Since 2012, The Skeptic has had the pleasure of awarding the Ockham Awards – our annual awards celebrating the very best work from within the skeptical community. The awards were founded because we wanted to draw attention to those people who work hard to get a great message out. The Ockhams recognise the effort and time that have gone into the community’s favourite campaigns, activism, blogs, podcasts, and outstanding contributors to the skeptical cause.
Nominations for the 2023 Ockham Awards are now open! Simply complete the nomination form to submit your nominations.
Last year’s Ockham winner was the BBC’s Disinformation Unit, now part of BBC Verify. Since before the pandemic, the Disinformation Unit has been a shining example of diligent, tenacious, and deeply skeptical reporting – getting to the bottom of viral health claims, misused statistics, misleading imagery, manipulated videos and dangerous conspiracy theories. In 2022, they documented how the anti-vaccine movement had become more extreme, and how Russian propaganda regarding the invasion of Ukraine spread through conspiracist channels.
Other past Ockham winners include Dr Elizabeth Bik, Dr Natália Pasternak, Professor Edzard Ernst, the European Skeptics Podcast, Say WHY To Drugs podcast, Britt Hermes, and more.
While we recognise the best in skepticism, our awards are also an opportunity to highlight the danger posed by promoters of pseudoscience with our Rusty Razor award. The Rusty Razor is designed to spotlight individuals or organisations who have been prominent promoters of unscientific ideas within the last year.
Last year’s Rusty Razor went to the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which was set up in 2009 by climate change denier Nigel Lawson, and has published influential reports underplaying the threat of climate change. In 2021, GWPF rebranded as “Net Zero Watch”, around the same time that former trustee Steve Baker MP formed the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of MPs, which routinely cites research material from the GWPF as part of their call to water down or roll back policies that would tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions.
Previous Rusty Razor winners have included Dr Mike Yeadon for his anti-vaccination scaremongering, Dr Didier Raoult for his promotion of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, Andrew Wakefield for his ongoing promotion of anti-vaxx misinformation, and Gwyneth Paltrow for her pseudoscience-peddling wellness empire, Goop.
One of the most important elements of our awards are that the nominations come from you – the skeptical community. It is that time again, we ask you to tell us who you think deserves to receive the Skeptic of the Year award, and who deserves to receive the Rusty Razor.
Nominations are open now and will close on September 9th. Winners will be chosen by our editorial board, and they will be announced at QED in Manchester on September 23rd.
