podcasts like yours. You do a tremendous job. Thank you. Thank you for your excellent podcasts! These gave me a great introduction to skepticism and critical thinking, which in effect has changed the "mental filters" I use to view the world. (I hope you understand what I mean by that) I will definitely continue listening and studying logic/critical thinking on my own. Please keep up the great work! The analysis of the TWA light off Long Island was brilliant. I just thought another conspiracy theory and dismissed the friendly fire missiles idea. Recognizing the time delay created by the speed of sound pretty well lays it to rest. I am grateful for your intelligent and stimulating podcast. I listen to many podcasts and find most to have very poor sound quality, but your work is of very high quality both in terms of content and presentation. I like that you get right to the meat of the matter at hand and efficiently apply the facts that put things in perspective. I recently downloaded "Here Be Dragons" and watched it. It is also of very high quality, and the product of much work. I intend to mail it to a friend who seems to want to think straight, but has trouble letting go of pleasant fantasies and doesn't have much in the line of tools to work with. Thank you for all your hard work on both the podcast and the film. I got an iPod touch to listen to music and view some pictures. Then I found podcasts. OMG I didn't know they even existed. Your site is my favorite. Thanks. Here is your bone, doggy brian!! Your info, professional presentations, and wonderful voice talents get me through a very hum drum day at work at a factory where the National Enquirer could be our employee handbook. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! My little green iPod thrills to the sound of the opening bits of Skeptoid podcasts!! Brian Dunning is doing more for skepticism that any individual non-scientist layman. Brian, you're an inspiration, and keep up the good work! My wife and I downloaded ALL of your podcasts and played them as we trekked from Louisville to Philadephia (and back) for a music festival. We really enjoyed them! I am a psychology professor at Spalding University (actually, Chair of the Department) and often hear some of my students spouting on about the psuedoscientific things they are reading online. Your episodes devoted to critical thinking (and errors) was especially poignant. I hope to include some of those podcasts in my course assignments! Also, I passed your information along to my Dean, who is devoting next year's campus activities to Critical Thinking. Maybe we can bring you in! Anyway, keep up the balanced, funny, and important work you are doing. Hi Brian, I recently discovered your podcasts and just wanted to say thanks and keep up the good work. We need more people like yourself to raise awareness around matters of critical thinking and help dispel superstitious ways of looking at the world. Dear Brian Dunning, I found my way to your podcasts via the ‘Skeptics Guide to the Universe’. Your clear precise style of presentation and singular topics, nicely complements those of the more conversational style of the SGU. I have almost finished catching up to the present podcast after downloading all your old episodes on my iPod. I think what most impresses me, is the comprehensiveness of your research that allows you to capture the main points of contention and then condenses all of that into a succinct presentation. Absolutely first rate. Can't post my real name because I live in the deep south (unfortunately and temporarily) and would be tarred and feathered if my neighbors knew that I think their myopic and unlettered religious beliefs are ridiculous and mythological. Just wanted to tell you that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the podcast...and I think you are HOT. I love you, Brian Dunning. I was entertained and intrigued by your podcast at first; then you talked about the theory of evolution and I wanted to give you a hug. I am a Christian and I take my faith very seriously. I also studied biology in college. Only a handful of my close friends and family actually understand my point of view, "believing in" both evolution and creationism. The "official" story, about this battle of ideals, has been pissing me off since 6th grade, when my Christian school started teaching us the theory of evolution and how it's wrong. Even then I didn't understand how the idea of evolution disagreed with the Bible. (At this point I had much of the Bible memorized already.) Thank you for everything you do; I always try to think critically, but you have helped me to go deeper into a lot of ideas that I hadn't spent much time with. THANK YOU. 5 days a week I walk over two miles to my train, in the dim, glorious, and often damp, early English morning. I just wanted to let you know it is now one of the highlights of my day to pop in my headphones, click on my daily dose of Skeptoid and smile smugly, or to be honest, more often with embarrased chagrin at your poignent and witty podcast. Keep up the great work, it is rare to find something so informative, yet so enjoyable. Go Brian! I just watched "Here Be Dragons" and I just wanted to pass on a bit of kudos. Nice work. Keep up the good fight. Absolutely love your podcasts! I just watched Here Be Dragons and it was awesome! I hope you continue to do similar projects in the future and I also hope The Skeptologists works out for you. You are doing a fantastic job with the podcast and I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into this. We have such a great need for skeptical thinking in this world. Even those of us who consider ourselves "skeptical" or "rational" need a kick in the pants once in a while. Thank you so much for giving us all our weekly kicks! I believe myself to be scientific in thinking, but while listening to your organic food episode I found myself getting angry. Upon reflection, I noticed that I _wanted_ to believe that organics were superior and have since re-evaluated the way I go about things. Thank you Brian for what you do and keep doing it. Fantastic podcast. A Niagra Falls of reason pouring into the desert of superstition we are surrounded by these days. I love your sense of humor, and I will buy Here Be Dragons on DVD ASAP (perhaps keep it in my trench coat to whip out at will). Keep up the good work! Just watched "Here Be Dragons". Great job Brian. I am going to download the HD torrent and make some dvds for my friends and family. With all of the Zeitgeist and Loose Change nonsense out there it is good to see a video that promotes science and critical thinking. I just wanted to drop you a line and say how much I have enjoyed listening to your podcasts. I Work at a Golf Course and as you can imagine I'm mowing alot of grass these days. That being sad, I have alot of time immersed in a world with my MP3 player and headphones. I can only listen to the same music day in and day out, So I found your web page and downloaded around 100 of your podcasts. Needless to say I've listened to 95% of them in the last three days of work. I'm hooked!! I tried to listen to the local news, yet they are die hard conservatives, so I tried some podcasts of "Blast the Right", to see the other side of the coin. This I'm afraid was even worse. Then I found your podcasts. It was excatly what I was looking for, you take neither side, only report the facts scientifically and let the listener derive their own conclusions. Your broad topics keep me interested as well as stimulate my brain while I mindlessly mow in a straight line dodging the (self-proclaimed) Golfers. Sorry so long, just wanted to express my thanx for the wonderful topics and discussion you have created at the water cooler. Skeptoid is a very well produced podcast. Although I may not always agree with you in all the podcasts, I have enjoyed every episode from the first release. I would hope to see the show eventual expansion to full hour episodes. If funding is a challenge, I would hope your book sales and possibly a donations section added to the web page could help fund this. Thank You for the podcasts and good luck with your TV show. As an OB/GYN in Naples FL, an ever increasing part of my job has become to educate my patients about growing and evolving (no pun intended) psuedoscience. Wheatgrass, homeopathy, chiropracting, acupuncture, chelation therapy, pH specific nutrition, raw food diets, antioxidant juices, and pyramid healing are all areas that have come up in the last month. "Doctor, what do you think about (insert bizarre idea here)? It takes time to do the right thing by our patients and too many doctors have become complacent in there criticism of hooey- and patients get hurt. Your podcast gives me strength in what is often a lonely endeavor. Keep up the good work, if you ever get to Naples, let me by you a beer and maybe we can even go Skunk Ape hunting. I was born a skeptic I suppose. I remember being called a doubting Thomas when I was young. I feel vindicated by your podcasts and am constantly amazed by the quantity of gullible people. Please keep up the good and entertaining work. Without question my favorite podcast. Brief, witty, informative and unflinchingly skeptical. Thank you- amazing work - the most balanced and well researched skeptical podcast that I have found. I've recently begun to listen to the podcasts and have enjoyed and appreciated them so much that I came to the site to donate a little money. Do you accept donations? (I expected to find a "donate to skeptoid" button.) Thank you for the podcast widget for Mac OS X. Hardly a necessary item but it's nice to know you care about us Apple-ists. Love the podcast by the way. Thanks very much for the podcast. Sadly I've almost caught up listening the back catalogue and will soon have to wait for each new episode. Your critical analysis is fantastic and real food for thought. Thanks again. The podcast is great. Keep up the good work. The best part is that I am a Physics major, and love the scientific method put forth by Brian in studying every subject. The research is good, but a real skeptic like Brian tells you to look stuff up for yourself. Study data, not interpretations. Congrats on your 100 episodes - hope to hear many more. I get the podcasts via iTunes and it's always a treat when a new one turns up. Terrific cast. I listen with my 13 year old daughter on the way to school. She's disappointed now that we have "caught up" and have to wait for each new release. Somehow I am having a Brian Dunning day - I fell asleep on my collection of Skeptoid podcasts - good way to fill dreams with nightmares of pseudo-science. So what better time, then, to thank you for your effort in making these podcasts. This is a new age of superstition. Religious belief need not conflict with science, but it sure makes things easier for those using religion as a mean to attain power and control, does it not? Are witch hunts next? Yet you, me and a few others do not give up. Being a skeptic means I get laughed out of a room for mentioning documented rains of fish an frogs as a plausibility (with possible scientific explanation), and thrown out of the party for describing homeopathy as a laughable fraud. Oh well - so be it. Keep that enlightening beacon burning... Congratulations on 100 episodes! Keep up the good work and we will keep listening! I really