The Telepathy Tapes
{{Short description| 2024 podcast}}
{{Infobox podcast
| title = The Telepathy Tapes
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| starring = Ky Dickens
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| format = Audio
| creator = Ky Dickens
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| writer = Ky Dickens
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| composer = Elizabeth P.W.
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| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 10
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| began = September 9, 2024
| ended = December 23, 2024
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| provider = Acast
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| website = {{URL|thetelepathytapes.com}}
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The Telepathy Tapes is a podcast by documentary director Ky Dickens. The podcast presents nonspeaking autistic children that are claimed to demonstrate telepathic communication and other paranormal abilities. Season 1 was released in 2024. The show has been heavily criticized for its pseudoscientific and unsubstantiated premise.
Description
Based on non-peer-reviewed research by retired psychiatrist Diane Hennacy Powell, the podcast explores the notion that nonspeaking autistic children communicate telepathically with people around them.{{Cite news |last=Marriott |first=James |date=2 January 2025 |title=The Telepathy Tapes review — this hit podcast has contempt for science |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/telepathy-tapes-review-podcast-rnmspsn9h |url-access=subscription |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=The Times}} The Telepathy Tapes was directed by American documentary maker Ky Dickens. Dickens's degrees are in communications, fine arts and sociology while she describes herself as a "science nerd". She became interested in this subject when she heard Powell speaking on another podcast. Powell is heavily featured and the podcast's website contends that she has been researching the topic for a decade. The audience is invited to subscribe to the paywalled portion of the website to see the videos of the children trying to read minds and fund her research activities.{{Cite web |title=Telepathy tests |url=https://thetelepathytapes.com/telepathy-tests-library |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241225124447/https://thetelepathytapes.com/telepathy-tests-library |archive-date=25 December 2024 |access-date=12 January 2025 |website=The telepathy Tapes}}
Interviews with parents of autistic children constitute the core of most episodes, with people presented as experts and Dickens chiming in to speculate about paranormal powers. Listeners can hear sessions during which autistic children try to guess numbers and words their parent is thinking about, successes in these tests being presented as evidence of telepathy. The podcast also features Dickens' camera technician in the role of a hardened materialist skeptic who turns into a believer in the course of the series.
The podcast quickly gathered a very large audience during the Fall of 2024, briefly becoming the most popular podcast on some streaming services in the United States and the United Kingdom. As of January 2025, The Telepathy Tapes had a 4.9 stars rating on Spotify with over 2,000 reviews.{{Cite news |last=Cockerell |first=Claudia |date=3 January 2024 |title=What is The Telepathy Tapes? The controversial podcast which replaced Joe Rogan as number one |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/podcast-telepathy-tapes-joe-rogan-top-charts-b1202851.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250105182742/https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/podcast-telepathy-tapes-joe-rogan-top-charts-b1202851.html |archive-date=5 January 2025 |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=The Standard}}{{Cite news |last=Sager |first=Monica |date=3 January 2025 |title=Podcast Claiming Autistic Children Are Telepathic Knocks Rogan off Top Spot |url=https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-podcast-telepathy-tapes-autism-spotify-charts-2009384 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250106141704/https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-podcast-telepathy-tapes-autism-spotify-charts-2009384 |archive-date=6 January 2025 |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=Newsweek}}{{Cite news |last=Roeloffs |first=Mary |date=3 January 2025 |title=Podcast About 'Telepathic' Autistic Children Briefly Knocks Joe Rogan Out Of No. 1 Spot |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/01/03/podcast-about-telepathic-autistic-children-briefly-knocks-joe-rogan-out-of-no-1-spot/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250105185812/https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/01/03/podcast-about-telepathic-autistic-children-briefly-knocks-joe-rogan-out-of-no-1-spot/ |archive-date=5 January 2025 |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=Forbes}} Dickens has announced the second season of the podcast would feature non-autistic telepaths and is raising funding for a television production.
Reception and criticism
While the show received an enthusiastic reception from a large number of listeners and has been promoted by Joe Rogan, it has been heavily criticized for its pseudoscientific premise and speculations.{{Cite web |last=Lamb |first=Eileen |date=2025-01-08 |title=The Telepathy Tapes: Separating Science From Pseudoscience In Autism Communication |url=https://theautismcafe.com/the-telepathy-tapes-podcast-autism-review-pseudoscience/ |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=theautismcafe.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Jilani |first=Zaid |title="The Telepathy Tapes" is Taking America by Storm. But it Has its Roots in Old Autism Controversies. |url=https://www.theamericansaga.com/p/the-telepathy-tapes-is-taking-america |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=www.theamericansaga.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=FC’s Lesser-Known Side: Thoughts about the Telepathy Tapes (Episode 1) |url=https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/fcs-lesser-known-side-thoughts-about-the-telepathy-tapes-episode-1 |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Facilitated Communication |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Stephen |date=2025-01-09 |title=What People Are Getting Wrong This Week: 'The Telepathy Tapes' |url=https://lifehacker.com/entertainment/the-telepathy-tapes-what-people-are-getting-wrong-this-week |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Lifehacker |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Farrier |first=David |title=Telepathic Children Do Not Exist |url=https://www.webworm.co/p/telepathytapes |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=www.webworm.co |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Engber |first=Daniel |date=2025-03-03 |title=The Telepathy Trap |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/03/telepathy-tapes-podcast-spelling-facilitated-communication/681895/ |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{cite podcast |host=Wendy Zukerman |date=2025-04-17 |title=Telepathy: Is It For Real? |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/5XnGCMI9CNpLrzwFR1oxh8?si=FO1CcJAQTWCNQ7EX6wzm_A |work= |publisher=Spotify |time= |access-date=2025-05-18}} The Times
