Alice looks at the latest TikTok trend of 'sungazing', and Mike digs into a new study which says honest placebos help alleviate stress, anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, Mike tries to avoid small talk when he goes in for surgery.

Note: The description of Mike's surgery includes a few references to the surgery itself that squeamish listeners may want to steel themselves for.

Tickets for QED 2024 are still available, priced £189 for a full weekend of science, reason, and critical thinking.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Alice looks at the Scandinavian tobacco product Snus, and it's bizarre prevalence amongst English footballers, while Marsh examines the relationships between UK anti-abortion activists and wealthy American christian conservative groups.

The last few early bird tickets for QED 2024 are available now. Grab yours before the prices change!

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Alice discusses the manufacture of argan oil, and the medicinal claims made for it and other similar oils. Meanwhile, Marsh reflects on compassionate skepticism following the death of Daniel Dennett.

If you want to support the podcast, you can donate via Patreon - or leave us a glowing review on your podcasting app of choice!

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Pastel QAnon, content farms, Facebook, and the CAP code. Plus watermelons, rampant horses, and vaccine misinformation. Dipping roses in honey, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Integrative cancer care, newspaper revenues, and the smart feed. Plus glutamine, the right kind turmeric, and doctors’ customers. Consuming curcuminoids, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke

Lockdown laws, Pizzagate, and contact tracing. Plus selling wardrobes, iPhone 6, and shoulder-barging pensioners. With Liverpool accents, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Nice to have Emma on without needing a content warning, huh? Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke

Pregnancy testing, inflatable sex dolls, and electronic waste. Plus Korean Barbecue, Bild Lilli, and Andy Capp. Just one pink line for Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke

Hair loss pills, Sovereign Nations, and business acumen. Plus broken cars, conceptual penises, and roaring in the mirror. Using the wrong microphone, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Find the all-new website the The Skeptic at skeptic.org.uk

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke

Missing breakfast, Eric Pickles, Mother-die, and giant hogweed. Plus telling lies, conferred legitimacy, and disguised advertorial. Cheating at dice, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Note this episode contains discussion of fatphobic language and attitudes.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Making babies, genius orphans, and milliamp-hours. Plus red days, swamp coolers, and tracking ovulation. Taking your temperature, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

In this episode of Skeptics with a K, Marsh and Alice talk about the recent BBC documentary on ‘alternative’ cancer treatments. This episode deals with a difficult subject matter throughout and some listeners may find the conversation distressing.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Web privacy, affiliate marketing, micro-targeting, and copy-and-paste. Plus spam comments, missing audiences and cookie banners. A round of applause for Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Homeopathic standards, blood groups, cod latin, and CEASE therapy. Plus web browser bugs, spike proteins, and ice cream. Like the boat scene in Willy Wonka, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Marsh looks at the relationships between the Free Speech Union and the anti-mask/climate change denial website the Daily Sceptic. Meanwhile, Mike reports on court documents which reveal how Facebook steals data by spying on your encrypted internet traffic.

Plus, Alice and Mike feed the animals at the zoo.

Contact tracing, television scams, lockdown sceptics, and race in the UK. “Stay Sceptical, End the Lockdown, Save Lives!”

If you’re interested in more resources on racism, white privilege, and protesting, check out these links:

Books for understanding racism and white privilege (Instagram)Anti-racism resources (Google Docs)Scaffolded anti-racist resources (Google Docs)Podcasts About The Black British Experience (Bustle)Black Trans Protesters Emergency Fund (Instagram)A Safety Guide for Protestors (Instagram)

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

The Black Death, plasmic support, revitalisation fields, and naming disease. Plus losing balance, sunbathing with social distance, and growing a beard. Effective at an eight metre radius, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Note: this episode contains descriptions of race-based and other abuse.

Bill Gates, Black Seed Oil, and global depopulation. Plus thymoquinone, unusable kitchens, and Nigella Lawson. Not virologists, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke

Treatment compliance, vitamin deficiency, immune support, and unpublished research. Plus Alice’s birthday, green protection, and pretentious breakfasts. Still not winning awards, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke

Coronavirus pseudoscience, confirmation bias, fake news, and 5G telephony. Plus the Rocky Horror Picture Show, dancing nurses, and the school disco. Still in lockdown, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

COVID-19, astrologers, chloroquine, and chiropractic. Plus immune boosting meals, tidying up, and missing Doctor Who. Sitting at home, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Dowsing for cancer, German graffiti, and the bloody Illuminati. Plus caesium salts, type II pneumocytes, and 1970s Doctor Who. Stay calm! Remain indoors! It’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

Australian Bushfires, COVID-19, and the comeback of astrology. Plus pigs legs, dingle-dangle scarecrows, and Mercury Communications. Governing the Anthropocene, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

Mistletoe in the papers, auricular acupuncture, splitting your jeans, and a giant cock and balls. Plus travelling by train, talking to teenagers, and David Mitchell. Sitting on a toilet floor, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Note: This episode contains a brief reference to self-harm.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

In this special extended episode, Alice, Mike, and Marsh talk about what happened when they watched every episode of the Netflix series The Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow back-to-back.

