The Reality Check

Last time we spoke with Dr. Stuart Farrimond it was two days before he was scheduled to undergo brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumour. This week we catch up with Stu. We discuss his ongoing treatment, he gives us some tidbits from his upcoming book and we even get in a couple of food science questions. Stuart is a medical doctor turned science communicator, author and food science expert.

Darren looks into an article, and terrible graph, that suggests the rate at which scientists in Italy cite themselves and their colleagues is on the rise. Cristina checks out research into whether uttering profanities can make you stronger. Adam wonders about the evolutionary cause of various skin pigments in different human populations.

Pat looks into a listener’s question about whether the Amazon rainforest is the Earth’s lungs responsible for 20% of the oxygen we breathe. Next, Adam raises concerns about headlines claiming there is no such thing as a “gay gene” according to a new study. Lastly, with the election season upon us, Darren gives us a handy primer on Canada’s election process.

Cristina looks into the naming convention for IKEA products. Is KOLBJÖRN just Swedish for where’s the allen key? Darren does a deep dive on absolute zero.  Adam looks into recent headlines about fires in the Amazon rainforest. The facts may surprise you. 

TRC’s ‘Fifth Beatle’ Dr. Stuart Robbins, aka AstroStu, joins us this week for a fun and fact-packed show! Adam kicks things off highlighting recent listener’s feedback. Stuart fact-checks Cristina and brings us a more in-depth look at retrograde in Astronomy. Finally, Pat gets cheeky with a game of ‘Name That’ about the moon landing.

Cristina kicks off the show by taking a closer look at the NY Times Best Seller list and what being a “bestselling author” really means. Adam puts Occam’s razor to good use while exploring whether it’s plausible that Jeffrey Epstein may have committed suicide in jail. Finally, Darren digs into anthropologist Joseph Henrich’s book, “The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter.”

After we posted a funny meme on TRC’s Facebook page, a couple of Checkers question whether hippos can really swim so Pat goes on a mission to find out. Simple yes or no answer, right? Not on this show! Darren breaks down Neil deGrasse Tyson’s tweet and apology around recent U.S. shootings that made some people more than a little upset. Finally, Adam gives us a cool art history lesson after visiting an exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci and realizing the Mona Lisa may not be who she seems.

Are you having a bad month, Checkers? Mercury is said to be in retrograde but what does that really mean? Cristina takes us on a little fact-finding mission through the Cosmos to find out. Next, Adam brings the panel another great ‘I did not know that!’ segment when he breaks down the origin of salt after Neil deGrasse Tyson tweets all salt comes from the Sea. Finally, Darren helps busts some sleep myths after reading ‘Why We Sleep’ by neuroscientist Matthew Walker.

This week we bring you a special episode after an Irish listener writes in and asks us to fact-check myths surrounding the Irish Famine. Luckily friend of the show, historian and author Joe Coohill, literally wrote the book on Ireland. Better known as Professor Buzzkill from the awesome podcast of the same name, Joe helps us set the record straight debunking historical myths on the tragedy.

Your fave fact-checking crew is back with a new show! First, Darren kicks things off by most certainly looking at quantum uncertainty...or not...or both. Next, Cristina celebrates the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic moon landing by probing whether a former NASA intern is really auctioning off “lost” footage of the first moonwalk. Finally, Adam questions the validity of the Facebook event "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us".