The Reality Check

  • Author: Vários
  • Narrator: Vários
  • Publisher: Podcast
  • Duration: 220:51:31
  • More information

Informações:

Synopsis

Canada's weekly podcast that explores a wide range of controversies and curiosities using science and critical thinking.

Episodes

  • TRC #568: Halloween THC Candy + Blob With 720 Sexes + Hillary Clinton NASA Denial Letter

    26/10/2019 Duration: 27min

    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. 

  • TRC #567: Longest Word + Shag Harbour UFO Coin + OK Hate Symbol Pt. 2

    19/10/2019 Duration: 35min

    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.

  • TRC #566: Are Federal Election Votes Counted Equally? + Name That: Spot The Fake + Active Shooter Drills Effective?

    12/10/2019 Duration: 30min

    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. 

  • TRC #565: Plant-based Burgers Healthier? + Bruce Lee Death Conspiracies + OK Sign A Hate Symbol?

    05/10/2019 Duration: 33min

    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.

  • TRC #564: Catching Up With Dr. Stuart Farrimond

    27/09/2019 Duration: 41min

    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.

  • TRC #563: Citations And Science Reporting + Swearing Makes You Stronger + Evolution Of Skin Colour

    21/09/2019 Duration: 30min

    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.

  • TRC #562: The Earth’s Lungs + The Gay Gene + Canadian Election

    14/09/2019 Duration: 34min

    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.

  • TRC #561: How IKEA Names Stuff + Absolute Zero + Amazon Fires

    08/09/2019 Duration: 30min

    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 #560: Mail Bag + Dr. Stuart Robbins And Retrograde + Name That: Apollo 11 Edition

    25/08/2019 Duration: 32min

    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.

  • TRC #559: NY Times Best Seller List + Epstein Suicide? + The Secret Of Our Success

    17/08/2019 Duration: 37min

    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.”

  • TRC #558: Can Hippos Swim? + Neil deGrasse Tweetstorm + Mona Lisa True Colours

    09/08/2019 Duration: 34min

    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.

  • TRC #557: Mercury Retrograde + Is All Table Salt Sea Salt? + ‘Why We Sleep’

    04/08/2019 Duration: 31min

    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.

  • TRC #556: Talking Irish Famine Myths With Professor Buzzkill

    27/07/2019 Duration: 30min

    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.

  • TRC #555: Quantum Uncertainty + Lost NASA Tapes? + Storming Area 51

    20/07/2019 Duration: 35min

    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".

  • TRC #554: Talking Flat Earth With Stuart Robbins And Ed Robertson

    05/07/2019 Duration: 20min

    Not your typical episode of The Reality Check. We bring you a conversation with friends of the show Dr. Stuart Robbins and Ed Robertson. We discussed conspiracy theories and Ed’s recent run in with a flat earther. Stuart is a professional astro/geophysicist. Ed is the frontman of Barenaked Ladies and wrote the theme song for The Big Bang Theory.

  • TRC #553: Talking Germs with Jason Tetro

    29/06/2019 Duration: 39min

    This week we bring you an interview with Jason “The Germ Guy” Tetro, recorded earlier this month. Jason is a researcher in microbiology and immunology. He is a best selling author of “The Germ Code” and “The Germ Files.”  Jason is also the host of the Super Awesome Science Show podcast.

  • TRC #552: Surprising Loch Ness Proof? + Drake Curse + Where Does Space Begin?

    21/06/2019 Duration: 20min

    Adam dives deep into recent headlines suggesting that the Loch Ness monster could possibly be real based on some murky DNA research. Cristina throws her hands in the air and tries to set the record straight on the alleged Drake, aka Drizzy, curse rocking the sports world.  Lastly, Ed Robertson, of the band Barenaked Ladies, asks Dr. Stuart Robbins “where does the Earth’s atmosphere end and space begin?

  • TRC #551: Talking Brain Tumours With Dr. Stuart Farrimond

    14/06/2019 Duration: 33min

    Stuart has been on the show many times discussing food science and food myths but this interview is different. Some Checkers may not know that the Doctor before his name is because he is a medical doctor. Two days before Stuart was scheduled to undergo surgery, he talked with Pat and Cristina about brain tumours, cancer, cancer treatment and his story.

  • TRC #550: Did NBA’er Manute Bol Coin ‘My Bad’? + Unmarried People Happier? + Fortnite Vs The Doppler Effect

    08/06/2019 Duration: 30min

    Cristina kicks off the show with a basketball related myth in honour of her beloved Toronto Raptors; did NBA legend Manute Bol really coin the phrase ‘My Bad’? As the only TRC co-host who is not married, Darren scrutinizes an article citing research that suggests unmarried people are happier, probably just to rub it in. Finally, Adam vents his Fornite pet peeve that the game just doesn’t get the Doppler Effect.

  • TRC #549: Forever Fries & Onion Tears With Dr. Stuart Farrimond + Name That: British Food Edition

    02/06/2019 Duration: 40min

    Our favourite Food Scientist is back to tackle some of your most pressing food-related questions. Ever find a 3 week old fry under a car seat? Stuart breaks down why fast food seems to last forever without going bad. Next, he tells us about why onions make us cry and what we can do about it. Bonus question: why do we “rest” beef and chicken but not fish? Pat rounds out the show with a 3 vs 1 edition of everyone’s favourite mostly guessing game “name that” where the crew teams up against Stuart.

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