The Sceptic

Welcome to The Sceptic, the Daily Sceptic’s weekly podcast. Host Laurie Wastell interviews the authors of some of the website’s most talked about recent pieces. Please subscribe, and remember: question everything; stay sane; live free. Produced by Richard Eldred.

The Sceptic is a news podcast hosted by The Daily Sceptic, with 121 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

The Daily Sceptic hosts The Sceptic, a news show with 121 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #97

  Banned From an Anti-Racism Meeting for Being Old and White | The Sceptic Ep.97

  Sep 25, 202638 min

  Banned from an anti-racism meeting for being too old and white, the geopolitical damage being done by Net Zero and why the Church of England seems hell-bent on trashing its own traditions. In Episode 97 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges speaks to Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews about the extraordinary moment he was told to leave an anti-racism workshop at De Montfort University for being too old and white. Former government adviser Rupert Darwall discusses his new book The Age of Error and the West’s Undoing: Net Zero and the Destruction of the West and how the West went from prioritising energy security to relying on the weather. And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to Steven Tucker about Leeds Minster’s extraordinary decision to display the names of thousands of Palestinians, including Islamic Jihad terrorists, during the Jewish New Year, why Western institutions seem increasingly determined to turn their backs on their own traditions, the Church of England’s enthusiasm for interfaith relations and the emergence of “multicultural personality disorder”. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content . Follow Ellie on X . Follow Rupert Matthews on X . Follow Rupert Darwall on X . Order his new book The Age of Error and the West’s Undoing: Net Zero and the Destruction of the West . Read Steven’s articles here and here . Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 01:29 Rupert Matthews on Being Banned From an Anti-Racism Workshop 02:00 Why He Attended the Workshop 04:08 Being Told to Leave 08:51 Too Old and White 10:23 What Anti-Racism Means 12:27 Identity Politics and Community Relations 15:13 The Dangers of Anti-Racism 17:14 Rupert Darwall on the Net Zero Obsession 18:56 Suppressing Climate Debate 21:08 Energy Security After Ukraine 23:21 How Experts Gained Power 24:43 Elites vs Voters 26:17 Taking Back Control 28:49 Steven Tucker on the Church’s Islamic Jihad Tribute 38:37 Why Institutions Reject Their Traditions 50:02 ‘Multicultural Personality Disorder’ 53:43 Critics of American Culture 01:05:28 The Future of Western Institutions

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  Episode #96

  Labour’s Staggering Hypocrisy Over Reform’s £72 Million Donation | The Sceptic Ep.96

  Sep 18, 202641 min

  Labour’s staggering hypocrisy over Reform’s record-breaking donations, the AfD’s seismic breakthrough in Germany and the extraordinary £483 billion climate-damage claim over North Sea oil and gas. In Episode 96 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges sits down with our very own Editor-in-Chief Toby Young to talk about Reform’s enormous £72 million donation. They get into donation caps, Labour’s proposed rules, the hypocrisy of Labour attacking Reform’s funding while taking huge sums from trade unions and what Reform should actually do with all that cash. Then it’s over to Germany to find out what our resident Germany correspondent Eugyppius thinks of the AfD’s latest electoral breakthrough, why Friedrich Merz is a “dead Chancellor walking” and whether Germany’s AfD firewall is starting to crack. And for premium subscribers, Ellie talks to energy expert David Turver about the eye-watering claim that the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields in the North Sea could cause £483 billion of climate damage – and whether the maths behind it makes sense. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content . Follow Ellie on X . Follow Toby on X . Follow Eugyppius on X . Read his A Plague Chronicle Substack here . Follow David Turver on X . Read his Eigen Values Substack here . Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 02:13 Toby Young on Reform’s £72M Donation 03:23 Donation Caps 05:43 Labour’s New Rules 07:41 Retrospective Legislation 09:05 Buying Political Influence 11:31 Union Funding 13:53 State Funding 15:00 Spending Reform’s £72M 20:40 Eugyppius on AfD’s Big Result 23:20 Merz’s Problems 28:05 The Firewall’s Impact 31:22 Can The Firewall Survive? 33:25 AfD & Europe 36:04 David Turvey on the £483Bn Claim 38:21 The Cost Of Carbon 40:27 Counting Climate Damage 49:59 Climate Policy

