The Skeptic’s Guide to Health, Medicine, and the Media

Course Overview

Tune up your B.S. detector and learn to distinguish solid science from misleading health headlines. Professor Roy Benaroch of Emory University School of Medicine equips you with a “Skeptic’s Toolkit”—six key questions to evaluate medical news critically.

24 Lectures | Explore heart health, obesity, opioids, mental illness, toxins, and more.

Video Lessons

1. Hormone Replacement Therapy (32 min)
   • The rise and fall of HRT, media hype, and testosterone marketing.

• Concussions and the Future of Football (33 min)
  • How selective reporting obscures the real risks of brain injuries.

3. New Drugs on the Block (32 min)
   • Evaluating media claims about “wonder drugs” and hidden data.

• Is It Time for Medical Marijuana? (33 min)
  • The gap between scientific evidence and media-driven legalization.

5. The Media and Weight Loss (30 min)
   • Decoding sensational headlines like “Fats are Bad!” vs. “Fats are Good!”

• Alternative Medicine in the News (31 min)
  • Why disproven treatments (fish oil, stem cells) still dominate headlines.

• The Media’s Take on Mental Health (31 min)
  • How TV and film skew perceptions of mental illness and violence.

8. The Media and the Internet (32 min)
   • Clickbait vs. real science: The dangers of viral health myths.

9. We Share Our World with Toxins (30 min)
   • Flint water crisis, baby-food toxins, and conflicting media narratives.

• Are Coffee and Wine Good for Your Heart? (30 min)
  • The back-and-forth media coverage of heart health claims.

• Life Expectancy and Infant Mortality (30 min)
  • Why U.S. stats lag—and how media oversimplifies the debate.

12. Is It Really OK to Stop Flossing? (31 min)
    • Sudden guideline changes and why doctors often disagree.

13. Does Cancer Screening Work? (30 min)
    • The dangers of overdiagnosis vs. survivor bias in reporting.

• Drug Prices in the News (31 min)
  • Pharmacy benefit managers, generics, and drug rep influence.

• Selling Disease (32 min)
  • How drug companies invent conditions (restless legs, dry eye).

• The Opioid Crisis (33 min)
  • Beyond “greedy pharma”: Media’s role in policy and education.

17. Infections in the Headlines (31 min)
    • Ebola, flu, and how false rumors spread real harm.

18. Health Risks in Our Environment (30 min)
    • Cell phones, seatbelts, and separating fear from fact.

• Bad Science (31 min)
  • Fraudulent journals, shoddy research, and patient risks.

20. Diet, Health, and the Power of Words (30 min)
    • “Superfoods,” “pink slime,” and media-driven food fears.

21. Genetics and the Media (32 min)
    • How the same study spawns contradictory obesity headlines.

22. How to Stay Young (30 min)
    • Applying skeptic tools to longevity myths.

• Cures for the Common Cold (30 min)
  • Echinacea, zinc, and the placebo effect in cold remedies.

• The Media’s Role in Improving Health (36 min)
  • Case studies: Seatbelts, smoking, and public health wins.