So honored to share this award with my good friend and #ScienceUnderSiege co-author @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social. Thanks @center4inquiry.bsky.social --means so much from you folks! centerforinquiry.org/press_releas...

Arizona has a measles outbreak. 97% of cases are in unvaccinated people. Now lawmakers are pushing a measure to make vaccines optional across the board. If you live in AZ, you can weigh in before the vote. It takes under a minute: centerforinquiry.org/alerts/arizo...

New Hampshire is considering dropping Hepatitis B from required childhood vaccines. Infections fell 99% after the vaccine became standard. This is what rolling back looks like... We submitted testimony opposing HB 1719: https://ow.ly/fvjt50Yzhup

A federal judge just blocked efforts to rewrite U.S. vaccine policy outside the usual scientific process. That process exists for a reason. CFI called the decision “welcome and important": centerforinquiry.org/news/a-welco... #Vaccines #PublicHealth

It’s strange how quickly prevention becomes invisible. @debunk-the-funk.bsky.social asks what happens when we stop remembering why vaccines mattered. Worth sitting with: skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/wh...

The American Revolution hinged on the idea that power comes from the consent of the governed. At 250 years in, we’re walking away from it? In Free Inquiry Ronald A. Lindsay lays out how America First has slid into something power justifying itself: https://ow.ly/pmu450XXuZV

Thomas Paine’s most famous writing came out of his service in the Revolutionary War. Jan 29: live online event on Thomas Paine’s wartime service + The American Crisis. 7pm ET. Save your spot: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ga-dvEPuR0iLzT5LA45BOw#/registration

The CDC quietly changed the childhood vaccine schedule. Over 200 health organizations are objecting. This week's Consumer Health Digest lays out what was removed and why medical groups are alarmed: https://quackwatch.org/ncahf/digest26/26-02/

Texas S.B. 10 would require the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. CFI filed an amicus brief. That’s clear state intrusion on parents’ rights, especially nonreligious families. Press release: https://centerforinquiry.org/news/cfi-amicus-brief-sb-10-parental-rights/

On this day in 1776, Common Sense was published. Paine didn’t ask people to agree with him. Rather, to think for themselves. The full pamphlet is public domain. Read it here: https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet

Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is back in the Fifth Circuit, now en banc. CFI filed an amicus brief supporting the original ruling that the law violates the First Amendment. Oral arguments are set for January 20: https://ow.ly/zzFO50XTe91

Bill London responding to the NYT on RFK Jr. and vaccines: “We should keep in mind that during a House Appropriations Committee meeting in May, Kennedy said: ‘My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant… I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’"

Humans crave meaning. Narratives give it to us fast. Democracy asks us to work for it. Stuart Vyse explores how heroic stories can overpower reason and reshape what we’re willing to accept as truth. From Skeptical Inquirer. Worth the time: https://ow.ly/TGmJ50XSfty

The paleo diet says it’s ancient. Anthropology says prove it. What early humans actually ate, based on real evidence. Dr. Briana Pobiner | Jan 14 | 6pm ET Save your spot: https://ow.ly/MgE050XQM0Q

If the death penalty requires secrecy, “experimental” methods, and people holding their breath to avoid suffocating… maybe the problem isn’t the protocol. Maybe.. it's the whole idea. From Free Inquiry: https://ow.ly/iObg50XQM0p

One of the most underrated skills going into a new year: being able to say "I was wrong," without spiraling. From Generation Skeptics: https://generationskeptics.org/2025/10/30/wow-i-was-wrong/

Another year of arguing for evidence in a world that prefers auras. Another year of pushing back when church and state get a little too cozy. Another year of science, skepticism, and asking uncomfortable questions. Thanks for sticking with us. We’ll keep doing the work.

The Ten Commandments push isn’t over.. In Louisiana, CFI urges the Fifth Circuit to block a classroom mandate already ruled unconstitutional. In Ohio, lawmakers try to smuggle the Commandments into schools via a “founding documents” bill. Public schools ≠ religious billboards.

71 blasphemy-linked attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh in just 6 months. When religious accusations turn into mob violence and collective punishment, this is what systemic intolerance looks like. Ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear: https://ow.ly/JWoZ50XQusV

Jane Goodall broke consensus with evidence. That’s how science works: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/12/revolutionizing-science-jane-goodall-and-the-challenge-to-conventional-wisdom/

Skeptical Inquirer turns 50 this year. The new issue opens that anniversary by reflecting honestly on the movement’s past and its unfinished work. Hear from the voices that helped shape skepticism and are still thinking critically about its future: https://ow.ly/eOyZ50XO51e

The late and great Tom Flynn looks at where Christmas came from, how the myths formed, and why the so-called War on Christmas doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Featuring a snowball duel with Santa. Old Point of Inquiry. Still relevant: https://ow.ly/ih1a50XO4zH

Public schools aren’t churches. Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is unconstitutional, and courts have already said so. CFI is urging the Fifth Circuit to strike it down: https://ow.ly/bOl850XO4if

Psychics made 2,099 predictions for 2025. Most were wrong. Many were untestable. The big events were missed entirely. King Kong was predicted again, though. gwup | die skeptiker ran the numbers. Reality won: https://ow.ly/IymW50XO3xW

A brutal reminder from this week’s Quackwatch Digest that medical misinformation kills. Freebirth propaganda. Extremist diets. Toxic “natural” products. All thriving in an ecosystem that rewards confidence over evidence. Worth your time: https://ow.ly/nlEU50XNsXv

The New York Times reporting on the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in Bangladesh after unverified blasphemy accusations. No evidence. No due process. Deadly consequences: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/world/asia/bangladesh-hindu-muslim-lynching.html

We hit the original match. Now, it's been extended. That's $25,000 more to defend science, secular government, and evidence over ideology. Your gift is doubled through Dec 31: https://ow.ly/6GtE50XMFco

You don’t need religion to enjoy December 25. Ronald A. Lindsay on why secular people can take what they want from Christmas and ignore the rest: secularhumanism.org/exclusive/ch... History included. Piety not so much.

