Skeptoid

Skeptoid is a weekly podcast created and hosted by American skeptic and author Brian Dunning. Along with similarly themed Point of Inquiry, Skepticality: The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine, and The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, it is a Top-50 program on the iTunes (US) Science & Medicine podcast charts. In December 2011, Skeptoid claimed to have a weekly average of 174,000 downloads. In May 2012, Skeptoid became a California state non-profit.
Production
The show follows an audio essay format, and is dedicated to the critical examination of pseudoscience and the paranormal. Each roughly ten-minute Skeptoid episode focuses on a single pop culture phenomenon that is pseudoscientific in nature. Episodes usually fall into one of four categories:
* Quackery medical modalities: such as homeopathy, reflexology, detoxification, or chiropractic
* Popular cultural misconceptions: such as organic foods, SUVs, and global warming
* Urban legends: such as crop circles, the Amityville Horror, the Phoenix Lights, or the Philadelphia Experiment
* Religion and mythology: such as creation legends, New Age religions, and concepts of sin
Million Dollar Challenge
In May 2007, Skeptoid was announced as a qualifying media outlet for the "One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge". Applicants to the challenge must have a presence in popular broadcast media in order to qualify. By passing a simple test of their paranormal ability and having it reported on the Skeptoid podcast, applicants can satisfy that primary requirement and then proceed to apply for the Challenge.
Episode 300
In celebration of the 300th episode of the podcast, Brian Dunning, composer Lee Sanders, singer Rachel Bloom, artist Jesse Horn, director Ryan Johnson and sound mixer Bill Simpkins produced the animated musical short, The Gypsy Queen. It is the story of a young girl who challenged the Queen and her rats who sold everyone in the village a uber-scarf which when worn across the eyes blinds the wearer to all unpleasantness. The villagers, once the uber-scarf was removed discovered they had been scammed, and while blind the rats had emptied the homes of food and valuables. The premier was released at the University of Irvine March 3, 2012. Entertainment that evening featured comedians Penny Chan and Matt Kirshen. Mentalism by Mark Edward, emceed by Emery Emery.
Honors
Skeptoid was a 2009 Podcast Awards finalist in the Education category.
In 2010, Skeptoid won the Parsec Award for "Best Fact Behind the Fiction" podcast.
Skeptoid has been praised for "Outstanding Contribution to Science and Skepticism" by the Independent Investigations Group (IIG)
Books
Four books have been published based on content from the podcast.
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