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Skeptoid Episode Guide - Conspiracy Theories

 

Click Clack Bark: Dogs Who Type (Skeptoid #957) - Can dogs be taught to speak intelligently using floor buttons that represent words?
October 8, 2024
 
Medical Error Is Not the Third Leading Cause of Death (Skeptoid #948) - The claim that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US has never been close to true.
August 6, 2024
 
How Your Driving Is Being Tracked (Skeptoid #947) - Is your phone really tracking your driving habits and selling the data? Maybe more so than you know.
July 30, 2024
 
COVID-19 and the Lab Leak (Skeptoid #933) - Was the SARS-CoV-2 virus of natural origin, or was it engineered in a Chinese research lab?
April 23, 2024
 
Martin Luther King Jr. Myths (Skeptoid #918) - We break down four popular myths about Martin Luther King Jr. that just won't go away.
January 9, 2024
 
How to Escape Nibiru (Skeptoid #911) - Some believe this speculative rogue planet is on a collision course with the Earth.
November 21, 2023
 
How to Change a Conspiracy Theorist's Mind (Skeptoid #891) - A roundup of the ways that work — and that don't work — to help a conspiracy theorist free himself from the rabbit hole.
July 4, 2023
 
What the Oil Companies Really Knew, Part 1 (Skeptoid #876) - Is it true that the oil companies knew how much harm they were doing as far back as the 1970s?
March 21, 2023
 
How Your Smartphone Is Listening to You (Skeptoid #851) - Is your smartphone eavesdropping on your conversation?
September 27, 2022
 
Who Really Killed the Electric Car (Skeptoid #849) - Pop culture tells us that a conspiracy is what killed GM's EV1 in 2002. But is an exotic explanation really needed?
September 13, 2022
 
False Flag Attack? The USS Liberty (Skeptoid #835) - Officially, Israel's 1967 attack on the USS Liberty was accidental friendly fire; but many claim it was a deliberate conspiracy.
June 7, 2022
 
The Mystical Death of Jack Parsons (Skeptoid #830) - The complicated life of JPL's co-founder meant that his death was almost certain to be cloaked in conspiracy theories.
May 3, 2022
 
Maury Island: The Government's Alien Artifacts (Skeptoid #820) - The origin story of some of the government's alleged alien wreckage is a little bit shaky.
February 22, 2022
 
The Avro Arrow Conspiracies (Skeptoid #809) - Conspiracy theories surround the cancellation of this advanced Canadian aircraft from the 1950s.
December 7, 2021
 
9/11 Truthers, 20 Years Later (Skeptoid #796) - 20 years after the worst terrorist attack on American soil, the conspiracy theories are still thriving -- just as we should expect.
September 7, 2021
 
Your Turn Yet Again (Skeptoid #793) - Skeptoid gives our take on some spooky experiences sent in by listeners.
August 17, 2021
 
The 2019 USS Kidd Incident (Skeptoid #777) - Popular reports claim that a group of US Navy destroyers were buzzed by advanced drones in 2019.
April 27, 2021
 
The Engineered Moon Conspiracy (Skeptoid #776) - Science refutes the claim made by some that the Moon is a hollow spaceship engineered by aliens.
April 20, 2021
 
Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto (Skeptoid #759) - The most famous case in the history of Monsanto vs. small farmers might not be what you think.
December 22, 2020
 
The Montauk Project (Skeptoid #757) - Some believe the government opened up time portals underneath Long Island, New York.
December 8, 2020
 
How to Extract Adrenochrome from Children (Skeptoid #750) - Conspiracy theorists believe that Hollywood elitists torture children and extract drugs from their bodies.
October 20, 2020
 
Australia Doesn't Exist, and Other Geographic Conspiracy Theories (Skeptoid #745) - The belief that Australia doesn't exist may not be as unique as you think.
September 15, 2020
 
The QAnon Conspiracy (Skeptoid #738) - This growing conspiracy theory posits that a global cabal of pedophiles secretly controls the US government.
July 28, 2020
 