enjoy your podcasts. It's really enlightening and it has made me a real skeptic. Before I would be taken in by all the sensationalist headlines, but now after some rational thinking I treat it with a lot of skepticism. Keep up the good work. I just want to say to Brian Dunning how much I have enjoyed the podcasts, which I download and listen to while driving and at lunch breaks. You have enriched my life, helped me to sharpen my critical thinking skills, and help me focus on a rational view of what is real. I do so much enjoy your insight and wry wit. Thank you, and may your journey be joyful and fun! Your podcasts are a real breath of fresh air. I am a graduate engineer with a naturally sceptical point of view, but most days I feel I am drowning in a sea of gullible idiots who will believe anything they are told through the media. Real facts and hard evidence are too boring for them to bother with - sensationalism is much more exciting. I am very relieved to know there are other people out there who question hard and don't just go along with the contagious hysteria of modern life. I do not get enough about your information. At first I devoured all your episodes in few days, then I took my boys to San Rafael Swell (Utah), I did infect them with your skeptic virus, then I proceeded converting my Pediatrician wife. Anyway, you can't do much better than offer us 10 minute of yourself each week!!!!! Brian, you are a good guy. I do appreciate what you do for people. Thank you for the wonderful podcast. Keep up the good work. I was at track practice drinking out of my nalgene bottle, when one girl says to me, "My mom said that plastic bottles give you cancer!" I thought it would be a perfect topic for you, but oh look! You've already done it!!!!! Thanks for anticipating my question a year in advance! Thank you for Skeptoid.com. It is wonderful to have a straightforward, intelligent voice in the growing sea of television and radio pap. Hi Brian, I love your podcast! I was at home visiting the folks a few weeks ago and my dad put your podcast on in the car one day (it was the nuclear power episode) and that night I HAD to download all of your podcasts. Listened to them all since then and eagerly await your future episodes. I've done my 2 and 2 because I pretty much agree with everything you say (I'm not saying this to suck up to you, I honestly do!). Would be great to come and hear you speak if you are ever in the UK. Thank you for putting so many people in their place and hopefully you are not getting too put off by any hate mail that might be coming your way. I cannot get enough of Skeptoid! Now I am so skeptical and it's fun! I love deleting those annoying emails and I love leaving my bottled water in the car overnight then drinking it fearlessly! Really, though, what a pleasure. THANK YOU! You have a most excellent podcast. I am a skeptic and a subscriber of a variety of podcasts and I have to say yours is one of the best. Many podcasts include a large amount of small talk, but yours gets right to the point and does not waste my time at all. In fact, I find your comments to be right on target and contain irrefutable logic. Some of the topics are more interesting than others, but they are all very informative and entertaining as well. With all of the junk we are being hit with -- Expelled, etc. -- yours is a breath of fresh air. When I get down hearing all of the Creationist, Intelligent Design, UFO, Shoud of Turin blabberings, I only have to listen to your podcast to know that reason is still alive and kicking. I also commend you for making it available for use in schools and elsewhere, because your voice needs to be heard. Keep up the great work. I just wanted to say that your pod cast is really great, it's something that I enjoy regularly. I don't expect to agree with your every word and thought, but I do appreciate your informed and educated point of view. You are truly doing the community and the world a service by informing and challenging the mind, please continue. I've been enjoying skeptoid for some months now. It makes a nice companion to the Mysterious Universe podcast, oddly enough, but for quite the opposite reason. Growing up in small, rural, Bible believing, Christian cross every two miles, church on every crossroad, friends cousins a dowser, part of the country in western Saskatchewan, Canada. Not knowing that there are other people like myself out there until I found out about iPods and iTunes and then your wonderful show. I have finally found out that I am NOT ALONE. What an euphoric sense of belonging .... finally. Thank you and all the other JREF folks. SGU, Randi, Shermer, Dawkins, Sagan, Mythbusters etc. etc. This is such a brilliant podcast that breaks down skeptical subjects into easily digested 10 minute chunks. Great for anyone, believe or not. I've had a really good time listening to the podcasts, especially when your comments contradict your previous statements. For example the proof of fakers not being proof of actual existence (Bigfoot) and the All crop circles being faked. Keep it going. I would be pointing and laughing at the gullible, but as most seem to be in some postion of influence its a bit of a worry. Great cast. A few weeks ago I discovered your podcast. Now I wish I found it a lot earlier! Although our media maintains that it is skeptical and will research any claim thoroughly, you won't beleive what kind of humbug gets through unchecked. Everybody loves a good mystery and some conspiracy theories can be entertaining. But I tend to get irritated when people take it seriously without seriously asking serious questions. Why do people stop thinking when things get a little weird? At least