{"podcast":{"title":"Book Club with Michael Smerconish","slug":"book-club-with-michael-smerconish-4372437","podcast_index_feed_id":4372437,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/Xjj1yH0V","website_url":"https://www.siriusxm.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/8436e3c1-2479-4466-ac48-fa58259960bb/9ed196e7-928b-4e34-8cad-cd044ed64d43/3000x3000/podcast-20on-20dark-6.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"SiriusXM","episode_count":543,"summary":"Reading for Independent Minds. Unlike many author interviews, if Michael didn't actually read the book, you won't hear about it. If he read it, you'll hear it and you'll love it. Insights into a wide range of topics, including many titles you've probably never heard of. The perfect book is just one listen away.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/book-club-with-michael-smerconish-4372437"},"episode":{"title":"Michael Shermer: \"Truth\"","slug":"michael-shermer-truth","published_at":"2026-02-18T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/book-club-with-michael-smerconish-4372437/michael-shermer-truth","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/book-club-with-michael-smerconish-4372437","url":"https://www.siriusxm.com","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/sxm.simplecastaudio.com/e3dd7ada-28ed-4fb2-9a98-2aa2a4696c24/episodes/2ca52afd-8d88-491b-92ee-496caac73291/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=e3dd7ada-28ed-4fb2-9a98-2aa2a4696c24&awEpisodeId=2ca52afd-8d88-491b-92ee-496caac73291&feed=Xjj1yH0V","summary":"Is America living in a “post-truth” era? In this episode of Book Club, Dr. Michael Shermer — founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and author of \"Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters\" — joins Michael for a wide-ranging conversation about belief, evidence, and critical thinking in a complicated age. Shermer addresses the recent surge of UFO and UAP claims, explaining why decades of investigation have left him unconvinced of extraterrestrial visits. From conspiracy theories and alternative facts to AI-generated deepfakes and declining trust in institutions, the discussion explores how we determine what’s real — and why skepticism remains essential. Are we more gullible than ever? Can truth survive politics, social media, and artificial intelligence? And what does healthy skepticism actually look like? A thoughtful, timely conversation about how to separate fact from fiction — and why it still matters. Original air date 12 February 2026. The book was published on 27 January 2026. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.","meta_description":"Is America living in a “post-truth” era? In this episode of Book Club, Dr. Michael Shermer — founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and author of \"Truth:…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1050,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/book-club-with-michael-smerconish-4372437/episodes/michael-shermer-truth/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/book-club-with-michael-smerconish-4372437/michael-shermer-truth.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}