Bill Gates Conspiracy Theories (Skeptoid #735) - Why is the world's greatest public health philanthropist charged with crimes against humanity?
July 7, 2020
 
The LUCIFER Telescope Conspiracy (Skeptoid #729) - A popular conspiracy theory claims the Vatican uses a telescope named LUCIFER to find an alien savior.
May 26, 2020
 
Draining the Holy Grail (Skeptoid #723) - The true history of the Holy Grail, the most precious of all artifacts.
April 14, 2020
 
Pandemic Conspiracies and Politics (Skeptoid #722) - How the conspiracy theories around today's pandemic compare to those of the past.
April 7, 2020
 
On the Trail of Red Mercury (Skeptoid #713) - The most elusive substance in pop culture also purports to be one of the most destructive.
February 4, 2020
 
Reactionless Space Drives (Skeptoid #697) - Conspiracy theorists and alternate science believers continue to claim triumph over the laws of nature.
October 15, 2019
 
Starlite, the Magical Mystery Material (Skeptoid #684) - The real reasons for the disappearance of this amateur material said to be able to withstand even a nuclear blast.
July 16, 2019
 
Yamashita's Gold (Skeptoid #673) - The facts behind the urban legend that billions in Japanese gold lie buried in the Philippines.
April 30, 2019
 
Killing Castro (Skeptoid #659) - It's proven the CIA tried to assassinate Castro, but the number of claimed attempts differs wildly.
January 22, 2019
 
Illuminating the Illuminati (Skeptoid #657) - The surprisingly humble beginnings and even more surprising modern rebirth of the Illuminati.
January 8, 2019
 
The Electric Universe Theory (Skeptoid #651) - Some believe that everything we know about the universe is wrong — and it's all electric.
November 27, 2018
 
George Soros Conspiracy Theories (Skeptoid #649) - George Soros remains the focus of many anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
November 13, 2018
 
Parts Unknown: Foreign Conspiracy Theories (Skeptoid #644) - A roundup of conspiracy theories from various countries all around the world.
October 9, 2018
 
Titanic Myths (Skeptoid #615) - Three of the most popular conspiracy theories surrounding the sinking of the Titanic.
March 20, 2018
 
Net Neutrality Reexamined (Skeptoid #604) - A skeptic's guide for organizing the issues raised by Net Neutrality.
January 2, 2018
 
Sonic Weapons in Cuba (Skeptoid #603) - There is a much better explanation than sonic weapons for reported attacks against US diplomats in Cuba.
December 26, 2017
 
Chasing Malaysian Airlines MH370 (Skeptoid #595) - A roundup of the conspiracy theories and the probable true fate of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.
October 31, 2017
 
The Big Pharma Conspiracy (Skeptoid #589) - Popular claims of a Big Pharma Conspiracy don't stand up to any rational scrutiny.
September 19, 2017
 
There Is No Finland: Birth of a Conspiracy Theory (Skeptoid #573) - A study of how a conspiracy theory as absurd as "There is no Finland" can even exist.
May 30, 2017
 
Hitler's Antarctic Fortress Unmasked (Skeptoid #559) - Deconstructing a wild tale about a Nazi military base deep inside Antarctica.
February 21, 2017
 
Debunking the Moon Truthers, Part 3 (Skeptoid #537) - The hard, testable, scientific proof that we actually did land humans on the moon.
September 20, 2016
 
Debunking the Moon Truthers, Part 2 (Skeptoid #536) - The science behind many of the specific claims made by Apollo moon landing hoax conspiracy theorists.
September 13, 2016
 
Debunking the Moon Truthers, Part 1 (Skeptoid #535) - The history of the Apollo moon landing hoax conspiracy theory, and those who believe in it.
September 6, 2016
 
Autopsy: The Clinton Body Count (Skeptoid #525) - The surprising origins of the claim that the Clintons kill any who get in their way.
June 28, 2016
 
The New Flat Earthers (Skeptoid #521) - The reinvented Flat Earth fad is less about geophysics and more about conspiracy mongering.
May 31, 2016
 
