So, I've been thinking that the inevitable death of Western civilisation brought about by the casting of a Kenyan-Mexican actress in a Hollywood adaptation of The Odyssey might perhaps be averted by paying a little more attention to how those racial boundaries supposedly under threat have shifted over time.

Michael Gove’s famous declaration that Britain had “had enough of experts” helped define the Brexit era. But before accepting his verdict on expertise, perhaps we should ask how much authority Gove himself had to deliver it.

So, I’ve been thinking about the curious transformation of “Professor” Jiang Xueqin from obscure Chinese high-school teacher to geopolitical oracle, and how a few clipped predictions, stripped of their less convenient details, became the stuff of alternative-media prophecy.

So, I’ve been thinking about a widely circulated student essay, the confidence with which it was discussed, and the rather relaxed approach taken to evidence by all involved.

Trump’s dangerous Tylenol claims weren't “parroting” published research, and that they'd be mistaken for such highlights a worrying deficit in scientific literacy.

Never one to back down from a challenge to my skepticism, I looked into climate conspiracies, not the well-documented Big Oil effort to sow doubt, but the theories pushed by denialist campaigns asking who’s “behind” global warming. Spoiler: the real driver isn’t a shadowy cabal, it’s the overwhelming body of scientific evidence.

So, I've been thinking about the best and worst of this years skepticism as I prepare to make my nominations for the 2025 Ockham Awards.

How Erich von Däniken's reimagination of the image of Mayan King Pakal as an ancient astronaut really is analogous to seeing ghosts.

So I've been thinking about recent reports of apparitional experiences exemplifying inattentional blindness...

How a quirky parapsychology experiment in a Cambridge end terrace in the early 1960s nearly brought the house down.

So, I've been thinking about Tucker Carlson, demonic attack and the mockery and misunderstanding of a surprisingly common medical condition.

How a quirky series of parapsychology experiments across Cambridge in the early 1960s came perilously close to profound insight...

How fundamentalist Biblical literalism leads to fundamental scientific illiteracy...

How a quirky parapsychology experiment on the Cambridge Backs in the 1950s preempted a major psychological discovery some 4 decades later.

So, I've been thinking about the best and worst of this years skepticism as I prepare to make my nominations for the 2024 Ockham Awards.

Weighing in on Imane Khelif, operationalism and gender essentialism.

How Prof. Michael Persinger came face-to-face with God through science, geomagnetism and a modified Ski-Doo helmet.

How TV ruined a perfectly speculative hypothesis on the aetiology of apparitional experiences.

How seemingly pseudoscientific explanations distort our understanding of apparitional experiences.

So, I've been thinking about the TikTok #MoonPhaseSoulmates trend.