Skeptics in the Pub

Skeptics in the Pub is an informal social event designed to promote fellowship and social networking among skeptics, critical-thinkers, and other like-minded individuals. It provides an opportunity for skeptics and rationalists to talk, share ideas in a casual atmosphere, and discuss whatever topical issues come to mind. It allows participants to have fun while promoting skepticism, science, and rationality.

The usual format of meetings includes an invited speaker who gives a talk on a specific topic, followed by a question-and-answer session. Other meet-ups are informal socials, with no fixed agenda. The groups usually meet once a month at a public venue, most often a local pub. There are now more than 100 different "SitP" groups running around the world.

History

The group's earliest and longest-running event is the award-winning London meeting, established by Scott Campbell in 1999. This group claims to be the "World's largest regular pub meeting," with two to four hundred people in attendance at each meeting. Scott Campbell based the idea around Philosophy in the Pub and Science in the Pub, two groups which had been running in Australia for some time. The inaugural speaker was Wendy M. Grossman, the editor and founder of The Skeptic magazine, in February 1999.

Campbell ran the London group for three years while there on a teaching sabbatical, and was succeeded after his return to Australia by two sci-fi fans and skeptics, Robert Newman and Marc LaChappelle. Nick Pullar, who made a television appearance as "Convener of Skeptics in the Pub" on the BBC spoof show Shirley Ghostman, then led the group from 2003 to 2008. The London group is now organised and chaired by Sid Rodrigues, who has co-organised events in several other cities around the world. This group has conducted experiments on the paranormal as part of James Randi's One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge and co-organised An Evening with James Randi & Friends.

The ease of use of the internet, via social networking sites and content management systems, has led to more than 100 active satellite chapters around the world, including more than 30 in the US and more than 40 in the UK.

Skeptics in the Pub would later serve as the template for other skeptical, rationalist, and atheist meet-ups around the globe, including The James Randi Educational Foundation's "The Amazing Meeting", Drinking Skeptically, The Brights, and the British Humanist Association social gatherings.

Since 2010 Edinburgh Skeptics in the Pub has extended the Skeptics in the Pub concept over the whole Edinburgh International Festival Fringe, under the banner Skeptics on the Fringe and from 2012 done the same at the Edinburgh International Science Festival with the title At The Fringe of Reason. The Merseyside Skeptics Society and Greater Manchester Skeptics (forming North West Skeptical Events Ltd) hosted three two-day conferences, QED, in February 2011, March 2012 and April 2013. Glasgow Skeptics has also hosted two one-day conferences, as of July 2011.

Notable guests

Over the past ten years, the London event has featured lectures by well-known scientists and skeptics. Rarely the guests are proponents of fringe or pseudoscientific views. Notable guests include:

• Simon Singh (No longer being sued by the British Chiropractic Association for criticising their activities in a column in The Guardian.)
• Victor Stenger (Author of God: The Failed Hypothesis)
• Jon Ronson (Documentary film-maker and author of The Men Who Stare at Goats)
• Phil Plait (Past-President of the James Randi Educational Foundation, author and blogger)
• David Colquhoun (Past holder of the A.J. Clark chair of Pharmacology at University College London and science/political blogger)
• Richard J. Evans (Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University and an expert witness at the Irving v. Lipstadt libel case)
• S. Fred Singer (atmospheric physicist and AGW skeptic)
• Ben Goldacre (medical doctor and journalist, and the author of The Guardian newspaper's weekly Bad Science column)
• David Nutt (psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety and sleep.)
• Mark Stevenson London-based British author, businessman, public speaker, futurologist and author of An Optimist's Tour of the Future.

