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The Telepathy Tapes, a podcast claiming nonspeaking autistic people communicate telepathically, became Apple Podcasts’ top series of 2025 after a Joe Rogan endorsement. Skeptical Inquirer reports the claims rest on facilitated communication, a technique rejected by major professional organizations.
The Telepathy Tapes, the podcast claiming that nonspeaking people with profound autism can communicate telepathically, ended 2025 as the top podcast series on Apple Podcasts and the forty-first most popular show on Spotify — a commercial ascent that Skeptical Inquirer, in a new analysis, says demonstrates that pseudoscience sells. The article by psychologist Stuart Vyse examines how the series, built on claims generated through facilitated communication — a technique rejected by major professional and advocacy organizations — has expanded from telepathy claims into a wide catalog of paranormal and spiritual content.
The podcast, created by documentary filmmaker Ky Dickens, launched its ten-episode first season in September 2024. Its trajectory changed on Christmas Day 2024, when Joe Rogan reviewed the show favorably on The Joe Rogan Experience, saying he believed telepathy is real. According to the Skeptical Inquirer account, the podcast then shot up the charts, briefly reaching number one and eclipsing Rogan’s own show. By the end of January 2025, Dickens had signed with a talent agency.
Commercialization followed quickly. Season one had run without advertising, but subsequent episodes carried national sponsors selling products including CBD and microdose psilocybin tea. The podcast’s website began selling a “backstage pass” subscription at $5.99 per month, or $9.99 for “All Access,” along with hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Singer Ani DiFranco promoted the podcast on her summer tour and announced she would score an upcoming Telepathy Tapes documentary film.
The podcast’s central claim — that nonspeaking autistic individuals communicate telepathically with parents, teachers, and each other, and in some cases with the dead — rests on messages produced through variations of facilitated communication, most often “spelling to communicate,” in which a communication partner holds a letter stencil for the nonspeaking person to point at. Vyse writes that all available tests of authorship suggest such communications are controlled by the person holding the stencil, not the nonspeaking individual. The technique is opposed by organizations including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
The Telepathy Tapes: A Portal Into A World Of Woo
A podcast claiming nonspeaking autistic people communicate telepathically became Apple Podcasts’ top series of 2025 after a Joe Rogan endorsement. A new Skeptical Inquirer analysis by psychologist Stuart Vyse argues its evidence rests on facilitated communication — a technique rejected by major professional organizations.
From Indie Debut to Chart Domination
Created by documentary filmmaker Ky Dickens, the show ran its first season without advertising — then a single celebrity recommendation rewrote its trajectory.
Launch
Ten-episode first season debuts, focused on profoundly autistic children and adults.
Rogan Endorsement
Joe Rogan says on-air he believes telepathy is real; the show rockets up the charts.
Peak & Signing
Briefly hits #1, eclipsing Rogan’s own show; Dickens signs with a talent agency.
Commercialization
National sponsors (CBD, psilocybin tea), paid subscriptions, merch, tour promotion.
Top of the Charts
Named Apple Podcasts’ top series of 2025 — proof, Vyse argues, that pseudoscience sells.
Why a Debunked Method Undermines the Claims
The dependency is simple: for telepathic messages to be valid, the communication method reporting them must be valid. Facilitated communication and its variant “spelling to communicate” involve a partner holding a letter stencil for the nonspeaking person to point at — and decades of controlled authorship testing point to the facilitator, not the speaker.
Who’s Really Talking?
All available tests of authorship suggest such communications are controlled by the person holding the stencil, not the nonspeaking individual.
Opposed by the Profession
The technique is opposed by organizations including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Audio-Only Evidence
Listeners hear descriptions of apparent telepathy but cannot see how the messages were produced. Video clips exist — behind a paywall.
From Telepathy Claims to Open-Ended Woo
After season one, the show’s scope widened dramatically — from telepathy anchored to autistic children to a “long list of gurus, intuitives, and religious and spiritual guides.”
| Phase | Content Focus | Guests & Claims | Scientific Scrutiny |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season One (2024) | Telepathy among nonspeaking autistic individuals — and, in some cases, the dead | Families, teachers; claims of mind-to-mind communication | ✗ No controlled tests |
| Talk Tracks (Jan 2025) | New paranormal ideas introduced in follow-up episodes | Expanding catalog of spiritual content | ✗ Skeptics labeled “materialists” |
| Later Seasons | Gurus, intuitives, religious and spiritual guides | Elizabeth Gilbert; Deepak Chopra prominently featured | ✗ Researchers excluded |
| Upcoming Film | Documentary with music by Ani DiFranco — footage shown on screen | Previously unseen methods visible to wider audiences | ~ Potential for scrutiny · No release date |
Voices From the Debate
“A favorable review… in which Rogan expressed his belief that telepathy is real.”
Joe Rogan · The Joe Rogan Experience · Dec 25, 2024
“Consciousness does not exist in spacetime. Spacetime exists in consciousness.“
Deepak Chopra · Season 1, Episode 28
“For telepathic messages to be valid, the communication method used to report them must be valid.”
Stuart Vyse · Skeptical Inquirer
Vyse notes the term “materialists,” used to dismiss skeptics on the show, echoes rhetoric from the Spiritualist movement of the late nineteenth century. Psychologist Gordon Pennycook and colleagues have described Chopra-style pronouncements as “pseudo-profound bullshit” in published research cited by the article.
The Money & Belief Trail
How unverified claims converted into commercial success.