I found someone who can help me convince people that thinking for yourself, and thinking skeptically is not a crime! Just wanted to say Hi, keep up the amazing podcasts, i love them! I love your podcast. I found it when i looked up the Guide on Itunes and while Guide is good i enjoy your a lot more. LoL i even listen when i'm playing WOW, makes killing mobs that much better. Huggles! and please keep up the good work. Exceptional source of well-reasoned information. I especially like how you invite those who disagree to challenge you, and only as long as they have a logical basis, not just an opinion. I just listened to all the available episodes and only wish there were more in the archives. Love the podcast! I have downloaded all the episodes. I find myself listening to them in my car (instead of the radio) and as I am going to sleep (instead of the TV!) Keep them coming...great job! About a week ago I came across your podcast, Skeptoid. I am now up to date with all your episodes. I just wanted to let you know that I really find Skeptoid helpful in so many ways. Thank you so much for doing what you do. Congratulations on your excellent website. It's another valuable resource in the battle against scams, superstitions and stupidity. I just recently discovered your podcast and it has already done me a world of good. After several years of listening to Coast to Coast AM for entertainment purposes, my brain was turning to mush, (even if I didn't really believe about 90% of what I was hearing on there). Then I discovered a little thing called critical thinking and skepticism, and stumbled across your podcast on iTunes. Over a period of just two or three weeks, I have listened to all your past shows with delight, and plan to send you an email with a short list of suggestions for future program topics. We need more people like you to help clear the dense fog of misinformation, disinformation, hype, fear and intellectual laziness that has settled upon our nation. Keep up the good work. And I am sure if I ever tune into Coast to Coast again, I will probably disbelieve about 99.5% of what I hear now. Thanks for a great podcast! New to the skeptic community, many of your podcasts directly relate to my own past mistakes. As a former participant in multilevel marketing schemes and colon cleansing diets, your attention to these topics has been especially informative. Through your podcast, the discussion forum, and the Skeptalk email discussion list, each day generates new understanding. I greatly appreciate your shows on logical fallacies, how to argue with a creationist, the importance of critical thinking, and how to spot pseudoscience. I recommend your website and podcast to all my family and friends. I love your show, and I am very excited about your new TV pilot. Just wanted to wish you all the best. I started skeptical a blog and my first couple of posts were about your show. Also trying to tell everyone I know about it! Terrific podcast !! Not only are your topics great, useful and informative, but your command of the English language in terms of syntax and usage, is outstanding. Please keep the episodes coming. Do not go away. Brian, Thank you for the work that you're doing for skepticism and rational, evidence-based living. Growing up in a household that was steeped in magical thinking (from strict religiosity to MLMs to alternative medicine, etc.), I am indeed grateful for you taking the time and resources to put out such a quality podcast. Skeptoid is an important and appreciated part of my reality-based education. All the best. Thank god, if he or she or it exists, that there are people such as you Brian that have some common sense. We are not all doomed after all. A great podcast, i'm telling all my mates a cobber. I just want to say that you have a great site and a great podcast. Keep up the good work and keep them coming. I really love Skeptoid and recommend the blood for oil episode and cant wait for more Skeptoid. I love it. Thanks for this. Stayed up all night having downloaded the lot, and can't wait for your next podcast. Your podcast is the highlight of my week. The only day I wish my commute were longer. Thank you. I really enjoy your podcast, its great to hear someone address this wide range of 'issues' in a clear, concise way. I love to listen to your podcast “Skeptoid�. I’ve used some of your advice when talking to a creationist and it helped a lot. I didn’t change his mind, but at least I was able to defend myself. I’ll keep listening! I found this lovely little podcast recently on itunes and thought I'd give it a try. I listened to a few in bed and the next morning I downloaded EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. They're great, everything you say is delivered clearly, logically and in a very entertaining way! You must put alot of effort and research into these, your awesome! My friend was a big Nostradamus enthusiast and I kinda pissed her off by showing her your podcast. I listen to your podcasts at school and I think I learn alot more from you than my teachers who just sit and cry whilst the kids run around throwing paper balls and screaming. I'm 15 by the way. Thank you for this podcast. I can tell you spend a lot of time on it. Thank you for dedicating so much time to rational thought. We need more voices like yours to stave off the coming of the second Dark Ages. I *just* started listening to Skeptoid after stumbling on it in iTunes. It is, quite simply, the best of the 40+ podcasts I've sampled in the past week, and the only I've subscribed to that is not NPR, PRI, or HBO content. I love the content, delivery, focus, and sarcasm in every episode I've listened to so far, and have pulled