23 November 2020

Episode 162: Nutrition Myths

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Laura leads the panel on a discussion of several nutrition myths that just won’t die. Topics include expiry dates, nightshades, and pink salt.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Expiry Dates: Expiration Dates Don’t Mean What You Think (Adam Ruins Everything) | This man ate ‘expired’ food for a year. Here’s why expiration dates are practically meaningless. (The Washington Post) | Is Your Food Expired? Don’t Be So Quick to Toss It (TIME) | Date labelling on pre-packaged foods (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)

Nightshades: Are Nightshades Bad for You? Not If You’re Healthy (Vice) | What are dietary lectins and should you avoid eating them? (Mayo Clinic) | Solanaceae (Wikipedia)

Pink Salt: Stabilization of iodine in salt and other feed materials (Wisconsin) | An Analysis of the Mineral Composition of Pink Salt Available in Australia (Nutrition Research Australia) | Chemical Composition of Table Salt (ThoughtCo) | Sodium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy (NCBI Bookshelf)

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Posted by on 23 November 2020 in Medicine, Science and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

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19 October 2020

Episode 161: Prophecy

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Laura, and Lauren lead Gem on a whirlwind tour of various prophecies and prophets, including the caged prophet of St. Lambert’s Church, the Prophecy of the Popes, and blind soothsayer who supposedly predicted that Trump would get COVID-19.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Correction: The Superior General of the Jesuits is called the “Black Pope”, not the “Dark Pope”. Oh well.

St. Lambert’s Church: Why 3 Man-Sized Cages Hang From a Medieval German Church Steeple (Mental Floss) | Anabaptist (Britannica) | Reformation Apocalypticism: Münster’s Monster (Christian History Magazine)

The Prophecy of the Popes: Prophecy of the Popes (Wikipedia) | Saint Malachy (Wikipedia) | Vatican Apostolic Archive (Wikipedia) | Arnold Wyon (Wikipedia) | Pope Francis will be last Pontiff Irish saint predicted (IrishCentral.com) | Top 10 Prophecies You Don’t Know (Listverse) | Martin Luther (Wikipedia) | Avignon Papacy (Wikipedia) | The Western Schism (Western Civilization) | Western Schism (Wikipedia) | Girolamo Simoncelli (Wikipedia)

Baba Vanga: Baba Vanga (Wikipedia) | Fair warning: Bulgarian prophet predicted Obama would be last U.S. president (The Washington Post) | Blind mystic Baba Vanga’s poignant message to world days before she died (Mirror Online) | Blind mystic Baba Vanga predicted Donald Trump’s coronavirus plight, claim fans (Mirror Online) | Blind mystic Baba Vanga ‘predicted Donald Trump’s coronavirus battle’ after saying ‘president will get sick in 2020’ (The Sun)

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Posted by on 19 October 2020 in History, Religion, Skepticism and tagged , , , , , , .

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14 September 2020

Episode 160: Hauntings

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Laura, Ashlyn, and Lauren discuss the plausibility of hauntings, then do a deep dive on the true (and not-so-true) stories behind the Amityville Horror and the Coventry University Ghost. Then Ashlyn brings the show home with her thoughts on why COVID quarantine seems to have resulted in an uptick in hauntings.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

The Amityville Horror: ‘Amityville Horror’ Was Based on a True Story? (Snopes) | 6 Horror Movies Inspired by Real Stories and Hoaxes (HISTORY) | The Amityville Horror (Wikipedia) | Ronald DeFeo Jr. (Wikipedia)

Ed & Lorraine Warren: No, the Annabelle doll didn’t actually escape from the Warrens’ museum (AltPress) | Ed and Lorraine Warren (Wikipedia) | Annabelle (Wikipedia)

The Coventry University Ghost: The Ghost in the Machine (Journal of the Society for Psychical Research) | Our history (Coventry Cathedral) | Some “Ghosts” May Be Sound Waves Just Below Human Hearing (Gizmodo) | Ghost buster (The Guardian) | Famous ghost stories that turned out to be fakes (Insider)

Quarantine Hauntings: Haunted House? These People Are in Isolation with Ghosts (The New York Times) | Haunted house reports on the rise during pandemic, says paranormal researcher (CBC Radio) | Haunted home residents see rise in ‘spooky’ happenings amid quarantine (New York Post)

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Posted by on 14 September 2020 in History, News, Religion, Science, Skepticism and tagged , , , , , .

