Brian Andrew Dunning (born 1965) is an American writer and producer who focuses on science and

skepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

. He has hosted a weekly podcast, ''Skeptoid'', since 2006, and he is an author of a series of books on the subject of

scientific skepticism Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking scientific evidence. In practice, the term most commonly ref ...

, some of which are based on the podcast. ''Skeptoid'' has been the recipient of several podcast awards such as the Parsec Award. Dunning has also created the ''Skeptoid.org'' spin-off video series, ''inFact'', and ''The Feeding Tube'' both available on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Dunning has produced two educational films on the subject of

critical thinking Critical thinking is the process of analyzing available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to make sound conclusions or informed choices. It involves recognizing underlying assumptions, providing justifications for ideas and actions, ...

: ''Here Be Dragons'' in 2008, and ''Principles of Curiosity'' in 2017. Dunning co-founded Buylink, a

business-to-business Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) refers to trade and commercial activity where a business sees other businesses as its customer base. This typically occurs when: * A business sources materials for its production process for ...

service provider, in 1996, and served at the company until 2002. He later became

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

's second-biggest affiliate marketer; he has since been convicted of

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

through a cookie stuffing scheme, for his company fraudulently obtaining between $200,000 and $400,000 from eBay. In August 2014, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervision.

Career

Buylink

In 1996 Dunning co-founded and was chief technology officer for Buylink Corporation. Buylink received

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

funding from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. In 2000 he participated in a presentation on Buylink at The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum called ''Bricks to Clicks in the New Internet Reality''. He discussed the company on

CNNfn CNNfn (with "fn" an initialism for "financial network") was an American cable television news network operated by the CNN subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner from December 29, 1995, and of AOL Time Warner until December 15, 2004. Th ...

's ''Market Call'', in Rhonda Schaffler's ''Maverick of the Morning'' segment. In 2002, Dunning left his position as CTO of BuyLink. Between 1997 and 2005 he was technical editor for ''FileMaker Advisor'' magazine, and contributing editor of ISO FileMaker Magazine, 1996–2002, winning one of the FileMaker Excellence Awards at the 2001

FileMaker FileMaker is a cross-platform relational database application developed by Claris International, a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It integrates a database engine with a graphical user interface ( GUI) and security features, allowing users to visu ...

Developers Conference.

Skeptical activism

Beginning in 2006, Dunning hosted and produced ''Skeptoid'', a weekly audio

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

dedicated "to furthering knowledge by blasting away the widespread pseudosciences that infect popular culture, and replacing them with way cooler reality". He is also the author of the book of the same title and a sequel. Beginning in 2007, Dunning periodically released video episodes of his ''InFact'' series. Each episode is under four minutes long and covers issues similar to those explored in more depth in the ''Skeptoid'' podcast, but is intended to reach a wider audience due to its brevity and availability on

. In 2008 Dunning produced ''Here Be Dragons'', a free 40-minute video introduction to critical thinking intended for general audiences, and received an award from the Portland Humanist Film Festival for this in November 2011. In 2010 Dunning was awarded the Parsec Award for "Best Fact Behind the Fiction Podcast". In August 2010 he received an award recognizing his contributions in the skeptical field from the Independent Investigations Group (IIG) during its 10th Anniversary Gala. In June 2017 Dunning's second film, ''Principles of Curiosity'', was released. According to Dunning, this "presents a general introduction to the foundations of scientific skepticism and critical thinking... It is nonprofit, noncommercial, and licensed for free public, and private screenings. It is provided with free educational materials for teachers, designed for high school through college. It is suitable for all audiences. Its 40-minute runtime should fit into most classes." In October 2019, a special preview of the Skeptoid Media documentary, ''Science Friction'', was shown after CSICon in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Through a series of interviews, the film addresses the issue of scientists and skeptics being misrepresented by the media. Produced by Dunning and directed by filmmaker and comedian

Emery Emery Emery Emery (born December 25, 1963) is an American comedian, film editor and producer, and outspoken atheist, known for his contribution to numerous comedy-related films and TV shows, his two podcasts, ''Skeptically Yours'', and the award-winnin ...

, release of the film is scheduled for 2020. Dunning has written articles for Skepticblog.org, published by

The Skeptics Society The Skeptics Society is a nonprofit, member-supported organization devoted to promoting scientific skepticism and resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs. The Skeptics Society was co-founded by Michael She ...

, and was an executive producer for the unreleased network television pilot ''The Skeptologists''. He is a member of the

National Association of Science Writers The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) was created in 1934 by science journalists and reporters. The mission of NASW is "to improve the craft of science journalism and to promote good science reportage". It has been called, "the nation ...

, and is the "Chancellor" of the non-accredited "Thunderwood College", a parody of

unaccredited institutions of higher learning Unaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation. Educational institutions may not be legally required to obtain independent accreditation, d ...

which offer "degrees" in a variety of subjects.

