The Reality Check
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The Reality Check
Canada's weekly podcast that explores a wide range of controversies and curiosities using science and critical thinking.
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TRC #719: The Disney Point and Smoking + Book Reviews: Shadow Cell and Algospeak
Is the "Disney Point" the bizarre result of certain images of Walt Disney around Disney Parks with cigarettes edited out to give the illusion of a uni...
TRC #718: Philosophical Zombies + Vampires and Tuberculosis
With Halloween coming up we bring you some spooky segments on zombies and vampires! Darren looks at the thought experiment about philosophical zombies...
TRC #717: Air Conditioning in Europe + Book Reviews: Privacy and Surveillance and Quantum Mechanics
Why does air conditioning seem to be more common in North America than in Europe or other places around the world? Adam looks at the many factors that...
TRC #716: Depicting Intelligence in Fiction
How is intelligence portrayed in works of fiction? In books, films and TV, we often see depictions of very smart of sometimes less intelligent people,...
TRC #715: Mashup: Trees
Wood you believe that it's all about trees on the latest episode of The Reality Check podcast? Here are two classic segments about trees. First up is...
TRC #714: Superman Movie Discussion
It's a different kind of show this week as Darren and Adam discuss the recently released Superman film. The movie, directed by James Gunn, stars David...
TRC #713: Testosterone Replacement Therapy + Book Review Roundup: Apple in China, An Immense World, Canada Alone, Pronoun Trouble, Rise Above
This podcast is not sponsored by anyone selling testosterone and its hosts aren't on T, but there are a many who are! Adam looks into testosterone rep...
TRC #712: AI Make Brain Dumb? + Mentalism
Is AI making us dumber? Darren looks into a recent study, which spawned some less than great press coverage, trying to assess where or not using LLMs...
TRC #711: Are Dire Wolves Back? + Book Review Roundup: Nexus, Stoicism, CBT Made Simple, Philosophers in 90 Minutes
Could it be that dire wolves are no longer extinct? Researchers at Colossal Biosciences claim to have accomplished de-extinction of these long extinct...
TRC #710: Remembering Dr. Stuart Farrimond
Sadly, we recently got the news that our friend and frequent TRC contributor Dr. Stuart Farrimond passed away. Stuart was a medical doctor who had a...
TRC #709: 100 Men vs. 1 Gorilla + Evidence of Alien Life on an Exoplanet?
Who would win in a fight, 100 men or 1 gorilla? If you're thinking that question is too vague then you'll love Darren's analysis of the situation. Ada...
TRC #708: The Telepathy Tapes + AI Cheating At Chess?
The Telepathy Tapes is a popular podcast that tells the story of non verbal people showing evidence of psychic abilities and logging on to a psychic v...
TRC #707: Is Tim Hortons Canadian? + Mysterious Structures Under The Great Pyramid
Is Tim Hortons Canadian? Darren takes a look at the history of the popular coffee and donut chain to see just how Canadian it is and what it even mean...
TRC #706: An AI Generated Podcast by NotebookLM
Could Artificial Intelligence do a better job of recording a podcast than Darren and Adam? For this bonus episode we try something a little different....
TRC #705: Book Round Up: Family Unfriendly and One Billion Americans + Is The 401 The Busiest Highway In The World?
After reading two books touching on the theme of birth rates Adam gives us an overview and discussion on Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raisi...
TRC #704: Remembering Joe Nickell
Joe Nickell, the world renowned paranormal investigator, died earlier this week at the age of 80. He was a great inspiration to us here at The Reality...
TRC #703: Jevons’ Paradox + American vs. Canadian ingredients in food
Darren revisits a topical segment from the past looking at Jevons' Paradox which suggests that as a resource becomes more efficient, it may paradoxica...
TRC #702: Talking Close Relationships with Dr. Cheryl Harasymchuk
With Valentines Day coming up we are taking this opportunity to revisit a romantic segment we did five years ago with Dr. Cheryl Harasymchuk. In this...
TRC #701: How Many Birds Do Cats Kill? + Book Review Roundup
It is often said that cats are responsible for the death of countless birds. Adam looks at where these numbers come from and wonders whether they are...
TRC #700: The Rise of Podcasts + Are False Beliefs More Common?
