The Holy Grail of EVP - Panasonic DR60 Center for Inquiry 2026-09-24 | The Holy Grail of EVP - Panasonic DR60
The Elections and the Supreme Court On the Brink of the Total Collapse of Science and Secularism Center for Inquiry 2024-09-08 | Today's religious right wing and their enablers on the Supreme Court are not just poised to abolish the separation of church and state; they seem determined to repeal all modern progress made by humanity in the past 300 years by repealing the very Enlightenment itself.
Anticipating CSICon 2024 - Everything THEY Dont Want You to Know Center for Inquiry 2024-09-03 | In this final entry of my series of video interviews with the speakers scheduled to appear at this year’s CSICon, I called upon Susan Gerbic to help me with making a full disclosure of the valuable, hard-to find, inside information about all things CSICon.
Anticipating CSICon 2024 - A Video Interview with Banachek Center for Inquiry 2024-08-31 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers appearing at CSICon 2024, the conference that will take place this October in Las Vegas. This episode features mentalist Banachek, who will be educating and entertaining the attendees over all three days of the conference.
Dowsing for Hidden Objects | A Paranormal Challenge Center for Inquiry 2024-08-27 | In this episode, the Center for Inquiry staff are gathered at the Buffalo, NY headquarters for a staff retreat. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Jim Underdown, our CFIIG Director, scheduled a dowser for our $500K Paranormal Challenge. Norbert, who drove two hours to take the test, claimed that he could find any object just by using his dowsing rods. We set up a test area of twenty-five red solo cups (spaced one meter apart) in a five-by-five grid, went over the protocols, and observed Norbert while he attempted to find a “Beetlejuice Lighter” hidden under one of the cups. Check it out as we go through his tests, see the results, and discuss with Norbert what led him to believe he has a dowsing ability.
Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry | Jonathan Stea Center for Inquiry 2024-08-23 | The world of mental healthcare is very much caveat emptor: buyer beware. Today, people looking to care for their mental health face a market with at least 600 “brands” of psychotherapy—and counting. Most are ineffective, and many could be harmful. The $5.6 trillion dollar wellness industry includes countless unregulated providers of mental health services looking to exploit people’s financial and emotional vulnerabilities. Jonathan Stea, a clinical psychologist who regularly deals with some of society’s most vulnerable people. Having seen so many of his patients hurt by pseudoscience, Stea is on a mission to expose its harm and protect the public from mental health misinformation. He’ll discuss and debunk the predatory pseudoscience and grift of the multi-trillion-dollar wellness industry and point us toward a better way to take care of our mental health.
Anticipating CSICon 2024: A Video Interview with Daniel Simons Center for Inquiry 2024-08-22 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers scheduled to appear at CSICon 2024. This conference is run by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and will take place in Las Vegas from October 24–27. (You can find all the details and register right here.) For this episode, my guest was Dr. Daniel Simons (pronounced Sy-muns), who is an author, cognitive scientist, experimental psychologist, and professor in the Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois. He is also an Ig Nobel Prize winner for a study called the Invisible Gorilla Test, which demonstrates inattentional blindness; you may have even seen a version of this test when it went viral on the internet. (Were you fooled?)Simons’s upcoming CSICon presentation is titled “Out of Focus,” and here is a summary: Simons will talk about how the cognitive abilities that usually serve us well can make us vulnerable to mistaken beliefs, misinformation, self-deception, and outright fraud. Even our abilities to focus intently and think critically can be turned against us when we fail to think about what falls outside our focus. His presentation will draw on topics ranging from visual attention and magic to science fraud and the exhilarating world of management consulting to show how easily we can be deceived—both by ourselves and by others—and what we can do about it.In the interview, Simons and I discussed a wide range of topics in addition to his upcoming presentation, including the genesis and details of the Invisible Gorilla Test and the implications of this experiment regarding our mistaken beliefs about how our minds work. We also discussed his latest book, Nobody’s Fool, which covers topics such as describing why one’s likelihood of being scammed is affected by false familiarity with people such as celebrities, combined with our tendency toward wanting “efficiency” in our decision-making processes.We talked about the difference between change blindness and inattentional blindness and the importance of understanding these concepts regarding the inaccurate perception of our surroundings. This led to a discussion of the increasing recognition of the fallibility of memory and eyewitness testimony in the U.S. legal system. Simons also revealed the private experiment he did regarding the September 11, 2001, attacks to assess his own recall of what he personally experienced during that day. He failed, demonstrating the “illusion of memory.”When conspiratorial thinking came up, Simons said it’s not necessarily true that people who believe conspiracies, or who are in cults, are irrational. Sometimes it is because they start with a flawed premise and follow that to its logical conclusion. For believers in the Mandela Effect for example. the flawed premise is that one’s memory is infallible. Therefore, if you come across a fact that is not how you remember it, the explanation must be that the universe (somehow) changed.We also talked about the problem of laws not following psychological science. One example is that following the law and having hands-free mobile phone conversations while driving does not remove the problem of cognitive distraction due to the conversation, which is what actually causes the danger.I hope you enjoy this interview. Perhaps it will even make you consider attending this year’s CSICon where you can meet and mingle with Simons and the other speakers in person. If you do come, make sure to stay for the Sunday Morning Papers session, which I will be cohosting and will feature six short presentations on a wide variety of interesting skeptical topics! (If you are unfamiliar with the Sunday Morning Papers, you can learn all about this in an article I published on the topic, right here.) Also, be aware that next year will be a year off for CSICon, so keep that in mind when contemplating travel plans!You can find my other interviews with this year’s CSICon speakers, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, in my online column. And, if you are interested in watching any of my interviews with speakers from previous CSICons, including Bill Nye, Eugenie Scott, Richard Wiseman, Susan Gerbic, Melanie Trecek-King, and Penn & Teller, you can find those there as well.
Anticipating CSICon 2024 - A Video Interview with Forrest Valkai Center for Inquiry 2024-08-21 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers appearing at CSICon 2024, which will take place this October in Las Vegas. This episode features biologist and science communicator Forrest Valkai, attending his very first CSICon to share his infectious enthusiasm about science.
