Skeptic

We’re moving to skeptic.com!

As of April 2, 2025, this Substack will serve as an archive and will no longer be active.

Apr 2 • 

Michael Shermer

9

2

2

March 2025

The New Moral Science & its Discontents

John Hamby outlines the difficulties in constructing a unified theory of morality, why there is so much disagreement between philosophers and…

Mar 28 • 

Michael Shermer

27

11

5

In Memoriam: Bayard Brattstrom

Remembrances of one of my most influential professors and an obituary by his former students Erika M. Nowak, Marina M. Gerson, and Mary E. Shipman

Mar 25 • 

Michael Shermer

12

5

The Shroud of Turin and the Meaning of Faith

Guest columnist Deacon David E. Pierce makes the case that treating religious relics as scientific evidence is a mistake, and why he thinks Leonardo da…

Mar 19 • 

Michael Shermer

15

9

5

Does the West Need a Religious Revival?

My notes and additional thoughts on the Free Press/FIRE debate with myself and Adam Carolla vs. Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Ross Douthat

Mar 9 • 

Michael Shermer

49

12

6

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold War

A brief history of spies, lies, and intelligence, from Stalin to Putin and from Truman to Trump, by guest columnist Michelle Ainsworth

Mar 6 • 

Michael Shermer

15

2

2

February 2025

The Fallacy of the Enneagram Personality

Guest columnist John F. Howe debunks the highly popular enneagram of personality system, popular with corporations, intelligence agencies, and mental…

Feb 21 • 

Michael Shermer

74

17

10

An Atheist Grief Observed

Skeptic religion editor Tim Callahan reflects on the loss of his home in the Altadena fires and the subsequent suicidal death of his daughter

Feb 12 • 

Michael Shermer

60

14

2

December 2024

Extraterrestrial Governance

We are about to become a multi-planetary species. What type of government should be established on other planets, moons, and space-faring civilizations?

Dec 30, 2024 • 

Michael Shermer

37

15

6

Wokeness Poisons Science

Part II of my series on why I am no longer woke

Dec 21, 2024 • 

Michael Shermer

152

86

23

Science and Spirituality

The Search for Meaning in a Secular Age workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, April 18–20, 2025, led by Dr. Michael Shermer and Dr. Ralph…

Dec 16, 2024 • 

Michael Shermer

32

6

4

The Great Drone Panic of 2024...and 1914

Guest columnist Robert Bartholomew, one of the world’s leading scholars of mass hysterias and social panics, considers the panic over the recent drone…

Dec 14, 2024 • 

Michael Shermer

39

25

9