The Podcast from Australia for
Science and Reason - Since 2008
Click Here for The Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project
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The Skeptic Zone #843 - 1 December 2024
Show Notes
0:00:00
Introduction Richard Saunders
00:01:08
Squaring the Zone
On the final day of Skepticon XL, Richard Saunders from The Skeptic Zone podcast joins Ben Radford from the Squaring the Strange podcast along with the one and only Maynard. Topics include the history of both podcasts, investigations, "What are you skeptical of this week?", and a TROVE segment. Also questions from the audience.
From Sydney Skeptics in the Pub, Maynard talks to Dr Liam Brierley a Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, UK. He uses biostatistics, computer science, and AI to investigate how viruses evolve and transmit between animal species. Liam is also a Media Ambassador for the Royal Statistical Society and has worked with national press including The Guardian and BBC's Panorama to make sense of health data.
0:37:42
The TROVE Archives
A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers
on a search for references to Alien Autopsy of 1995.
Introduction Richard Saunders and Maynard from the William Shatner Room at Maynard's International Studios.
00:05:42
You Can Count on Adrienne. With Adrienne Hill.
Tim Binga is director of Libraries and IT manager at the Center for Inquiry and an adjunct instructor at the University at Buffalo. He holds a master's degree in library science and dual B.A.'s in history and humanities.
0:12:50
A Brave New World?
A peek into the world of fake scripts read by fake podcast presenters. Notebook LM takes reports and other documents, even web pages, and turns them into an audio conversation. In tnis example we hear what AI make of The Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project.
Kate and Allie catch up with Abhijit Chanda from the Rationable Podcast in India. This interview was conducted on the sidelines of the recent CSICON meeting in Las Vegas.
00:11:26
CSIcon Las Vegas interviews with Rob Palmer
In the third part in this series, Rob chats to Kevin Folta, Bill Patterson and Jeff Gehlbach.
0:24:34
Australian
Skeptics Newsletter
What skeptical news has caught the eye of Tim Mendham this week? Read by Adrienne Hill.
A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers
on a search for references to "Tea Cup Reading".
1932.08.12 - The Labour Daily
1932.12.20 - The Brisbane Courier
1932.12.20 - The Evening News - Rockhampton
1933.10.22 - The Sunday Times - Perth WA
1950.02.15 - The Brisbane Telegraph
This week Kate and Allie have a Halloween themed quiz! Kate, the Inquisitor, will be giving urban legend summaries, asking Allie and the listeners to decide if they are total works of fiction, or if they have a basis in reality. Please be advised that some of these urban legends may be creepy, spooky, or disturbing for some listeners. If you are brave enough, put on your critical thinking tiaras and see how you do.
00:26:14
CSIcon Las Vegas interviews with Rob Palmer
In the second part in a series, Rob chats to famed mentalist Banachek, anti-creationist youtuber Forrest Valkai and Brazilian science writer Natalia Pasternak.
0:40:16
The TROVE Archives
A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers
on a search for references to Spirit Channeling.
1988.06.15 - The Canberra Times
1989.04.23 - The Canberra Times
Adrienne was invited by Dr. Rodney Schmaltz, a psychologist, to speak at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton Canada. During the visit, Adrienne interviewed Dr. Schmaltz about the exciting activities in his critical thinking course and his involvement with the upcoming LiliCon 2024 on Thursday, October 24, from 12-4 pm at CSICon.
The Western Australia branch of the Cancer Council has been nominated for the 2024 Bent Spoon award for the promotion of pseudoscience, in this case offering therapies based on the pseudoscience of reiki and reflexology.
This week, you can count on Kate and Allie to sum up numerology, calculate some life path numbers, and multiply the giggles! They'll divide the complexities of the subject, angle in on the important bits, and hopefully not leave you feeling irrational. Tune in as they break down what it all means and show you how to add a little skepticism to your life!
0:35:32
A
The TROVE Archives
A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers
on a search for references to Crime and the Supernatural.
1939.12.02 - The Herald - Melbourne
1928.07.05 - The Kalgoorlie Miner
More than just a magician's assistant. In honour of Women's History Month, Kat will be giving the listeners a history lesson about Rose Mackenberg.
Known primarily for being Houdini's assistant, she was much more than that, she was a prolific debunker in her own right, and should be remembered for all she accomplished.
We look at action taken against those selling and promoting "Black Salve", a corrosive substance claimed to treat and cure skin conditions, even cancer. There are good reasons why this quackery has been banned by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Adrienne interviews Science Journalist Erika Englehaupt about her two books published within the last few years. This is part one of a two-part series in which we discuss her fascinating book Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science.
