Skeptical Inquirer

Customer Rating:
Summary: Science! What a concept!!
Comment: Dispelling ghosts and ghost hunters, demons and exorcists, miracles and evangelicals, bigfoot and related beasties and their hunters, psychics, mediums, and lots more of things that go bump on network TV and the mainstream press, SI is a breath of fresh air for those tired of the unending, uncritical coverage of the "paranormal." Pseudo-scientists and charlatans beware!

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Magazine - Lousy Price
Comment: With so many skeptics in the room, I'm surprised no one's debunked the ridiculously high 35$ price tag. You can get SI from their own website for $20.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Useful but rarely interesting
Comment: This is the only readily available US magazine that presents factual analyses of a good variety of the various crazy claims that the US media are filled with. There are problems, however. First, the coverage is generally far more than a day late and a dollar short... it is very rare that I find anything about claims less than a few years old. Second, if you subscribe, based on my experience, you may not get many of the issues you pay for--- the magazine comes loose and unwrapped with your name and address faintly printed by some ancient dot-printer on the center bottom of the rear page. It is not unusual for me to fail to receive 2 of the 6 yearly issues. Third, the magazine, despite the great public interest in its subject matter, tends to be very, very, very dull. I find the lists of newly published books in the back of each issue to be far more valuable than the editorial contents of the magazine itself.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Good on analysis, lousy on tolerance
Comment: I enjoy science in its many forms and enjoy the Skeptical Inquirer for its thorough and logical explanation of "weird" events. While it takes the "fun" out of things like ghosts and UFOs, having the phenomena explained rationally is a treat in itself. Unfortunately I find the journal a little difficult to read at times. The intolerance of the beliefs of others gets a little difficult to take when it's so much in your face. Often the authors are condescending, sometimes outright insulting, with resepct to non-scientific points of view. There are times when they literally attack the individuals themselves instead of the ideas they propose. No matter how logical the discussion, it seems inappropriate for a journal whose purpose is the scientific explanation of events and phenomena to take such an emotional posture. Surely the attitude will do more harm than good, since those who sense that they are personally under attack will rise to their own defense and become even more entrenched in their beliefs. Instead of learning a new way of analyzing data and becoming less credulous, they will become even more resistant to a logical approach. Since some of the journal's own readership may be among these, the authors' risk losing the opportunity to teach and end up preaching to the choir of the convinced. What's the point? It seems to me that an entirely non-judgemental, just-the-facts approach would be in the best interests of the periodical and its readership.

Customer Rating:
Summary: New Agers & Conspiracy Theorists, This One's for You!
Comment: Skeptical Inquirer has got to be, hands down, my absolute favorite periodical (Free Inquiry comes in a close second). Produced by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), the magazine aims to separate "fact from myth in the flood of occultism and pseudoscience on the scene today." Through scientific inquiry, scholarly research, and in-depth analysis, it succeeds (and with flair!).

A typical issue reads like a season of the X-Files (well, had Scully been the more enlightened member of the duo). A sampling of articles from some recent issues includes "Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination"; "Is Science Making Us More Ignorant?"; "Investigative Files: Rorschach Icons"; "The Campeche, Mexico 'Infrared UFO' Video"; "Pranks, Frauds, and Hoaxes from Around the World"; and "Belgium Skeptics Commit Mass Suicide." The contributors cover every "supernatural" topic imaginable, from alchemy to zombies, angels to the Zodiac, and everything in between. They also discuss "normal" topics (e.g., the energy crisis) by way of pseudoscience.

Although the writing is scholarly, it never becomes dry or boring - how could it, what with such unusual topical choices? The authors are all experts in their fields; their analyses are academic yet well within the grasp of laypersons. When compared to the watered-down rubbish that passes for popular science nowadays, Skeptical Inquirer is an obvious choice for the discriminating reader - she who would rather exercise her brain than put it on autopilot while perusing "People"! The writing is superior, the issues entertaining, the documentation fair and clearly laid out - if you only subscribe to one magazine, let it be Skeptical Inquirer!

Also, be sure to check out CSICOP's web site. They've got tons of special features, such as "Creation Watch" and "Superstition Bash." Sign up for their mailing list and enter to win their decal/Picture of the Month contest; first prize will bag you a nifty new book (by the way, I'm Ms. December 2003, The Grinch!).

- Kelly Garbato

Lifelong skeptic & unapologetic atheist