That Male Contraception Story Was Bad Science Reporting At Its Worst | Vol. 4 / No. 1.5

If you’ve been reading the news about the latest male contraception study, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was canceled because men are a bunch of wimps who can’t handle the side-effects women have been putting up with for years. That’s the story as reported by headlines like “Male birth control study nixed after men can’t handle side effects women face daily,” and “Yes, contraceptives have side effects – and it’s time for men to put up with them too.” The only problem? Everyone got so caught up in the “lol men” that they didn’t even bother to read the study.
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The Anatomy Of A Conspiracy Theory Part 3: The Island of Self-Reliance | Vol. 4 / No. 1.4

With the rise of the Trump-Alex Jones-Breitbart paranoia nexus in recent weeks and months, I’ve seen a lot of conspiracy theories showing up on the national stage. Being a skeptic, I’m maybe a little more familiar with the anatomy of a conspiracy theory than most, so I thought it might be worthwhile to do a short series of posts on key features common to many, if not all, conspiracy theories. From the “flat” Earth to “chemtrails” to the purported New World Order (coming soon with or without “Reptilians”), they all have these things on common. And now, part three: the Island of Self-Reliance, or “if I didn’t see it myself, I can’t trust it.”
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The Anatomy Of A Conspiracy Theory Part 2: Absence Of Evidence As Proof | Vol. 4 / No. 1.3

With the rise of the Trump-Alex Jones-Breitbart paranoia nexus in recent weeks and months, I’ve seen a lot of conspiracy theories showing up on the national stage. Being a skeptic, I’m maybe a little more familiar with the anatomy of a conspiracy theory than most, so I thought it might be worthwhile to do a short series of posts on key features common to many, if not all, conspiracy theories. From the “flat” Earth to “chemtrails” to the purported New World Order (coming soon with or without “Reptilians”), they all have these things on common. And now, part two: when the absence of evidence becomes evidence itself.
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The Anatomy Of A Conspiracy Theory Part 1: The Paradoxical Conspirator | Vol. 4 / No. 1.2

With the rise of the Trump-Alex Jones-Breitbart paranoia nexus in recent weeks and months, I’ve seen a lot of conspiracy theories showing up on the national stage. Being a skeptic, I’m maybe a little more familiar with the anatomy of a conspiracy theory than most, so I thought it might be worthwhile to do a short series of posts on key features common to many, if not all, conspiracy theories. From the “flat” Earth to “chemtrails” to the purported New World Order (coming soon with or without “Reptilians”), they all have these things on common. And now, part one: the paradoxical conspirator.
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