Firestorm in Waco (Skeptoid #511) - The FBI did not deliberately murder the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.
March 22, 2016
 
Updated: Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Web Sites (Skeptoid #495) - The worst offending sites on the Internet for promoting bad misinformation.
December 1, 2015
 
Holocaust Denial (Skeptoid #485) - Why some people think the Holocaust never happened, and what to do about it.
September 22, 2015
 
Jade Helm 15 (Skeptoid #469) - Conspiracy theory that a military training exercise is going to lead to martial law.
June 2, 2015
 
Agenda 21 (Skeptoid #465) - A look at the conspiratorial hysteria and sensationalism surrounding the United Nations' Agenda 21.
May 5, 2015
 
Satanic Ritual Abuse (Skeptoid #462) - The history of claims that secret Satanic cults are abusing children.
April 14, 2015
 
Myths of Alcatraz (Skeptoid #444) - Alcatraz Island is veiled in the fog of myth.
December 9, 2014
 
5 Conspiracy Theories that Turned Out to Be True... Maybe? (Skeptoid #416) - Skeptoid listeners are always asking for conspiracy theories that turned out to be true. Here are the best I found.
May 27, 2014
 
Killing Princess Diana (Skeptoid #414) - Some say the death of Princess Diana in 1997 was actually a murder plotted by her government.
May 13, 2014
 
The Death of Mad King Ludwig (Skeptoid #407) - What we do and do not know about the mysterious death of Bavaria's Mad King who built castles like Neuschwanstein.
March 25, 2014
 
Hemp, Hearst, and Prohibition (Skeptoid #401) - A popular urban legend claims that William Randolph Hearst conspired to make cannabis illegal in the United States.
February 11, 2014
 
8 Secret Bases: Real or Fictional? (Skeptoid #391) - Guess which of these secret military bases around the world are real.
December 3, 2013
 
The JFK Assassination (Skeptoid #389) - After so many decades, the number of incompatible conspiracy theories about the death of JFK continues to grow.
November 19, 2013
 
The Secrets of MKULTRA (Skeptoid #373) - The urban legend that the CIA conducted unethical mind control experiments has a grain of truth.
July 30, 2013
 
Listener Feedback: Conspiracies (Skeptoid #364) - Skeptoid answers questions sent in by listeners pertaining to conspiracy theories.
May 28, 2013
 
Polybius: Video Game of Death (Skeptoid #362) - The infamous arcade game Polybius, said to drive players to suicide or madness, was never more than an urban legend.
May 14, 2013
 
The Airplane That Wasn't There (Skeptoid #355) - A B-25 bomber ditched in a Pennsylvania river in broad daylight 1956 and, seemingly impossibly, was never found.
March 26, 2013
 
The Pentagon and the Missile (Skeptoid #354) - Some say that it wasn't an airliner that struck the Pentagon on 9/11, but a missile.
March 19, 2013
 
Pope Joan (Skeptoid #353) - This apocryphal Middle Ages pope said to be a woman in disguise probably never existed.
March 12, 2013
 
Men in Black (Skeptoid #351) - A look at the mysterious government agents said to intimidate those who witness flying saucers.
February 26, 2013
 
Trinity: Interview with Dr. Oz, Alex Jones, and Deepak Chopra (Skeptoid #350) - Skeptoid interviews three of the most popular and controversial figures in modern pseudoscience.
February 19, 2013
 
The Cult of Nikola Tesla (Skeptoid #345) - The name of Nikola Tesla is associated with crazy conspiracy claims that have nothing to do with his real work.
January 15, 2013
 
The Hollow Earth Theory (Skeptoid #343) - Throughout history there have been a number of different beliefs that the Earth might be hollow.
January 1, 2013
 
Free Energy Machines (Skeptoid #341) - Someone somewhere is always claiming to have cracked the secret of free energy forever, no fuel needed.
December 18, 2012
 
Listener Feedback: A Cacophony of Conspiracies (Skeptoid #340) - How you can convince your friends that their conspiracy theories are nonsensical.
December 11, 2012
 
