Rebecca Watson

Many of you asked that I react to Richard Dawkins announcing that he fell for a chatbot. Instead of just pointing and laughing (my initial reaction obv) I dug into the “why” of it all: his obfuscations, insecurities, and utter sadness https://skepchick.org/2026/05/richard-dawkins-claude-delusion/

Charlie Kirk was a Nazi and no one should be expected to engage in performative mourning over his murder. https://skepchick.org/2025/09/charlie-kirk-and-the-empathy-paradox/

Let's talk about hantavirus: why it's scary, but also why it's not the next "COVID." https://skepchick.org/2026/05/hantavirus-is-not-the-next-pandemic/

Two years ago I reported on a study that found gerrymandering harms democracy, regardless of which side does it. Today I’m asking you to tell your reps to gerrymander the fuck out of blue states https://skepchick.org/2025/10/rigging-elections-to-save-democracy/

Automatic license plate readers may seem like a good idea until you hear about the ways they enable cops to abuse women, all while not actually making you any safer https://skepchick.org/2025/11/the-police-state-gets-flocked/

It's understandable if you missed or forgot when, two weeks ago, an American public university fired three people for telling students that LGBTQ+ people exist. I think it's worth keeping it on our radar because it's extremely fucked up https://skepchick.org/2025/09/fired-for-mentioning-lgbtq-people-exist/

Now that the President of the United States has sent the military to take over American cities and oppress civilians, I thought it would be fun to check in with the men who claimed to be terrified about this happening a decade ago when the president was Black. https://skepchick.org/2025/08/checking-in-on-jade-helm-conspiracy-theorists-10-years-later/

Are you wondering why RFK decided to blame Tylenol for causing autism? It wasn’t as random as it may seem! https://skepchick.org/2025/09/the-lack-of-science-behind-tylenol-autism/

As a “New Atheist” of the early 2000s, I knew it was crucial to stop the Religious Right from destroying the wall separating Church & State. But even I didn’t think that by 2025 the President would green light sending ppl to Guantanamo for being “anti-Christian.” https://skepchick.org/2025/10/trump-declares-atheists-are-terrorists/

Republicans have illegally stopped SNAP payments (aka food stamps). Here's a selection from the DECADES of research that prove this program benefits society: better health, less crime, higher rates of education, and a savings of $20 for every $1 spent https://skepchick.org/2025/10/food-stamps-are-good-actually-here-comes-the-science/

If you live in a major US city, you're about to get inundated with ads for Shen Yun, a musical extravaganza run by a dangerous cult that's trying to convince you of the evils of communism, feminism, atheism, and homosexuality. https://skepchick.org/2024/08/the-dangerous-cult-behind-the-shen-yun-theatrical-show/

Donald Trump's official social media account promoted an AI slop video about "medbeds," a uniquely American conspiracy theory in the same way that Breaking Bad is a uniquely American TV plot: no one with decent healthcare would even consider it https://skepchick.org/2025/10/trump-promotes-magical-conspiracy-beds/

Last week, WIRED reported on project that used dark money to fund liberal influencers and contractually prohibited them from disclosing the funding. That was bad enough, but now one involved creator, David Packman, is trying to silence critics with libel threats https://skepchick.org/2025/09/popular-liberal-youtuber-takes-dark-money-becomes-libel-bully/

Dr. Siouxsie Wiles saved lives during the pandemic by educating the public about what was happening. During that time, she withstood relentless harassment from conspiracy theorists & went to court to force employers to protect people like her. Here's her story! https://www.patreon.com/posts/142933080

Dan Price is best known for being the CEO who lowered his salary from $1.1 million to $70k while raising all his employees' salaries to match his own. But he SHOULD be best known for multiple women accusing him of rape, sexual assault, and abuse.
https://skepchick.org/2025/06/best-boss-dan-price-accused-of-rape-fraud-and-generally-being-awful/

Graham Platner is running for US Senate as a progressive Democrat. He also had a Nazi tattoo for 18 years. Is he a Nazi? Is he a government plant? Or is he just a shady, lying little PR disaster who will only damage the Palestinian cause? https://skepchick.org/2025/11/graham-platner-is-an-embarrassing-liar/

Fox News is claiming that Christianity is undergoing a revival thanks to "The Charlie Kirk Effect." Let's look at the data https://skepchick.org/2025/10/is-the-charlie-kirk-effect-making-christianity-popular/

Texas has approved a new, more Bible-focused curriculum that will have 5-year olds learning the story of Genesis in which God makes the universe in six days and doesn't know the difference between a fish and a vegetable https://skepchick.org/2025/10/texas-is-teaching-the-bible-to-kindergarteners/

A new study claims to show that erecting Confederate monuments decreased the number of lynchings, and removing them during Black Lives Matter protests increased racist violence. I'm unconvinced! Stay to the end for compelling research that better explains the data >_> https://skepchick.org/2025/10/study-do-confederate-statues-make-racists-less-violent/

Thinking about Jane Goodall, and how her legacy is inextricably tied up with the legacy of colonialism. Also: Bigfoot. https://skepchick.org/2025/10/jane-goodall-and-the-legacy-of-colonialism/

Taking a break from fascism today to talk about Ed and Lorraine Warren, the weird con artists behind "The Conjuring" film franchise. It turns out the real scary monsters were humans all along https://skepchick.org/2025/09/the-true-horror-behind-the-conjuring/

our education system has failed us