Archives: Online Exclusives
“Skepticism means being able to see past yourself” –Claire Kroulik-Klingenberg, bringing ECSO to new heights
Claire Kroulik-Klingenberg is a skeptical activist, a feminist, and a promoter of critical thinking. She got elected as president of the European Council of Skeptical Organizations in 2017 and is a frequent participant in podcasts and magazines such as the newly resurrected UK-based magazine Skeptic. Like me, she is excited to meet people at upcoming …
A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing: Was Gilles de Rais One of History’s Worst Child Killers?
The lurid tales of witchcraft and child sacrifice that QAnon believers swallow wholesale are nothing new. For centuries, Christians accused the Jews of blood libel, an anti-Semitic canard in which the blood of virgin children was allegedly used in the preparation of matzos. However, no figure is more indelibly linked to the idea of ritualistic …
Selling the Paranormal: A Peek inside The Spirit University
The mission statement of The Spirit University (TSU) reads as follows: [It is a] “premier learning center, serving people in Sarasota, FL and the world as it provides healing, inspiration, and adventure. Its classes, events, and one on one opportunities are for beginners and experts of all ages for personal and spiritual transformation, guidance on …
Anticipating CSICon 2022: A Video Interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson
This is the first in a series of interviews I am conducting with the speakers appearing at CSICon 2022, the conference that will take place in Las Vegas in October. First up is none other than Neil deGrasse Tyson!
Georgia Guidestones and the Threat of Overpopulation
American conservatives have been rightly upset by the vandalizing of statues and monuments over the past couple of years. Make no mistake: Confederate generals and vile colonialists deserve no honor. But the way to remove those monuments is through proper legal action instead of mob violence. Yet some conservatives are thrilled by the recent vandalizing …
Kookcytus: Where Anti-Semites and Devil Worshippers Meet
Much has been written about the QAnon conspiracy theory and how believers have begun mingling with armed and dangerous extremist groups such as the Proud Boys. Since QAnon (and its core belief that Hollywood celebrities and political and financial elites are all part of a Satanic cabal that secretly rules the world while kidnapping and …
Making connections: Fiona Fox
The politicization of science looks different in the U.K.: fewer personal attacks and more government decisions based on inscrutable criteria. At the beginning of the pandemic, the government was so secretive about its scientific advice that a independent group formed to apply pressure and inform the public. One of the key moments in this long …
When Medicines Go Rogue, Part 2: Oxygen
When the ancestors of modern reptiles emerged from the water and committed to air breathing, they triggered an approximate .300-million-year evolutionary journey that led us to the wonderfully complex network of tubes, membranes, and muscles we presently call the human respiratory system (West, Watson, and Fu 2007). Its primary purpose: the movement of oxygen (O2) …
Will Intermittent Fasting Help You Lose Weight?
Are you having trouble losing weight? So are a lot of other people. Have you tried intermittent fasting? Should you? According to a survey by the International Food Information Council, intermittent fasting was the most popular weight loss diet in 2018. Some have called it a fad whose adverse effects have not been sufficiently studied, and …
Skeptic Sarma’s Skeptical Work in Europe
Amardeo Sarma is a person well-known both within and outside Germany. As a prolific engineer and skeptic, he founded the German skeptics organization GWUP (Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften), of which he is still the chairman. He is a fellow of CSI and a member of the board of the European skeptic organization ECSO. …
The Amarillo Creature
In the early morning hours of May 21 (2022), a camera captured a strange-looking creature, seemingly walking on two legs, outside the Amarillo Zoo (Texas). Although Michael Kashuba, the Parks and Recreation Department Director for the city of Amarillo is having genuine fun with the photo, there are (of course) many who are claiming this …
Theodate Pope Riddle: Feminist & Spiritualist
Recently, I visited the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut, not knowing much about what I would find. I understood that it was a house museum in a beautiful mansion in the green and rolling hills of central Connecticut and that it contained some masterpieces of impressionist art. As advertised, Hill-Stead was an impressive building decorated …
Revisiting the Kinect | Kinect “Ghost” Challenge
In this episode, I take on a (friendly) challenge from a viewer. A well-known YouTuber claims his house is extremely haunted and has been using the Xbox Kinect to capture “stick figure ghosts” that walk around like normal people – which is in direct opposition to what I’ve demonstrated in the past. So, I dive …
Ten Health and Wellness Buzzwords Every Skeptic Should Know
The word rhetoric, derived from the Greek noun “rhetor” meaning “speaker,” was once considered the art of verbal persuasion. Up to the late nineteenth century, rhetoric played a prominent role in the western education of orators, lawyers, counselors, historians, statesmen, and poets (Conley 1990). In fact, rhetoric originated in a school of pre-Socratic philosophers, thereby …
Great Expectations: UFOs in Congress
On May 17, 2022, The House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence held a much heralded hearing on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (or UAP, the new term for UFOs). Expectations were high, in no small part due to the statements of the committee members. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, described it as …
Fringe Worthy
Hello! Welcome to my new column here at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry—the original North American skeptics organization since 1976. Some of you may know me from my previous work over at Skeptic magazine under the leadership of my friend and mentor Pat Linse (cofounder of the Skeptics Society). For two decades, Pat entrusted me …
Should I Get a Second Booster?