Anticipating CSICon 2024: A Video Interview with Timothy Caulfield Center for Inquiry 2024-08-21 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers scheduled to appear at CSICon 2024. This conference is run by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and will take place in Las Vegas from October 24–27. (You can find all the details and register right here.) For this episode, my guest was a CSI fellow, the 2020 Balles Prize for Critical Thinking recipient, and Member of the Order of Canada, professor Timothy Caulfield. He is a professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health and research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. Caulfield’s interdisciplinary research on topics such as stem cells, genetics, research ethics, the public representations of science, and public health policy has allowed him to publish almost 400 academic articles. He is the author of two national bestsellers: The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness and Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong about Everything? His most recent book is Relax, Dammit!: A User’s Guide to the Age of Anxiety. Caulfield is also the host of the 2017 Netflix documentary series A User’s Guide to Cheating Death. Caulfield’s upcoming CSICon presentation is titled “The New Wellness BS? Manly, Optimizing, Science-y-ish, Longevity Woo!” and here is a summary: Will the stream of science-free wellness nonsense ever stop? A recent and ubiquitous trend: the rising “longevity” industry, which includes everything from consumption of hundreds of supplements to “young blood” infusions to testicle tanning. Influencers in this space, who often have impressive credentials, often use the language of real science—a tactic I call “scienceploitation”—to give their claims legitimacy. And many lean into the growing “manosphere,” that growing and ideologically charged echo chamber where traditional masculine norms are celebrated and framed as a required element to a healthy lifestyle. These characteristics of the longevity business can make it more difficult to debunk. But debunk we must!In the interview, Caulfield and I discussed a wide range of topics in addition to his upcoming presentation, including his latest book Relax, how he utilizes both his legal and scientific training in his work and public outreach, and how he stays motivated despite the ongoing uphill battle to bring reality to the public.We also discussed the unexpected correlation apparent in certain populations regarding non-mainstream beliefs (if you're anti-vax in the United States, you're also likely to back Russia in its invasion of Ukraine), and he revealed what he thinks is currently the most dangerous conspiracy belief.I also followed up on some of the topics we covered two years ago (the 2020 interview is available here), including the ongoing problem that is Gwyneth Paltrow, her Goop company, and the overabundance of others hawking ineffective products and treatments of all types to unwary consumers.I hope you enjoy this interview. Perhaps it will even make you consider attending this year’s CSICon where you can meet and mingle with Caulfield and the other speakers in person. If you do come, make sure to stay for the Sunday Morning Papers session, which I will be cohosting and will feature six short presentations on a wide variety of interesting skeptical topics! (If you are unfamiliar with the Sunday Morning Papers, you can learn all about this in an article I published on the topic, right here.) Also, be aware that next year will be a year off for CSICon, so keep that in mind when contemplating travel plans!You can find my other interviews with this year’s CSICon speakers, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, in my online column. And, if you are interested in watching any of my interviews with speakers from previous CSICons, including Bill Nye, Eugenie Scott, Richard Wiseman, Susan Gerbic, Melanie Trecek-King, and Penn & Teller, you can find those there as well.
Anticipating CSICon 2024: A Video Interview with Andrea Love Center for Inquiry 2024-08-16 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers scheduled to appear at CSICon 2024. This conference is run by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and will take place in Las Vegas from October 24–27. (You can find all the details and register right here.) For this episode, my guest was Andrea Love, who is a biomedical scientist and science communicator with a PhD in microbiology and immunology. She has over a decade of experience in basic sciences, translational medicine, and clinical research. She is a subject-matter expert in infectious disease immunology, cancer immunology, and autoimmunity and is adept at translating complex scientific data and topics for the public and healthcare providers. Love works full time in life science biotechnology in the fields of vaccinology, immunology, immunotherapy, cancer, cell and gene therapy, and other relevant areas. Love has a passion for helping the public understand complex science topics to navigate the world better. She teaches continuing medical education courses for healthcare professionals and is passionate about improving science literacy starting from an early age and encouraging children toward a career in STEM. She is the creator of ImmunoLogic.org, a science information hub that communicates evidence-based information on science and health topics. She is also the executive director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation and a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer.This is how the conference’s website describes her upcoming CSICon talk, “Echo Chambers vs. Evidence: Ideological Conflicts in Science Acceptance”: In a world increasingly polarized by differing ideologies, acceptance of scientific evidence becomes a battleground shaped not only by facts but also by the echo chambers of social and political beliefs. These insular groups and resultant identity communities cultivate selective trust in science, which substantially influences public and individual perceptions of scientific facts.Drawing from case studies in contentious fields such as vaccines, food ingredients, and genetic technologies, this presentation explores and illustrates how ideological biases lead to the selective rejection of evidence. This rejection is further exacerbated by psychological phenomena such as confirmation bias and belief perseverance.By shedding light on the challenges of effectively communicating science in a polarized society, this talk aims to propose strategies for bridging the ideological divide. It emphasizes the importance of fostering productive discussions on topics frequently targeted by misinformation campaigns in order to minimize far-reaching and pervasive harms to public health and science literacy.In the interview, Love and I discussed a wide range of topics in addition to her upcoming talk. These included the potential harms of at-home wellness industry test products, the exaggerated concerns concerning “toxic mold,” and whether “Long COVID” is a real thing. We also talked about the three articles in her new Skeptical Inquirer online column, as well as “A Skeptics Guide to Glyphosate” which will be published in an upcoming issue of the print magazine. We also discussed the vitriol directed at her colleagues due to their efforts countering medical pseudoscience claims and how this impacts her as well as other science communicators.As Love is the executive director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, and as I have a long-held concern about getting this illness, we had an in-depth conversation about chronic Lyme disease, including discussing its questionable legitimacy. I learned that we can all thank Andrew Wakefield for, among other things, creating the environment that put the kibosh on the development of an effective Lyme disease vaccine in the late ’90s. Also, to my relief, I learned that most Lyme infections are cleared by the immune system without the infected person ever developing a disease, never mind anything that would be called chronic Lyme disease.I hope you enjoy this interview. Perhaps it will even make you consider attending this year’s CSICon, where you can meet and mingle with Love and the other speakers in person. If you do come, make sure to stay for the Sunday Morning Papers session, which I will be cohosting and will feature short talks on a wide variety of interesting skeptical topics! (If you are unfamiliar with the Sunday Morning Papers, you can learn all about them in an article I published on the topic right here.) Also, be aware that next year will be a year off from CSICon, so keep that in mind when contemplating travel plans!You can find my other interviews with this year’s CSICon speakers, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, in my online column. And if you are interested in watching any of my interviews with speakers from previous CSICons, including Bill Nye, Eugenie Scott, Richard Wiseman, Susan Gerbic, Melanie Trecek-King, and Penn & Teller, you can find those there as well.