It's the 700th episode of The Reality Check podcast! On this special show we look back at the last 16 years to see how much things have changed since...
TRC #699: Was Lamarck That Wrong? + What Do Animals See On A TV?
When it comes to evolution many focus on what Jean-Baptiste Lamarck got wrong with his model of inheritance. Darren looks at what he got right and co...
TRC #698: Converting Office Space to Housing + Book Review: The Singularity is Nearer
Why don't they just convert all of the unused office space to housing? Adam looks at the challenges involved in converting office buildings to reside...
TRC #697: Did Hedy Lamarr Invent Wi-Fi? + Name That: Spot the Fake
We have some very special guests on this week's episode as TRC alumni Pat and Cristina join us with some great segments. Cristina looks at the truth...
TRC #696: Did Sakana AI Change Its Own Code? + Who is Margaret Hello?
Could an AI rewrite its own code? Has it perhaps already done so? Darren looks at the story which suggests that an AI Scientist, developed by Sakana A...
TRC #695: The Science of Sharknado + Book Review: Invisible Rulers by Renée DiResta
After having watched all six Sharknado films Adam decides to do some research into the science of these not at all ridiculous films, uncovering the tr...
TRC #694: Can Meditation Be Harmful? + Did Cavemen Live in Caves?
Could meditation ever be harmful? Darren examines the evidence to determine if meditation, which can have many benefits, might sometimes have a negati...
TRC #693: When Is Soap Not Really Soap? + Book Review: Determined
What's the difference between a bar of soap and the stuff we use to clean dishes, laundry and cars, and can you just use any of those in the shower? A...
TRC #692: Cultivating Critical Thinking + Letting Food Cool Before Refrigerating It
We look at some fundamental ways of cultivating critical thinking on the latest show. Darren looks at some common cognitive biases and logical fallac...
TRC #691: Why Can’t AI Do Laundry and Dishes?
Can we say that AI is going in the wrong direction, as it does our art and writing while we suffer doing laundry and dishes? It's just Adam on the sho...
TRC #690: Early Mammals + Would You Rather Encounter a Man or a Bear in the Woods?
What were the first mammals like? Darren examines what characterizes a mammal and explores the world of early mammals, who coexisted with the dinosaur...
TRC #689: The Science of Dune's Sandworms + AI Personal Assistants
Could the huge Sandworms in Frank Herbert's Dune really exist? Adam looks at how scientifically plausible these odd creatures might be. In light of...
TRC #688: Interview with Spencer Greenberg
Spencer Greenberg is the founder Clearer Thinking, a web site which provides tools for critical thinking, as well as Transparent Replications, which d...
TRC #687: Remembering Daniel Dennett
This past Friday, April 19th, philosopher Daniel Dennett passed away at the age of 82. Throughout his life he has impacted many people through his wo...
TRC #686: The Stanford Prison Experiment + Is AI Taking Over Creative Jobs?
Adam looks at evidence that the popular Stanford Prison Experiment was not as well run as we've heard which raises concerns about the conclusions we m...
TRC #685: AI More Creative Than Humans? + Safe Solar Eclipse Viewing
Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Creativity? Can an AI be more creative than a human? Darren looks at a study which attempts to answer this que...
TRC #684: Aliens in Mexican Congress? + Book Review: Outlive by Peter Attia
I'm not saying they're aliens but … they're aliens. Adam uses hard hitting science to evaluate the validity of these allegedly non human mummified rem...
TRC #683: AI News: Sora, Gemini 1.5 and Implications + Jailbreaks by Hiding Files in Cakes
Darren gives us a news roundup of some recent things happening in the world of AI including OpenAI's text to video tool Sora, Google Deepmind's Gemini...
TRC #682: Oppenheimer Movie Discussion
We try something a little different on the latest episode of The Reality Check. Having recently seen the movie Oppenheimer Darren and Adam have a disc...
TRC #681: Are Poinsettias Poisonous? + Mickey Mouse and the Public Domain
Put down that poinsettia salad, checkers. Darren looks into a popular myth that poinsettia plants are poisonous to animals, including people. Then A...
TRC #680: Annual Predictions: 2024 Edition + Down Syndrome Strength + A Special Message From Pat and Cristina
This year we retire our annual prediction segment with a final look back at how accurate, or rather how innacurate, we were in our predictions of what...