Who is the successor to Randi's tenacity, wit, and intellect?
I used to hope Shermer or someone born out of Skeptic would take up the mantle (and I appreciate comedians like Gervais who take a swing at it) but I don't see anyone who hits as hard and succinctly as Randi did. I think it was also his showmanship that made it all work so perfectly.
P&T are a bit too much about being "in your face". Penn just loves to yell to get his point across, where as Randi was tactful and calm. I also had in issue with them grossly misrepresenting several issues, specifically their PETA debacle. They're a bit too scattershot IMHO.
I'm a huge Captain Disillusion fan. For anyone that doesn't know, he does "debunkings" of viral videos featuring something supposedly supernatural.
I don't know if I would categorize hims as the same as Randi, tbh. But if anyone hasn't had the pleasure of seeing his videos, look them up on YouTube! He is one of my favorite content creators, and probably the least well known one. He deserves to be watched by anyone with even a moderate interest in skepticism, visual effects, or science.
I would vote for yes, Captain Disillusion. See for example videos like [0]. He's great because he follows in the spirit of people like Randi while being at the same time original and appropriate to his era by focusing on dishonest visual effects and editing.
I used to hope Shermer or someone born out of Skeptic would take up the mantle (and I appreciate comedians like Gervais who take a swing at it) but I don't see anyone who hits as hard and succinctly as Randi did. I think it was also his showmanship that made it all work so perfectly.