Skeptilab - Fortune Tellers with Phil LaMarr Center for Inquiry 2024-08-15 | We see psychics, tarot card readers, crystal balls, tea leaf readers, palm readers and others in storefronts all over the world. But do these methods work? And if not, why does it seem like these people know things they couldn’t possibly know?In this episode of SkeptiLab: The Bunk Stops Here!, the team welcomes Phil Lamarr to help unravel the mysteries surrounding fortune telling. Phil is an actor (Pulp Fiction), comedian (Mad TV), and voice artist (Futurama, Samurai Jack) living in Los Angeles. Also, Professor Richard Wiseman from the UK lends his formidable expertise on the technique of cold reading, an integral part of fortune telling. Watch Phil, Richard, and host Jim Underdown pull back the curtain on this dubious illusion.
Sci vs. Psi: Testing Superpowers | Jim Underdown on Skeptical Inquirer Presents Center for Inquiry 2024-08-09 | $500,000. It should be easy money for the right person. The Center for Inquiry Investigations Group (CFIIG) Paranormal Challenge offers a $500,000 prize to anyone who can demonstrate any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power under scientific testing conditions. It is, by far, the world’s largest prize for scientifically proving superpowers—and it’s never been claimed successfully. Jim Underdown, founder and chairman of the Center for Inquiry Investigations Group (CFIIG) shares a behind-the-scenes look at the Paranormal Challenge. Who applies for this prize? How often do they cheat? And what are the rules that must be followed? Underdown will answer all these questions and share stories from his almost quarter century of putting wacky claims to the test. Jim Underdown has been the executive director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles since 1999. He is also the founder and chairman of the Center for Inquiry Investigations Group, the U.S.’s premiere paranormal investigation team. Underdown has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows and is one of the hosts of CFI's flagship podcast, Point of Inquiry.
Anticipating CSICon 2024: A Video Interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson Center for Inquiry 2024-08-08 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers appearing at CSICon 2024, the conference that will take place this October in Las Vegas. This episode features the well-known astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who will be making his eagerly anticipated second CSICon appearance.
Anticipating CSICon 2024 - A Video Interview with Kevin Folta and Rob Palmer Center for Inquiry 2024-07-22 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers appearing at CSICon 2024, the conference that will take place this October in Las Vegas. This episode features molecular biologist and science communicator Dr. Kevin Folta.
Twists and Turns in Teaching Evolution - Glenn Branch Center for Inquiry 2024-07-12 | Controversies over the teaching of evolution in the public schools have rocked the nation over the past century. Evolution's foes have consistently used the same arguments, but their ambitions have shifted, from banning the teaching of evolution through balancing it with a supposed alternative to blunting it by claiming that evolution is scientifically disputed. In his talk, Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education will discuss the causes, history, and consequences of these controversies, explain the encouraging developments in evolution education over the last fifteen years as revealed by a recent study conducted by NCSE, and discuss what skeptics have done, and can continue to do, to help.Glenn Branch is deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit organization that defends the integrity of American science education against ideological interference. He is the author of numerous articles on evolution education and climate education, and obstacles to them, in such publications as Scientific American, American Educator, The American Biology Teacher, and the Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, and the co-editor, with Eugenie C. Scott, of Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design is Wrong for Our Schools (2006). He received the Evolution Education Award for 2020 from the National Association of Biology Teachers.
Anticipating CSICon 2024 - A Video Interview with Rina Raphael and Rob Palmer Center for Inquiry 2024-07-09 | This is the first in a series of interviews I am conducting with the speakers appearing at CSICon 2024, the conference that will take place in Las Vegas in October. This episode features former wellness-rat and Goop apologist turned wellness industry critic, journalist Rina Raphael.
Hearts and Minds: Rebuilding Respect for Science | Laura Lindenfeld Center for Inquiry 2024-06-28 | The American public is increasingly skeptical of experts, including scientists, healthcare professionals, and other researchers. Many experts respond by sharing more facts and information and/or bemoaning the lack of science literacy. Laura Lindenfeld believes there is another, more effective way to rebuild public trust in science and research.Laura Lindenfeld, executive director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and Dean of the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University, will discuss the Alan Alda Center’s approach to science communication, how it differs from more traditional approaches, and why it works. She’ll also offer strategies that interested scientists and researchers can experiment with their personal and professional lives.
Think This Through - A Conversation With Coleman Watts and Rob Palmer Center for Inquiry 2024-06-21 | In this video interview, I talk with Colman Watts, the multi-talented creative force behind the thoroughly entertaining and unique YouTube channel Think This Through.
Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex | Dr. Joe Schwarcz on Skeptical Inquirer Presents, June 13 Center for Inquiry 2024-06-14 | Is superfood a scientific term … or a marketing one? Do supplements that claim to reduce inflammation actually reduce anything (other than your bank account)? What’s the deal with “red light therapy”? Everyday life is full of interesting science—and pseudoscience—from maraschino cherries and frizzy hair to duct tape, pickle juice, and dental implants.Bestselling author Dr. Joe Schwarcz returns to discuss his latest book, Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life. Schwarcz has spent his career separating sense from nonsense; now, his new collection of bite-size pop science essays takes on several burning questions about the science of everyday life.Dr. Joe Schwarcz is director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. Well-known for his informative and entertaining public lectures on topics ranging from the chemistry of food to the connection between the body and the mind, Professor Schwarcz is also the author of several bestselling books and a frequent guest on The Discovery Channel, CTV, CBC, TV Ontario, and more. He has received numerous awards, including being the first non-American to win the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Grady-Stack Award. He was also awarded the 2015 Balles Prize for Critical Thinking by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will | Robert M. Sapolsky Center for Inquiry 2024-05-31 | In his best-selling book Behave, Dr. Robert Sapolsky argued that while we may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Out of this comes a perspective that as biological organisms, we have far less free will than we usually assume.Join us with Dr. Robert M. Sapolsky, the acclaimed author, stress expert, biologist, and neuroscientist. His latest book, Determined, plumbs the depths of the science and philosophy of decision-making to mount a devastating case against free will, an argument with profound consequences. Sapolsky applies the new understanding of life beyond free will to some of our most essential questions around punishment, morality, and living well together.Dr. Robert M. Sapolsky is the best-selling author of several works of nonfiction, including A Primate’s Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. Dr. Sapolsky is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow; a professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Stanford University; and a research associate at the National Museum of Kenya. He lectures on topics as diverse as stress and stress-related diseases, biology and the free will debate, the biology of our individuality, the biology of religious belief, depression, memory, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The Christian Nationalist Threat to American Democracy - Dr Bradley Onishi Center for Inquiry 2024-05-17 | Christian nationalism is more than faith combined with patriotism. It's a movement designed to impose one vision of Christianity on all others - a religious mission of conquest and domination. Despite its longstanding presence in American culture, the last decade has witnessed an acceleration of White Christian nationalist rhetoric and tactics. It is now an openly authoritarian movement whose leaders long for a post-constitutional America and a non-democratic form of governance. As the 2024 elections approach, the dangers of this movement are becoming more apparent. Dr. Bradley Onishi explains the historical contours of White Christian nationalism - and the threat it poses to American democracy.
A UFO Over New York City? Really? Center for Inquiry 2024-05-09 | While flying home to New York, Michelle Reyes was taking video from her window of the New York scenery. A black cylinder-shaped object suddenly rushed past just outside the plane. Was it a UFO? Well, it was certainly “unidentified!” Let’s take a closer look at this mystery, along with a guest appearance by Mick West, and see if we can figure out what this object most likely is
502 Conversations A Conversation With Brian Kerby Rob Palmer Center for Inquiry 2024-05-08 | If you are unaware of the wonderful content being created for the show 502 Conversations by Brian Kerby, this interview is tailor made for you! And if you are already a fan, I’m sure you’ll appreciate the behind-the-scenes information revealed in our conversation.
The Science of Weird Shit | Chris French Center for Inquiry 2024-05-03 | This presentation will provide an overview of anomalistic psychology, focussing particularly on the work of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit. If the wider scientific community is right to be skeptical regarding paranormal claims, why do so many people believe in the paranormal, including a sizeable minority that claim to have had direct personal experience of paranormal phenomena? Anomalistic psychology attempts to address this issue by proposing alternative non-paranormal explanations for ostensibly paranormal experiences. Factors such as the unreliability of memory, hallucinatory experiences, and a range of cognitive biases are discussed.
Is the Planet Full? What We Need to Know about Overpopulation | Peter Uetz Center for Inquiry 2024-04-19 | The human population reached eight billion people in 2022 and may reach ten billion later this century. A relatively small (and rich) fraction of those billions are able to cause climate change at a global scale. However, with so much focus on the challenges of climate change, another catastrophe is unfolding without most people noticing: the loss of nature as we know it. Uetz has spent decades studying and writing about systems biology and the natural world and his article on “Myths About Overpopulation” is featured in the latest issue of Free Inquiry. This presentation will address the most challenging question humanity has ever faced: Are we too many and is nature losing out?
A Life Preserver for Staying afloat in a Sea of Misinformation | Melanie Trecek-King Center for Inquiry 2024-04-11 | Critical thinking and science literacy are essential for surviving the infodemic but can be difficult skills to learn and apply. Registration is now open for CSICon 2024: csiconference.orgThe FLOATER toolkit was developed to provide a structured and systematic way to think through claims. The toolkit’s seven key principles—Falsifiability, Logic, Objectivity, Alternative Explanations, Tentative Conclusions, Evidence, and Replicability—can save you from drowning in a sea of misinformation.Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of Thinking Is Power, an online resource that provides engaging and accessible critical thinking content. Trecek-King is an associate professor of biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators and to help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking.This talk took place on October 27, 2023
Solar Superstitions and Moon Myths with Ben Radford Center for Inquiry 2024-04-06 | Humans have always been fascinated by what goes on in our skies. Celestial events including eclipses, meteors, and comets were long thought to be messages from the gods, and good (or evil) portents. Greek myths claimed that the sun is carried across the sky by Helios in a golden chariot, while other traditions reveal that vampires fear sunlight and moonlight creates werewolves. From canals observed on Mars, to Bat Men on the moon, the moon landing hoax, to flat earthers, there are plenty of skeptical lessons to be learned along the way. Join CSI Research Fellow, Skeptical Inquirer Deputy Editor, and folklorist Benjamin Radford as he discusses history, lore, and legends about the sun and moon.About the Speaker:Benjamin Radford, MPH, M.Ed, is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy.
Does Coffee Cause Cancer? Myths about the Food We Eat | Dr. Christopher Labos Center for Inquiry 2024-04-05 | Does vitamin C really prevent the common cold? Was red meat really declared a carcinogen by the World Health Organization? Is red wine really good for your heart? Are eggs good for you or bad for you? There’s a lot of “conventional wisdom” about food and nutrition out there … and it’s hard to keep up with what’s true and what isn’t.Dr. Christopher Labos is a cardiologist and has a master’s degree in epidemiology. He is a regular contributor to the Montreal Gazette, CJAD radio, CTV Montreal, and CBC’s Morning Live. He also blogs for Medscape and cohosts the podcast The Body of Evidence. He lives in Montreal, QC.This talk took place on Thursday, April 4, at 7:00 p.m. ET
The Psychology of Misinformation and Its Remedies | David Myers Center for Inquiry 2024-03-29 | In the battle against misinformation, having truth and facts on your side is often still not enough. People are stubbornly—and seemingly inexplicably—willing to believe things that are obviously not true. What are the underlying psychological reasons for this, and what can be done to address them?Psychologist David Myers shares ten striking examples of people believing things that are clearly untrue and detail the psychological mechanisms that enable and sustain false beliefs. Finally, Myers will illustrate the contribution of scientific inquiry, education, and faith-based humility to restraining misinformation.David Myers is a social psychologist at Hope College and psychological science communicator. His work includes several textbooks for introductory and social psychology, blog essays at TalkPsych.com, and general audience books on topics including the science of happiness, the psychology of hearing loss, the powers and perils of intuition, and the meeting ground between psychological science and faith. His newest book offers forty short-form essays, each exploring a psychological science revelation about our wonderful lives.This talk took place on March 28, 2024, at 7:00 pm EDT.
