Michael Shermer - Quillette

Laura Helmuth is a middle aged white woman in a suit with long grey-blonde hair.

An Unscientific American

Editor-in-chief Laura Helmuth’s departure from ‘Scientific American’ last week is an object lesson in the dangers of mixing facts and ideology.

Michael Shermer

21 Nov 2024 · 12 min read

Aliens...Again!

This time, they always say, it could be different.

Michael Shermer

8 Jun 2023 · 10 min read

Left or Right, Politicians Shouldn’t Be Telling Academics What They’re Allowed to Teach

The campaign to ban Critical Race Theory and other ‘woke’ dogmas channels the same illiberal spirit that conservatives claim to oppose.

Michael Shermer

21 Feb 2023 · 7 min read

Wired for Conspiracism

The fact that some conspiracy theories do sometimes turn out to be true helps explain why our minds are evolutionarily programmed to catastrophize.

Michael Shermer

30 Oct 2022 · 8 min read

The Cause of America’s Gun-Death Epidemic? It’s Guns

When comparing state to state, and nation to nation, more firearms usually means more firearms-related deaths

Michael Shermer

15 Jun 2022 · 11 min read

Vexed by the Un-Vaxxed

Civil society is based on the fundamental premise that we give up certain liberties to secure tranquility, defense, welfare, and greater liberty, such as the freedom from fatal diseases.

Michael Shermer

14 Aug 2021 · 13 min read

Podcast #153: Michael Shermer on Our Enduring Fascination with UFOs

Quillette’s Jonathan Kay talks to UFO expert Michael Shermer about why we keep searching the skies for signs of alien visitors (and why we always come away disappointed). Transcript: Jonathan Kay: Welcome to the Quillette podcast. I’m Jonathan Kay, speaking to you from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, planet earth.

Quillette / Michael Shermer

14 Jun 2021 · 24 min read

Understanding the Unidentified

With the decline of religious belief over the past century, perhaps this is what lies behind this quest to understand the unidentified.

Michael Shermer

3 Jun 2021 · 22 min read

COVID-19 Conspiracists and Their Discontents

The mind abhors a vacuum of explanation. So when gaps in knowledge open up, the empty spaces are filled with available explanations that, however implausible, seem morally compelling.

Michael Shermer

7 May 2020 · 9 min read

PODCAST 86: Dr Michael Shermer on His New Book Giving the Devil His Due

Science writer, author and Skeptic editor-in-chief Michael Shermer talks to Toby Young about his new book Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist. They talk about a range of free speech issues, including hate speech, Holocaust denial, the Pentagon Papers and Wikileaks.

Quillette / Michael Shermer / Toby Young

9 Apr 2020 · 1 min read

Our Mission on Mars: Obey the Lessons of Mutiny on the Bounty

Setting aside for the moment the many physical and biological problems that must be overcome to establish a permanent base on Mars, it’s worth considering how one would govern such a remote colony.

Michael Shermer

22 Dec 2019 · 13 min read

The Danger Is Real: Why We’re All Wired for ‘Constructive Conspiracism’

In recent years, psychologists and political scientists have identified several factors that influence conspiratorial thinking, such as political orientation, race and power (or the lack thereof). These are proximate causes of conspiracism.

Michael Shermer

31 Oct 2019 · 10 min read