The Reality Check

Cristina looks into the proliferation of homemade hand sanitizer tutorials and whether it’s safe to even be promoting the practice. Adam brings us a segment he planned to do during TRC’s live show at Toronto Comicon this year...from a safe distance; how does the science in the latest Sonic The Hedgehog movie stack up? Finally, Darren answers a question from a cuboid who asks, ‘is there an influenza virus separate from the influenza disease? Is calling COVID-19 a virus not accurate?

How is everyone holding up out there? This week the whole crew is back...sort of. Darren tapes solo from his post-travel quarantine to bring us an in-depth look at COVID-19 versus the seasonal flu. Cristina shares some recent COVID-19 mythbusting from the WHO so we...ahem...won’t get fooled again. Adam rounds out the show by looking at the recent stockpiling of toilet paper and asking, ‘is there really a toilet paper shortage?’

With half the crew in isolation, we take a reprieve from coronavirus news. First, Adam digs into headlines about daredevil "Mad Mike" Hughes who died in a homemade rocket accident intended to “prove” the Earth is flat. One of our two favourite Stuarts, Dr. Stu Robbins, brings us a relatively compelling look into the precession of Mercury. Finally, Darren brings us an interesting overview of revealed preferences, a major theory of consumption behaviour. 

Producer Pat schools us on 9-1-1 and emergency numbers worldwide after a personal experience dealing with a medical emergency opens his eyes. Cristina finds a way to tie the Toronto Raptors into her segment, when she looks into why bagged milk is a Canuck thing. Finally, while the COVID-19 situation is changing by the minute, Adam gives us a general overview of coronavirus disease and debunks some of the more ubiquitous myths.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day! Dr. Cheryl Harasymchuk is an Associate Professor at Carleton University in the Department of Psychology. She runs the “Positive Activities in Intimate Relationships Lab.” Adam and Darren sit down for a fascinating chat with Cheryl about relationships, love, and how to make those relationships better through play and leisure.

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. 

This week, Darren’s perspicacity shines through when he drops some knowledge on the panel about the longest words in the English language. Next, Cristina learns that the Canadian Mint is issuing a coin commemorating ‘Canada’s Roswell’...wait, Canada has a ‘Roswell’? Lastly, Adam reexamines the recent OK sign controversies to establish whether it’s O-KKK after a listener writes in with a new theory.

This week, Darren kicks off the show by exploring whether votes cast in a Canadian federal election are counted equally. Pat brings another entertaining round of ‘Spot The Fake’ where the panel has to pick the fake out of of four equally ridiculous, yet true facts. Lastly, Adam sets a serious tone when exploring whether active shooter drills in U.S. schools are remotely effective or just tragically misguided. 

This week, Cristina fact checks whether claims about plant-based burgers being healthier than real meat hold up. Darren probes the conspiracy theories around Bruce Lee’s death after reading ‘Bruce Lee: A Life’. Finally, Adam looks into recent reports that the OK hand gesture is being used as a white nationalist hate symbol.

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.