14 August 2017

Episode 123: Heretics

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn talks heresy with Laura, Gem, and Lauren. Heretics discussed include Hypatia of Alexandria, Roger Bacon, Baruch Spinoza, Charles Darwin, and Giordano Bruno. Also on this episode, Gem drones on about ancient writing materials and the sizes of various libraries for some reason.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that delves into issues of science, critical thinking, and secular humanism.

Note: In preparation for the discussion of the Library of Alexandria, Gem reached out to Winnipeg’s Millennium Library to ask about the size of their collection. After we recorded the episode, he received a response informing us that the collection contains roughly 338,000 items, which is on the same order of magnitude as the Great Library of Alexandria—but at least some of the items in circulation are going to be non-canon Star Wars novels, so they don’t really count.

SkeptiCamp: If you’d like to present at SkeptiCamp, send an email to skepticamp@winnipegskeptics.com or skepticamp2017@gmail.com. Visit winnipegskeptics.com/skepticamp for more information!

Links: Heresy (Wikipedia) | Library of Alexandria (Wikipedia) | Hypatia (Wikipedia) | General Fact Sheet (New York Public Library) | The Encyclopaedia Britannica hits rock bottom (Quodlibeta) | Neoplatonism (Wikipedia) | Roger Bacon (Wikipedia) | Roger Bacon (Encyclopaedia Britannica) | Roger Bacon (Catholic Encyclopedia) | Bacon biography (History of Mathematics Archive) | Roger Bacon (British Heritage) | The Persecution of Philosophers (Bad News About Christianity) | Darwin’s Heretic | Charles Darwin: A heretic and a hero (The Globe and Mail) | Religious views of Charles Darwin (Wikipedia) | Are great scientists always heretics? (BBC Science) | Darwin on a Godless Creation: “It’s like confessing to a murder” (Scientific American) | Evolution and the Catholic Church (Wikipedia) | Reactions to On the Origin of Species (Wikipedia) | Giordano Bruno (Wikipedia) | Archimedes (Wikipedia) | Our Unknown Martyrs (The Scientist Magazine) | 7 Scientists Who Died Violently (FamousScientists.org) | Baruch Spinoza (Wikipedia) | Science and Religion (MarkHumphrys.com) | Michael Servetus (Wikipedia)

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Posted by on 14 August 2017 in Atheism, Philosophy, Religion, Science and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

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17 July 2017

Episode 122: UFOs

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem discusses UFO sightings and claims of otherworldly visitation with Ashlyn, Lauren, and Laura.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that delves into issues of science, critical thinking, and secular humanism.

SkeptiCamp: If you’d like to present at SkeptiCamp, send an email to skepticamp@winnipegskeptics.com or skepticamp2017@gmail.com. Visit winnipegskeptics.com/skepticamp for more information!

Links: Episode 112: Did Aliens Build the Pyramids? (LUEE) | The First Canadian National Inquiry into UFOs (Newswire) | Unidentified flying object (Wikipedia) | Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting (Wikipedia) | Close encounter (Wikipedia) | What is the Roswell Incident? (RoswellIncident.com) | Roswell: Facts & Summary (History.com) | Roswell UFO incident (Wikipedia) | Joe Nickell (Wikipedia) | Majestic 12 (Wikipedia) | Roswell Daily Record, July 9, 1947 (Ufologie.net, via Internet Archive) | Roswell, New Mexico (Wikipedia) | Corona, New Mexico (Wikipedia) | Stanton T. Friedman (Wikipedia) | Project Mogul (Wikipedia) | The Roswell UFO crash really happened, ‘witness’ claims (Newshub) | Maurice Ewing (Wikipedia) | How an Alien Autopsy Hoax Captured the World’s Imagination for a Decade (Time) | Operation High Dive (Wikipedia) | Stefan Michalak’s Ridiculous Story (The Iron Skeptic) | Falcon Lake incident is Canada’s ‘best-documented UFO case,’ even 50 years later (CBC News) | Falcon Lake Police Reports (Library and Archives Canada) | The Falcon Lake Incident (HowStuffWorks) | Felix Moncla (Wikipedia) | Briefing Points (Disclosure Project) | Special Briefing for President Obama (Disclosure Project) | cseti.org | Steven M. Greer (Wikipedia) | If We Call Them, Will They Come? (Yoga Journal)

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Posted by on 17 July 2017 in Conspiracy, Geekery, Science, Skepticism and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

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12 June 2017

Episode 121: “Dreams from My Real Father”

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Lauren, Gem, and Laura talk about yet another conspiracy film, and Gem closes out the episode with an Alex Jones–themed quiz.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that delves into issues of science, critical thinking, and secular humanism.

