Brian Dunning

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Dunning pictured at right.

Brian Dunning is a skeptic who runs the Skeptoid podcast and contributes to SkepticBlog. Skeptoid covers a wide range of topics related to pseudoscientific and paranormal claims in a ten to fifteen minute length format.

Dunning has also produced a half-hour film called Here be Dragons, which is intended as a primer for skeptical thinking and is a great resource for the uninitiated. He's also been prattling on about doing a TV series called The Skeptologists for the last three years, but no one really knows what happened to it or if it will actually get picked up. However, Michael Shermer, Phil Plait, Steven Novella, and a few other skeptics did sign up for the project.

Contents

DDT controversy

Dunning caused drama within the skeptical community when he accidentally recycled some bullshit cooked up by notorious shill Steve Milloy in the Skeptoid episode on DDT.[1] He made a number of factual errors regarding Rachel Carson's research, eggshell thinning, and DDT's role in fighting malaria. Tim Lambert of Deltoid claimed that he had attempted to contact Dunning about the episode, but could not reach him. Lambert then posted a two-part refutation of the Skeptoid episode.[2][3] Orac of Respectful Insolence,[4] Bug Girl of Skepchick,[5][3] and a number of other skeptical blogs and fora piled on. Some of the comment threads got a bit foaming-at-the-mouth nutty, denouncing Dunning as a crypto-libertarian inserting political bias into his show. For some reason, Dunning got butthurt over this and made a response denying any political affiliation, whining that no one had contacted him before the take-downs of his episode popped up in the skeptical blogosphere, and then blew off most of the criticisms of his piece.[6] There was a small flare-up in reaction to this, then the shitstorm ended and everyone stopped caring.

Cookie stuffing scheme

In 2008, eBay sued Dunning, his brother Todd, and Shawn Hogan for running a cookie stuffing scheme. In 2010, Dunning was indicted on five counts of wire fraud.[7][8][9]

See Also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Skeptoid's DDT episode (note that according to some commentators, the episode and/or the transcript has been edited after the initial publication)
  2. Skeptoid fact check part 1,part 2, Tim Lambert, Deltoid
  3. 3.0 3.1 Note that both Lambert and Bug Girl have been combating DDT misinformation for quite some time by then, so their interest in the topic didn't come out of the blue. Their relevant blog categories are here and here. And Bug Girl is an entomologist.
  4. Skeptoid disappoints about DDT and the environment, Orac, Respectful Insolence
  5. Brian Dunning's DDT Fail, Bug Girl, Skepchick (the same post is mirrored on her blog)
  6. Skeptoid’s Massive DDT Fail!, Skepticblog
  7. Affiliates Indicted for Cookie Stuffing, Reve News
  8. The Indictment of Brian Dunning, Dubito Ergo Sum
  9. A Partial Explanation - Dunning's public response to the lawsuit.
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