Entries Tagged 'Episodes' ↓

Is college worth it? In our changing world, is a college degree as valuable as it used to be? In this episode, we look at earning potential, costs, benefits, drawbacks, and levels of personal satisfaction over the last few decades to see if getting a degree is all it’s cracked up to be.

Ep 83 – College

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/05/15/is-college-worth-it/ – Pew Study on college as talked about in the show

http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2072670,00.html – Time infographic based on the Pew study

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

Listener feedback and questions. Looking totally unqualifiedly at the structure of the universe, North American politics, listening to music too loudly, and colourblindness.

Ep 82 – Listener Questions 3

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

Sports myths, facts, and legends. Do you really need sports drinks? Does stretching decrease injury? Are football players dumber than average? Is there such thing as home field advantage? Was Michael Jordan cut from his high school basketball team? Is the marathon length a historic Greek messenger run? Why does Tim remember a half-season-long sportstar crime fighting show from 22 years ago? All this and not much else!

Ep 81 – Sports

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://www2.aaos.org/anmeet/anmt2011/podium/648.htm – Paper on stretching and injury of frequent runners

http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/12/18/football-freakonomics-how-advantageous-is-home-field-advantage-and-why/ – Freakonomics and Scorecasting on home field advantage

http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jamieson/JJ_JASP.pdf – Paper on home field advantage

http://ftp.iza.org/dp755.pdf – Study on German soccer pitches and home field advantage

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

More winter facts and myths while there’s still snow on the ground and a chill in the air. Looking at the flu and flu vaccines, feeding colds and starving fevers, chicken soup as a cold remedy, the secularization of Christmas, what Boxing Day is, and if you should be leaving poinsettias out around children and pets.

Ep 30 – Winter 3

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm – Flu vaccine info from the CDC

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD001269.pub4/abstract – Cochrane review on flu vaccine effectiveness

http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/health_articles/feed_a_cold – Duke Health on feeding fevers and starving colds

http://journal.publications.chestnet.org/article.aspx?articleid=1079188&issueno=4 – Study on chicken soup and treatment of colds

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8906768 – Study on poinsettia exposure and health outcome

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

The facts and fictions behind fluoridated water: what it is, what it does, and why you should or shouldn’t be worried about it. There is an increasing amount of public debate over the fluoridation of water supplies, but is the debate justified? What are the dangers and benefits of fluoride?

Ep 79 – Fluoride: Fact or Fiction?

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491930/ – Harvard metastudy on high fluoride and IQ

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/antifluoridation-bad-science/ – Science-Based Medicine on the Harvard study

http://jdr.sagepub.com/content/86/5/410.short – Meta studies on water fluoridation programs

http://www.bmj.com/content/321/7265/855

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1752-7325.1989.tb02086.x/abstract

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

Not every cost/benefit relationship is a linear one, so knowing the point of diminishing returns prevents getting frustrated or wasting your time, money and effort.

Ep 78 – Diminishing Returns

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014296?query=TOC&#t=articleTop – New England Journal of Medicine study on diet and weight over time

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/professor-loses-27-lbs-on-twinkie-diet/article1392105/ – Mark Haub’s Twinkie diet

How foods affect our bodies

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

Looking back at our predictions from last year, counting the hits and forgetting the misses just like any good psychic. Also, making equally as accurate predictions for 2013!

Ep 77 – Predictions of 2012

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://andbetter.org/?p=377 – Tim’s appearance on The World As We See It

http://www.invisibleskymonster.com/blog.php?bid=151 – Jesse’s appearance on The Invisible Sky Monster

http://cwebbssundayschool.com/episode-24-the-atheist-label-roundtable/ – Tim and Jesse’s appearance on C-Webb’s Sunday School

http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/2012/12/inkredulous-episode-017/ – Jesse’s appearance on Inkredulous

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

Interviews from Eschaton 2012. Featuring members of the Ottawa Skeptics and The Reality Check, Allan Daoust, Heina Dadabhoy, Ian Cromwell, and PZ Myers.

Ep 76 – Dispatches From Eschaton 2012

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://www.trcpodcast.com/ – The Reality Check podcast

http://www.ottawaskeptics.org/ – Ottawa Skeptics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWrt6rNasm0 – Allan Daoust’s presentation to open Eschaton 2012

http://skepchick.org/author/heina/ – Heina Dadabhoy on Skepchick.org

http://freethoughtblogs.com/crommunist – Ian Cromwell’s Cromunist Manifesto on Freethoughtblogs.com

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula – PZ Myers’ Pharyngula on Freethougtblogs.com

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

The news media and public perception can makes some things seem scarier than they actually are. This week we look at violence statistics for vacationers in foreign countries compared to back home, and why the reporting over an 8 point IQ drop from smoking pot is a misrepresentation and not terribly worrying.

Ep 75 – The Horror, The Horror

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/03/07/mexico-travel-violence-statistics.html – International violent crime stats for Canadian tourists

http://monitoringthefuture.org/pressreleases/11drugpr_complete.pdf [PDF] – University of Michigan study on drug use in teens/young adults

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/teenage-pot-smoking-may-lower-iq-for-life/article4503763/ – The Globe and Mail on marijuana/IQ drop study

http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/28/does-weekly-marijuana-use-by-teens-really-cause-a-drop-in-iq/ – Time on marijuana/IQ drop study

Study – Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to adulthood [PDF]

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?

Questions and answers from and for you, dear listener. All kinds of topics are covered:

Part 1: state/province separation, buying products from other countries, weather-obsession, hobbies, sports, and desert golfing

Part 2: if people are dumber than they used to be, why massaging yourself doesn’t feel as good, and whether or not genetic selection in children is moral or dangerous

Ep 73 – Listener Questions 2 – Part 1

Ep 74 – Listener Questions 2 – Part 2

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Questions to ask? About anything at all? E-mail us: [email protected]

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Further reading (watching):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI8UPHMzZm8&feature=youtu.be – Deer crossing being moved

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If you think we’re doing a great job and can help support the show, please consider subscribing or making a one time donation with the buttons to your right. Your donations help cover equipment and other incidentals that we pay for to create the podcast, like this poor mic stand. Won’t someone think of the mic stands?