Renowned skeptic Dr. Steven Novella, host of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe and author of the NeuroLogica Blog, joins the Curiosity Podcast to explain how to tell the difference between reality and fantasy – and why it's sometimes hard to do so. He brings years of experience as a neuroscientist and researcher to take a look inside the minds of both skeptics and those who believe in pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.

Dr. Novella is an academic neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to his work on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast, he is the president and co-founder of the New England Skeptical Society. His NeuroLogica science blog covers news and issues in neuroscience, but also general science, scientific skepticism, philosophy of science, critical thinking, and the intersection of science with the media and society.

More from Steven Novella:

• The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
• New England Skeptical Society
• NeuroLogica blog

Additional resources discussed:

• "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion"
• The Skeptic Movement
• Why Is There a Skeptical Movement?
• Carl Sagan's Life and Legacy as Scientist, Teacher, and Skeptic
• Science Curiosity and Political Information Processing (Study)
• Bill Nye Had a Fixed View on GMOs. Then Something Happened.

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Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/inside-pseudoscience-and-conspiracy-theories

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