Welcome to Newcastle Skeptics, a community dedicated to promoting critical thinking, science, and reason in the heart of the North East. We are a diverse group of individuals who share a passion for questioning the world around us, from debunking pseudoscience to discussing the latest developments in scientific research and philosophy.
Our monthly meetings feature guest speakers, lively debates, and opportunities to engage with like-minded people in a friendly, open environment. Whether you’re a seasoned skeptic or just beginning your journey into the world of critical inquiry, Newcastle Skeptics offers a welcoming space to explore new ideas, challenge assumptions, and connect with others who value rational discourse.
July event: Nikolas Lloyd – Hollywood’s Medieval Balderdash
Friday 17th July 2026 7:30PM
1867 cafe bar (Tyne Theatre & Opera House)
Mainstream movies make the same annoying mistakes when depicting the medieval world. The general viewing public is being misled in many ways. The cinema is not a great place to learn about history, alas. Lloyd of the ‘Lindybeige’ YouTube channel will take you through a lot of the worst offenders, so that in the years ahead, you too will be able to watch a great movie set in the medieval period, turn to your neighbour and say “That bit’s wrong.”
Nikolas Lloyd is a YouTuber, based in Newcastle, who, when he isn’t swing dancing, model-making, writing, or playing bicycle polo, makes videos. These tend to be on military history or archaeology, but often wander off-topic.
Please note the date and time of this event is different to our usual Saturday afternoon programming.
August event: Dr Alice Howarth – Chasing empowerment: the hidden cost of wellness
Newcastle Skeptics in the Pub with Dr Alice Howarth.
1867 cafe bar & Hall (Tyne Theatre & Opera House)
Saturday 8 August 3pm
The wellness industry is worth an estimated $4.5 trillion dollars, stretching out into the worlds of fitness, health, beauty, sleep, stress and nutrition. Promises of self-improvement permeate every element of our lives, with all manner of tips, tricks and products targeted at optimising our homes, work lives, health, and diet often with the promise of empowerment and fulfilment. But what does wellness actually mean?
In this talk Dr Alice Howarth will talk about the complex intersection between women’s empowerment and the wellness industry. She will also shine a spotlight on the pervasive influence of medical bias, a deep-seated issue that disproportionately affects women’s health and wellness choices. Discover how stereotypes and systemic imbalances and medical biases shape the wellness landscape, often driving women towards harmful trends and practices.
Dr Alice Howarth is cancer cell biologist, science communicator, podcaster and writer. She has been part of the skeptical community for more than a decade, and is co-host of Skeptics with a K, vice president of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, deputy editor of The Skeptic Magazine, co-organiser of the QED conference and co-founder of Skeptics in the Pub Online. Alice has delivered lectures on the topics of science and skepticism all over the world, written for publications such as The Guardian, and worked on numerous investigations into pseudoscientific claims. In her day job, Alice is an open research advocate for the University of Sheffield and the UK Reproducibility Network, working to make research available beyond academia. She believes that accessibility and inclusivity is crucial to how we engage with science and critical thinking.
August social
18th August 7.30pm. Join us every month in The Library at the Town Wall pub on Pink Lane (near Newcastle Central Station) to meet fellow Toon skeptics.
Past events archive
| 10 Oct 2024 | Nikolas Lloyd – How your body lies to you about pain |
| 14 Nov 2024 | Michael Marshall – Using data to counter quackery and alternative medicine |
| 12 Dec 2024 | Professor Anqi Shen – When blessings turn to curses: scammers’ exploitation of supernatural beliefs |
| 09 Jan 2025 | Dr Rebecca Woods – What’s a question to start with?: Why interrogatives are so weird (in English) |
| 13 Feb 2025 | Dr Tom Nicholson – “We’re all just a little bit ADHD, right?!” – How the world makes life harder for neurodivergent adults |
| 13 Mar 2025 | Dr Alex Niven – How to Get a Rise out of the North-East: A History of the Future in the Deep North |
| 10 Apr 2025 | Brian Eggo – The Truth is Nowt There |
| 15 May 2025 | Professor Richard Wiseman – How to Transform a Tea Towel into a Chicken and Other Mysteries |
| 12 Jun 2025 | Dr Joel Wallenberg – Stealing money from old people slowly, or How We Came to Charge for the Future |
| 10 Jul 2025 | Shayna Weisz – What’s wrong with me? How mental health awareness might actually be making us feel worse |
| 14 Aug 2025 | Maeve Hanan – When healthy eating turns harmful: How ultra-processed food panic fuels anxiety and disordered eating |
| 11 Sep 2025 | Professor Jamie Tehrani – The Natural History of Narratives: how stories evolve, spread and survive, and how they decay and die |
| 09 Oct 2025 | Dr. Darrel Ray – Sexy Evolution: What the Pope Doesn’t Know About Human Sexuality |
| 13 Nov 2025 | Dr Jane Stewart – XX/XY: not always what you think |
| 4 Dec 2025 | Dr George Locke – Apostasy in the UK: on leaving a high-control religion |
| 14 Feb 2026 | Heidi Mounsey – The Woo of Wee |
| 14 March 2026 | Professor Bruce Baker – Recognized More and More: Frederick Douglass and Newcastle’s role in ending slavery in the United States |
| 11 April 2026 | Robin Ince: A Monkey Escaped |
| 16 May 2026 | Dr Icy Sedgwick – The Ethics of Ghost Hunting: When Science Meets Commercial Interest |
| 20 June 2026 | Skeptics Summer Sessions – multiple speakers from our fabulous community |