The Reality Check

Cristina flexes her critical thinking muscles and investigates the legitimacy of why 10,000 steps a day is promoted as the magical number to stay healthy and fit. Adam looks at statistics to check claims that fatal anti-transgender violence is a national epidemic in the U.S. Lastly, Darren gives an overview of Pedro Domingos’ book, “The Master Algorithm”, a thought-provoking look at machine learning.

Producer Pat kicks off the show by clearing up some misconceptions about impeachment and looking at what it means to be impeached. Darren looks into the future of work and the key game changers covered in a report by foresight organization Policy Horizons Canada. Lastly, Adam tries to find any scientific evidence to support the purported benefits of eating one’s placenta after giving birth.

Happy New Year, Checkers! The crew rings in the first show of 2020 with a laughter-filled look back at last year. First, a little navel gazing while we chat about our favourite segments. Next, Producer Pat challenges the panel to a sneaky 2019 themed game of ‘Name That’. Lastly, Adam fact checks how well we did with our 2019 predictions, before we take out the proverbial crystal ball and do it all again for 2020.

Darren sucks us into a segment about vortexes after a recent trip to Arizona leaves him scratching his head over their mystical ‘enhanced energy’ claims. Cristina looks behind the movie magic in “Home Alone” using science to assess the real life consequences of the booby traps 8 year old Kevin sets up for the Wet Bandits. Adam rounds out the show with a detailed look at Thomas Abt’s book “Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence”, which uses an evidence based approach to look at issues surrounding urban violence.

Cristina set her focus on some dubious sales pitches being made about blue light filtering lenses. Next, with Giving Tuesday right around the corner, Darren talks to us about giving to charities effectively.  Adam closes out the show with a look at organizing consultant and author Marie Kondo and her new online store.

Adam looks into some curious headlines suggesting that China has banned video games after 10PM. Cristina looks closely at how Portugal is doing 18 years after decriminalizing drugs. Darren explores the assumptions and mistakes humans make when dealing with people via Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking To Strangers.

Adam takes a deep dive into a recently published, Canada-wide investigation highlighting dangerous levels of lead in drinking water in the Great White North. ‘Tis the season to get the flu shot. Darren breaks down what a flu vaccine is made of and why. Finally, Cristina takes on a widely-shared social media post warning people about criminals throwing eggs at car windshields.

This week, we kick off the show with Adam addressing listener email about his Hilary Clinton vs NASA segment. Cristina looks into a curious headline about migrating Russian eagles running up huge data roaming charges. Adam asks, are kids these days really worse than kids of days gone by? Finally, Darren revisits an oldie but a goodie, Peter Singer’s Practical Ethics.

Boo! A little extra candy in your podcast feed this week. TRC’s Darren McKee appeared on CFRA News Talk Radio back in 2013 for a special Halloween episode of ‘Ron Corbett Unscripted’. He participated in a debate about ghosts, spirits and the paranormal. 

Cristina looks into the latest Halloween fear mongering to assess whether THC-laced candy is an especially big concern this year. Darren digs deep behind the headlines that a Paris zoo showcased a blob with 720 sexes. Adam explores whether Hillary Clinton’s account  of writing to NASA as a kid and receiving a reply stating that women can’t be astronauts has a moon nugget of truth to it.