In China, COVID-19 vaccination is required for everyone and sometimes force and coercion are used. In the United States, vaccines are never required. No one is forced to get vaccinated, although consequences have been imposed; for instance, the unvaccinated have been refused employment for certain jobs and not allowed to attend public schools. The CDC …
Havana Syndrome: A Book Review
Why am I reviewing a book published two years ago? Because it was largely ignored by reviewers in 2020. Now, with claims in the news such as “no one is safe even at the White House,” it is more important than ever to educate yourself on this subject, and this book is a great way to do that.
Lockdown for Evil Spirits: What Does It Mean to Have Good Reason?
I think it’s fair to say that at some point an investigating skeptic has to pose the question, “Why did you believe that?” It’s a fair question and should be asked in an honest and respectful tone: understanding why someone interpreted some phenomena in the way they did can be crucial in solving the mystery. …
Hinsdale House: Skeptic Goes on a Ghost Hunt
In this episode of Ghosts in the Machine, we go looking for ghosts! I was invited to join a ghost hunt at the Hinsdale House, an allegedly very haunted house in New York. I figured it might be fun to take you along with me, and provide some skeptical commentary along during the event. The …
Is Autism Really a Spectrum?
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I worked at a residential facility for children with severe autism. These kids had been rejected from many other schools because, if left on their own, they banged their heads against hard objects until their skin split open, bit themselves and other people, and attacked staff members …
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
I have long been skeptical of the diagnosis of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). Here’s what I wrote about it four years ago in an article in Skeptic magazine: An episode of ABC’s Nightline news show about Dr. Rea’s controversial diagnoses and treatments aired in 2009. I was appalled by the interviews with a patient diagnosed by Dr. Rea as …
When Medicines Go Rogue, Part 1: Methylene Blue
The notion of an “exaggerated health claim” is as old as the wellness industry itself, but only in the past few decades have health claims benefited from being periodically shared by the world’s social media “influencers.” The exposure they afford a product is invaluable, amplifying the marketing claims, and occasionally conceiving new ones, to millions …
Homeopathic Hogwash
In this episode, Kenny finds inspiration from a recent interview with Nick Little, the in-house lawyer for CFI. During our conversation, the topic turned to CFI’s lawsuit against CVS, what homeopathy is, and a short experiment (by yours truly) to show viewers the absurdity of the process. This episode of Ghosts in the Machine follows …
Havana Syndrome: PhACT or Fiction?
Mass psychogenic illness expert and Havana Syndrome critic Robert Bartholomew recently participated in a live-streamed interview, hosted by PhACT and Skeptical Inquirer’s Rob Palmer. Here is the inside story.
Gideon’s Groceries: Conspiracy Messages Found in Grocery Items
It’s not uncommon for proselytizers looking to “get the word out” to adopt a guerilla tactic of casually leaving leaflets or booklets in heavily trafficked areas for unsuspecting folks to find. I’m sure many of you, like me, have at one time or another found a copy of a Gideon’s Bible in the drawer of …
Yes, The Dunning-Kruger Effect Really Is Real
Ignorant of your own ignorance. Frequently applied in a political context, the Dunning-Kruger (DK) effect has rapidly become a famous psychological concept. It describes a kind of double-whammy. If you suffer from the DK effect, you know very little about a subject—which is bad enough—but you also have the false impression that you know considerably …
Diabolus in Musica: Did the Catholic Church Ban the Tritone for Being “the Devil in Music”?
