In part due to the Halloween season, I had the opportunity to make a number of media appearances in recent weeks, all of them great fun.

On November 7, I made a virtual appearance on the BBC Channel 4 program “Sunday Brunch” for a lively conversation with hosts Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer. The interview was about my book Superstition: A Very Short Introduction. It ran for about seven minutes, which gave us time to get into sports superstitions, the number 13, and the common British fear of magpies.

Also in the UK, students at Cambridge University have recently formed a group called, Cambridge University Students Against Pseudoscience, and as part of their Fall speaker series, I gave a talk entitled, “How Do You Become Superstitious?” In this case, I had to borrow a friend’s dining room to use as a backdrop because there was a major construction project going on at my house. CUSAP appears to be a terrific organization, and it is my sincere hope that similar groups spring up on other campuses.

Finally, back in early October, I appeared on the “Under the Cortex” podcast of the Association for Psychological Science. The title of the episode was “Why Some People Won’t Get Vaccinated,” which was based on my recent Skeptical Inquirer column “Why Your Uncle Isn’t Going to Get Vaccinated.” This was a very enjoyable conversation about a timely and important topic. You can listen to the discussion below.

That’s all for this missive. I will be back before long to tell you about some upcoming events, but for now, happy Thanksgiving for those of you who will be celebrating.

SV