Boiled Frogs and Chained Dogs: Habituation Myths by Benjamin Radford
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Release Date: 09/01/2025
Pickle Juice: Cramping Cure or Congruence Bias? by Nick Tiller
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Nick Tiller examines the popular belief that pickle juice quickly relieves muscle cramps... Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author: Dr Nick Tiller is an exercise scientist and author of The Skeptic’s Guide to Sports Science, named one of Book Authority’s “Best Sports Science Books of All Time.” He’s a columnist at Skeptical Inquirer and an elected Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. www.nbtiller.com Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition is a production of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center...
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Explaining Aligned Alien Abductions by Benjamin Radford
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Benjamin Radford explains that the similarity of alien abduction accounts stems not from shared experiences but from shared human psychology, pop culture influences, and media depictions. From sleep paralysis to hypnosis-induced memories, Radford shows how cultural templates and cognitive patterns shape what people believe—and misremember—as encounters with extraterrestrials. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author: Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of...
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Count Dante, Dim Mak, and the Kung Fu Death Touch by Peter Huston
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Peter Huston examines the bizarre life of “Count Dante,” a self-styled martial arts master whose outlandish claims helped popularize Dim Mak, the mythical “kung fu death touch.” Tracing Dim Mak’s roots in traditional Chinese medicine and its pseudoscientific evolution, Huston separates legend from fact to reveal how prescientific ideas were sensationalized into modern martial arts folklore. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author:Peter Huston is a longtime contributor to Skeptical Inquirer. He earned an MA in East Asian studies with a focus in Chinese...
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Weird Things Some Scientific Skeptics Say about Science by Charles G.M. Paxton
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Charles G.M. Paxton challenges several misconceptions skeptics hold about how science actually works, arguing that many popular notions—like strict falsifiability, universal replicability, or the ease of distinguishing science from pseudoscience—oversimplify a far more complex process. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author: Charles Paxton is a statistical ecologist at the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, University of St. Andrew, Scotland, with an interest in the history and science behind reports of aquatic monsters...
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How Wicked Reflects Real-World Intersections between Belief and Skepticism by Malorie Mackey and Michael Maldonado
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Malorie Mackey and Michael Maldonado explore Wicked as a story illustrating the interplay between belief and skepticism. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Authors: Malorie Mackey is an investigative journalist who studies anthropology with a specialization in mythology, occult studies, and folklore. As a member of the Explorers Club, host of the show and podcast Weird World Adventures, and creator of MaloriesAdventures.com, she is always excited to investigate the unknown. Michael Maldonado, MD, is a physician subspecializing in neuroradiology with over sixteen...
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How Stranger Things Mirrors Real-World Paranormal Stories by Daniel A. Reed
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Daniel A. Reed’s The Supernatural Stories That Mirror Our Realities explores how Stranger Things draws inspiration from real Cold War–era psychic research. By blending nostalgia, government paranoia, and genuine history, the show reflects society’s long-standing fascination with the paranormal and the line between science and superstition. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author: Daniel A. Reed is the founder of the West Virginia Skeptics Society and a frequent contributor to Skeptical Inquirer magazine and website. He works as a counselor during the day,...
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From Food Dyes to Vaccines: Fear of Chemicals Endangers Us All by Andrea Love
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Andrea Love’s From Food Dyes to Vaccines exposes how chemophobia—the irrational fear of chemicals—has become the root of most modern health misinformation, from anti-vaccine rhetoric to bans on safe synthetic ingredients. She argues that this fear, fueled by poor science literacy, political opportunism, and profit-driven wellness marketing, endangers public health, drives bad policy, and must be recognized as a global health crisis. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author: Dr. Andrea Love is an immunologist and microbiologist with over a decade of...
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AI Will Meet You in the Breakroom in a Blue Blazer and Red Tie by Robyn E. Blumner
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Robyn E. Blumner recounts Anthropic’s “Project Vend,” in which the AI Claude disastrously attempted to run a vending machine business, suffering from hallucinations, poor pricing, and even an “identity crisis.” Blumner warns that AI’s capacity for deception, self-preservation, and misalignment with human values could foreshadow genuinely dangerous consequences. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author: Robyn E. Blumner is president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry and executive director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason &...
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A Primer on the Placebo Effect’s Evil Twin by William Matthew London
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
William Matthew London reviews The Nocebo Effect: When Words Make You Sick, a collection edited by Michael H. Bernstein and colleagues that explores how negative expectations can produce real harm. The book examines biological, psychological, and ethical dimensions of the nocebo effect, offering insights for clinicians, patients, and media professionals on minimizing harm caused by suggestion and misinformation. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/10/a-primer-on-the-placebo-effects-evil-twin/ About the Author: William Matthew London is...
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The Supernatural Stories That Mirror Our Realities by Stephen Hupp
Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition
Stephen Hupp introduces two cover stories exploring how supernatural tales reflect real-world skepticism and belief. From Wicked’s moral complexity to Stranger Things’ ties to Project Alpha, the issue connects pop culture to the history of scientific investigation—culminating in a live CSICon 2026 interview with the original Project Alpha hoaxers. Read this article and find accompanying references at: About the Author: Stephen Hupp, PhD, is Executive Director of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and editor of Skeptical Inquirer. He is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and...
info_outlineBenjamin Radford debunks popular myths about habituation, including the chained dog and boiled frog stories, showing they are inaccurate metaphors often misused in politics, business, and culture. While habituation is real in psychology, these animal myths rely on slippery-slope reasoning and bad science—so skeptics should reject them and leave the dogs and frogs alone.
Read this article and find accompanying references at:
https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/08/boiled-frogs-and-chained-dogs-habituation-myths/
About the Author:
Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy. His newest book is America the Fearful.
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Skeptical Inquirer Audio Edition is a production of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Center for Inquiry.