Skepticality - The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine

Skepticality RETURNS! Meet Derek's new wife... Hear Susan Gerbic and Bob again! Derek interviews Patricia Churchland about her new book Consciousness.

Derek sits down with Bob Nygaard, a retired police officer from New York City who moved to Florida and now has a second career helping victims of Psychic fraud. Find out what it takes to help victims of a crime often ignored by law enforcement.

After a long break, Derek comes back just in time for Christmas. This time he sits down with Henry Jay Przybylo, (Dr. Jay), to discuss his new book 'Counting Backwards'. Dr. Jay is an associate professor of anesthesiology at Northwestern University School of Medicine, specializing in infants and children. The book is his 'Doctor's Notes on Anesthesia', find out more about one of the great mysteries of modern medicine

Fighting post-truth politics, promoting rational thinking and wise decision-making in the political sphere seems like it has become harder in the past couple years or so. Gleb Tsipursky, founder of 'Intentional Insights', which unites reason-oriented people to popularize science-based strategies for wise decision-making and rational thinking in politics and other life areas. Gleb is a tenure-track professor at Ohio State in the Decision Sciences Collaborative and History Department. Derek got to steal some of Gleb's time to chat more about his work, and his 'Pro-Truth Pledge', whose purpose is to change the incentive structure for public figures.

This episode Derek talks with Bob Loomis, librarian at the Magic Circle, and scholar of the history of stage illusion. His latest work is the book "Houdini's Final Incredible Secret", which is a detailed account of Bob's obsession with figuring out how one trick was performed.