The Podcast from Australia for Science and Reason.
Join Richard Saunders and his team of reporters for your weekly dose of skeptical news and interviews, re...
0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 00:08:48 You Can Count on Adrienne. With Adrienne Hill Adrienne chats with Johnathan Jarry from the McGill Office of Science and Society regarding his recent expose about Joe Mercola. Johnathan describes the controversial and jaw-dropping findings discovered after a whistle-blower sent him videos depicting strange conversations between Mercola and a psychic medium. Find out Mercola's thoughts on veterinarians, unconventional carbon dioxide treatments and how he is using Chat GPT. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRps3VQ-0BE&t=281s https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/exclusive-videos-show-dr-joe-mercolas-dangerous-ideas-whipped-alleged-medium 0:24:40 The Naked Skeptic An opinion piece by Richard Saunders. Abusing science is sadly prevalent in our society. Originally published in Australasian Science, Oct. 2002. 0:32:44 The TROVE Archives A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers on a search for references to Graphology. Included in this report are audio clips from "James Randi: Psychic Investigator" (1991) and various TikTok videos. Joining Richard Saunders are Kat McLeod and Adrienne Hill. 1989.06.08 - The Sydney Morning Herald 1969.10.07 - The Age 2005.04.29 - The Australian Jewish News http://www.trove.nla.gov.au Also The adventures of Psychic Penny and the Galactic Federation - series #1 https://youtu.be/9bszCu-_SAU Annelise Baer - Your friendly neighborhood archaeologist & Emmy-nominated researcher - Pyramid Pseudoscience https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSrJQt3aT Skeptics Cafe Meet the one and only Adrienne Hill, a.k.a. Psychic Penny! Function Room at The Stolberg Hotel, 197 Plenty Road Preston, Melbourne 31st March - Dinner from 6pm - Talk at 7:30pm https://www.facebook.com/events/1370082674018460?
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The Skeptic Zone #858 - 16.March.2025
0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 00:06:54 The Loon From Canada Kate and Allie return to the topic of the Mandela Effect and explore the rabbit hole of the International Mandela Effect Conference, featuring speakers who delve into consciousness, quantum silliness, and miraculous phenomena; the conference is more paranormal pondering than scientific symposium. They even are able to manifest special guest Coleman Watts from the Think This Through Channel on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkThisThroughChannel Mandella effect video: https://youtu.be/lEi_-nDoQXs 0:21:28 Deep Seek - The Play - Penny's Adventures #7 We asked Deep Seek AI to write part #7 of the misadventures of psychic Penny and the Galactic Federation. Joining Richard Saunders in this segment, playing the parts of a psychic and aliens, are Kat McLeod, Adrienne Hill, Lara Benham and Maynard. 0:30:18 Australian Skeptics Newsletter What skeptical news has caught the eye of Tim Mendham this week? Read by Adrienne Hill. http://www.skeptics.com.au 0:41:44 The TROVE Archives A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers on a search for references to James Randi. 1980.07.26 - The Age - Melbourne 1993.06.26 - The Age - Melbourne 1993.07.08 - The Age - Melbourne http://www.trove.nla.gov.au
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1:03:45
The Skeptic Zone #857 - 9.March.2025
0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 00:05:40 For Crying Out Loud! It's Kat McLeod This week Kat interviews Annie McCubbin from Australia. Annie is an actor, author and corporate trainer, committed to elevating the quality of critical thinking in business and life. She focuses on helping women avoid being conned by new-age nonsense and self-help platitudes. She is the author of Why Smart Women Make Bad Decisions (published in 2020) and Why Smart Women Buy the Lies (published in 2023). https://linktr.ee/anniemccubbin 0:28:26 Deep Seek - The Play - Penny's Adventures #6 We asked Deep Seek AI to write part #6 of the misadventures of psychic Penny and the Galactic Federation. Joining Richard Saunders in this segment, playing the parts of a psychic and aliens, are Kat McLeod, Adrienne Hill, Lara Benham, Maynard and Kathy Rightmire. 