Cambridge Skeptics

A hundred years ago, whooping cough killed more than one in every hundred children born in Europe. Eighty years ago, two women in Grand Rapids, Michigan, developed the vaccine that stopped it. All it took was years of working evenings and weekends, an army of volunteer healthcare workers and lab technicians funded by donations from local businesses. Fifty years ago, their whooping cough vaccine was at the centre of a scare that ushered in the modern antivaccine movement. The story of the whooping cough vaccine is a story of good science, bad science and of the limitations of science when applied to anything as complicated as human beings.

David Miles is an infectious disease immunologist who spent ten years researching immunity to infections and the vaccinations that protect against them in various parts of Africa. He now lives in London and teaches on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s online postgraduate course. His first popular science book, How Vaccines Work, was published in March 2023 and his second, Sneeze: The History and Science of the Common Cold, was published in March 2026.

From flying saucers to haunted houses, join Matthew Baxter and Dr. Karen Stollznow as they examine a selection of famous UFO and ghost cases from both sides of the Atlantic. From Roswell and Rendlesham Forest, to poltergeists and Pluckley Village, they’ll ask what the evidence really shows, and why skepticism remains our best investigative tool.

Matthew Baxter has spent decades investigating paranormal claims, including hauntings, UFOs, alleged alien encounters, cryptids, and psychic phenomena. He has appeared on Larry King Live, National Geographic, CNN, the Travel Channel, and numerous documentaries and news programs. Matthew has lectured at conferences and universities throughout the United States, encouraging audiences to approach extraordinary claims with curiosity, critical thinking, and respect for the evidence.

Karen Stollznow is a linguist, researcher, and podcaster. She's the author of Beyond Words: How We Learn, Use, and Lose Language, Bitch: The Journey of a Word, On the Offensive, Haunting America, and Language Myths, Mysteries, and Magic. Karen is a Host of Monster Talk, a Research Fellow at Griffith University, and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Colorado Boulder.