The Flat Earth Theory (Skeptoid #338) - The Flat Earth Theory has its origins not in alt-science but in Christian Fundamentalism.
November 27, 2012
 
The Phantom Time Hypothesis (Skeptoid #332) - A number of theories claim that several centuries never actually happened, and were faked by the Church.
October 16, 2012
 
Attack of the Nanobots! (Skeptoid #317) - A look at the belief that nanotechnology may result in an army of self-replicating machines that consume society.
July 3, 2012
 
Deconstructing the Rothschild Conspiracy (Skeptoid #311) - Some believe that world governments and economies are secretly controlled by the Rothschild banking family.
May 22, 2012
 
Finding Amelia Earhart (Skeptoid #295) - The disappearance of Amelia Earhart is one of the worst examples of television promoting pseudohistory.
January 31, 2012
 
Wunderwaffen: Nazi Wonder Weapons (Skeptoid #293) - The true history behind the claimed Nazi "wonder weapons" like anti-gravity flying saucers.
January 17, 2012
 
Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites (Skeptoid #283) - My list of the worst offenders on the web in the promotion of scientific and factual misinformation.
November 8, 2011
 
Finding Shakespeare (Skeptoid #280) - The claim that someone else wrote Shakespeare's works is popular, but virtually indefensible.
October 18, 2011
 
The Zionist Conspiracy (Skeptoid #271) - There is no plausible reason to think a conspiracy of Jews plans to take over the world's banks and governments.
August 16, 2011
 
Conspiracy Theorists Aren't Crazy (Skeptoid #264) - We usually dismiss conspiracy theorists as crazy people; but that doesn't tell the whole story.
June 28, 2011
 
Military Dolphins: James Bonds of the Sea (Skeptoid #260) - The facts behind the stories of military dolphins trained to attack divers and plant mines on ships.
May 31, 2011
 
The Secret of Plum Island (Skeptoid #257) - This secret government lab was said to create genetic mutants. Here's what they actually did.
May 10, 2011
 
Finding the POW/MIAs (Skeptoid #254) - American POW/MIAs are probably not still being held captive inside Vietnam.
April 19, 2011
 
The Port Arthur Massacre (Skeptoid #253) - The 1996 mass murder in Tasmania was not secretly a plot by the government to get firearms banned.
April 12, 2011
 
The History of Knowledge (Skeptoid #250) - A trip through the centuries to see how human knowledge is reflected through music.
March 22, 2011
 
Beware the Bilderberg Group! (Skeptoid #225) - The annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group is not to plan global domination.
September 28, 2010
 
Stalin's Human-Ape Hybrids (Skeptoid #219) - Josef Stalin did not order the creation of an army of half-ape, half-human hybrids.
August 17, 2010
 
The Astronauts and the Aliens (Skeptoid #218) - A close look at some of the stories of UFOs said to have been reported by NASA astronauts.
August 10, 2010
 
Attack on Pearl Harbor (Skeptoid #211) - The American government did not have advance knowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack, and did not allow it to happen.
June 22, 2010
 
The North American Union (Skeptoid #210) - The United States, Canada, and Mexico are not planning to merge into a single huge police state.
June 15, 2010
 
The Westall '66 UFO (Skeptoid #208) - 200 students watched a strange craft fly near their school in Australia in 1966 -- or so the story goes.
June 1, 2010
 
Morgellons Disease (Skeptoid #206) - In this newly described condition, some patients report strange plastic fibers growing from their skin.
May 18, 2010
 
The Georgia Guidestones (Skeptoid #198) - Dubbed "America's Stonehenge", this granite monument in Georgia appeals to all sorts of conspiracy theorists.
March 23, 2010
 
Zeitgeist: The Movie, Myths, and Motivations (Skeptoid #196) - The Internet movie Zeitgeist uses dishonesty to make an ideological point that could have easily been made ethically.
March 9, 2010
 
The Denver Airport Conspiracy (Skeptoid #194) - Is the Denver International Airport a headquarters for the New World Order? (Hint: no)
February 23, 2010
 
