Tim Minchin: Storm
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters link it as a funny, quotable takedown of alternative medicine and cite its lines (such as 'alternative medicine that works is called medicine') in threads on homeopathy.
What it is
Tim Minchin performs his comedic beat poem 'Storm', a roughly nine-minute rant against homeopathy, alternative medicine and woolly thinking. It is delivered as a fast, rhyming monologue built around an encounter at a dinner party.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2016 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Recommends balabaster · 2016-11 · on “Homeopathy 'treatments' must be labelled to say they do not work, US gov orders”
Slightly off-topic, but I can't help but recall a rather hilarious 9 minute beat poem by Tim Minchin "By definition", I begin "Alternative Medicine", I continue "Has either not been proved to work, Or been proved not to work. Do you know what they call "alternative medicine" That's been proved to work? Medicine." [this video]
Cites bitwize · 2024-07 · on “Research into homeopathy: data falsification, fabrication and manipulation”
"It's a miracle! Take physics and bin it! Water has memory , and whilst its memory of a long lost drop of onion juice seems infinite, it somehow forgets all the poo it's had in it." --Tim Minchin [this video]
Cites gcanyon · 2025-03 · on “Do viruses trigger Alzheimer's?”
The actual quote (from memory, but I just listened to the monologue a minute ago): "Do you know what they call alternative medicine that's been scientifically proven to work? Medicine!" In other words, the quote is exactly referring to your "pipeline." Tim Minchin's "Storm" monologue: [this video]
Cites atombender · 2025-07 · on “Big Data was used to see if TCM was scientific (2023)”
Are you trying saying the quote is misattributed? Because it's from Tim Minchin's comedy act/poem "Storm" [1]. [1] [this video]