Skeptoid

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Skeptoid cover art, from skeptoid.com
Skeptoid cover art, from skeptoid.com

Skeptoid is a weekly podcast created and hosted by American skeptic and author Brian Dunning. The show follows an audio essay format, and is dedicated to the critical examination of pseudoscience and the paranormal.

Along with similarly-themed Point of Inquiry, Skepticality: The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine, and The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, it is a popular program among skeptics and a Top-50 program on the iTunes (US) Science & Medicine podcast charts.

Skeptoid (ISBN 978-1434821669) is also the title of a 2008 book based on content from the Skeptoid podcast.

Each ten-minute Skeptoid episode focuses on a single pop culture phenomenon that is pseudoscientific in nature. Episodes usually fall into one of four categories:

- Quack medical modalities; such as homeopathy, reflexology, detoxification, or chiropractic - Popular cultural misconceptions; such as organic foods, SUVs, and global warming - Urban legends; such as crop circles, the Amityville Horror, the Phoenix Lights, or the Philadelphia Experiment - Christianity and religion; such as creation legends, alternative New Age religions, and concepts of sin

In May of 2007, Skeptoid was announced as a qualifying media outlet for the James Randi Educational Foundation's "One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge". [1] Applicants to the challenge must have a presence in popular broadcast media in order to qualify. By passing a simple test of their paranormal ability and having it reported on the Skeptoid podcast, applicants can satisfy that primary requirement and then proceed to apply for the Challenge.

Skeptoid is also available as a free audiobook from Podiobooks.com.

[edit] Production

Skeptoid is recorded with professional studio microphones using Apple's GarageBand software. Sometimes short musical cues are mixed in, all of which is royalty free music also created in GarageBand.

[edit] Listenership

As of February 2008, more than 42,000 listeners download the show each week [2]. It is typically in the top 15 listings for science podcasts on the iTunes store. [3]

[edit] External Links