The Bell Island Boom (Skeptoid #190) - This shattering boom in Newfoundland was more likely a natural phenomenon than a superweapon test.
January 26, 2010
 
Vaccine Ingredients (Skeptoid #180) - The claims made about the dangerous chemicals in vaccines are all either false or misrepresented.
November 17, 2009
 
Screwed! (Skeptoid #150) - A secret recording of an actual meeting of the Illuminati.
April 21, 2009
 
FEMA Prison Camps (Skeptoid #145) - A skeptical look at the claim that FEMA maintains a network of prison camps in readiness.
March 17, 2009
 
The Lucifer Project (Skeptoid #143) - Some believe that NASA is trying to turn Saturn or Jupiter into a small sun.
March 3, 2009
 
The Rendlesham Forest UFO (Skeptoid #135) - Hard to believe, but it wasn't space aliens that caused blinking lights in Rendlesham Forest in 1980.
January 6, 2009
 
The Bohemian Club Conspiracy (Skeptoid #131) - Wealthy and powerful men gather annually at the mysterious Bohemian Grove -- but not to plot global domination.
December 9, 2008
 
The Truth about Aspartame (Skeptoid #127) - The artificial sweetener aspartame is falsely accused of being the cause of nearly every disease.
November 11, 2008
 
Ten Most Wanted: Celebrities Who Promote Harmful Pseudoscience (Skeptoid #125) - A critical look at the pseudoscientific antics of some of today's celebrities.
October 28, 2008
 
HAARP Myths (Skeptoid #122) - A close look at HAARP, the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, and the claim that it's a superweapon.
October 7, 2008
 
Search for the Missing Cosmonauts (Skeptoid #115) - A pair of young Italian brothers probably didn't uncover evidence of Soviet cosmonauts dying in space.
August 19, 2008
 
Spy Radio: Numbers Stations (Skeptoid #107) - A look at mysterious shortwave "numbers stations" around the world.
July 1, 2008
 
When People Talk Backwards (Skeptoid #105) - Some people believe that your brain encodes its actual meaning in reverse within everything you say.
June 17, 2008
 
Reassembling TWA Flight 800 (Skeptoid #99) - TWA Flight 800 was not shot down by US friendly fire.
May 6, 2008
 
World Trade Center 7: The Lies Come Crashing Down (Skeptoid #85) - The collapse of 7 World Trade Center was not a controlled demolition.
January 29, 2008
 
Aliens in Roswell (Skeptoid #79) - Pop culture says it was an alien spaceship -- but history tells us what was really found in the New Mexico desert.
December 18, 2007
 
Irradiation: Is Your Food Toxic? (Skeptoid #61) - Food that has been sterilized with irradiation is not radioactive and will not hurt you.
August 14, 2007
 
All About Fluoridation (Skeptoid #58) - A few fringe activists claim that fluoridation of water carries more danger than benefit.
July 30, 2007
 
The Twin Towers: Fire Melting Steel (Skeptoid #54) - The Oakland freeway collapse was not a government ploy to prove that the Twin Towers collapsed from fire.
July 10, 2007
 
Support Your Local Reptoid (Skeptoid #46) - The conspiracy theory that reptilian beings control our governments has a fascinating history.
May 21, 2007
 
The Alien Invasion of Phoenix, Arizona (Skeptoid #41) - Despite what many UFOlogists want, the famous Phoenix Lights were not alien spacecraft.
April 26, 2007
 
Blood for Oil (Skeptoid #32) - The claim that the wars in the Middle East were about oil don't stand up to economic scrutiny.
March 12, 2007
 
Chemtrails: Real or Not? (Skeptoid #27) - Some believe that airplane contrails are really dangerous chemicals being sprayed by the government.
February 15, 2007
 
Skepticism and Flight 93 (Skeptoid #22) - Flight 93, which crashed in a field on September 11, was not shot down by the military.
January 19, 2007
 
The Real Philadelphia Experiment (Skeptoid #16) - The US Navy did not make a warship completely disappear in 1943.
December 24, 2006
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

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