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Hello and welcome to the skeptics guide to the universe.

Today is Thursday, January 1st, 2026, and this is your host, Stephen Novella.

Joining me this week are Bob Novella.

Hey, everybody.

Kara Santa Maria. Howdy? Jay Novella. Hey, guys week are Bob Novella. Hey, everybody. Kara Santa Maria.

Howdy. Jay Novella. Hey, guys. And Evan Bernstein. Good afternoon, everyone. So, guys, I don't know. Have we ever recorded on January 1st? I was about to ask that. I don't think so. No. We have to. We basically had to this week just because of our schedules. We're all like, are we going to do, like, everyone going to be awake and conscious on the day after New Year's Eve?

Yeah, well, you know. One of those, not necessarily both.

Our schedule is such that we had to record today.

Yeah.

Sounds like you guys.

Other commitments.

Had a more intense New Year's Eve than I did. We all went out to the same friend's house, you know, before we get together. But we were up past midnight. We were social. Yeah. Yeah. We were social. I barely made it past midnight and I was completely anti-social last night. But it was great.

Sometimes an at-home new year's is just what you did. A lot of people did that. Yeah. I had one person tell me that, I think I'm just going to go hang out in the living room tonight, but maybe I'll change my mind and just hang out in bed. Right. So that was their choice. Good to have options. Good to have options. But none of us are drinkers.

It was not like we're hungover or anything.

It's just we're up late. So that was their choice. Good to have options. Good to have options. But none of us are drinkers.

It's not like we're hungover or anything. It's just we're up late. Yeah. So late for you, Steve. That is. You've got to bed early. That is very late for me. Normal for me. But there were games being played and, you know, games help move the night along. Oh, yeah. Look, I'm going to say it.

2025 sucked.

It was so yesterday.

It was a stressful year. Yeah. It was just a fuck yeah. However, every day. It was the year that I retired, so it wasn't all of that. That's true. No, it wasn't all bad. So, guys, let me tell you something. I just bought my second EV. Yes. So I got rid of my gas car. So now I'm fully EV in my household. We were just yesterday, my wife and I were picking up the car and signing all the paperwork. And you know, you have to like sit there for 20 minutes while you sign a million pieces of paper. It's just one of those things you've got to get through. So we're sitting there. The guy that's doing it with us,

he's only been working at the car dealership for two weeks, right? Two weeks. If that's true.

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