everything available on iTunes to listen to more historical content. Thank you for your format that does not have an intro. Some podcasts are 25% introduction, proposition, explanation of what a podcast it and how exciting it is. You are (probably, as I have it on good authority) 'da man. I recently discovered this podcast and was instantly hooked. It is a ray of logic and hope in an otherwise ignorant and worrying world. If everyone listened to just a few episodes I'm sure they would begin to think twice about much of the nonesense they are told to believe. Thank you. I'm a PhD student in the UK. I would just like to tell you how much I enjoy listening to your pieces. You have a great ability to explain scientific principles in a lucid, clear and entertaining manner. I wish more scientists (not just the general public) had the understanding of the scientific process you clearly do, and were able to apply it. I certainly have been educated by your podcast, and look forward to hearing more of it in the future. Big skeptoid fan. Loved the nuclear energy episode. I'm trying to figure out how to restrain several of my friends long enough to make them hear the whole thing. Keep it up. I very much enjoy listening to your podcast. Your colorful yet logical point of view is very entertaining and informative. I particularly enjoyed listening to the episode on typical logical fallacies. It's very useful to be able to put a name to "Reductio Ad Absurdum" which my husband frequently resorts to when he is clearly losing an argument! Thanks! I have been a listener to multiple podcasts for several years covering various categories including medical, technical, literary and personal. This is the first time a podcast has ever left me both angry and uplifted to the point of tears. This is not easily accomplished given that I am a somewhat callous ER physician and medical examiner. Thank you for doing what you do. Mainly, thank you. I listen to all of the podcasts but your #89 was especially outstanding. I have a similar dilemma right now with a family member & recent terrible diagnosis, who believes in alternative "medicine" more than chemo. Worries me endlessly about what to say. Your reply was best answer yet. I will follow your lead on this. Brian, I just listened to #91 and wanted to post my own feedback. Recently, I have changed the way I view the world. I am constantly in search of the truth. Whether or not I agree with what you present in your episodes, I believe 100% that you are fighting the good fight. Keep up the good work! Since discovering your work on iTunes a few months ago I have anticipated and enjoyed every episode. I wish I could think of something really clever, as clever as your commentary, with which to compliment you, your thinking and your podcast. Alas, there are no bones big enough to throw you and even if there were I would be unable to heft 'em. Your podcast is true, fun, funny, illuminating - at times, dare I say it, inspiring. Funnier than Dr. Science; wittier than Dennis Miller. Please keep up the great (and valuable) work. I truly hope there are many many more installments in my future. I have to go now and support you by buying some swag & crap from your site. Thanks again. I have really enjoyed the podcast so far and I can't/won't shut up about to people in my life that need a healthy dose of skepticism. The first show on energy has not made me any friends. I think the arguments you give have been thought out and informed, but when I use them people think I am just being a smart ass. Keep it up. I'm a new listener, or, better put, a new fan. At first your sort of deadpan delivery and the shortness of the shows put me off, but I'm hooked now. Skeptoid is now on my short list of weekly must hear podcasts. Thank you. Discovered skeptoid a few weeks ago and find it extraordinary and informing. I've downloaded all episodes and will have completed listening to them all by tomorrow. Wish there were more. I've also been sending them to about 90 other people on my mailing list on a 1 per day basis giving them an opt out option. Only 3 at this time have exercised their option not to "reboot their brains". BRILLIANT! Simply brilliant! Please keep up the great work. I have Skeptoid playing in our technician studio and all the guys are loving it. 185 episodes of Skeptoid goodness to revisit. I just wanted to say I love what you're doing. Even a ten minute weekly podcast can help change the way people think. I consider myself pretty skeptical, but now and then you bring up something about which it hasn't even occurred to me to think critically about. I have tried to do my part in spreading the word about your show: I work at a local Starbuck's. Since employees at our store drink for free, we often hang out on the store patio on our days off. Sometimes I will bring some portable speakers for my iPod and play my back episodes of Skeptoid while I relax. Rather than forcing the show on people, I let my friends and coworkers join me at the table. Invariably they will begin listening in and become quite interested. They tend to appreciate your tongue in cheek style, which in turn gets them interested in the topic at hand. The reaction after an episode will often be "how can people believe stuff like this?" These are not particularly skeptical people for the most part (though they are by no means gullible either). They are just normal folks. This shows that critical thinking, packaged in a short entertaining format, can effect positive change in peoples' attitudes. Keep up the good work. Hi, Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your podcast. I was recently referred by a friend, and I've been busy working my way through all of your past episodes. I really enjoy how concise and focused your episodes are; it's quite a welcome contrast to some of the other podcasts I listen to that are an hour or more long. I also find that yours have quite a bit more "replay" value because of their small size. Anyway, keep up the good work! I very much enjoy your Podcast, it is a great show, please keep it up, and thanks! Just stumbled upon your website and I just had to share the link with my like minded friends. The wide range of topics from organic foods to WTC 7 are very, very interesting. It's good to know that someone out there is doing the research on these topics and using their common sense. Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading the bulk of your podcasts. I just wanted to thank you for the fantastic podcast. I am an English teacher at Heights Middle School and have been using your podcasts and the transcripts for my critical thinking and nonfiction unit. Along the way, we've been looking at a variety of subjects in a critical and skeptical way. I am pleased to say that my eighth grade students enjoy listening to you, and the short time frame of the podcasts helps keep their interest. After each episode, we discuss and analyze the paranormal claims that were mentioned. I have been very pleased with the amount of thinking and skepticism many are showing. If nothing else, your podcasts have helped my students at least think about the subjects in a different way. Hopefully, they won't accept a paranormal or unsubstantiated claim so quickly and will do some critical thinking and questioning. Again, my profound appreciation for the podcasts, their content, and the critical thought you encourage. Hello Brian! I'm a 23 years old atheist and skeptic and, being a recent graduate of biological science I'm glad to see a larger and larger number of people interested by science and logical thinking. Keep up the good work Brian! I can't wait for "The Skeptologists" show to air! I just wanted to take a minute to say how much I enjoy your show. My son gave me an iPod for Christmas, and shortly after I discovered your podcast on iTunes. Ever since hearing my first Skeptoid podcast I wait eagerly for the next one. I believe that what you do is a great of great benefit for people who will believe anything that the media throws at them. Thank you for your time, and efforts, and keep up the good work. You do a splendid job, the subjects each week are relevent and your skeptical eye is cast with much humour and wisdom. I hope it pleases to know your podcast is being enjoyed by at least two students (i recommended you to a friend, too) in the valleys. Despicable Vulture Scumbags was an excellent episode, well thought out, articulated and very pointed. I appreciate your thoughts on the topic and I wish more people could hear what you have to say. I really enjoy listening to Skeptoid - very refreshing. I especially like the health related episodes - I work in a medical field and find is soooo annoying when clients cannot stop telling me about how wonderful this or that alternative medicine / supplement etc. is. If it is so great I always wonder why they end up returning for real science based medicine in the end?? Thank you for all of these excellent talks. More than any specific subject I enjoy the general viewpoint of not just believing in things that go against your own logic. This has been a great help. There are many others I hope to get to visit his site and give these a listen. Delicious morsels of reality. If only you could make into a snake bar and sell it. It would be the fastest way to achieve that critical thinking brain you always wanted!. Faster, slimmer, “Get the girl cerebral 6 pack in only 10 minutes a day and the bonus is that it would actually work!. Keep it rolling in Brian. Hi! I am an atheist and a skeptic. I have been doing youtube videos about these two subjects on youtube for some time now. i just recently found this podcast and subscribed to it. I am happy to say that I am amazed at how wonderful it is. I will comment about it on my next video to try to get you more subscribers. Congratulations! Just wanted to let you know that your podcast is incredible. A smart, young co-worker told me she was thinking of going to school to become a naturopath. I had her listen to 3 of your episodes on a road trip, and she returned with a different career idea. So, yes, your efforts do make a difference. I listen to several skeptic podcasts and I find yours to be the most informative with just the right amount of time vested. Keep up the good work! I am 59 years old. Occupation Structural engineer designing for hurricanes and earthquakes, etc. Your podcast iz very enlightening. I am an agnostic. I heard of your show when you were interviewd on skeptics guide to the universe. I doubted the integrity of your show at first glance thinking not another one. But i was pleasantly surprised. I can't really describe how much I enjoy listening to your podcast. I can only imagine and admire the amount of work and research behind each episode. Any chance of your book ever being translated to Portuguese? Thank you very much for your dedication and skeptical view. