The Reality Check

Aaaaand we’re back! On this week’s show, Pat dives into whether a human could survive being swallowed by a whale. Cristina takes a serious look at dangerous claims made by clinics popping up promoting thermography for breast cancer screening. Finally, Adam schools us on whether a history researcher has cracked the code of The Voynich Manuscript.

This week Cristina tells us about a nonprofit called Truth in Advertising who have conducted an investigation into Gwyneth Paltrow’s site, Goop. Darren asks: is it better to boil hot water or cold water? Adam wonders why Cuba has so many classic cars.

This week, Darren looks into the science of late summer and why we get that sudden feeling that summer is gone. Honorary TRC’er and resident machine learning expert Dallas Card joins the Toronto crew in-studio to dissect whether algorithms can be biased. Finally, after hearing a female adaptation of Lord of the Flies is in the works, Adam asks whether the movie’s concept is even plausible. PS. If you ‘get’ this week’s photo, you win the internet.

With Hurricane Harvey shaping up to be one of the most damaging natural disasters in U.S history, the panel dedicate this week’s show to learning more about hurricanes. First, Darren gives us a quick overview of what a hurricane is and the differences between it, typhoons, and cyclones. Adam looks at the impact of climate change on hurricanes. Lastly, Cristina digs into why and when evacuation orders are implemented during natural disasters after the recent criticism around Harris County.

Pat digs into a listener request about a report that found ‘ALARMING’ amounts of the herbicide glyphosate in food. Next, Darren takes a closer look at the data on whether female and male interests differ, on average. Lastly, Cristina checks the science behind the saying that laughter is the best medicine.

Darren is back and he has some thoughts about the ongoing reporting and discussions related to the Google memo. In preparation for the solar eclipse on August 21, Cristina checks into some commonly held beliefs about eclipses. Lastly, Adam looks into the ideas that twins run in the family and skip a generation.

Our old friend and OG TRC co-host Elan “Origami” Dubrofsky fills in this week for vacationing Darren with a ‘skepticool’ look at whether the phenomenon known as the “Sophomore Slump” has any truth to it. Pat has some fun trolling the panel with a game of Name That: Darren Edition. Finally, Adam picks apart the data behind recent headlines claiming millennials commit less and  ‘housewives’ commit more adultery.

Happy August, Checkers! This week Adam digs into a recent Pew Research Center study about online harassment to find out if women are more likely to be harassed online than men. Cristina gives us a lesson in Internet Trolling 101 featuring Canadian band Arcade Fire. Finally, Darren determines whether counting between lightning and thunder can really tell you the distance of a storm.

This week Darren gives us an impassioned critical overview of a recent interview on Waking Up with Sam Harris featuring Dilbert creator Scott Adams who makes a case for Trump. Cristina looks into how businesses get their logos on those big blue highway signs and at what cost. Finally, Adam looks at a recent and tragic news story about a Mink farm and reminds us sometimes there are consequences even with the best of intentions.

Pat and Cristina bring you a music themed mashup! First Pat sets the tone with a segment on high fidelity audio players and whether Neil Young’s Pono device is as ‘righteous’ as its name claims. Darren clears the smoke on whether Puff The Magic Dragon is about marijuana. Cristina rings in with a segment about Perfect Pitch.