Skeptoid is a weekly podcast created and hosted by American skeptic and author Brian Dunning. The show follows an audio essay format, and is dedicated to the critical examination of pseudoscience and the paranormal.
Along with similarly themed Point of Inquiry, Skepticality: The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine, and The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, it is a Top-50 program on the iTunes (US) Science & Medicine podcast charts.[1] Skeptoid has been featured on the Science Podcasts front page of iTunes since January 2008, and in December 2011 claimed to have a weekly average of 174,000 downloads.[2]
Each roughly ten-minute Skeptoid episode focuses on a single pop culture phenomenon that is pseudoscientific in nature. Episodes usually fall into one of four categories:
In May 2007, Skeptoid was announced as a qualifying media outlet for the James Randi Educational Foundation's "One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge".[3] Applicants to the challenge must have a presence in popular broadcast media in order to qualify.[4] By passing a simple test of their paranormal ability and having it reported on the Skeptoid podcast, applicants can satisfy that primary requirement and then proceed to apply for the Challenge.
Two books have been published, Skeptoid,[5] and Skeptoid 2,[6] which are based on content from the podcast.