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying your podcast. It's as entertaining as it is enlightening. I will try to get some of my friends to listen, but most will just call me a curmudgeon; a moniker I wear with pride. Please continue for many years to come. I recently purchased the book Skeptoid after subscribing to the podcast and its terrific. Thanks for the hard work you put into your material, it is appreciated and helps educate us all. I want you to know how much I enjoy your podcast. You fit a lot of information into each episode. I find each one to be entertaining as well as informative. I actually used one of them (Skeptoid #83: The Detoxification Myth) to help me argue against a friend using such products. You do a terrific job. Thanks so much! I would like to express how much I enjoy your podcast. It is nice to listen to you debunk some pseudo sciences as I sit in the middle of the bible belt. Without doubt one of the best Skepticism podcasts around - pithy and no nonsence - makes great sence of all the nonsence - keep it up. You are the most entertaining skeptic I've heard in a long while! I don't think you can make them fast enough for me! I've binged and listened to almost your whole catalog in the past 2 weeks! You've seriously impacted my energy! HA! I heard Mr. Dunning's interview at SGU and I came to know about Skeptoid. I have downloaded almost 40 episodes in 3 days and i am really loving all the episodes, especially two episodes pertaining to logical fallacies. It was a breath of fresh air in an overall polluted environment of supernatural and paranormal things going around the world. You know i am from a place which is proud of being the birth place of highest number of religions in the world. So getting like-minded people is very difficult. Keep up the good work. I have to say i really enjoy your quick and concise format related to a single topic per show. I discovered you from The Skeptics Guide to the Universe and once i started to listen, I was hooked and continued to listen through all episodes in a matter of days. My only complaint if there are not enough! So, quit your 'real' job and accept bigger payouts from your corporate paymasters and and take this puppy full time! Oh, and your eye looks a little red, I know of a great all natural homeopathic treatment that will do the trick! Outstanding podcast. I'm constantly impressed with the scope and depth you are able to cover with each topic in just a few minutes. I also enjoy your "tell it like it is" approach while inviting those with differing opinions to join the discussion through the forums. Keep up the fantastic work, it's clear you put a lot of hard work into your episodes and I really, really appreciate it. Wow Brian, I have been listening to numerous Skeptic Poscasts and Atheist shows for a while now. Why the heck didn't I listen to yours until recently. It's excellent, I like the format and how well you put the show together, nice clear easy to follow, not too long! I just learned about Skeptoid after hearing your interview on Skeptics Guide to the Universe. I have downloaded and listened to many of your episodes and it is now one of my favorite podcasts. Your brief, concise and well researched discussions of popular myths and pseudoscience are excellent. I am writing this to let you know that I am a fan of yours. Your podcast is the most entertaining on the net. I love it! Great topics. Also I love reading the comments from the "woo-woo's". I have just discovered your podcast--thanks to your interview on the Skeptic's Guide. So I am playing catch-up and just listened to #65. Thanks for the program, keep up the good work. Really love downloading and listening to your podcasts down here in New Zealand. Keep up the great work. Thank you. Just to say my husband listens to skeptoid all the time and often tells me to listen. I have just started listening and have become a real fan. It has opened my eyes to just how much rubbish there is out there. Brilliant. I'll keep listening. I LOVE Skeptoid!! It is brilliant, witty, and gives me comfort that there are reasonable voices out there in these seemingly unreasonable times. I become irrationally excited when I see a new episode downloading in my iTunes. Keep it up! Just wanted to say thanks for a great show. Nice little nuggets of critical thinking, unadorned by much frills other than your wry sense of humor. Succinct, practical and regular. Keep up the excellent work. I love this podcast! Not only has it taught me how to think skeptically about all the crazy stuff I already know about but it has also taught me about tons of crazy stuff I could have never even dreamed of! Thanks Skeptoid! It is incredibly satisfying to find someone who thinks about the world in a way that I so clearly and completely relate to. For me it is reinforcement that we never have to accept anything on faith or for irrational reasons. Things we don't understand are simply that, things we don't yet understand. Being comfortable that we will understand them eventually is so much easier that seeking any bizarre made-up explanation. Brian, thanks for the great work and putting so much effort into the site and the podcast. Congratulations on your podcast. Brief, concise, to the point and well researched as far as I can tell. All this packaged with enough humour and a bit of sarcasm makes it truly one of my favorites. Many thanks, well done. Love your podcast! It's great to hear someone speaking common sense as opposed to some of the the pseudo science one hears in the popular press. Remember that, at the end of the day, science always wins over superstition, religion and ignorance. Brilliantly excecuted, thoughtful and to the point.
I also love the fact that you put up the written version. I have quite often referred to them when arguing specific points.
