Skeptic's_Guide_to_the_Universe

<i>The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe</i>

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe

American science and skepticism podcast

For the book based on the podcast, see The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe (book).

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe (SGU) is an American weekly skeptical podcast hosted by Steven Novella, MD, along with a panel of contributors. The official podcast of the New England Skeptical Society, it was named to evoke The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The show features discussions of recent scientific developments in layman's terms, and interviews authors, people in the area of science, and other famous skeptics. The SGU podcast includes discussions of myths, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, the paranormal, and other forms of superstition, from the point of view of scientific skepticism.

Quick Facts The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Presentation ...

Hosts

The SGU podcast was first released in May 2005. The original lineup of the podcast consisted of the Novella brothers, Steven Novella, Robert "Bob" Novella and Jay Novella, along with Evan Bernstein, and Perry DeAngelis. DeAngelis contributed until his death in 2007, shortly before his 44th birthday. Rebecca Watson joined in 2006 and later left the podcast in 2014.[1] Cara Santa Maria joined the cast in July 2015.

The podcast is affiliated with the New England Skeptical Society and with the SGU Productions LLC.[2]

Until 2018 there were no full-time employees of the podcast, although that was in part due[according to whom?] to a defamation lawsuit filed by Edward Tobinick that consumed financial resources that would have otherwise been available.[3] In 2018 Jay Novella, who had previously both been one of the cast and managed the podcast's website, was employed full-time as a result of reaching a Patreon target of 3,000 donors.[3]

  • Steve Novella, 2011
  • Evan Bernstein, 2015
  • Cara Santa Maria, 2014
  • Bob Novella (right) with prop during a live show, 2019
  • Jay Novella, 2015
  • Perry DeAngelis, 2000
  • Rebecca Watson, 2009

Production

SGU live recording at CSICon 2017 in Las Vegas. From left to right: Rachael Dunlop (guest), Evan Bernstein, Jay Novella, Steven Novella, Cara Santa Maria, and Bob Novella.

Segments include interviews, discussions of significant but largely unknown figures in science, short games and puzzles played with the audience or between the panellists, and accounts of relevant events in the news that relate to skepticism.[citation needed] Shows last about 80 minutes, although on September 23, 2011, SGU produced a 24-hour-long podcast with contributions by skeptics from around the world. It was referred to as SGU-24.[citation needed]

Theme music

The show's theme music is "Theorem" by the San Francisco rock band, Kineto.[4] The theme was acquired from the Podsafe Music Network. Prior to the November 2, 2005 show, Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science" was the show's theme.[citation needed]

Guests

Many Skeptics' Guide episodes contain interviews. Often the interviews feature well-known scientists or skeptics, for instance Massimo Pigliucci or Joe Nickell. Rarely the guests are proponents of fringe or pseudoscientific views. Some episodes have guest rogues, such as Bill Nye, participating in the entire podcast. Notable guests include the following:[5]

More information Show date, Episode ...

Recognition

The Skeptics' Guide won the 2009 Podcast Awards in the "Education" category, and the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014 Podcast Awards in the "Science" category.[16]

It was also a 2014 "Dose of Rationality" Top 10 Podcast,[17] and a 2010 Physics.org Best Podcast nominee.[18]

Sponsors and membership

On July 30, 2013, Steven Novella announced that the SGU would begin offering membership and airing sponsors. Novella went on to say that the money raised would go into funding skeptical activities, including but not limited to, development of skeptical educational content and web-series such as "Occ The Skeptical Caveman". The addition of sponsors is not permanent, according to Novella, they shall be removed "if 4% of listeners support the SGU through membership at an average of the $8 per month level."[19] Though membership has begun, the SGU continues to publish a free weekly sponsored podcast. Membership entitles one to an ad-free version of The SGU, extra content, and discounts to NECSS (The Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism). Membership range from $4/month to $200/month.[20]

Additional financial support from listeners is provided through Patreon. The SGU has established several goals after achieving a certain number of financial supporters. A major benchmark was reached in 2018 with 3,000 Patreon supporters that sustained enough predictable income for a full-time employee.[3] Other benchmarks include a 12-hour and 24-hour live show after reaching 4,000 and 5,500 supporters, respectively. These live shows may be located on the most complete and accurate reproduction of the Starship Enterprise Star Trek: The Original Series set, which was built by James Cawley and can be seen on the SGU Patreon page introduction video.[3]

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe book

Main article: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe (book)

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake is a 2018 book written by Steven Novella and co-authored by the other current co-hosts of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast—Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella, and Evan Bernstein. It also contains posthumous material from former co-host Perry DeAngelis. The book is meant to be an all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking. In an interview with The European Skeptics Podcast, Jay Novella describes their approach to writing the book from the "point of view of an alien species observing the earth from a skeptical perspective using critical thinking," reminiscent of the podcast's namesake The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.[3]

References

  1. [1]
    Watson, Rebecca (December 27, 2014). "Why I've Left SGU". Skepchick.org. Skepchick. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  2. [2]
    Senapathy, Kavin (June 14, 2022). "Conquering Secular and Skeptical White Supremacy in America". The Humanist. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  3. [3]
    "TheESP Ep. #160 – Jay Novella & The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe". soundcloud.com (Podcast). March 4, 2019. Event occurs at 1:16:26. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  4. [4]
    "Kineto's Myspace page". Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  5. [5]
    "Episode list". theskepticsguide.org. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  6. [6]
    The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe podcast archive, archived from the original on May 3, 2013
  7. [7]
    Gerbic, Susan (September 28, 2017). "An Interview with CSICon Speaker Bob Novella". Skeptical Inquirer. CSI. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  8. [8]
    "SGU Episode 91". sgutranscripts.org. SGU Productions. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  9. [9]
    "Larry King needs a new format". The Herald Tribune. January 21, 2008. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  10. [10]
    "SGU Episode 435". SGUtranscripts.org. SGU Productions. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  11. [11]
    "SGU Episode 438". SGUtranscripts.org. SGU Productions. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  12. [12]
    "Podcast #680 – July 21st, 2018". theskepticsguide.org. SGU Productions. July 21, 2018. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  13. [13]
    "Podcast #701 – December 15th, 2018". theskepticsguide.org. SGU Productions. December 15, 2018. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  14. [14]
    "Podcast #713 – March 9th, 2019". Facebook.com. SGU Productions. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  15. [15]
    "Podcast #713 – March 9th, 2019". theskepticsguide.org. SGU Productions. March 9, 2019. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  16. [16]
    "Podcast Award Winners 2005-2014". The People's Choice Podcast Awards. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  17. [17]
    Sacerich, Robert (July 9, 2014). "The 2014 "Dose of Rationality" Top 10 Podcasts!". Rationality Unleashed. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  18. [18]
    "The physics.org web awards 2010". Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  19. [19]
    "The SGU and Skeptical Activism". Neurologica Blog. July 30, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  20. [20]
    "Member Subscription". The Skeptics Guide To The Universe. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
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