UFO Conspiracy on Wikipedia Claims: A Conversation with GSoW’s Susan Gerbic Center for Inquiry 2024-03-27 | Have you heard about the UFO cover-up happening on Wikipedia at the behest of the U.S. government being orchestrated by Susan Gerbic and her all-powerful Guerrilla Skeptics team from their secret cabal? In this interview, Susan and I disclose the actual truth.
Here Come the Creationists...Again | Eugenie Scott Center for Inquiry 2024-03-27 | In June 2022, the Supreme Court decided in Kennedy v. Bremerton that a high school football coach was permitted to pray on the fifty-yard line and overruled an earlier Supreme Court case, Lemon v. Kurtzman. This completely changed how the government approached creationism in the classroom. Creationists may indeed be back for another run in the schools.Registration is now open for CSICon 2024: csiconference.orgThis talk dives deep into education, creationism, and the importance of science in our classrooms.Eugenie Scott is the former executive director of the National Center for Science Education, Inc., a not-for-profit that works to improve the teaching of science as a way of knowing, the teaching of evolution, and the teaching of climate change.This talk took place on October 27, 2023
The UFO Movie THEY Don’t Want You to See | Brian Dunning Center for Inquiry 2024-03-23 | In an age when misinformation, alternative facts, and conspiracy theories have become mainstream, UFOs have become one of the most talked-about phenomena throughout popular culture. What is in our skies? What do we know, and how do we know it? And most importantly: Are we being visited?Brian Dunning, the producer of the feature-length indie documentary film The UFO Movie THEY Don’t Want You to See, speaks with Kenny Biddle about the science behind today’s UFO/UAP phenomenon, why Dunning made the film—which is available to stream now on Amazon Prime and other online platforms—as well as the reactions to it so far from the UFO community. What answers does science have to give us? Dunning and his film will tell us.
A Closer Look at the Paranormal Activity Video | The Snedeker Case 1988 Center for Inquiry 2024-03-18 | Let's take a trip back to 1988 to take a closer look at alleged “demonic activity” courtesy of Ed Warren, the self-styled demonologist who’s never been to a house where he couldn’t find a demon. Before we get into the footage, I take you on a timeline of events surrounding the Snedeker case – the inspiration for the book, In a Dark Place, and the 2009 horror film, The Haunting in Connecticut. The Warrens promised to show the alleged paranormal activity footage to Ray Garton, author of In a Dark Place, but that never happened. Years later, the footage was used in a 2000 TV documentary, World’s Scariest Ghosts: Caught on Tape. We’ll take a look at what was presented, break it down, and recreate it. Then, I’ll address an issue I haven’t seen brought up before – an accusation by Lorraine Warren about the Connecticut former funeral home.”
Getting the Chemistry Right | Joe Schwarcz Center for Inquiry 2024-03-14 | There are too many examples of false chemical “wisdom” permeating the media, regularly spewed out by self-declared sages. They fundamentally all get the chemistry wrong. It’s time to get it right.Keep up to date with what's happening in skepticism: skepticalinquirer.orgExamples of such false wisdom include: Peanuts can improve your memory. Alkaline water is the key to health. There are fish genes in genetically modified tomatoes. Glyphosate causes autism. Modernity has gone too far with all the synthetic drugs. Chemicals in non-stick pans are linked to smaller penises. Dr. Joe Schwarcz is Director of McGill University’s “Office for Science and Society” which has the mission of separating sense from nonsense. He teaches both in the faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine and is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching chemistry and for interpreting science for the public.This talk took place on October 28, 2023
Penn & Teller in Conversation with Richard Wiseman Center for Inquiry 2024-02-29 | Penn and Teller broke box office records on Broadway, performed to packed houses around the world, created award-winning television shows, have been featured in The Simpsons, and are the longest-running headliners to play at the same hotel in Las Vegas history. This celebratory interview will explore their fascinating thoughts on magic, skepticism, James Randi, creativity, success, and much more.Penn & Teller are perhaps magic’s most legendary duo. In their humble beginnings they were busking on the streets of Philadelphia. Today, they have hosted acclaimed sold-out runs on Broadway and are the longest running—and one of the most-beloved—resident headline acts in Las Vegas history. This talk took place on Saturday, October 28.