In part two, we will discuss her newly published book Go to Hell: Journey to the Underworld.
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A look at the history and various examples of skeptics, including the James Randi $1,000,000 challenge, putting up large amounts of money to challenge and possibly reward those who claimed to have paranormal powers.
0:29:28
Australian
Skeptics Newsletter
What skeptical news has caught the eye of Tim Mendham this week? Read by Adrienne Hill.
This week Adrienne catches up with Melanie Trecek-King from the website Thinking is Power. An interesting discussion about skeptical outreach and what value is the word skeptic after all?
Tim Mendham and Richard Saunders discuss the contenders for this year's Bent Spoon Award, awarded annually at the Australian Skeptics National Convention for the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of pseudoscientific or paranormal piffle.
A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers
on a search for references to Snake Oil.
1935.06.02 - The Sunday Times - Perth WA
1935.08.31 - The Australian Women's Weekly
1954.04.09 - Morning Bulletin - Rockhampton Qld
2013.05.19 - The Daily Telegraph
Lucky Girl Syndrome, the Law of Attraction, the Power of Positive Thinking, the Secret, Manifesting - the same idea has been preached for nearly 150 years, under different names.
Aren't we lucky? This week Kat is going to delve into the Law of Attraction, and tell us "The Secret to Manifesting good things in our lives!"
0:17:38
Australian
Skeptics Newsletter
What skeptical news has caught the eye of Tim Mendham this week? Read by Adrienne Hill.
The Book of Tim. With Tim Mendham and Richard Saunders
From 1986 - ZANEX PAYS GELLER OVER $350,00
The Australian-based mining company Zanex, paid magician and mentalist Uri Geller $US250,000 (over $A350,000) for his advice on where to look for gold in the Solomon Islands and near Maldon in Victoria.
Tim also reads a newspaper item about this incident from the time and talks with Richard Saunders about the issues involved.
Maynard heads for Sydney Skeptics in the Pub for a special screening of Brian Dunning's movie, "The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You To See". Maynard chats to various skeptics and guests about their thoughts on UFOs and the movie.
0:37:14
A
Dive into a Trove
A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers
on a search for references to yet more UFOs.
1953.09.15 - The Adelaide Advertiser
1996.08.23 - The Australian Jewish News
1987.03.08 - The Canberra Times
1987.06.01 - The Canberra Times
Adrienne interviews Andras Pinter from The European Skeptics Podcast and Coleman Watts, a former conspiracy theorist turned science communicator, on her travels to the Rocky Mountains and then onto Iceland. Join her for these informal but informative interviews across the globe.
Join Kate this week as she challenges Allie with a quiz. Kate will uncover a mysterious
array of treatments and Allie will have to unravel the enigma of whether these practices
hail from folklore of old or persist in the modern day. Play along to test your knowledge
and possibly discover secret remedies you may have never heard of.
0:19:36
I Think We Need To Think
Once again Susan Gerbic heads to a SkeptiCamp, this time in Seattle in the US state of Washington. Her interviews with organisers and attendees give us a flavour of the event. Susan's reports from local events encourage all of us to be more proactive no matter where in tne world we are.
0:30:42
A
Dive into a Trove
A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers
on a search for references to predictions of the future from the past and mindbody spirit.
1984.12.29 - Canberra Times
1988.01.03 - Canberra Times
1995.09.04 - Canberra Times
Bob Nixon tunes in and finds an old aquaintance up to his old tricks - very old tricks. "Like Deja vu all over again"
In this report from 'The Skeptic Magazine' in 2001, a former investigator of Australian Skeptics the late Bob Nixon, reviews a farcical TV special about the paranormal, starring among others, Uri Geller.
Verna Morris, Maureen Chuck, Ken McLeod, Monica Saville, Dr Richard
Gordon, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, John Bundock, Peter Bowditch and Lauren
Cochrane with Ada and Jack.
Join the cast of the Skeptic Zone Podcast, and a host of
special guests, in their first audio adventure as they board the
Australian Space Ship Solar Flare to fight
the forces of woo thoughout the galaxy!
Ducks
on a Coin 4,961 × 3,508 pixels, file size: 4.65 MB
Folded and Photographed
by Richard Saunders
The Skeptic Zone Podcast
is an independent production by Richard Saunders and the team of reporters.
The views and opinions expressed on the Skeptics Zone Podcast are not
necessarily those Australian Skeptics Inc. or any other skeptical organisation.