Wire fraud case

In August 2008,

filed suit against Dunning, accusing him of defrauding eBay and eBay affiliates in a cookie stuffing scheme for his company, Kessler's Flying Circus. In June 2010, based on the same allegations and following an investigation by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

indicted Dunning on charges of

. * * * On April 15, 2013, in the San Jose, California, U.S. District Court, as part of a plea agreement, Dunning pleaded guilty to wire fraud. The eBay civil suit was dismissed in May 2014 after the parties came to an agreement, while Dunning was sentenced in August 2014 to fifteen months in prison as a result of his company receiving between $200,000 and $400,000 in fraudulent commissions from eBay. In a statement on his website, Dunning explained the circumstances, and initially accepted responsibility for his actions, although in a later account claimed to have been in the right and to have only pled guilty in order to protect his family and to avoid a longer jail term.

''Skeptoid'' podcasts

''Skeptoid'' is Dunning's weekly

. The show follows an audio essay format, and is dedicated to the critical examination of

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

and the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

. In May 2012, Skeptoid Media became a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

educational nonprofit. Along with similarly themed ''

Point of Inquiry A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

'', '' Skepticality: The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine'', and '' The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe'', it is listed on an

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

(US) web page of popular science and medicine podcasts. In May 2014, ''Skeptoid''s website reported that the podcast had a weekly average of 161,000 downloads. Each roughly ten-minute ''Skeptoid'' episode focuses on a single issue that is generally

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

in nature. Transcriptions of the episodes are available on line, and usually fall into one of four categories: *

Quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or Ignorance, ignorant medicine, medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or public ...

medical modalities: such as

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...

reflexology Reflexology, also known as zone therapy, is an alternative medical practice involving the application of pressure to specific points on the feet, ears, and hands. This is done using thumb, finger, and hand massage techniques without the use of ...

detoxification Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period o ...

, or

chiropractic Chiropractic () is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It is based on several pseudoscientific ideas. Many c ...

* Popular cultural misconceptions: such as

organic food Organic food, also known as ecological or biological food, refers to foods and beverages produced using methods that comply with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resou ...

s, SUVs, and

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

Urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

s: such as

crop circle A crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal. The term was first coined in the early 1980s. Crop circles have been described as all falling "within the range of the sort of thing ...

s, the Amityville Horror, the Phoenix Lights, or the Philadelphia Experiment * Religion and mythology: such as creation legends,

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

religions, and concepts of

sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

Beginning in 2007, Dunning authored a series of books based upon the ''Skeptoid'' podcast episodes. Despite his shift away from the technology industry, Dunning continues to do computer programming, and does

web development Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications, ...

for his Skeptoid website. From 2022, the show is distributed by public media organization PRX's Dovetail publishing platform; PRX also provides sponsorship and promotional support.

Skeptoid honors

''Skeptoid'' was a 2009

Podcast Awards The People's Choice Podcast Awards, better known as the Podcast Awards, are global awards given annually to the best podcasts as voted by the general public. Founded in 2005 by Todd Cochrane of Podcast Connect Inc., the Podcast Awards changed han ...

finalist in the Education category. In 2010, ''Skeptoid'' won the Parsec Award for "Best Fact Behind the Fiction" podcast. Also in 2010, ''Skeptoid'' was recognized for "Outstanding Contribution to Science and Skepticism" by the Independent Investigations Group (IIG).

Publications

* * * * * * * * * *

Filmography

Science Friction

Dunning was co-writer (with

) of ''Science Friction'', a documentary on how scientists are misrepresented in the media. It was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

in 2022 and starred Matt Kirshen, Janine Krippner,

Simon Singh Simon Lehna Singh, (born 19 September 1964) is a British popular science author and theoretical and particle physicist. His written works include ''Fermat's Last Theorem'' (in the United States titled ''Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve ...

Banachek Banachek (born Steven Shaw; 30 November 1960) is an English Mentalism, mentalist, magician (illusionist), magician, and thought reader. He first came to public attention as a teenager for his role in James Randi's Project Alpha (hoax), Project ...

Steven Novella Steven Paul Novella (born July 29, 1964) is an American neurology, clinical neurologist and Professors in the United States#Associate Professor, associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Novella is best known for his involvement ...

Michael Shermer Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of '' Skeptic'' magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientif ...

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...

, Ben Radford, Zubin Damania, and Ken Feder amongst other scientists.

''The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See''

In 2023 Dunning produced the documentary ''The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See'' that explores the science behind UFOs. It was crowd-funded and is available as video-on demand and free, but ad-supported. The documentary was favorably reviewed in ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. The publication began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The print magazine's reported circulation is 275,000 as of 2023. ...

'' and the ''

Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating clai ...

'', and has been shown at the

SETI Institute The SETI Institute is a not-for-profit research organization incorporated in 1984 whose mission is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe, and to use this knowledge to inspire and guide present and futu ...

References

External links

*
Skeptoid Media

Skeptoid Official website
*

Films

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunning, Brian 1965 births Living people American male bloggers American bloggers American religion and spirituality podcasters American male writers American science writers American skeptics American critics of alternative medicine Critics of parapsychology Science podcasts American people convicted of mail and wire fraud People from Laguna Niguel, California American chief technology officers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Ohlone College alumni