15 hour flight + 12 hour detention + 15 hour flight = one of the harder experiences of my life I had it easy, one woman had been in that detention room 4 days when I arrived, she’s still there

How did psychics fare with their predictions for 2025? My latest, for The Skeptic Every new year, the media features predictions for psychics for the year ahead - and every year, those predictions underwhelm of fail. www.skeptic.org.uk/2026/01/how-...

CBS News picked a great day to proclaim its love for America based on "the rule of law"

Well this is no way for a FIFA peace prize recipient to behave.

‘… not including bombing Venezuela’

there are many horrible brainworms you can catch online but none of them are as all-encompassing in their destruction of you as a human being as transphobia start down that road and you become incapable of normal human interaction

Here’s the ASA’s ruling on Real Health Supplements, aka British Supplements, who I reported for the misleading health claims they were making about so many of their products. www.asa.org.uk/rulings/real... The also claimed to be able to treat cancer - but nobody can/will do anything to stop them.

The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Even if you know nothing about this British company, a quick glance at their socials gets you Ayaan Hirsi Ali doing the whole whataboutist schtick where some extremist Muslims being anti gay is Gaza genocide defense. Another post right up top is fretting about "transsexuals."

Just ran into a TikTok with some NYC supposedly left types doing a whole event with "Unherd." People really need to be thoughtful about the platforms they work with and what they're willing to legitimize.

The Skeptic Podcast – Episode 043 Featuring articles from Michael Marshall (March 2022), Steve Donnelly (April 2002), Michael Marshall (March 2022), and Toby Howard (December 1989).

Why I don’t believe in… Bigfoot | Blake Smith Bigfoot may be the most enduring pop culture cryptid, but its appeal owes more to folklore, hoaxes and the will to believe than any reliable evidence.

You can also support Merseyside Skeptics at patreon.com/merseyskeptics.

You can support the show and the hosts by signing up for the Skeptics with a K Patreon at patreon.com/skepticswithak. Go on, it's Christmas!

Skeptics with a K: Episode #445 Mike looks at stories about Tesco removing Christmas from products to avoid causing offence, and Marsh has an encounter with a fan of Joe Rogan on the train home. www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/podcasts/ske...

In the face of AI-driven encyclopedias, cherish Wikipedia – and original sources | Hayley Stevens As Elon Musk continues to push his 'anti-woke' version of Wikipedia, we need to protect what's true, and question which sources we trust.

In a culture of materialism, The Emperor’s New Clothes have designer labels | Daniel Aaron Levy A materialistic online culture that prioritises possessions and wealth misses what truly makes us happy and fulfilled – prosocial behaviour.

Interesting background on Paul Doyle, who drove his car into the Liverpool parade www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

Sally Morgan was interviewed by some YouTube podcast recently, and I saw this so now you have to too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCiu...

Despite hundreds of destinations this year, I didn’t make it to #Cambridge - so making up for that next month - tickets here www.junction.co.uk/events/robin...

The Know Rogan Experience Podcast #0049 - Season 2 Wrap Up We wrap up Season 2 of the show, looking back over what we've learned from - and about - Joe Rogan this season. AUDIO - www.knowrogan.com/0049-season-... VIDEO - www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIiW...

How word games and folk etymology feed into fringe beliefs | Mark Horne A common thread among pseudoscientists is to purport to tell you what words REALLY mean - except, they're almost always wrong.

Busy train home from pub. Woman sits with us. She’s dressed as the Virgin Mary. She overhears me talking about how get Joe Rogan’s emails. She’s a big Rogan fan. We have a 10 min chat where I explain to the Virgin Mary (with child) that no, rogan isn’t just an unbiased curious guy. What is my life.

Don’t worry, CBS News is completely unaffected by the new change in management.

Well done Robin for standing up for what he feels is right. Awful that it came to this, but the BBC will be a poorer place without him, and he will take his compassion and his curiosity - and his loyal following - on to other places where he isn’t pressured to hold his tongue on what matters.

