The Michael Shermer Show

By most popular accounts, the universe started with a bang some 13.8 billion years ago. But what happened before the Big Bang? And how do we know it happened at all? Cosmologist Niayesh Afshordi and science communicator Phil Halper offer a tour of the peculiar possibilities: bouncing and cyclic universes, time loops, c

In 2010, in a small New Hampshire town, next door to a copy center and framing shop, a ghost lab opened. The Kitt Research Initiative’s mission was to use the scientific method to document the existence of spirits. Founder Andy Kitt was known as a straight-shooter; he was unafraid—perhaps eager—to offend other paranorm

This is the inside story of the CIA’s secret mind control project, MKULTRA, using never-before-seen testimony from the perpetrators themselves. Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA’s most cunning chemist. As head of the infamous MKULTRA project, he oversaw an assortment of dangerous―even deadly―experiments. Among them: dosing u

In this eye-opening episode, Michael Shermer chats with evolutionist Telmo Pievani about the surprising coexistence—and hybridization—of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. They discuss recent scientific discoveries, the evolving understanding of race and biology, and the crucial role of serendipity in advancing scientific

Amid rising concerns about AI, inequality, trade wars, and globalization, New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist John Cassidy takes a bold approach: he tells the story of capitalism through its most influential critics. From the Luddites and early communists to the Wages for Housework movement and modern d

What does your diet have to do with your mood? Is mercury in fish really dangerous? Psychiatrist Dr. Drew Ramsey joins Michael Shermer to discuss the science behind nutritional psychiatry and how food, sleep, exercise, and social habits influence brain health. They explore why mental health issues are rising—especially