The Conspiracy Skeptic

New England author Eric Bickernicks is back with a sequel to his 2019 novel High Strangeness. It's naturally called Higher Strangeness. His first novel is stil a free Kindle download but do please consider buying this one.

Dr. Karen Stollznow comes on to discuss her new book Missed Conceptions. It's a book that looks at Karen's own journey to have a child as well as how history has treated women who are unable to have children. Missed Conceptions is a frank and honest work that anyone who is considering having a child should read.

Dr. Perlmutter and I review some of the key conspiracies that hit the net and airwaves this year and what it says about where society is heading.

If that voice sounds familiar it is because Darren McKee is the regular intro voice of Canada's long running and well regarded Reality Check podcast. When he's not podcasting, he is a policy advisor in Ottawa. Darren has recently published a very timely book on AI called Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Superintelligence and the Race to Save the World (US Amazon link). We talk about his book and AI's past, present, and possible futures. Is AI like a more efficient tractor that will destroy some jobs but create more? Or is it something dot dot dot else?

Continuing in our Canadian trilogy, Antoine Delbast is a long time listener who comes on to talk about being secular celebrant who can marry people in Quebec 100 percent legal like. He talks about his journey from growing up in a secular French Canadian household to his life as a youthful believer in UFOs to his life as a skeptic.

Jeff Dupuis is a Canadian author, based in Toronto, who has written a series of mystery books called Creature X. His books (Roanoke Ridge, Lake Cresent, and Umboi Island) are not just whodunit novels but weave in cryptids and skepticism! He comes on the podcast to talk about his skeptical approach to writing and researching cryptids. Apologies: Jeff's family also comes from my hometown of Windsor so we chat a bit out that. As well, we're a couple Canadian lefties so we side track a bit there too. Canadian readers should check out his author page at Dundurn Press. American listeners, and points beyond, should find his books on Amazon.

It's finally show 100! Yeah. My very first official guest was Brian Thompson. Back then he was host of the Amateur Scientist podcast. Now he's host of the very funny, very meta Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald's. Brian comes on to talk about what he's been up to the last 14 years, the origins of his podcast, and how it mocks, among other things, conspiratorial thinking.

Cian Gill hosts an excellent podcast called Wide Atlantic Weird. It's skepticism meets Forteanism. Cian covers a wide range of topics but some of his best are when he brings on his brother Dr. Dónal Gill to talk about pro wrestling. No. Seriously. They come on my show to talk about one of the greatest pro westing conspiracies ever: the legendary Montreal screwjob.

Dr. David D. Perlmutter, a professor of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University, returns to talk about the the similarities between the true crime genre and conspiracy thinking.

Sean Ondes is cohost of the fantastic Wetwired podcast. You really need to add this to your feed! Sean comes on to talk about a nutso conspiracy theory about the hidden history of Tartaria, giants, phanon time, and why old buildings have high ceilings. Hint. It's for giants.

Eleven years ago Blake Smith came on to talk about his trip to visit the Georgia Guidestones. Someone blew them up July 6, 2022. Blake and I talk about what we've learned about "America's Stonehenge", who most likely paid for them to be built, and what this bombing says about the modern world of conspiracy cranking. We also spend some time looking how being a conspiracy skeptic, and a skeptic in general, has changed (not for the better) in the last 11 years.

Comic book artists and experts Celestia Ward (Squaring the Strange podcast) and F Andrew Taylor (Geek Shock Podcast) join me to talk about comic books, the comic book moral panic, and various conspiracy theories surrounding the early comic book industry.

Dr. Brian Regal is a history professor at Kean University in New Jersey. He has become the go-to guy for cryptid topics by the media. Before he started tucking into things with big feet, Dr. Regal was a Cold War warrior. I have him on to talk about his days on the front lines as a tank commander and his experiences as an 18-year old in West Germany staring down the barrel of an M60 tank at T72s.

Host of Saucer Life Aaron Gulyas has written a book on conspiracies. He returns to this podcast to talk about one of his chapters that delves into one of the weirdest pyrmaid schemes in history (the Omega Trust), a weird fantasy law called NESARA, and a massive conspiracy involving the space brothers and world wide revolution. Get his book new book Conspiracy and Triumph on Amazon. You can also listen to his Saucer Life podcast

Ivor Mectin is a pseudonym of a UK-based author who has written a guide to all manner of unhinged Covid conspiracies and crank ideas. He's come on to talk about writing his book and the many facets of Covid conspiracy thinking. Get his book on Amazon Covid-19: Ultimate Misinformation.

Geologist and legendary blogger Sharon Hill comes to discuss the ways aspects of geology is used to totally 100% prove the world is going to end. Not so much. Get her book Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers.

Tom Thumb, world traveler and author, talks about his latest book titled "Science for Hippies: An alternative guide to how we know anything at all". It's a brilliant, approachable book on how we know what we know. You can pick it up at a great price on Amazon in either Kindle or print on demand.

Dr. David D. Perlmutter, a professor of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University, returns to talk about Gamestop, conspiracies, and how major institutions are doing themselves no favors by playing into conspiracy perceptions

Biden is president, despite all predictions made my Qanon cranks. What can we expect in the future now that prophesy has failed? Your Conspiracy Skeptic gives his hot take on the group's future. We can look to apocalyptic cults of times past and see how they fractured. Qanon will probably break a similar way.

Happy American Thanksgiving. In what is an on and off again tradition, I try to release a podcast for my American friends for their Thanksgiving ultra long weekend. In this episode we look at several foundational works that have become core dogma in the world of UFOlogy and conspiracy thinking.