Groups

The following is a list of towns and cities in which Skeptics in the Pub groups are currently active:

Australia

• Brisbane
• Hobart
• Launceston
• Melbourne
• Mordialloc
• Sydney
• Wollongong

Austria

• Vienna

Belgium

• Brussels
• Flanders

Brazil

• Porto Alegre

Canada

• Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Saint John, New Brunswick
• Montréal, Québec
• Ottawa, Ontario
• Toronto, Ontario
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• Victoria, British Columbia

China

• Hong Kong
• Dongguan

Croatia

• Zagreb
• Rijeka

Denmark

• Copenhagen

Germany

• Berlin
• Hamburg
• Köln

Hungary

• Budapest
• Székesfehérvár

Ireland

• Cork
• Dublin
• Galway

Israel

• Beersheba
• Haifa
• Jerusalem
• Tel Aviv

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, there are currently two monthly English language "Skeptics in the Pub" events, and three Dutch language "Freethinkers in the Pub" events (co-)organised by De Vrije Gedachte and two closely related Dutch language "Enlightenment in the Pub" events.

• Amsterdam
  • Amsterdam Skeptics in the Pub (hosted by the Amsterdam working group of Stichting Skepsis)
  • Amsterdam Freethinkers in the Pub (Vrijdenkersborrel Amsterdam; co-organised by De Vrije Gedachte and the Partij van de Rede – ASP)
• Deventer Freethinkers in the Pub (Vrijdenkersborrel Deventer; co-organised by De Vrije Gedachte and the Partij van de Rede – ASP)
• Rotterdam Enlightenment the Pub (Rotterdamse Verlichtingsborrel; linked to De Vrije Gedachte)
• The Hague
  • The Hague Skeptics in the Pub (organised independently)
  • The Hague Enlightenment in the Pub (Haagse Verlichtingsborrel; linked to De Vrije Gedachte)
• Utrecht Freethinkers in the Pub (Vrijdenkersborrel Utrecht; organised by De Vrije Gedachte)

New Zealand

• Auckland
• Christchurch
• Dunedin
• Hamilton
• Hawkes Bay
• Palmerston North
• Wellington

Norway

• Oslo

Singapore

• Singapore

Slovenia

• Ljubljana
• Maribor (occasionally)

South Africa

• Cape Town
• Durban
• Johannesburg
• Pretoria

Spain

• Barcelona
• Madrid
• Santiago de Compostela
• Valencia

Sweden

• Gothenburg
• Stockholm (Swedish speaking)
• Stockholm (English speaking)
• Kalmar

Taiwan

• Taichung

United Kingdom

Aberdeen Aberystwyth Bath Bedford Belfast Birmingham Bournemouth Brighton Bristol Cambridge Cardiff Cheltenham Chichester Coventry Ealing Eastbourne Edinburgh

Exeter Glasgow Gravesend Greenwich Guildford High Wycombe Horsham Kingston upon Thames Lancaster Leeds Leicester Lewes Lincoln Liverpool London Manchester Milton Keynes

Newcastle Norwich Nottingham Oxford Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Sheffield Soho Stoke-on-Trent Swansea Teesside Tunbridge Wells Winchester Worthing York

United States

Atlanta, GA Bay Area, CA Boston, MA Central Iowa Champaign, IL Chattanooga, TN Chicago, IL Chico, CA Cincinnati, OH Fort Collins, CO Houston, TX

Huntsville, AL Indianapolis, IN Louisville, KY Manchester, NH Marina, CA Michigan (multiple cities) Missoula, MT Morgantown, WV Paducah, KY Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR Sacramento, CA

San Diego, CA Santa Rosa, CA Seattle, WA St. Louis, MO St. Petersburg, FL Syracuse, NY Tallahassee, FL Villa Park, CA Wichita, KS

See also

• Camp Quest
• European Skeptics Congress (ESC)
• New Zealand Skeptics
• List of public house topics
• SkeptiCalCon
• SkeptiCamp
• Skepticon
• Skeptic's Toolbox (sponsored by the Center for Inquiry)
• Question, Explore, Discover (QED)
• The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM)
• World Skeptics Congress (WSC)

External links

• Skeptics in the Pub
• Birmingham Skeptics
• Edinburgh Skeptics
• Glasgow Skeptics
• Greater Manchester Skeptics
• Leeds Skeptics
• Merseyside Skeptics
• Milton Keynes Skeptics
• Skeptics in the Pub Porto Alegre (Brazil)
• Skeptics in the Pub Israel
• Winchester Skeptics