Episode 249 – Grab Bag: Remembering Joe Nickell, real-time folklore, “transgender mice,” and RFK Jr. vs. measles

March 14, 2025

Episode Summary:

Ben has been on a cruise, and brings back an interesting story on how quickly rumors and conspiracy theories can form in that environment. We pay tribute to Joe Nickell, a truly versatile skeptic and investigator, and go over the Stand Up for Science marches that took place last week. Then we turn to current events wrought by the Trump administration: the kerfuffle over “transgender mice” is more complicated than you think; RFK’s faint praise of the MMR vaccine; and the CDC’s planned study on vaccines and autism.

Click each image to enlarge.

A museum display box contains what appears to be a fossililzed body of a centaur.

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autism, CDC, Conspiracy Theories, Grab bag, Investigator, Joe Nickell, MMR, MMR vaccine, RFK, RFK Jr., rumors, Stand Up for Science, transgender mice, Trump, Vaccines

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