2024 Science Clash: Whats The Greatest Life Saver of All Time? Center for Inquiry 2024-02-29 | It's time for the 2024 SCIENCE CLASH, presented by Science Saves!Last year, “FIRE” beat out thirty-on other contenders to earn the title of “Greatest Scientific Achievement of All Time.” This year, 16 different inventions and innovations will seek compete for YOUR VOTES to determine the “Greatest Life Saver of All Time.” To check out the match-ups and cast your vote in each round, visit ScienceClash.org.You can also follow ScienceSaves on social media:facebook.com/ScienceSavesOrginstagram.com/sciencesavesorgtwitter.com/ScienceSavesOrgyoutube.com/@UCLdKdHA1f7j15y53Y3yWN5Q tiktok.com/@UCLdKdHA1f7j15y53Y3yWN5Q
Skeptilab - Ghosts and the Afterlife with Annabelle Gurwitch Center for Inquiry 2024-02-19 | Millions of people believe in ghosts, and many millions more say they believe in some form of afterlife. But do ghosts really exist? Does some part of us survive our earthly existence? And why do so many people have spooky experiences?In this episode, author and comedian Annabelle Gurwitch joins host Jim Underdown in the SkeptiLab to explore an age-old question: What happens to you when you die?The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe's Dr. Steven Novella also sheds some light on death and dying from the medical side, while CSI's Chief Investigator Kenny Biddle looks at some of the gadgets the “ghosthunter” crowd brings to alleged hauntings.Read More from Skeptical Inquirer and the CFIIG Case Files:cfiig.org/deciphering-the-deadskepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/elite-spirit-stickskepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/investigating-a-ghost-boy-in-canadaskepticalinquirer.org/2019/11/haunted-asylums-imagining-scary-ghosts
Bill Nye and Richard Dawkins in Conversation Center for Inquiry 2024-02-15 | We are proud to honor Bill Nye with the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award on Friday, October 27. Renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins will present the award in-person, followed by a live, unscripted conversation between the two iconic science communicators on stage at CSICon 2023. You won't want to miss this.Bill Nye is an American science educator, engineer, comedian, television presenter, inventor, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling author. As an Emmy Award-winning creator and television host, Nye helped introduce viewers to science and engineering in an entertaining and accessible manner, fostering an understanding and appreciation for the science that makes our world work. Today, Nye is a respected champion of scientific literacy who has challenged opponents of evidence-based education and policy on climate change, evolution, and critical thinking. He currently serves as CEO of The Planetary Society, the world’s largest and most influential non-governmental space organization, co-founded by Carl Sagan.Richard Dawkins is one of the most respected scientists in the world and an internationally best-selling author. Among his books are The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and his autobiography A Brief Candle in the Dark. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Literature.
Science, the Poetry of Reality, Jewel in Humanity’s Crown | Richard Dawkins Center for Inquiry 2024-02-15 | Richard Dawkins provides his thoughts in this wonderful lecture. The lecture will extol science as perhaps humanity's greatest and proudest achievement. That invites accusations of “scientism” and arrogance. Science knows what it knows (a lot) but it also humbly knows what it doesn’t know (also a lot). There may be questions too deep even for science. But if science can’t answer them, no other human endeavor can either. Given that we were designed simply to survive and reproduce, the wonder is that we have produced the geniuses that we have.Science comes under attack from the fashionable belief that it is no more true than indigenous tribal myths and alternative, subjective “ways of knowing.” These attacks are influential but easily rebutted. Science has well-developed methods—for example, the double-blind trial—to eschew subjectivism.The human benefits of science need no listing. But they're not the main reason I would stand up for science as a sublime triumph of our species up there with Shakespeare and Beethoven. We uniquely know how, where, and why we came into existence.Richard Dawkins is one of the most respected scientists in the world and an internationally best-selling author. Among his books are The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and his autobiography A Brief Candle in the Dark. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Literature.This talk took place on Thursday, October 26
Can Clouds Be Moved? CFIIG Finds Out in Vegas Center for Inquiry 2024-02-07 | In this episode, I take you along on an official CFIIG $500k Challenge. An applicant claimed that she could move clouds (in the sky) at will. She could also make them disappear. Jim and Stan of the CFIIG settled on a proper and mutually agreed upon test protocols with the applicant. I was invited to observe and participate, so I filmed the entire test to (along with footage from Ross Blocher) to present to you. Many of us hear about these tests and some read Jim Underdown's articles on the CFIIG webpage, but the majority of you don’t get to watch a full test and experience it up close. This episode is meant to provide you with insight into the challenge, how the tests are performed, and most importantly, how the CFIIG staff interact with the applicant. I hope you enjoy the video!
Beyond the Echo Chamber A Conversation with AIPT’s Russ Dobler Rob Palmer Center for Inquiry 2024-02-06 | Besides having this column for Skeptical Inquirer online, I occasionally write articles for the website AIPTcomics.com. I am not into comic books myself, so why would I do that? Because despite the URL, the site is about much more than just comics. Its subject matter includes almost everything pop-culture and entertainment related. And, as you will hear in this interview, Russ Dobler runs the section of AIPT called “AIPT Science,” which publishes articles that blend skeptical and scientific topics with pop-culture themes. The goal is to make these articles appealing to the fans of the fun material that drew them to the site in the first place. As the website says: “AIPT Science isn’t just the physics of Superman—we like the methods of science, too. So come to check out the reality behind your favorite fantasies, but stay for the skeptical angle on pop culture, from box office to Bigfoot.”The fans of AIPTComics are not likely the same people reading Skeptical Inquirer. They will not have seen my interview with Robert Bartholomew discussing mass psychogenic illness and social contagion as they relate to Havana Syndrome and other real-world events. However, when AIPT Science publishes my new article “Were the Crew of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Victims of Mass Psychogenic Illness?,” which compares what the crew of the USS Enterprise experienced in a recent Star Trek episode (forced singing and dancing!) to actual social contagion outbreaks, that will be a huge sci-comm (and skep-comm, as Dobler puts it) opportunity. (You will find that article here, along with my seven others.)I hope that watching this interview gives you the inspiration to join me, along with Kenny Biddle, JD Sword, Ben Radford, Stephanie Kemmerer, Mitchell Lampert, Craig Foster, Adrienne Hill, Evan Bernstein, and the many other well-known skeptics who have written for AIPT Science. This particularly goes for anyone who would love to become a skeptical author but has never published an article before and just doesn’t know where to begin. You will learn in this video that AIPT Science has no problem publishing first-time writers. Dobler is an accomplished science journalist and editor, and he can make anyone’s writing—even mine—well, shiny. (Sorry … for those reading this who are not the typical AIPTComics fan, shiny is a reference to the Sci-Fi TV series Firefly; that is exactly the kind of thing done for fun in AIPT Science articles.) Lastly, let me note that every February, AIPT Science and Dobler go into overdrive to celebrate Skepticism Month, when they attempt to publish an article (or two) every day. Here is the Facebook post requesting input for February 2024. Give it a go!
