One of the most important things to learn as a critical thinker is how to separate the facts from the fictitious claims. When I first started down the road of becoming a science enthusiast, I was looking everywhere for resources that could help me do this. I found a lot of content online that seemed reliable and honest. But a lot of these are long podcasts, rant videos or documentary films. Then I discovered a podcast called Skeptoid. It had short 15 minute long episodes that were dense with information while still telling a story. Plus, each episode had a written transcript on the website that was linked to all the citations the episode referred to. Skeptoid casts a very wide net indeed - the topics covered include ghosts, haunted houses, astrology, alternative medicine, UFOs, conspiracy theories and a lot more! Indeed, this has now become one of the most significant inspirations for Rationable.

Brian Dunning, the creator of Skeptoid, does a lot more than just a podcast and a website. He also makes YouTube videos on his channel InFact, and even documentaries on science and scepticism. The amazing thing is, Skeptoid Media, the company Brian formed to produce all this content, is funded purely by donations and is registered as a non-profit.

One of his first documentaries was Here Be Dragons – a short documentary on pseudoscience, and its effect on our lives. Most importantly, it also serves as an excellent introduction to critical thinking and the importance of science in everyday life. It’s just 40 minutes long but it will change the way you think, or at least fine-tune your bullshit detector.

Here it is. Enjoy!