Brian Andrew Dunning (born 1965) is an American writer and producer who focuses on science andskepticism.[1] He has hosted a weekly podcast,Skeptoid, since 2006, and he is an author of a series of books on the subject ofscientific skepticism, some of which are based on the podcast.Skeptoid has been the recipient of several podcast awards such as theParsec Award. Dunning has also created theSkeptoid.org spin-off video series,inFact, andThe Feeding Tube both available onYouTube.
Dunning has produced two educational films on the subject ofcritical thinking:Here Be Dragons in 2008, andPrinciples of Curiosity in 2017.[2]
Dunning co-founded Buylink, abusiness-to-business service provider, in 1996, and served at the company until 2002. He later becameeBay's second-biggestaffiliate marketer;[3] he has since been convicted ofwire fraud through acookie stuffing scheme, for his company fraudulently obtaining between $200,000 and $400,000 from eBay. In August 2014, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervision.[4]
In 1996 Dunning co-founded and waschief technology officer for Buylink Corporation.[5] Buylink receivedventure capital funding fromHummer Winblad Venture Partners.[6] In 2000 he participated in a presentation on Buylink at The Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum calledBricks to Clicks in the New Internet Reality.[7] He discussed the company onCNNfn'sMarket Call, in Rhonda Schaffler'sMaverick of the Morning segment.[8] In 2002, Dunning left his position as CTO of BuyLink.[9]
Between 1997 and 2005 he was technical editor forFileMaker Advisor magazine,[10] and contributing editor of ISO FileMaker Magazine, 1996–2002,[11] winning one of the FileMaker Excellence Awards at the 2001FileMaker Developers Conference.[12]
Beginning in 2006, Dunning hosted and producedSkeptoid, a weekly audiopodcast dedicated "to furthering knowledge by blasting away the widespread pseudosciences that infect popular culture, and replacing them with way cooler reality".[13] He is also the author of the book of the same title and a sequel.
Beginning in 2007, Dunning periodically released video episodes of hisInFact series. Each episode is under four minutes long and covers issues similar to those explored in more depth in theSkeptoid podcast, but is intended to reach a wider audience due to its brevity and availability onYouTube.[14]
In 2008 Dunning producedHere Be Dragons, a free 40-minute video introduction to critical thinking intended for general audiences,[15] and received an award from the Portland Humanist Film Festival for this in November 2011.[16]
In 2010 Dunning was awarded theParsec Award for "Best Fact Behind the Fiction Podcast".[17] In August 2010 he received an award recognizing his contributions in theskeptical field from theIndependent Investigations Group (IIG) during its 10th Anniversary Gala.[18]
In June 2017 Dunning's second film,Principles of Curiosity, was released. According to Dunning, this "presents a general introduction to the foundations of scientific skepticism and critical thinking... It is nonprofit, noncommercial, and licensed for free public, and private screenings. It is provided with free educational materials for teachers, designed for high school through college. It is suitable for all audiences. Its 40-minute runtime should fit into most classes."[19][20]
In October 2019, a special preview of the Skeptoid Media documentary,Science Friction, was shown afterCSICon inLas Vegas. Through a series of interviews, the film addresses the issue of scientists and skeptics being misrepresented by the media. Produced by Dunning and directed by filmmaker and comedianEmery Emery, release of the film is scheduled for 2020.[21]
In August 2008,eBay filed suit against Dunning, accusing him of defrauding eBay and eBay affiliates in acookie stuffing scheme for his company, Kessler's Flying Circus. In June 2010, based on the same allegations and following an investigation by theFederal Bureau of Investigation, agrand jury indicted Dunning on charges ofwire fraud.[26] On April 15, 2013, in theSan Jose, California, U.S. District Court, as part of a plea agreement, Dunning pleaded guilty to wire fraud.[27] The eBay civil suit was dismissed in May 2014 after the parties came to an agreement, while Dunning was sentenced in August 2014 to fifteen months in prison as a result of his company receiving between $200,000 and $400,000 in fraudulent commissions from eBay.[28][29][30] In a statement on his website, Dunning explained the circumstances, and initially accepted responsibility for his actions,[29] although in a later account claimed to have been in the right and to have only pled guilty in order to protect his family and to avoid a longer jail term.[31]
Skeptoid 300th episode party: Brian Dunning, Ryan Johnson, Jesse Horn, Lee Sanders and Bill Simpkins in Q&A discussing the debut of The Secret of the Gypsy Queen
Skeptoid is Dunning's weeklypodcast. The show follows an audio essay format, and is dedicated to the critical examination ofpseudoscience and theparanormal. In May 2012, Skeptoid Media became a501(c)(3) educational nonprofit.[32]
Each roughly ten-minuteSkeptoid episode focuses on a single issue that is generallypseudoscientific in nature. Transcriptions of the episodes are available on line,[35] and usually fall into one of four categories:
Beginning in 2007, Dunning authored a series of books based upon theSkeptoid podcast episodes.[36][37][38][39][40][41]
Despite his shift away from the technology industry, Dunning continues to do computer programming, and doesweb development for his Skeptoid website.[42]
From 2022, the show is distributed by public media organizationPRX's Dovetail publishing platform; PRX also provides sponsorship and promotional support.[43]
In 2023 Dunning produced the documentaryThe UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See[50] that explores the science behindUFOs.[51] It was crowd-funded[52] and is available as video-on demand[53] and free, but ad-supported.[54] The documentary was favorably reviewed inPsychology Today[55] and theSkeptical Inquirer,[56] and has been shown at theSETI Institute.[57]
^Brown, Christopher (April 3, 2011)."MTS: Meet Brian Dunning" (Podcast). Meet the Skeptics!. Archived fromthe original on May 27, 2014. RetrievedMay 24, 2014.
^Dunning, Brian."Principles of Curiosity".PrinciplesOfCuriosity.com. Skeptoid Media.Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. RetrievedJune 24, 2017.
^Dunning, Brian (June 14, 2017)."Principles of Curiosity".Youtube.com. Skeptoid Media.Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. RetrievedJune 24, 2017.
^Dunning, Brian (August 17, 2023),The UFO Movie They Don't Want You to See (Documentary), Hal Bidlack, Jason A. Bush, Josh Carter, Brian Dunning Presents, retrievedDecember 31, 2023