What’s Next, The Men in Black? Why the Government is Studying UFOs | Mick West Center for Inquiry 2024-02-01 | Why Is the Government Studying UFOs? In this talk, UFO expert Mick West explains everything.Keep up to date with what's happening in skepticism: skepticalinquirer.orgCongressional and Senate UFO hearings have been held for the first time in over fifty years. The Pentagon announced the formation of a task force to study UFOs and find out what they really are. How did we get here, what is the Pentagon doing, and what does it mean for the future of UFOlogy?Mick West is the author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect. A retired software engineer, he is the creator of the site Metabunk, which utilizes crowdsourcing and technical analysis to investigate UFO cases. West uses his background in coding 3D graphics, physics, and linear algebra—honed by decades in the videogame industry—to create custom tools to recreate, simulate, visualize, and analyze UFO videos.This talk took place on October 27, 2023.
Pass the Torch - CSICon 2023 Recap (Streamed/Recorded November 8, 2023) Center for Inquiry 2024-01-23 | Join Susan Gerbic, Eric Shaver, and three of the Center for Inquiry's affiliate group leaders, Daniel Reed (West Virginia Skeptics Society), Carolyn Dougherty (Stockton Area Atheists and other Freethinkers) and Shane Smith (Beehive Skeptics) as we recap our experiences at CSICon 2023, the conference for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.For a few of us, this was our first time at the conference! What did we learn from our time spent with this amazing collection of scientists, skeptics and investigators from all over the globe? What can we do to get more members of our local communities to come out in 2024? Who had the most fun?Hear about all of this and more in our next Pass the Torch Webinar: CSICon 2023 RECAP
Miami Mall Aliens | Are You Kidding Me? Center for Inquiry 2024-01-23 | In this episode, we head down to Miami (virtually) to investigate the January 1st video allegedly showing “10-foot-tall shadow aliens.”We take a look at the video, some reactions, and breakdown the video details to see what’s really going on. Spoiler – it’s not aliens – but check out the video anyway!!
The Birth of the Science Communicator | Professor Dave Explains Center for Inquiry 2024-01-18 | The era of once-a-decade outliers such as Carl Sagan is long gone. In this current era of internet-borne disinformation and science denial, science communication has emerged as a vibrant and necessary field, with science scholars using their expertise to inform the public.Stay up to date with CSICon and science communication: skepticalinquirer.orgCharlatans and anti-science propaganda have never been more prevalent, and the stakes have never been higher. As the existential challenge of the twenty-first century begins to materialize, how do we help people know what is true? This talk will clarify the issue and players involved and highlight important strategies that can be implemented toward winning this war with ourselves.Dave Farina is a science communicator and generalist best known for his YouTube channel, Professor Dave Explains (which has 2.5 million subscribers). While the channel is primarily a database of academic tutorials to help students with a variety of subjects, Dave is also passionate about neutralizing disinformation and science denial, from flat earthers and creationists to anti-vaxxers and medical hoaxes. Dave hopes to serve as a beacon toward the rehabilitation of public science literacy.This talk took place on October 27, 2023.
The Making of a Skeptical Activist A Conversation with Adrienne Hill Rob Palmer Center for Inquiry 2024-01-04 | There are many possible paths to becoming a contributor to the skeptical movement. In this interview, we learn of Adrienne Hill’s journey into activism, which may serve as a blueprint for others who want to get involved and make a difference.Adrienne’s voice (and ubiquitous giggle) will certainly be recognizable to fans of Richard Saunders’ The Skeptic Zone podcast for which she has contributed weekly segments over several years. Her name may also be familiar to readers of the Skeptical Inquirer as well as the Australian magazine The Skeptic, as she has been published in both. Also, CSICon 2023 attendees who stayed for the Sunday Papers session may remember Adrienne because of her talk concerning the false information that has been spread for a century about both Sallie Winchester and her former home, the Winchester Mystery House.As you will learn in the interview, these achievements of Adrienne’s only happened as a result of her joining the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project. Let me explain the connection between joining GSoW and all those other accomplishments.After learning to edit Wikipedia following all of the encyclopedia’s rules, GSoW team members improve articles (or write new ones) regarding science & skepticism, countering pseudoscience, paranormal and conspiracy claims using reliable sources. (And the team works in many of the languages supported by Wikipedia.) The benefit for the general public from Adrienne and her teammates’ work is that accurate information has been made available for hundreds of millions of people searching for the truth about important topics.[1]The primary benefit for the members of the GSoW team may be that they gain a huge sense of accomplishment from their work in educating the public. But importantly, being part of GSoW has additional perks. Team members often make valuable connections with people in the skeptical and science fields (starting with the well-connected Susan Gerbic who runs the project). This in turn can provide opportunities to contribute to organized skepticism in previously unanticipated ways, just as happened in Adrienne’s case. And her story isn’t unique in this regard; I count myself among many GSoW teammates who trace their skeptical activism accomplishments back to joining Susan’s project.In this interview, while exploring Adrienne’s own path to skeptical activism, we discussed many things. These included her early, misplaced belief in the pseudoscience of Naturopathy, her extremely impactful Wikipedia work, her contributions to The Skeptic Zone, and her CSICon Sunday Papers presentation and article about Sallie Winchester. We also touched upon her work in educating the public about Tourette Syndrome, her participation in the Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project, and the psychological concept of Impostor Syndrome, often generated by one’s success in a new field.So please enjoy my conversation with Adrienne, and if you are not already a fan of The Skeptic Zone, consider subscribing to the podcast to hear her weekly reports, complete with plenty of contagious giggles.
CSICon 2023 - Cut Through The Nonsense Center for Inquiry 2023-12-22 | Join us for the world's foremost skeptics' conference - CSICon 2023 - October 26-29 at the Flamingo Las Vegas!Hear from an amazing array of world-famous scientists, skeptics, investigators, and critical thinkers including Richard Dawkins, Penn & Teller, and many more!Get details and register today at csiconference.org.
Building a Ghost Hunting Elite Spirit Stick Center for Inquiry 2023-12-21 | In this installment, Kenny takes a shot at building a replica ghost hunting gadget called the Elite Spirit Stick. After seeing it at several paranormal conferences, he realized this $120 motion sensor glow stick was built with easily obtainable and cheap parts, many ordered from Amazon. Instead of buying one of these gadgets to take apart, he ordered the parts and built one himself. This video is for ghost hunters who believe high-priced (overpriced) gadgets marketed directly to them have some special quality – when in reality, these types of gadgets are no better than many of the motion-activated Halloween decorations one can purchase for a few dollars. In the video, Kenny invites you into his workshop to follow along as he builds and discusses the gadget, then we see how good the motion sensor is compared to a $10 unit picked up at Home Depot.”
