''Skepticality'' was the official

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 ...

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 ...

's ''

Skeptic 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 ...

'' magazine. Beginning in May 2005, the podcast explores rational thought, skeptical ideas, and famous

myths Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

from around the world and throughout history. Each episode is an audio magazine featuring regular segments by contributors who are specialized in specific areas of critical thought followed by featured content which is usually in the form of an interview with a researcher, author, or individual who is helping promote skeptical thought and/or science in an effective way. It has featured interviews with

James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.#Rodrigues, Rodrig ...

, and scientists, such as authors and astronomers Phil Plait and

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysics, astrophysicist, author, and science communication, science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia Univ ...

Greg Graffin Gregory Walter Graffin (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer who is the lead vocalist and only constant member of the punk band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1980. He has also released three solo albums. Graffin obtained his PhD ...

from ''

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

'',

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and manufacturer, fabricator, actor, educator, television personality, and producer, best known as the former co-host, with Jamie Hyneman, of the Discovery Channe ...

from the ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

'', songwriter Jill Sobule, author

Ann Druyan Ann Druyan ( ; born June 13, 1949) is an American documentary producer and director specializing in the communication of science. She co-wrote the 1980 PBS documentary series ''Cosmos'', hosted by Carl Sagan, whom she married in 1981. She i ...

and science communicator

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (; born November 27, 1955) is an American science communicator, television presenter, and former mechanical engineer. He is best known as the host of the science education television show '' Bill Nye the Science Guy'' (1 ...

. ''Skepticality'' is co-hosted by Derek Colanduno and "Swoopy" Robynn McCarthy. The last released episode is from 28 August 2019.

History

The concept and the name ''Skepticality'' were created in May 2005 by Robynn McCarthy and Derek Colanduno, after the two became friends in Las Vegas. At the time, Colanduno was working at a national Sports Radio network and a privately owned Alternative Rock Station (KEDG) during the overnight shift. Skepticality gained notability on September 7, 2005 during a

keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

address, when

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Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

mentioned it as one of the top nine podcasts at the iTunes Music Store. On August 14, 2006, ''Skepticality'' became ''Skeptic'' magazine's official podcast.

Featured segments

* Tim Farley of '' What's The Harm?'', ''Skeptools.com'' and ''Virtual Skeptics.com'' regularly contributes pieces of skeptic history with this segment titled ''Skepticism, Past and Future''. First called ''A Few Minutes of Skeptic History'', it debuted on episode 123 on March 3, 2010. * Bob Carroll from '' The Skeptics Dictionary'' debuted with a segment on

logical fallacies In logic and philosophy, a formal fallacy is a pattern of reasoning rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure. Propositional logic, for example, is concerned with the meanings of sentences and the relationships between them. It focuses ...

called ''Unnatural Virtue'', March 27, 2012. * Jarrett Kaufman and Wendy Hughes from the Independent Investigations Group debuted April 25, 2012 with a segment centered on the coincidence website ''The Odds Must Be Crazy''. Kaufman was replaced by John Rael on September 10, 2012. Rael is best known for his creation of ''skepticallypwnd'', a group of comedic skeptics, or skeptical comedians, whose objective is to question pseudoscience in a humorous way. * Heather Henderson was a contributor from November 2012 and April 2013 with a segment entitled ''The News in Religion.'' In it, Heather presents current events and opinions around the topics of atheism, deism and the effects of religion on the general population. Heather is currently the lead vocalist of

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American Magic (illusion), magician, actor, comedian, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller (magician), Teller as half of the t ...

's NoGod Band in Las Vegas and along with

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 ...

publishes two podcasts, ''Ardent Atheist'' and ''Skeptically Yours.'' * Robert Blaskiewicz and Eve Siebert joined Skepticality with their segment ''Skeptical Humanities'' in Episode 226 on February 18, 2014. The segment presents examples of mainstream research & critical thinking as it pertains to the humanities such as art, philosophy, history, literature, rhetoric, aesthetics, literary criticism, pop culture studies, folklore, and cultural studies. * Susan Gerbic of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) has also made regular appearances on Skepticality, providing updates about the GSoW project since January 2013.

Recurrent guests

The show has a number of guests who have been featured on more than one show. Amongst them are

, Phil Plait, Pamela Gay and skeptical musician George Hrab.

Asteroids

In an interview with Derek during the June 1, 2006 episode of '' Slacker Astronomy'', the naming of Asteroids 106545 Colanduno and 106537 McCarthy was announced to the world. The asteroids were named in homage to the hosts of ''Skepticality'' by their discoverer Jeff Medkeff, who said, "My naming of these asteroids for you is a token of my esteem for you and your accomplishments."

Awards

In 2007, ''Skepticality'' was recognized for excellence in podcasting with the Best Speculative Fiction News Podcast award at the

Parsec Awards The Parsec Awards were a set of annual awards created to recognize excellence in science fiction podcasts and podcast novels. The awards were created by Mur Lafferty, Tracy Hickman and Michael R. Mennenga and awarded by FarPoint Media. They were ...

and Best Science Podcast award at the Podcast Peer Awards, selected by registered fellow podcasters. Both presentations were made at

Dragon*Con Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a North American multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. , the convention draws attendance of over 80,000. ...

2007 in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. On November 22, 2007, the ''Skepticality'' podcast was listed as "Site of the Week" on SciFi.com's '' Sci Fi Weekly''. On August 9, 2008, ''Skepticality'' was named "Podcast of the Week" by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. In April 2014, ''Skepticality'' received the Ockham Award at QED for Best Podcast. The award was accepted on behalf of Derek and Swoopy by Susan Gerbic. Skepticality Interview of Julia Sweeney 2007.jpg, Swoopy interviews

Julia Sweeney Julia Anne Sweeney (born October 10, 1959) is an American actress and comedian. She gained fame as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1994. She played Mrs. Keeper in the film '' Stuart Little'' and ...

2007 Recording Skepticality at TAM 2013.JPG, Recording at TAM 2013 Skepticality Podcast wins Ockham Award QED 2014.JPG , Skepticality Podcast wins Ockham Award QED 2014

References

External links

* {{Skeptical podcasts Audio podcasts Science podcasts Scientific skepticism mass media 2005 podcast debuts