Our resident debunker of nonsense, Maria Konnikova, returns to take on the billion-dollar homeopathy industry. Why aren’t homeopathic remedies regulated in the United States? And what can their dubious history tell us about their effectiveness? Maria Konnikova is a contributing writer at the New Yorkerand the author of The Confidence Game. 

In the Spiel, watching CNN go haywire for a pretty banal accident on Capitol Hill.

Today’s sponsors:

Green Mountain Coffee. Green Mountain Coffee is passionate about making a smoother-tasting cup. Try it today with $4 off, when you buy two boxes of most Green Mountain Coffee K-Cup pods at keurig.comwith code TRYGMC.

Stamps.com. Buy and print official U.S. postage using your own computer and printer. Get a four-week trial plus postage and a digital scale when you go to Stamps.com, click on the Microphone at the top of the home page, and type in THEGIST.