0:36:50 What can AI tell us about Cold Reading? Will AI ever replace psychics? We think it's quite possible. In this week's episode we interview an AI engine to get its opinions on the matter and get a cold reading along the way. https://www.sesame.com 0:43:56 The TROVE Archives A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers on a search for references to Australian Skeptics. 1987.04.24 - The Sydney Morning Herald 1997.08.12 - The Age 1989.06.03 - The Age http://www.trove.nla.gov.au Also Surf Coast Skepticamp http://www.tinyurl.com/scsc2025 Joe Nickell with Maynard 2015 http://www.tinyurl.com/scsc2025
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The Skeptic Zone #856 - 2.March.2025
Show Notes 0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 00:04:20 Revisiting the Beaumont Children Mystery In January 1966 three young children went missing from an Adelaide beach. This, one of the great unsolved cold cases of Australian criminal history, was not helped by the distraction of so-called psychics. News reel from 1966 with Gerard Croiset https://youtu.be/6phR-jFnx3g?t=666 TV news report from 1990 about June Cox a so-called psychic who was no help in the case https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/asset/99408-clairvoyant-joins-beaumont-children-search 0:20:34 Meta AI - The Play - Penny's Adventures #5 We asked Meta AI to write part #5 of the misadventures of psychic Penny and the Galactic Federation. Joining Richard Saunders in this segment, playing the parts of a psychic and aliens, are Kat McLeod, Adrienne Hill, Lara Benham, Maynard and Kathy Rightmire. 0:27:30 In Search Of - Water Seekers - 1980 Review A review from an Australian newspaper in 1980 of the 1978 episode from the "In Search Of" series that looks into the phenomenon of water divining or water dousing. https://youtu.be/SMCo1tvsauE 0:33:40 Australian Skeptics Newsletter What skeptical news has caught the eye of Tim Mendham this week? Read by Adrienne Hill. http://www.skeptics.com.au Also Surf Coast Skepticamp http://www.tinyurl.com/scsc2025
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The Skeptic Zone #855 - 23.February.2025
0:00:00 Introduction Richard Saunders 00:05:32 Wikipedia and Belle Gibson Susan Gerbic from Guerrilla Skeptics on Wikipedia takes us through some of the recent activity and interest shown in convicted scammer Belle Gibson in relation to her Wikipedia page. Â https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Gibson 0:20:42 In Search Of - Water Seekers A review of the 1978 episode from the "In Search Of" series that looks into the phenomenon of water divining or water dousing. We discover pseudoscience and logical fallacies galore. An excellent lesson in critical thinking. https://youtu.be/SMCo1tvsauE 0:38:14 Gimini - The Play - Penny's Adventures #4 We asked Gemini AI to write part #4 of the misadventures of Psychic Penny and the Galactic Federation. Joining Richard Saunders in this segment, playing the parts of a psychic and aliens, are Kat McLeod, Adrienne Hill, Lara Benham and Maynard. 0:44:54 The TROVE Archives A wander through the decades of digitised Australian newspapers on a search for references to Australian Skeptics. 1987.04.17 - The Canberra Times 1994.09.22 - The Canberra Times http://www.trove.nla.gov.au Also Surf Coast Skepticamp http://www.tinyurl.com/scsc2025 Jabba's Curious World - 2011 Paranormal in Australia https://youtu.be/jYWAmtNJIj0
The Podcast from Australia for Science and Reason.
Join Richard Saunders and his team of reporters for your weekly dose of skeptical news and interviews, reports and comments.
Past guests have included, James Randi, Stephen Fry, Tim Minchin, Eugenie Scott, Dr Phil Plait, Michael Marshall, Dr Steve Novella, Dr Pamela Gay, Jon Ronson, Dr Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh, Prof. Richard Wiseman, Dick Smith, Banachek, Prof. Chris French, George Hrab, Tim Ferguson, Dr Paul Willis and many, many more.
Featuring Australian radio legend Maynard with his Spooky Action, Jo Alabaster from the 'Evidence Please' blog, Eran Segev's Grain of Salt, Dr Rachael Dunlop with 'Dr Rachie Reports' and Heidi Robertson aka 'The Raw Skeptic'.
Australia