Keep up the great work! This is friggin' brilliant. When I first got my iPod, I was looking for stuff to put on it. I happened to come across the name "skeptoids" at first i was, well, skeptical. I have come enjoy this very much! I had my mother-in-law listen to your podcast about organic foods. BRILLIANT! I'd like to register my support for your fantastic and clear-thinking podcast. Keep up the good work. Fab, love it ...keep up the good work Your program helps me a lot to think many things more skeptically. I really appreciate your efforts on the podcast. Truth will stand (or now already standing). Thanks. Thanks for being a beacon of reason in a sea of ignorance. I find your podcast refreshing and rejuvenating and look forward to future episodes. I firm believer that the formula for a better world involves critical thinking, science, education and, of course, a hearty portion of skepticism. Thanks for helping fight the fight. At first the eyeball put me off, then I decided to look anyway and listen to one. I subscribed and enjoy the challenge to think, not just be lead around. Your delivery is straightforward and just edgy enough. I actually look forward to driving to work so that I can listen to more. Your topics have sparked quite a few energetic conversations in our household. Despite my persistent ramblings to my wife, it only took one episode of Skeptoid to get her to see the light on "natural foods" and the true "nature" of organic food economics. Thanks for saving me hundreds of dollars in my food bill! Dear Brian-just short note to ell you how much I enjoy Skeptoid & to wish you & your family the best of health & happiness for 2008. My hubby downloads your podcast faithfully on his beloved iPod. He plays the program while we are driving somewhere---anywhere. We DO love SKEPTOID and are fans of yours. Thanks for the intelligent reports and the obviously diligent research. Thanks for your time and talent!! Came upon your podcast a couple weeks ago. Thank you for what you do!!! The truth is out there...or, you could just download the Skeptoid Podcast. Just dropping you a line to tell you how much I enjoy your show. I grew up with a heavy interest in the paranormal and cryptozoology. I still keep an open mind but have found myself losing some of my belief due to lack of evidence. I listen to other podcasts that promote the paranormal view and I listen to your show to get another angle on various topics. I think this is what a lot of people lack, the ability to view opposite points of view and then make a decision. Keep up the good work. Thanks for the podcast, it's truly great, really well done.
Congrats! Your program rocks! How can the audience help you beside, open the eyes of the "non believer"? I recently discovered the skeptoid podcast widget, and I've been listening to your podcast ever since. I've been working my way from the newest release to podcast number one, and I just heard your commentary on wheatgrass juice. I laughed out loud several times while listening to it. Thank you for inserting a little intelligent thinking into my day. I've been hooked since the Ann Coulter episode. Nice job. If you were in the room with me while I was listening to it, I would have jumped up and down squealing, "Now do Glenn Beck! Now do Glenn Beck." Seriously. You should do an episode on Glenn Beck. He sucks, too. I love Skeptoid, and I found you just in time to fill the void that Dogma Free America has left in my life. I have enjoyed your podcasts. The program reminds me of the attacking faulty reasoning class that I attended while in college. Do you have any suggestions for books on logic and reasoning? I know from my earlier attempts that people telling you they like what you do is a push so I decided to give you a little push to continue, how minor it may be ;) just love your podcast :) found it on digg, and I continue digging every episode, and hoping that more people will find it, I'm also working on getting some more people to listen, thanks ;) I have found and listen to many of the skeptical sites on the internet. Skeptoid is far, far superior to anything that I have found. The topics are great, Brian is an excellent communicator with a great voice and wonderful sense of humor. I check Skeptoid almost daily hoping to find a new podcast. I have sent links to friends and they are always greatful. Best of all, I have learned many wonderful things. Thanks a million. Love your show. Seen the current CNN video on UFO conference? Love the show. I particularly appreciate the lessons, i.e. the evolution primer for creationists, the primer on scientific testing and the most recent magical journey through logical fallacies. I'm not a scientist so I appreciate your skill in presenting these ideas in a prosaic manner accessible to a layman like me. It's like school's in for the fledgling skeptic. Keep up the great work. Your podcast is great! People today are constantly bombarded with newfangled products or ideas that we are told will solve everything that is wrong or negative in our lives. It is very refreshing to hear the unvarnished truth from a neutral party instead of having to rely on the pitch from the salesman trying to part you from your money. I love your program, I am often stuck driving for work, and I welcome some mental stimulation. Keep up the good work, and I'll keep tuning in. I thought you'd get a kick out the following discussion my kids had at the dinner table tonight. My 10 year asked my 8 year old what he's going to be for halloween. He stoically responded by saying, "I'm going as Brian Dunning" My 10 year old questioned how he'd make this known without a costume. My 8 year old shrugged his shoulders so my 10 year recommended, "When they ask who you're supposed to be, just say "You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com" We all laughed. As you might guess we listen to Skeptoid quite often as a family. Great podcast. Short and sweet, with a variety of topics. Don't change a thing.
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