Note: This episode includes conversations about eating disorders and suicide. Which is more warning about that than Netflix gives you.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

Alice asks why a relatively small article on cider vinegar for weight loss got so much traction, and Mike looks at companies making overblown claims for cheap products via YouTube advertising. Meanwhile, the team gets the grips with our new recording setup.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Placebo creams, reviving drips, and magical contagion. Plus chewing gum, stray heads, and trampolines. Tossing in a Berocca, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

Golden tickets, talking to the press, butt-chugging, and skeptical investigations. Plus Star Wars, cardboard crowns, and crashing into a lake. It’s a new year, and a new you, from Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

V-care, spiritual insight, reusable applicators, and Diana Spencer’s boyfriends. Plus mistaken identity, ringers in the audience, and lurching to the right. Merry Christmas from Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

Yoga cults, walking in Utrecht, attitudes to homeopathy, and what happened in Brazil. Plus perineum sunning, duck offal, aggressive emails, and rinsing beakers. Keeping in touch with our sexual energy, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

Family trees, Tobey Maguire, eight million pixels, and a dog show. Plus centimorgans, attempted burglary, and the reverse Darth Vader. Featuring special guest presenter, Andy Wilson.

Mixed and edited byMorgan Clarke.

Weather forecasts, analysing homeopathy, and healthy DNA. Plus fast Internet, speed running acid rain, and getting drunk in Oxford. Sitting in the dark, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Hydrogen water, homeoprophylaxis, trusted sources, and vaccine ignorance. Plus retro gaming, dodgy Daleks, and what happened in Italy. It’s a squeaky pop from Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Snowflake advertising executives, Perkin’s Tractors, Churchill the Dog, and Thatcher the Unfriendly Ghost. Plus placebo arms, old age, and learning Italian. Pricing Alice’s blood for Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Songs of Praise, overselling cannabidiol, Lourdes Water and Berwick Upon Tweed. Plus climbing shoes, watching Friends, genodermatosis, and Scottish Universities. Make a channel in your peas for Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

Vitamin E acetate, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, skincare, and sex toys. Plus God’s wife, salt and vinegar crisps, THC, and little hairy grapes. Have some Boza in the Boozer with Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and Edited by Morgan Clarke.

Marsh looks at the environmental and social impact of outdoor digital advertising, and Mike gives the low down on the risks of glyphosate-based weedkillers. Meanwhile, Mike goes to watch Dune 2, Marsh goes to the athletics, and Alice is back!

We survive on donations from listeners like you. If you want to support the show and the work we do, you can sign up for a regular donation at patreon.com/merseyskeptics.

Loot boxes, Eurosceptics, New Zealand bees, and acyclovir. Plus left kidneys, Yellow Fever, the Social Attitudes Survey, and plastic scousers. Less funny than a Shakespearean comedy, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and Edited by Morgan Clarke.

Bylined authors, missed diagnoses, syndicated news wires, and Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome Plus erythema multiforme, Scottish Jails, and drinking rum with expats. Surviving the reformation, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Mixed and Edited by Morgan Clarke.

Ear seeds, DOOM clones, Prince Harry, and acupressure. Plus Fortnite, accidental piercings, and Tim Roth. All your base are belong to Skeptics with a K.

European homeopathy, browsing YouTube, flat earth posters, and oversized boxes. Plus auto-flushing toilets, robot shelves, and wearing a suit to the park. Rehearsing at 4am, it’s Skeptics with a K.

CEASE therapy, nutritional imbalances, Royal succession and salty livers. Plus musical theatre, leptospirosis, and the Women’s World Cup. Delivering drinks in a paper bag, it’s Skeptics with a K.

You can help stop CEASE therapists who claim vaccines are dangerous and that homeopathy can “cure” autism by contributing to Good Thinking’s legal fees here: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/gts-cease-psa/

Planning permission, fish healing, Pikachu hats, and water fasting. Plus sleepy dachshunds, composting humans, and touring Birkenhead. Literally in a different country, it’s Skeptics with a K.

It’s your last chance to get tickets for MSSX, just £29 for a full day of science, reason, and critical thinking, celebrating ten years of Skeptics with a K!

Hyperventilating, DIY, chimpanzee beds, and football parades. Plus breaking blinding, hypocapnea, role models, and feasting on fish. Doing zips up with our teeth, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Get your tickets for MSSX while you still can!Just £29 for a full day of science, reason and critical thinking, celebrating 10 years of the Merseyside Skeptics Society.

Lie detectors, HPV, pregnancy, and llamas. Plus Earth Domes, Frank Spencer, and seven-day creation. Cracking the Crystal Maze, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Get your tickets for MSSX today. Featuring Simon Singh, Britt Hermes, Emma McClure, Chris French, Meirion Jones, Dave Alnwick, and our own Dr Alice Howarth! July 6th. Liner Hotel, Liverpool. Be there!

Pokémon brains, caffeine power, vaccine denial, and solar cells. Plus nana-wire, birthdays, weasel words, and red wine. Trying not to make a fuss, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Horse chiropractic, tectonic plates, scouting with tanks, and acupuncture anaesthesia. Plus the Palace of Versailles, Dalekmania, regeneration, and creepy crawling babies. Just as good on Street View, it’s Skeptics with a K.

With Alice unwell, Mike and Marsh are joined by guest host Kat to talk about their recent meet-up with a group of flat earthers, and Marsh looks at regulatory problems between Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority.

If you enjoy the show, it would be a great help if you can donate to us via Patreon, or leave us a glowing review on your podcasting platform of choice. It's really appreciated.

Get well soon, Alice!

Mixed and edited by Morgan Clarke.

B12, Jack the Ripper, Master Masons, and eye bees. Plus American accents, Satanic hands, and the Wilderness Years. Time travelling in a flat, it’s Skeptics with a K.

It’s April, you fools! Charging VAT on justice, HAARPing on about climate, and getting hot under the waist-band. Plus space mirrors, albedos, and blue balls. Fertilising the sea, it’s Skeptics with a K.

Exfoliating dildos, energetic burps, and stirring food anti-clockwise. Plus medieval pubs, wasps nests, and bad backs. With top hats and badges, it’s Skeptics with a K.