EVENT UPDATE - Four speakers to replace Dr Matt Kneale's scheduled event

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, Matt Kneale won't be able to join us as scheduled tomorrow night, but don't worry we've gathered a handful of skeptics to keep you entertained tomorrow night. We're busy rearranging for Matt to join us in 2024 so keep an eye out for that too!

We didn't think it was possible either but you can have a megamix in November. Replacing Dr Matt Kneale, we will have four short talks:

How I met pure blooder - Phil Armstrong Do you have what it takes to date in the modern world? Join me as I venture into the world of “off-grid” dating in a very on-grid Facebook. What do antivaxxers look for in a potential partner and how do they advertise themselves?

On the Run - A Very Practical Guide to Prison Escape - Emma McClure Prison escapes are regularly the subject of TV shows and films and stories of ‘escaped’ prisoners often make national news. The reality of the modern prison system means that such escapes almost never happen in practice, however fear of them and inflammatory reporting often leads to very damaging policy changes for those who remain in custody. In this talk Emma will be talking through the reality of prison escape in England and Wales with a combination of statistics and tales from her job representing those who have tried, failed, and succeeded at being unlawfully at large.

The case for historical skepticism - Tom Williamson When we hear the word “skepticism”, what subjects spring to mind? Science? The paranormal? Debunking alternative medicine? Skepticism is already a broad church, but what about history? Although the past is set is stone, our perception of it is anything but. History is abound with myths, tall tales and falsehoods, and it’s the job of historians to separate fact from fiction. The subject is ripe for skeptical investigation, with historial revisionism and pseudohistory to debunk.

Antivaxxers with influence - Michael Marshall Throughout the last few years, we've seen the antivaccine movement, centred around the Covid vaccine growing and thriving online in places like Telegram and Rumble. But not all vaccine scaremongering happens in the darker corners of the internet - some of the most prominent vaccine misinformation in the UK has been spread by a qualified, and amplified by an elected member of parliament. Michael Marshall, President of the Merseyside Skeptics Society and long-term investigator of the antivax movement, will examine the antivax rhetoric of Dr Aseem Malhotra and Andrew Bridgen MP, and look at what can be done when medical misinformation is spread by seemingly authoritative sources.

Hope to see you there!