Frequently referred to as the “Devil’s music” by religious fundamentalists, rock and roll was born from a music genre indelibly linked to the diabolical: the blues. Robert Johnson, one of the greatest blues guitarists who ever lived, sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads in exchange for supernatural talent (or so the story …
Using Fear to Sell Fitness: The Health Trends that Are Preying on Our Insecurities.
“Fructose is a poison,” he said repeatedly. “You gotta’ stop eating fruit.” “I don’t understand what you mean,” I replied. “In what way is fructose a poison?” “Well, it causes disease and … it’s a poison!” It quickly became clear that he could not articulate what he meant by “poison” or, indeed, how fructose supposedly …
Letter to America: SLAPP Defamation Suits
Sometime in the mid-1990s, as we were waiting to go on air in a TV green room, Uri Geller approached me. His first words: “If you tell lies about me in your magazine, I will sue you for a million pounds.” A production assistant arrived. “How are we doing?” Geller: “Oh, we’re just having a …
Can These Eyedrops Replace Reading Glasses?
You’ve probably seen the ads. Vuity is a new prescription eyedrop. An article in Scientific American says, “These drops could replace your reading glasses.” Could they really? How can that be? Do they really work? Kind of, sort of … for some people … for a few hours … maybe. It’s no panacea. The devil …
The TV Reflection Ghost
In this episode, we take a look at a viral TikTok video of an alleged ghost appearing in the reflection of a television screen, sitting next to the woman taking video…even though there’s apparently no one else in the room. Can we replicate this video? What is the “ghost” if it’s not a ghost? Let’s …
The Tall Tales of Psychic Medium Robert Righi
Most of my articles (and videos) focus on things such as ghost photos, paranormal TV shows, and ghost gadgets. However, on occasion I have focused my investigative skills on a specific person. For example, in 2021 I investigated the claims of a local “psychic intuitive” who claimed he had worked on a well-publicized murder case …
The Dybbuk Box Deconstructed
In this episode, we take a deep dive into one of the most haunted/cursed objects in the world – allegedly. The Dybbuk (or Dibbuk) Box entered paranormal pop culture in 2003, eventually making its way to a certain Not-Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this episode, I’ll take you back to its origin story, …
Dog Food Is Not Evidence
An individual told me in an email that I was wrong about dietary supplements and urged me to read a bag of dog food to get better informed. I get my information from peer-reviewed, randomized, controlled scientific studies, not from dog food bags. I don’t have his permission to share his email, and I don’t …
The Kremlin and the Kabbalah: Is the Letter ‘Z’ on Russian Tanks a Reference to the Jewish Zohar?
Uri Geller, the infamous Israeli spoon-bender who claimed not to be a magician, recently took a break from promoting his own museum and boldly declaring that he would be the first person to discover the Ark of the Covenant to share his thoughts on the Russian invasion of the Ukraine by pondering “Regarding the ‘Z’ …
Mother Teresa – Exorcised but Not Possessed?
In Catholicism it’s not always lay people who need exorcisms. From St. Colette of Corbie, for whom demons would appear in the guise of insects, snails, and reptiles, to St. Nicholas of Tolentino who was physically assaulted by the demon Belial, there’s a long history of saints having been allegedly tormented by demonic spirits. So …
Pastor Claims Demon Revealed Identities of Six “Witches”
In the long, sad history of human atrocities the witch trials of Europe and Colonial America stand out. While the data are disputed, according to the conservative estimate of historian Jeffrey Burton Russell, “no more than 40,000 to 60,000” people were executed for witchcraft. That is to say, somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 people were …
Royally Misinformed
Charles, the Alternative Prince: An Unauthorized Biography. By Edzard Ernst. Exeter, United Kingdom: Imprint Academic (Societas), 2022. ISBN 978-1788360708. 210 pp. Softcover, $29.90; kindle, $15.99. The title of the latest book by Edzard Ernst is somewhat misleading. Though certainly unauthorized, this is not a standard biography. Rather, it is a searing, ruthlessly efficient account of …
Intravenous Nutrient Drips: An Expensive Solution to A Nonexistent Problem
On the ground floor of a shopping mall in southern California, nestled between a kiosk selling hot pretzels and another selling mobile phones, customers relax in carefully arranged leather sofas while drip bags containing clear liquids drain slowly through veins in their forearms. These “treatments,” which cost between $200 and $500, are increasingly popular, with …