Spinosaurus: famous, weird, still misunderstood. Tonight, paleontologist Dr Dave Hone walks through what the fossils really tell us and what they don’t. Live Skeptical Inquirer Presents at 7pm ET: https://ow.ly/aNxe50XLCcH

Retribution or revenge in a suit? In Free Inquiry, Christo Roberts makes the case that accountability, not sentimentality, is what keeps justice from collapsing into either cruelty or chaos. A sober, uncomfortable read: https://ow.ly/jrqm50XLAcM

Dawkins says science should stand above politics and feelings. Bart Laws says Dawkins is answering the wrong question. Read his pointed response in Free Inquiry: https://ow.ly/Thhu50XLbyM

The CDC didn’t update its autism–vaccines page because the science changed, but because the politics did. What happens when public health messaging starts hedging against evidence? Skeptical Inquirer lays it out: https://ow.ly/cRIp50XLauf

Ten years of study led to a familiar outcome: no women deacons, no real reform, lots of theological gymnastics. Free Inquiry dissects the Catholic Church’s latest decision + why institutions built on immutable truth struggle to change without cracking: https://ow.ly/Kqqc50XKACf

An Arizona lawmaker wants evolution taught with Intelligent Design (read: creationism). He says the separation of church and state is a “fallacy.” Public schools shouldn’t be drafted into anyone’s theology. Full story: https://ow.ly/X47p50XKz5Z

A century later, Spinosaurus is still an open question. What’s evidence? What’s speculation? 📅 Dec 18, 7pm ET 🎙️ Dr Dave Hone 🎥 Free livestream (register): https://ow.ly/B5FY50XK4nf

✔️ Banned practitioner still operating ✔️ Popular surgery no better than placebo ✔️ $27.6M refunded after wellness billing scams ✔️ Evidence-based reporting on ECT Reality check, courtesy of Quackwatch's Consumer Health Digest: https://ow.ly/EoPO50XK4b8

The goal isn’t getting every answer right. It’s noticing how you react when something you believed turns out to be wrong. This GenSkeps lesson touches on the radical idea that changing your mind when presented with evidence is a strength (not a flaw): https://ow.ly/EvBX50XIObS

Ohio wants to staple the Ten Commandments to the wall of every public school history classroom. Kids shouldn’t have to walk into history class and be told which god to believe in. If you’re in Ohio, tell your House rep to vote NO: https://ow.ly/o4B650XHAmT

Wicked isn’t fantasy when you’ve actually tried to talk someone down from pseudoscience. Tonight: Malorie Mackey & Dr. Michael Maldonado on belief, skepticism, and the messy middle. 7pm ET. Free. Register: https://ow.ly/LYvV50XBGrA

Science doesn’t care who discovers the truth, only whether it's been tested. Sarma shows how well-intentioned “decolonizing” efforts are drifting from justice into relativism. Respecting cultures ≠ replacing evidence w/ ancestry Via Skeptical Inquirer: https://ow.ly/iHqj50XBGf6

You met the #GivingTuesday match. Thank you for backing the work that keeps science in classrooms, religion out of government, and critical thinking in the spotlight. Reason matters when everything around us encourages people to give up on evidence. We're not letting up.

Punishment is theater. Justice is the ticket price. Ron Lindsay slices through the slogans around capital punishment and leaves you with the part no one wants to touch: 4% of death sentences are wrong. From Free Inquiry: https://ow.ly/nUSR50XBFTg

Not every skeptic is Elphaba and not every believer is Glinda. Some of us are just trying to figure out who’s telling the truth. Malorie Mackey + Michael Maldonado go live Thursday at 7pm ET to talk changing minds slowly, not theatrically. Register: https://ow.ly/oJro50XB1sc

Today your donation to CFI gets matched 1:1, up to $25k. We’re defending truth, knowledge, and the free expression of ideas against anti-vaxxers, science deniers, and Christian nationalists. Do with that what you will: https://ow.ly/YyWG50XB1f2

Alien abduction stories line up because culture lines them up. They match because everyone’s seen ER, The X-Files, and Coast to Coast. Radford walks through it without the sci-fi fan fiction for Skeptical Inquirer: https://ow.ly/myt050XAmFL

Cyber Monday = impulse buys + regret. Giving Tuesday = science, secular values, critical thinking. We know where our dopamine comes from. Your gift is matched 1:1 today and tomorrow: https://ow.ly/pBAM50XAltF

Christian nationalists call it values. We call it using the state to impose theology. H. Res. 773 draws a line. Back it. Tell your members of Congress that separation of church & state is not optional: https://ow.ly/S9vt50XAjfO

The wellness scammers sell $90 tinctures and get VC backing. Faith grifters buy stadiums. Anti-vaxxers tour like rock bands. Scientists get budget cuts and public school teachers pay for lab goggles. If you care, help. Gifts are being doubled now: https://ow.ly/6Y1Y50Xz8m8

Thanksgiving gratitude is easy: The lab tech who’s on their third shift. The teacher who kept asking kids to think. The friend who didn’t ghost you when things fell apart. Happy Thanksgiving from CFI. Keep choosing reality.

Science is the difference between anniversaries and autopsies. ScienceSaves is working to make National Science Appreciation Day real. Recovery looks like vaccines, ventilators, surgeries, chemo, dialysis. If you want policy to honor reality, sign: ScienceSaves.org/Petition