🔴 REVEALED 🔴 The Institute of Economic Affairs – the anti-state, anti-climate pressure group that "incubated" Liz Truss – was bankrolled by oil giants and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. 📝 Exclusive findings from @desmog.com 👇

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

The Skeptic Podcast – Episode 042 Featuring articles from Natalia Pasternack (July 2021), Jean Dorricott (May 1990), Michael Marshall (February 2022), and Ada McVean (September 2022). www.skeptic.org.uk/2025/12/the-...

Encouraging non-belief and activism against witch hunts in black communities | Leo Igwe Leo Igwe, director of the Advocacy for Alleged Witches, reports from Black Nonbelievers Seacon 2025, on the work of encouraging non-belief in Nigeria.

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Skeptics with a K: Episode #444 Marsh talks about what happened when he asked every Trading Standards office about consumer complaints and Cancer Act investigations. www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/podcasts/ske... Patrons can join us for a Patron-only hangout on Zoom tonight at 7pm UK time

Physiotherapy is almost as pseudoscientific as osteopathy and chiropractic | Paul Ingraham Many who rightly turn their nose up at chiropractic don't realise much of 'mainstream' physiotherapy is just as flimsy in its evidence base.

Is the 10,000 steps goal a fitness fact or merely a marketing myth? | Elissar Gerges With the rise of wearable fitness trackers, more and more people are striving to hit their 10,000 steps per day – but is that an evidence-based goal?

From the archives: Ice in the sky – Hans Hörbiger’s Cosmic Ice Theory | Loren Petrich From the archives in 1992, Loren Petrich looks at a bizarre theory that almost became part of Nazi ideology.

Patrons can access extensive bonus segments every show for as little as $1 per episode - plus an early, ad-free version of every show. This week, it's a further 46 mins of analysis of Joe's interview with Mariana van Zeller, including a disappointing astrology chat. www.patreon.com/posts/marian...

The Know Rogan Experience Podcast #0048 - Mariana van Zeller Michael Marshall and Cecil Cicirello break down Joe's October 2025 interview with investigative journalist Mariana van Zeller. AUDIO - www.knowrogan.com/0048-mariana... VIDEO - www.youtube.com/watch?v=stPx...

If pseudoscience actually worked, scientists would be first in line to profit | Slava Amanatski Scientists don't reject pseudoscience because there is no profit in it - scientists would thrive on having novel fields to explore.

then, the transphobes , feeling victorious at how many people they have made unhappy and despairing in the previous week, move on to anything else that has a spectrum and the possibility of more colours than they can conceive - such hateful people - they cannot understand anything that is not THEM

This is a good thread! Every week someone reads out a London Centric story on TikTok without credit and does big views. This isn’t a wah wah moan… more that when a big news outlet steals, they know what they’re doing. I think a lot of content creators sincerely think “reading words” *is* reporting?

Comments are like wow great journalism, TikTok influencer, whose “rabbit hole” consisted of screenshotting someone else’s article

a type of content that makes me want to launch myself into space and is huge part of why everything is so bad: TikToker goes down a “rabbit hole,” makes 9-minute video. The “rabbit hole” was she found an Eater article. The Eater journalist did all the work: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTruBS8cp/

it might seem surprising that the people who said “look, let trans people live their lives, but i have Reasonable Concerns about sports and toilets” aren’t up in arms about this, but what you have to remember is that those people who said that are liars who were lying

It’s fine, I didn’t want to visit the US any time soon…

Given that it’s that time of year again, here’s Nick’s article last year on Spotify’s unwrapped, and the anxieties this marketing exercise can provoke.

Kishwer Falkner in The Times talking about the rights of "biological people". As compared to trans people, who are, of course, non-biological.

It’s bad that I got most of the way through this headline before I realised it wasn’t about the World Cup draw.