Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition

Surviving the Information Chaos Storm

David Weinberg reviews The Certainty Illusion: What You Don't Know and Why It Matters (2025). By Timothy Caulfield. Allen Lane, 2025. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/surviving-the-information-chaos-storm/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/surviving-the-information-chaos-storm/] About the Author: David Weinberg, MD, is a recently retired physician who has contributed to Science Based Medicine and The Skeptic magazine (UK). He was a speaker at the Sunday Papers session of the 2024 CSICon. Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/]

A Jane Goodall among the Spiritualists

Terence Hines reviews The Ghost Lab: How Bigfoot Hunters, Mediums and Alien Enthusiasts Are Wrecking Science (2025). By Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling. PublicAffairs. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/a-jane-goodall-among-the-spiritualists/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/a-jane-goodall-among-the-spiritualists/] About the Author: Terence Hines is professor of psychology at Pace University and adjunct professor of neurology at New York Medical College. He is author of The Psychology and Science of Pseudoscience (2025) and a CSI fellow. Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/]

Do We Have Physics in Common with Aliens?

Daniel Whiteson argues that while humans hope for communication and shared understanding with extraterrestrial intelligence, we have no solid evidence that aliens would use the same mathematics or physics to describe the universe. By examining the mixed history of scientific development on Earth and philosophical challenges to the universality of math and physics, he concludes that alien science may be fundamentally different from ours—making contact both more uncertain and potentially more intellectually transformative than we usually imagine. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/do-we-have-physics-in-common-with-aliens/ About the Author: Daniel Whiteson is a particle physicist, a professor at UC Irvine, and cohost of the podcast Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe. He is the coauthor, with Andy Warner, of Do Aliens Speak Physics? Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/]

From Savanna to Smartphones: Reflections on the Past Fifteen Seconds

Melanie Trecek-King reflects on how the explosion of digital information in just the "last fifteen seconds" of human history has overwhelmed brains evolved for a much simpler world, making us highly vulnerable to misinformation. She argues that surviving the modern information landscape requires recognizing our cognitive biases and actively developing critical thinking and media literacy skills to counter them. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/from-savanna-to-smartphones-reflections-on-the-past-fifteen-seconds/ About the Author: Melanie Trecek-King is an associate professor of biology at Massasoit Community College. Her website is www.ThinkingIsPower.com [https://www.ThinkingIsPower.com]. Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/]

Are Cancer Rates Skyrocketing—or Are We Better at Detection?

Andrea Love explains that apparent rises in cancer rates are often due to better detection, expanded screening, and longer life expectancy—not a true surge in disease. She argues that misleading media coverage fuels unnecessary fear, while in reality many cancer death rates are declining thanks to advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/are-cancer-rates-skyrocketing-or-are-we-better-at-detection/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/04/are-cancer-rates-skyrocketing-or-are-we-better-at-detection/] About the Author: Dr. Andrea Love is an immunologist and microbiologist with 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. She works full-time in life science biotechnology in the fields of vaccinology, immunology, immunotherapy, cancer, cell and gene therapy, and other related fields. While she will always be a biomedical scientist, she has a passion for helping the public understand complex science topics in order to navigate the world better. She is also the author of Immunologic, a newsletter and science information hub that communicates evidence-based information on science and health topics. Andrea is also the Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, and was the 2023 American Medical Writers Association McGovern Award Recipient. She is passionate about scientific literacy starting from an early age and encouraging children toward a career in STEM. Outside of her career in science and efforts in science communication, she lives near Philly with her partner and their 7 rescue cats. She is a marathoner and ultramarathoner, a yogi, a black belt in judo, and an amateur wildlife photographer. Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/ [https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/]