Links: No more religious exemptions: Montreal is taxing churches (CTV Montreal News ) | Montreal churches fear stricter taxation after visits from inspectors (Montreal Gazette) | Dreams from My Real Father (Wikipedia) | Barack Obama (Wikipedia) | Frank Marshall Davis (Wikipedia) | Alex Jones (radio host) (Wikipedia)

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Posted by on 12 June 2017 in Conspiracy, News, Politics, Skepticism and tagged , , , , , .

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15 May 2017

Episode 120: Fad Diets

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Lauren, and Gem discuss fad diets with host Laura Creek Newman, our resident Registered Dietitian. Topics covered in detail include the Paleo Diet, the Sweet Potato Diet, the Blood Type Diet, and The China Study.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism that is produced by the Winnipeg Skeptics.

News: The Public Schools Act | Healthy hearts: Gluten-free diets don’t help people without celiac disease, study finds (CBC News) | Effect of Alternate-Day Fasting on Weight Loss, Weight Maintenance, and Cardioprotection Among Metabolically Healthy Obese Adults (JAMA Internal Medicine)

The Paleo Diet: The Paleo Diet Premise | What is the Paleo Diet? (Primal Palate) | What Paleo diet experts think – and why they’re wrong (The Guardian) | Study: Paleo Dieters Should Be Eating More Carbs (Outside Online) | Paleo Diet Review, Foods List, and More (WebMD) | It’s a part of my paleo fantasy, it’s a part of my paleo dream (Science-Based Medicine) | How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half-Baked (Scientific American) | The Paleo Diet: Everything You Need to Know (Health.com)

The China Study: Episode 82: What Have You Changed Your Mind About? (LUEE) | China–Cornell–Oxford Project (Wikipedia) | The China Study (Wikipedia) | The China Study (Science-Based Medicine) | The China Study Revisited: New Analysis of Raw Data Doesn’t Support Vegetarian Ideology (Science-Based Medicine) | China Study author Colin Campbell slaps down critic (VegSource.com) | While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales (NYT) | Consumption of red meat and processed meat (IARC) | Vegetarian Diets Linked to Lower Mortality (NIH) | Vegetarian, vegan diets and multiple health outcomes: a systematic review with meta-analysis of observational studies (NCBI) | Recommended Supplements for Vegans (The Vegan RD) | Vegan & Vegetarian Nutrition (Toronto Vegetarian Association) | Vegetarian Diets (Dietitians of Canada)

The Sweet Potato Diet: The Sweet Potato Diet | All About Carb Cycling (Precision Nutrition) | Calories in Chocolate Primal Body Morellifit Whey Protein Isolate (MyFitnessPal.com) | 4 Ways To Lose Five Pounds In ONE WEEK! (YouTube) | Is Carb Cycling Really the Best Fat Loss Diet? (Nutrition WOD)

The Blood Type Diet: Blood type diet (Wikipedia) | Lectin (Wikipedia) | Blood Types Chart (American Red Cross) | Rh blood group system (Wikipedia) | Blood Type Diet: Eating for Types O, A, B, (AB) | The Blood Type Diet | 3 Reasons to Avoid the Blood Type Diet | Blood type diets lack supporting evidence: a systematic review (AJCN) | The Blood Type Diet: An Evidence-Based Review (Authority Nutrition)

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Posted by on 15 May 2017 in Medicine, News, Science and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

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17 April 2017

Episode 119: Chiropractic

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Laura, Gem, and Lauren talk about the history and practice of chiropractic medicine, then Ashlyn hosts a game of -ology A–Z!

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism that is produced by the Winnipeg Skeptics.

Links: Chiropractic (Wikipedia) | Vertebral subluxation (Wikipedia) | Daniel David Palmer (Wikipedia) | History of chiropractic (Wikipedia) | Chiropractic controversy and criticism (Wikipedia) | Osteopathy (Wikipedia) | Chiropractic (RationalWiki) | Chiropractic (The Skeptic’s Dictionary) | Chiropractic care for reducing body weight (Edzard Ernst) | Advertising by some Manitoba chiropractors undermines public health (CBC Manitoba) | Patient Care (Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College) | Efficacy of spinal manipulation and mobilization for low back pain and neck pain (The Spine Journal) | Chiropractic Controversies (Pain Science) | Spinal manipulative therapy for acute low-back pain (Wiley Online Library) | Twenty Things Most Chiropractors Won’t Tell You (Edzard Ernst) | Chiropractic Care: Attempting a Risk–Benefit Analysis (American Journal of Public Health) | Chiropractic Manipulation and Stroke (American Health Association) | Craniocervical arterial dissections as sequelae of chiropractic manipulation: patterns of injury and management (Journal of Neurosurgery) | Chiropractic treatment of the neck can be a risk factor for stroke (UC San Francisco) | When a chiropractor teaches us about homeopathy, we are in for comedy gold (Edzard Ernst) | List of unproven and disproven cancer treatments (Wikipedia)

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Posted by on 17 April 2017 in Medicine, News, Science, Skepticism and tagged , , , , , , .

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