Skeptilab - Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UFOs) with Adam Felber Center for Inquiry 2023-11-20 | Jim Underdown is joined by writer, performer, and podcaster Adam Felber (Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone) to delve into the world of UFOs – UAPs – or whatever you want to call them.Jim and Adam talk about Roswell, Navy videos, and other weird stuff in the sky. Mick West shoots down some commonly held beliefs about skyward mysteries and SETI senior astronomer Seth Shostak explains why the odds are not in our favor for crossing paths with intelligent ETs.
Anticipating CSICon 2023: A Video Interview with Professor Dave Center for Inquiry 2023-10-09 | This is part of my series of video interviews with the speakers appearing at CSICon 2023. This conference is run by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and will take place in Las Vegas from October 26–29. (You can find all the details and register right here.) For this episode, my guest is science communicator Dave Farina, best known for his popular YouTube channel Professor Dave Explains, which has over 2.6 million subscribers and over 1,300 videos on too many topics to list here.Farina is passionate about neutralizing disinformation and science denial, from flat-earthers and creationists to anti-vaxxers and medical hoaxes, and he hopes to serve as a beacon toward the rehabilitation of public science literacy.This is how the conference’s website describes his CSICon talk, titled “The Birth of the Science Communicator,” which is scheduled for Friday at 9:30 a.m.: What is a science communicator? The era of once-a-decade outliers such as Carl Sagan is long gone. In this current era of internet-borne disinformation and science denial pandemonium, science communication has emerged as a vibrant and painfully necessary field, with an army of science scholars focusing their expertise exclusively on informing the public.Charlatans and anti-science propaganda have never been more prevalent, and the stakes have never been higher. As the existential challenge of the twenty-first century begins to materialize, how do we help people know what is true? This talk will clarify the issue and players involved, as well as highlight important strategies that can be implemented toward winning this war with ourselves.In this interview, Farina and I discussed a wide range of topics besides his CSICon talk, including how and why he transitioned from science academia into a career in science communications and how he manages to produce such an enormous amount of YouTube content on such a wide variety of subjects.We talked about Farina’s perceived urgency to increase the quantity and quality of career science communicators to battle the ever increasing “myriad of bad-faith actors on the internet and neutralize them one by one” in this post-truth era where people create their own realities. Farina believes that “calmly presenting facts has not worked,” and so “we need to identify some new strategies.”We discussed his thoughts on “flat-earth priests” such as Mark Sargent and flat-earth YouTuber David Weiss and also talked about some of his favorite debunks. They are in the fields of molecular and evolutionary biology and origin of life research. This led to a conversation about a confrontational debate he had with James Tour, labeled by Farina a “creationist-chemist-apologist,” on this very subject at Rice University: “Are We Clueless About the Origin of Life?” As I told Farina, I had never seen anyone in any other science debate get as angry or shouty as Tour did with him.I hope you enjoy this interview! If you want to meet Professor Dave or any of the other great CSICon speakers in person, plan on attending the conference this year; time is fast running out to book your trip. Note that you can find all my pre-CSICon 2023 interviews as well as those from last year right here.
The UFO Movie THEY Dont Want You to See: A Conversation with Brian Dunning Center for Inquiry 2023-10-06 | In my latest video conversation, I talked with Brian Dunning, the producer and host of the popular long-running Skeptoid podcast, about his just released documentary concerning UFOs … the one THEY don’t want you to see. Brian has three previous documentary films under his belt: Here Be Dragons, Principles of Curiosity, and Science Friction. The most recent of these was screened following a previous CSICon, and I interviewed Brian about it in advance here. So, who exactly are THEY, and why don’t THEY want you to see his latest film? You may also wonder why Brian is still using the older initialism UFO in his title instead of the NASA-approved replacement, UAP. Well, you’ll have to watch the interview to learn the answers to these and other burning questions.Besides discussing many details of The UFO Movie, including Brian’s methodological approach to this subject and the handful of “UFO encounters” examined in the film, we also talked about many UFO topics not covered in the documentary. These include whether Brian was ever a true believer in the UFO mythos (yes, he was), and what he thinks of all the fresh UFO developments that surfaced only after he wrapped production on the film. “What fresh developments?” you may ask. Well, to name just a few: the U.S. congressional subcommittee hearings featuring NAVY pilots and “whistleblower” David Grusch, the release of the long awaited NASA investigative report, the testimony about ET mummies to the Congress of Mexico, and the revelation just this week that King Charles piloted a UFO in Canada (when he was still just Prince Charles, of course. Also, as I did in my interview article Let’s Talk UFOs: A Conversation with Richard Saunders, I asked for an expert opinion of celebrity theoretical-physicist Michio Kaku’s claim that “In the old days, the burden of proof was on the true believers to prove that what they saw last night was a flying saucer of some sort. Now the burden of proof has shifted. Now … the military has to prove that these aren’t extraterrestrial objects.”Being a fan of Project Hail Mary, I couldn’t resist getting Brian into a short conversation regarding the huge technological difficulties portrayed in that 2021 novel (soon to be a major motion picture) regarding interstellar travel as they relate to the section of his film concerning the physics problems of hypothetical extraterrestrials being able to reach Earth.Let me tell you that THEY may not want you to see The UFO Movie, but Brian is doing his best to defeat THEM and bring his film to popular streaming services. If you can’t wait for him to break through the distribution roadblocks—or you just fancy watching it with a big group of skeptics and are attending CSICon 2023 (or even just live in the Vegas area)—you are in luck. Brian will be hosting a free screening of the film immediately following the conference, and you can register to attend this event right here!So please enjoy my conversation with Brian Dunning about The UFO Movie THEY Don’t Want You to See, and I hope to meet you at the Vegas screening where I will be wondering if any Reptilian Shape Shifters have infiltrated the screening to report back to their Planetary Ruling Council regarding what secrets Brian has discovered and revealed to the world.