After seeing the short video clips from the website, Jonathan Jarry of the McGill University Office for Science and Society and psychologist Stuart Vyse both independently concluded the tests are derived from the rapid prompting method, a variation of the scientifically discredited technique of facilitated communication. For Vyse and Jarry, with the parent holding the board that the child needs to point to construct a response, or holding the child themselves, the most likely explanation is that the parent is steering the child to the right answer, consciously or not (through the ideomotor effect).{{Cite web |last=Jarry |first=Jonathan |date=13 December 2024 |title=The Telepathy Tapes Prove We All Want to Believe |url=https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/telepathy-tapes-prove-we-all-want-believe |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250105135139/https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/telepathy-tapes-prove-we-all-want-believe |archive-date=5 January 2025 |access-date=12 January 2025 |website=Office for Science and Society}}{{Cite web |last=Vyse |first=Stuart |date=6 January 2025 |title=The Telepathy Tapes: A Dangerous Cornucopia of Pseudoscience |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/the-telepathy-tapes-a-dangerous-cornucopia-of-pseudoscience/ |access-date=13 January 2025 |website=Skeptical Inquirer}} About facilitated communication techniques, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that "studies have repeatedly demonstrated that FC is not a scientifically valid technique for individuals with autism"; the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics also published position statements against their use.{{Cite web |date=October 20, 1993 |title=Facilitated Communication |url=https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Policy_Statements/2008/Facilitated_Communication.aspx |access-date=13 January 2025 |website=American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry}} The Association for Science in Autism Treatment issued a statement supporting Vyse's conclusions: "the Telepathy Tapes podcast spreads misinformation about the authenticity of facilitated communication and the presence of paranormal abilities in nonspeaking autistic individuals."{{Cite web |last=Mathieu-Sher |first=Reva |date=27 January 2025 |title=ASAT Responds to The Skeptical Inquirer: “The Telepathy Tapes: A Dangerous Cornucopia of Pseudoscience” |url=https://asatonline.org/media_watch/asat-responds-to-the-skeptical-inquirer-the-telepathy-tapes-a-dangerous-cornucopia-of-pseudoscience/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3mIZ01DXfbJ1pdOjvkoqNgVMCF93NkVjSjqTd0n4MJv73Q-B6kYtUoEAU_aem_PFvVHHO2DZPEHIKUnVbQPQ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131111425/https://asatonline.org/media_watch/asat-responds-to-the-skeptical-inquirer-the-telepathy-tapes-a-dangerous-cornucopia-of-pseudoscience/ |archive-date=31 January 2025 |access-date=31 January 2025 |website=Association for Science in Autism Treatment}}
Beyond telepathy, Dickens also briefly entertains the notions that autistic children can also communicate with ghosts and that strange powers can be accessed through crystals. Journalist Zaid Jilani noted that the podcast "relies on experts and witnesses who sincerely believe that vaccination is helping increase the prevalence of autism, something that has no scientific basis."{{Cite web |last=Jilani |first=Zaid |title=“The Telepathy Tapes” Has Close Ties to Vaccine Skeptic Movement |url=https://www.theamericansaga.com/p/the-telepathy-tapes-has-close-ties |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=www.theamericansaga.com |language=en}} Skeptical critic Michael Marshall additionally notes that Powell favorably cites an anti-vax proponent as "her go-to expert on autistic children", and Powell also objected to vaccinating children in a speech she made at a March 2017 rally alongside Judy Mikovits, Del Bigtree, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Social psychologist Devon Price recommended that those interested in exploring what he described as "the many, many problems with The Telepathy Tapes" listen to the episode{{Cite web |title=241: Unravelling The Telepathy Tapes |url=https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/241-unravelling-the-telepathy-tapes |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=Conspirituality |language=en-US}} of the podcast Conspirituality devoted to the same. Price opines, "The Telepathy Tapes is very much a part of a pipeline that leads from talking of 'highly sensitive persons' and indigo children all the way down to antivax sentiment."{{Cite web |last=Devon |date=2025-03-05 |title='The Telepathy Tapes' is Dangerous, Unscientific Nonsense that Promotes a Widely Discredited "Communication Method" Used to Abuse Autistic Kids |url=https://drdevonprice.substack.com/p/the-telepathy-tapes-is-dangerous |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=Devon Price}}
Episodes
{{Episode table |overall= |title= |aux1= |aux1T=Length (minutes:seconds) |airdate= |episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1
|Title=Unveiling the Hidden World of Telepathic Communication in a Silenced Community
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|9|9}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=47}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=2
|Title=Telepathy or the merging of consciousness?
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|9|16}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=46}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=3
|Title=Telepathic Communication between friends and groups
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|9|23}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=43}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=4
|Title=Teen Love with a Twist of Telepathy
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|9|30}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=44}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=5
|Title=Teachers Break the Silence about Telepathy
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|10|7}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=41}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=6
|Title=Scientific Evidence for ESP that Shatters the Materialist Paradigm
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|10|14}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=40}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=7
|Title=Telepathy is the Tip of the Iceberg
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|10|28}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=55}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=8
|Title=Gatekeepers of Truth - Telepathy and the Spelling Controversy
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|11|11}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=51}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=9
|Title=Telepathy Across Dimensions, Death, and Beyond
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|11|25}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=60}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=10
|Title=In Their Words: Messages from the Non-Speakers
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2024|12|23}}
|Aux1={{Duration|m=38}}
|ShortSummary=
}}
}}