SkeptiCamp 2025 Schedule

With stressful competition and very little actual evidence to go on, TV smash hit The Traitors is a masterclass of flawed reasoning and leaps of logic. In this talk, Jim will look at some of the shakiest arguments contestants across the world rely on when hunting traitors, to see if we can learn from their mistakes.

Twentieth-century histories of stage magic widely tell a story of a conjuror called deLinsky accidentally causing the death by shooting of his wife on stage in Arnstadt in c.1825, As the trail of citations leads backwards, however, it looks like we will find that this event is a mythical as the incident with the Hartlepool Monkey. In this talk Andrew will use contemporary documents to show whether this story is based on real events, and suggest principle for parsing myths from nuggets of truth.

Examining how we quantify phenomena in science and how failing to do so properly can lead to errors in measurement and conclusions. While also providing a note of the trials and tribulations of completing a PhD.

Learn about these casual pop-up gatherings where strangers come together to eat cake, sip tea, and chat about the one thing we’re all headed toward but no one wants to RSVP for — death. Why honest conversations about death, dying, mortality, grief, and what happens after you become worm food are a good thing! All over a slice of sponge cake (not included today). Because nothing says “memento mori” like a forkful of frosting. The real twist? You leave feeling more alive than when you arrived.

In nineteenth century Europe, colonisation was all the rage. The major powers would sail around the world, planting flags all over the place. As the various empires dissolved in the twentieth century, nations arose and adopted their own flags. I will give a small sample of how some of these countries decolonised their flags.

The public perception of forensic science is colored by shows like CSI, NCIS, and others. This makes the job of an actual expert that much more difficult when trying to explain their job to a jury in court. So let’s break down what exactly it is I do all day in simple terms. It may not be as exciting as what the cop shows paint, but I promise it’s still cool!

In 1994 the ferry MS Estonia sank on the Baltic Sea, With 852 lives lost, it is the deadliest peacetime shipwreck ever to have occurred in European waters. With the instability of the region and the Soviet Union falling apart less than three years before, the tragedy fueled an endless amount of conspiracy theories, each more bizarre the other. What are they and will people ever be convinced by the official story?

The President of the United States emails me five times a day asking for money. These emails are oddly similar to another set of messages I was receiving around the time that QED started way back in 2011. This talk looks at the amusing (and concerning) similarities that I have noticed in over a decade of correspondence from charlatans, how my involvement with QED has intersected with this and the importance of continuing the Sisyphean project of compassionate skeptical activism.

In 1563 Dutch physician Johann Weyer published a skeptical takedown of the early modern witch trials, encouraging compassion towards the women accused of witchcraft and an end to this silly notion of demonic power. The witch trials would go on to kill tens of thousands of women across europe. So what went wrong? Using Weyer’s example, we’ll take a look at the perils of thinking you’re the smartest one in the room, as well as the dangers of a skeptical movement without human rights at its core.

At the QED last year I had to answer several questions relating to a pin on my hoodie. It was the logo of the paracryptozoological society. Having attended their annual meeting for the second time in 2025, I think skepticamp is the right place to present their hilarious work. Spoiler: This has nothing to do with cryptozoology!

The title is bait but the experience was real. When Australia began COVID vaccinations I signed up to be a vaccinator immediately. I’d been working in ED and ICU throughout the pandemic and had seen the death and disability first hand, but then I had my first vaccine injury patient, 2 days before my redeployment. As a healthcare worker and skeptic, juggling the cognitive dissonance was tough, particularly with all the anti-vaxxers getting so much airtime. This is my account of that period.

In an era awash with hot takes, adding one’s own opinion to the pile might seem pointless. This is not true. Writing opinion pieces and letters to the editor is still an effective way to reach key decision-makers and raise issues of concern. This talk will cover why skeptics should write these pieces, how to do so effectively, and why one need not be a subject matter expert to write an effective, persuasive op-ed.

Comprehensive trials, ideally placebo controlled, are the backbone of modern evidence based medical practice, but this process often leaves infants and children out of the picture. Instead, their care is dictated by expert opinion, extrapolation from adult studies, and individual provider preference with their “standard of care” falling into an “off label use”. In this talk we discuss the systemic reasons behind the lack of data in pediatric care and what has been tried to fill the gap.

True crime is big business these days and on social media the armchair detectives love to delve into evolving, real life cases and try to seek ‘the truth’. Here’s some examples of when these ‘detectives’ take it too far.

What is black salve? Why are people so obsessed with using it for skin ailments, including cancers? Is there any science behind it? Should you immediately order some from an dodgy place on the internet and use it for all your dermatological needs?Probably features gruesome photos.

Dad jokes are a source of both mirth and misery when wielded by teachers. Why? Are they actually a secret weapon helping achieve the ultimate mission or just a side quest for popularity? Is this an evidence based assessment of teaching methods or an attempt to justify years of bad puns? Could it even be both…