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Bluesky
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Alternative Medicine
All
Acupuncture
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Cancer
Ivermectin is a genuinely great drug, but there’s no good evidence it can treat cancer
Jack Lawrence
-
21st August 2026
Alternative Medicine
Causality: how to prove it scientifically, and why it matters
Edzard Ernst
-
17th August 2026
Alternative Medicine
From growing basil to curing disease, pseudoscientists find support in the Qur’an
Stefano Bigliardi
-
22nd July 2026
Alternative Medicine
Aromatherapy, the NHS maternity crisis, and the obsession with “natural” birth
Michael Marshall
-
24th June 2026
Alternative Medicine
Autohemotherapy: blood pseudoscience with a Brazilian twist
Mauro Proença
-
15th June 2026
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Placebo Effect
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Ivermectin is a genuinely great drug, but there’s no good evidence it can treat cancer
Jack Lawrence
-
21st August 2026
Veterinary Medicine
Get a longer little doggy: can we really double our dog’s lifespan?
Robyn Lowe
-
20th July 2026
Conspiracy Theories
The conspiracy theorists who now hold local council seats across the UK
Brian Eggo
-
26th June 2026
Alternative Medicine
Aromatherapy, the NHS maternity crisis, and the obsession with “natural” birth
Michael Marshall
-
24th June 2026
Health
Rio Vista: the first city to start, and then stop, water fluoridation
Dayton Murphy
-
10th June 2026
Paranormal
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Hilary Evans Paranormal Library
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The seemingly impossible task of getting access to Ariel School’s ‘Impossible Archive’
Gideon Reid
-
31st July 2026
Parapsychology
Extraordinary claims, modest evidence: reincarnation, and the limits of parapsychology
Gabriel Andrade
-
27th July 2026
UFOs
The underwhelming reality of the White House’s own ‘Disclosure Day’
Dave Hahn
-
17th July 2026
Cryptozoology
Identifying the mysterious and legendary ground shark of the Timor Sea
Karl Brandt
-
13th July 2026
Paranormal
Pam Reynolds, and putting ‘out-of-body experiences’ to the scientific test
Mike Hall
-
8th June 2026
Conspiracy
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Conspiracy Theories
The conspiracy theorists who now hold local council seats across the UK
Brian Eggo
-
26th June 2026
Conspiracy Theories
Bill Hicks embodied all the good and bad of High Weirdness
Aaron Rabinowitz
-
3rd June 2026
Conspiracy Theories
Who’s afraid for Naomi Wolf? The fall of a feminist icon into a conspiracist rabbithole
Michael Marshall
-
29th May 2026
Conspiracy Theories
Peter Duesberg is dead, but his legacy of AIDS denial lives on in Joe Rogan
Michael Marshall
-
10th April 2026
Conspiracy Theories
The Italian electoral abstention, and the self-fulfilling conspiracy theory plot
Allegra Brachini
-
25th March 2026
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When it comes to jargon, it should only ever be about using the right tool for the right job
Richard Glover
-
12th August 2026
Cults
The immortality cult, cryonics, and the Arizona way of death
Wendy M. Grossman
-
10th August 2026
Philosophy
The impressive thing about AI isn’t whether it thinks – it’s how well it can judge how we think
Aaron Rabinowitz
-
7th August 2026
History
No lucky guess: James Costa argues Alfred Russel Wallace was Charles Darwin’s intellectual equal
Ted Lefroy
-
5th August 2026
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Why does the political right still hate electric vehicles and dismiss green energy?
Tim Jokl
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3rd August 2026
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Climate Change
Even amid extreme heatwaves, well-funded climate change deniers continue to spread doubt
Michael Marshall
-
14th August 2026
Philosophy
The impressive thing about AI isn’t whether it thinks – it’s how well it can judge how we think
Aaron Rabinowitz
-
7th August 2026
History
No lucky guess: James Costa argues Alfred Russel Wallace was Charles Darwin’s intellectual equal
Ted Lefroy
-
5th August 2026
Climate Change
Why does the political right still hate electric vehicles and dismiss green energy?
Tim Jokl
-
3rd August 2026
Technology
The digital crawfish has you in its net: why your AI “Digital Employee” is a career trap
Xu Majun
-
29th July 2026
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Placebo Effect
Placebo Effect
If we take away the statistical quirks and biases, is there any placebo effect left?
Mike Hall
-
22nd September 2025
Once you eliminate well-understood elements like bias and regression to the mean, there's no remarkable placebo effect left to explain
Placebo Effect
No, placebos probably aren’t getting stronger over time
Mike Hall
-
16th July 2025
Placebo responses have not gotten stronger over the past 30 years – trials are just better at isolating treatment effects from noise
Health
Supplements and garlic won’t cure the common cold, despite what the BBC say
Mike Hall
-
24th March 2025
The BBC reported on home remedies to fight the common cold – but what they gave us were weak, biased, and p-hacked studies
Placebo Effect
The Beecher story, the origin of the placebo effect myth, likely didn’t happen
Mike Hall
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26th February 2025
The most-cited example of the powerful placebo is Henry Beecher using saline instead of morphine... except, it likely never happened
Placebo Effect
An overdose on placebo pills can cause adverse reactions… but not because of the nocebo effect
Mike Hall
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3rd February 2025
A man who overdosed on experimental pills felt sure he was dying, until he found out he was in the placebo arm... but it was not a nocebo effect.
Placebo Effect
Placebo surgery: why performing fake operations doesn’t actually help anyone
Mike Hall
-
20th January 2025
Placebo surgeries do not work – if a surgery performs no better than placebo, it means that operation doesn't work, not that placebos are powerful
Placebo Effect
Does pill packet branding change the placebo response, or is this just another placebo myth?
Mike Hall
-
16th December 2024
How expensive a pill packet looks is said to influence the size of its placebo effect but, once again, the evidence is sorely lacking
Placebo Effect
Pacemakers don’t work when they’re switched off – we should doubt studies that say otherwise
Mike Hall
-
25th November 2024
Among the many odd claims made about the placebo effect is that pacemakers work even before they're switched on - which obviously isn't true
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The Skeptic Podcast
The Skeptic Podcast – Episode 078
21st August 2026
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Latest news
Ivermectin is a genuinely great drug, but there’s no good evidence it can treat cancer
21st August 2026
The online debate about halal and kosher meat uses animal welfare as a political weapon
19th August 2026
From the archives: Psychic Diary – Two North Yorkshire oddities
18th August 2026
Causality: how to prove it scientifically, and why it matters
17th August 2026
Even amid extreme heatwaves, well-funded climate change deniers continue to spread doubt
14th August 2026