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  Episode #95

  David Betz on Dover, Danny Tommo and the Coming Civil War | The Sceptic Ep.95

  Sep 11, 20261 hour

  Prof David Betz on whether the Dover protests could be the start of something much bigger; is the West making the Ukraine war more dangerous and what do the numbers really tell us about Britain’s latest heatwaves? In Episode 95 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges talks to Prof David Betz of King’s College London about the protests in Dover and Portsmouth and the growing fury over mass migration. They get into ‘system disruption’, the radical Left’s influence, the Government’s likely response, Reform’s fading momentum, parallels with Germany and the risk that Britain’s economic fragility could fuel serious civil unrest. Ellie then talks to former Conservative MP and defence tech entrepreneur Brooks Newmark about the war in Ukraine. They discuss NATO expansion, whether the West helped provoke the conflict, the danger of escalation, Russia’s hybrid warfare and whether Britain and Europe are actually ready for a wider war. And for premium subscribers, meteorologist William M. Briggs takes a gander at Britain’s heatwaves and the alarmist claims surrounding them, from temperature records and ‘excess deaths’ to climate models, dodgy statistics and the assumptions lurking underneath it all. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content . Follow Ellie on X . Follow David on X . Follow Brooks on X . Follow William M. Briggs on X . Read his Science Is Not The Answer Substack here . Watch his YouTube channel here . Visit his website here . Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 01:42 David Betz on the Dover Protests 04:12 Danny Tommo and Tommy Robinson 07:22 Leaderless Protest 10:51 System Disruption 12:58 Situationist Tactics 16:43 How Should the Government Respond? 21:39 Reform vs AfD 26:50 Economic Shock and Legitimacy 29:28 Russia, Ukraine and Britain 34:11 What’s Changed? 36:25 Brooks Newmark on the Ukraine War 36:49 NATO Expansion 39:00 Russia, Security and Ukraine 41:11 Long-Range Weapons and Escalation 44:24 Russia’s Hybrid War 46:39 European Defence 49:21 NATO and Britain’s Readiness 52:33 Negotiating With Russia 54:30 Risk of a Wider War 57:25 William Briggs on What the Heatwave Data Shows 59:40 Weather and Climate Claims 01:00:53 Climate Certainty 01:01:08 The Limits of Climate Models 01:02:24 Models, Homogenisation and Deaths 01:05:13 The Climate Research Industry 01:07:32 Climate Catastrophe

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  Episode #94

  “I Paid £1,400 to Cross the Channel on a Migrant Boat” | The Sceptic Ep.94

  Sep 4, 202651 min

  An undercover journalist’s extraordinary journey onboard a migrant dinghy, the risk of war with Russia and Canada’s energy standoff with America. In Episode 94 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges sits down with undercover reporter Christian Drogan to hear how he infiltrated migrant camps in northern France, paid €1,400 to cross the Channel and came face to face with smugglers, migrants and French authorities. Strategist and ex-Royal Navy Commodore Steve Jermy on the West’s incompetent approach to the war in Ukraine, the risks of escalation with Russia and whether a negotiated path to peace is still possible. And for our premium subscribers, Ellie speaks to the Daily Sceptic’s Energy Editor Dr Tilak Doshi about the growing trade and energy row between the US and Canada, and whether Mark Carney’s brinkmanship gamble will pay off. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content . Follow Ellie on X . Follow Christian on X . Follow Watchman on X . Support Watchman here . Watch the Undercover Migrant here . Read Steve’s Mor Gallos – Using Power Wisely in the 21st Century Substack here . Follow Tilak on X . Read his article here . Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 01:51 Christian Drogen on His Undercover Channel Crossing 03:32 Getting Into the Migrant Camps 04:36 Timeline of the Operation 05:30 Posing as a Criminal on the Run 07:14 Life Inside the Camps 08:38 Danger in the Dunkirk & Calais Jungles 09:17 Why Migrants Want Britain 11:28 Demographics of the Boats 13:13 What it Felt Like on the Dinghy 14:13 Who Was on the Boat 14:49 Border Force Reaction 17:22 Home Office Criticism 17:54 Could Anyone Repeat This 19:42 How Smugglers Sell the Dream 21:10 French Police Involvement 24:22 How to Stop the Crossings 28:29 Finding the Documentary 29:15 Steve Jermy on the Ukraine War 30:48 What the West is Getting Wrong 33:06 Europe Preparing For War With Russia 35:40 Why Supporting Ukraine And Nato is Flawed 38:53 A Negotiated Path to Peace 42:04 Does Negotiation Reward Aggression 44:13 What the British Public is Missing 48:16 Tilak Doshi on Carneys Gamble 51:31 Who Has the Upper Hand 56:00 Could the Dispute Backfire On Canada 58:34 Ottawa vs Alberta 01:00:38 A Larger Geopolitical Reshaping

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  Episode #93

  Is the Right Its Own Worst Enemy? | The Sceptic Ep.93

  Aug 28, 202628 min

  Does the Right need to compromise on its principles to win elections? And what’s really behind the shaky science of the 97% climate consensus? In Episode 93 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges chats to writer and commentator Nick Rendell about why the Right needs to stop preaching to the choir, explain its policies more clearly and find a way for the parties on the Right to work together. And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to social scientist and author of the Valid Science Substack Dr José Duarte about the extraordinary flaws in the research behind the 97% climate consensus claim, why we should be wary of consensus claims and where genuine disagreement among climate scientists remains. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content . Follow Ellie on X . Read Nick’s article here . Follow Joe on X . Read his Valid Science Substack here . Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 01:26 Nick Rendell on the Right’s Electoral Strategy 01:31 Balancing Principles & Electoral Success 04:36 Winning Over Net Zero Voters 11:47 Making the Conservative Case More Convincingly 15:39 The Case For a Right-Wing Electoral Pact 19:48 What His Reader Backlash Reveals 22:13 Political Purity & Rational Compromise 25:22 Dr José Duarte on the 97% Climate Consensus 25:34 Why Climate Consensus Research is Flawed 26:22 Problems With Consensus Studies 30:45 How The 97% Figure Was Constructed 33:14 Measuring What Climate Scientists Actually Believe 35:02 The Limits of Scientific Consensus 37:17 Where Climate Scientists Still Disagree

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