3 March 2025
Astute reader that you are, it has probably not escaped your notice that politics has taken a turn for the conspiratorial in the last few years. We've recently seen a rise in anti-vaxxers, sovereign citizens, and people convinced that They (whoever They are) made up a global disease in a bid for control over the populace.
10 January 2022
If you're a Netflix subscriber, you'll be able to watch a movie that's been the topic of some discussion in science circles. That is Don't Look Up - a satirical look at science communication. The movie's been out for a little while now, so I feel justified in discussing the plot - so SPOILER ALERT!
15 November 2021
QAnon is the recent conspiracy theory in the US that refuses to go away. Someone has been using the name QAnon, short for an Anonymous person with Q Level Security Clearance, since 2017 to post cryptic messages to the internet, pretending to be a government insider leaking secrets.
16 August 2021
On a lighter note, this week there were two earth-shattering events that were meant to happen. The first was the Global Prayer to End Atheism, and the second with the prediction of Trump's reinstatement as president on Friday 13th.
25 January 2021
This week has been pretty interesting in the arena of skepticism. As you'll no doubt be aware, this week saw the inauguration of Joe Biden as president of the US and the beginning of his administration. We've seen various pro-science, evidence-based actions taken in just the first couple of days - for example, rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, rejoining the World Health Organisation, and halting the Keystone XL pipeline, which I personally celebrate.
27 May 2018
President Trump will be promoting Dr Mehmet Oz to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition, which is a little worrying. Trump's no stranger to making what look like very bad staffing decisions, and this one is no exception. Dr Oz is well known in the US, having risen from the Oprah show to having his own show. On his show, the Dr Oz Show, he's promoted so many nonsense treatments that he's been told off by the FTC and summoned to talk in front of a senate sub-committee.
18 September 2016
As part of the US presidential election circus, and given that both candidates are two of the oldest candidates ever, health records have become a part of the debate.
1 February 2016
I love the summer because it means road trips. And road trips mean podcasts and audiobooks. And podcasts and audiobooks usually mean an hour or so of debate and discussion with whoever is unfortunate enough to be stuck in the car with me. Usually it's over something frivolous, like how an audiobook episode of Doctor Who couldn't possibly work because, you know, time travel. Other times it's something more serious, and then fun time is over.
1 May 1991
MANILA—Philippine psychics predicted last week that Iraqi troops will pull out of Kuwait and a Persian Gulf war will be averted.