Alex Tsakiris

Alex Tsakiris is the host and founder of the podcast and website Skeptiko — Science at the Tipping Point, as well as an author and entrepreneur. Here are some key points about him:

Background and Career

• Tsakiris has a background in Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona and has worked as a consultant for Price Waterhouse. He also founded Mind Path Technologies, a company that produced an infrared remote control for presentations.24
• He has been hosting the Skeptiko podcast since January 2007, which focuses on controversial and alternative scientific topics, particularly in the areas of consciousness, near-death experiences, parapsychology, and spirituality.24

Skeptiko Podcast

• Despite its name suggesting skepticism, the podcast often advocates for pseudoscientific ideas such as quantum woo, parapsychology, and evolutionary teleology. It claims to be at the forefront of a paradigm shift away from materialism in science.14
• The podcast covers various topics including near-death experience science, parapsychology, consciousness research, spirituality, and encounters with the unknown. Tsakiris engages in debates and interviews with researchers and critics, though his methods have been criticized for lacking scientific rigor and objectivity.134

Criticisms

• Tsakiris has been criticized for his handling of interviews, including sudden changes in plans and post-editing interviews to favor his views. The transcripts of his podcasts are not reliable due to these edits.1
• He has been accused of misunderstanding scientific principles, such as confusing argument from authority with scientific consensus and not recognizing that a single effect can have multiple causes.1

Other Activities

• Tsakiris is associated with the website Open Source Science, which initially focused on Rupert Sheldrake's psychic pet studies but now redirects to the Skeptiko podcast.1
• He is a Christian theist and his forum, previously known as the Mind-Energy forum, promotes parapsychology, alternative medicine, and critiques what they term "material science".1

Publications

• Tsakiris has written a book titled Why Science Is Wrong... About Almost Everything, which has received mixed reviews. Even Rupert Sheldrake, who wrote the foreword, expressed that the title goes too far.14

Overall, Alex Tsakiris is a figure who challenges mainstream scientific views through his podcast and writings, but his methods and conclusions have been subject to significant criticism from the scientific and skeptical communities.