The Commercial Stack
National sponsors (CBD products, microdose psilocybin tea), a $5.99/month “backstage pass” or $9.99 “All Access” subscription, plus hats, hoodies, and t-shirts. Ani DiFranco promoted the podcast on her summer tour and will score the film.
What Remains Undemonstrated
No controlled, independently verified test of the telepathy claims has been published. It’s unclear whether producers will submit featured subjects to independent oversight — and how millions of listeners reconcile the claims with scientific consensus.
Frequently Asked
What is The Telepathy Tapes?
A podcast created by documentary filmmaker Ky Dickens that claims nonspeaking people with profound autism can communicate telepathically with parents, teachers, and each other. It launched in September 2024 and became Apple Podcasts’ top series of 2025.
Why is facilitated communication controversial?
Facilitated communication and its variant “spelling to communicate” involve a partner supporting or holding a communication device. Decades of controlled authorship testing indicate the messages are produced by the facilitator — leading major organizations, including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, to oppose the technique.
Where can I follow ongoing evaluations?
Skeptical organizations and researchers are expected to continue analyzing released video footage. Readers can monitor facilitatedcommunication.org and the Skeptical Inquirer for ongoing assessments.
Why a Debunked Method Undermines the Claims
The core issue, according to the Skeptical Inquirer analysis, is a simple dependency: for the telepathic messages to be valid, the communication method reporting them must be valid. If facilitated communication is authorship by the facilitator — as decades of controlled testing have indicated — then the telepathy claims built on it collapse as evidence. Vyse argues this leaves the show’s participants holding two layers of unfounded belief: first in facilitated communication, and second in telepathy.
The format itself matters. Because the show is audio-only, listeners hear descriptions of apparent telepathy but cannot see the communication methods being used. The original documentary footage was filmed, and limited video clips are available on the podcast website for a fee, but the mass audience experiences the claims without visual scrutiny of how the messages were produced.
The show’s chart dominance also illustrates how quickly unverified paranormal claims can reach enormous audiences through modern podcast distribution and celebrity endorsement — in this case, a single on-air recommendation from one of the medium’s biggest hosts.
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From Telepathy Claims to Open-Ended Woo
Season one focused on a group of profoundly autistic children and adults, keeping the paranormal claims largely anchored to that setting. But the Skeptical Inquirer account describes how, after season one, the show’s scope widened dramatically. Follow-up “Talk Tracks” episodes released in January 2025 introduced new paranormal ideas, and subsequent seasons featured what Vyse calls “a long list of gurus, intuitives, and religious and spiritual guides.” Guests have included Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert and, most prominently, Deepak Chopra, who told the podcast that “consciousness does not exist in spacetime. Spacetime exists in consciousness.”
Vyse notes that skeptical or scientific voices are largely excluded from the show and labeled “materialists” — a term, he points out, that was used against skeptics during the Spiritualist movement of the late nineteenth century, when believers held that consciousness could travel between bodies and survive death. Psychologist Gordon Pennycook and colleagues have described Chopra-style pronouncements as “pseudo-profound bullshit” in published research cited by the article.
“A favorable review of The Telepathy Tapes, in which Rogan expressed his belief that telepathy is real.”
— Joe Rogan, The Joe Rogan Experience, December 25, 2024
What the Podcast Has Not Demonstrated
No controlled, independently verified test of the telepathy claims presented on the podcast has been published, according to the Skeptical Inquirer analysis. The show’s evidence consists of demonstrations using facilitated communication, a method whose authorship tests have historically pointed to the facilitator. It remains unclear whether Dickens or the podcast’s producers will submit the featured subjects to controlled experimental conditions with independent oversight. The upcoming documentary film — which will make the previously unseen footage more widely available — has no announced release date. How the show’s millions of listeners reconcile its claims with the scientific consensus on facilitated communication is also unknown.
The Documentary and the Money Trail
The announced Telepathy Tapes documentary film, with music by Ani DiFranco, is the next major milestone; unlike the podcast, it will show the communication methods on screen, potentially inviting wider scrutiny. The podcast’s paid subscription and merchandise business continues to expand, and further seasons appear likely given the show’s chart performance. Skeptical organizations and researchers, including facilitated-communication critics cited by Skeptical Inquirer, are expected to continue analyzing the video footage the podcast has released. Readers can monitor facilitatedcommunication.org and the Skeptical Inquirer for ongoing evaluations.
Key Questions
What is The Telepathy Tapes?
A podcast created by documentary filmmaker Ky Dickens that claims nonspeaking people with profound autism can communicate telepathically with parents, teachers, and each other. It launched in September 2024 and became Apple Podcasts’ top series of 2025.
Why is facilitated communication controversial?
Facilitated communication and its variant “spelling to communicate” involve a partner supporting or holding a communication device. Decades of controlled authorship tests suggest the messages are controlled by the facilitator, not the nonspeaking person. Organizations including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association oppose the technique.
How did the podcast become so popular?
According to Skeptical Inquirer, a favorable December 25, 2024 review from Joe Rogan — who said he believes telepathy is real — sent the podcast to the top of the charts, briefly surpassing Rogan’s own show.
Has the telepathy been scientifically tested?
No controlled, independently verified test of the podcast’s telepathy claims has been published. The demonstrations rely on facilitated communication, which mainstream scientific and medical organizations consider debunked.
Is the podcast monetized?
Yes. After season one ran without ads, the show gained national sponsors, a paid “backstage pass” subscription at $5.99–$9.99 per month, merchandise, and an announced documentary film with music by Ani DiFranco.
Source: Skeptical Inquirer
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