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18 August 2020

Episode 159: Policing in Canada

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem is joined by Ashlyn, Lauren, and Laura to discuss the history of policing in Canada.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Historical events in RCMP-Indigenous relations (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) | Canada isn’t offering a history lesson on colonialism, but the RCMP is (The Eyeopener) | History of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) | Explainer: Who were the RIC? (TheJournal.ie) | Sitting Bull (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | The RCMP was created to control Indigenous people. Can that relationship be reset? (Global News) | Don’t forget RCMP’s history (Ammsa.com) | Heritage Minutes (YouTube)

The Pass System: Don’t forget RCMP’s history (Ammsa.com) | A Condensed History of Canada’s Colonial Cops (The New Inquiry) | Pass System in Canada (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | North-West Rebellion (The Canadian Encyclopedia) | 1889: Peasant Farming policy implemented (decolonizEd) | The pass system: another dark secret in Canadian history (CBC Radio)

Police Killings in Canada: List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada (Wikipedia) | Discover Canada: Canada’s History (Canada.ca) | Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (Wikipedia) | John Joseph Harper (Wikipedia) | Inquest begins into police shooting of Winnipeg teen (CBC News) | Police identify man shot by officer (CBC News) | ‘It’s devastating’: South Sudanese condemn fatal police shooting of man with mental health issues (CBC News) | ‘Truly sorry:’ Winnipeg officer sentenced to prison for killing pedestrian (National Post) | Canadian police struggle to maintain reputation under unprecedented scrutiny and demands for new approach (National Post) | Stop the killing: Fatal police shootings in Canada (The Indy) | A timeline of police charged with murder or manslaughter in Canada (The Globe and Mail) | Theft (Armoured Suits Criminal Defence Lawyers) | Capital punishment in Canada (Wikipedia) | Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations (Wikipedia) | Shooting of Chantel Moore (Wikipedia) | Investigation of shooting death of Chantel Moore could take months (CBC News) | Edmundston, N.B., police officer who shot Chantel Moore now back at work (Global News) | Five things to know about Quebec police watchdog probing New Brunswick shootings (Global News) | Muslim man shot dead by Canadian police during mental health crisis (Daily Sabah) | Death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet (Wikipedia) | Defund the police? Here’s a look at how much Canadian cities spend on policing (CTV News)

Alternatives to Calling the Police: Alternatives to Calling the Police (Safe Congregations Handbook, UUA.org) | 12 Things to do Instead of Calling the Cops (Sprout Distro)

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Posted by on 18 August 2020 in History, Humanism, Law, News, Politics and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

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27 July 2020

Episode 158: Public Health History

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Gem, Laura, and Lauren discuss the history of several public health initiatives: handwashing, toothbrushing, and nutrient fortification of food.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Updated: During his segment, Gem mistakenly said “postpartum examination” when he meant to say “postmortem examination”. This has been corrected.

Handwashing: Hand washing (Wikipedia) | When and How to Wash Your Hands (CDC) | Ignaz Semmelweis (Wikipedia) | Daily Deaths, 2018 (Statistics Canada) | Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System (Maternal and Infant Health, CDC)

Oral Hygiene: Monkeys may have better dental hygiene than you (Science, AAAS) | Miswak (Wikipedia) | Efficiency of traditional chewing stick (miswak) as an oral hygiene aid among Muslim school children in Lucknow: A cross-sectional study (NIH) | The evolution of the toothbrush | Who invented the toothbrush? (HISTORY)

Nutrient Fortification: Overview of Food Fortification in the United States and Canada (NCBI Bookshelf) | A brief history of food fortification (Baking Business) | History of U.S. Iodine Fortification and Supplementation (NIH) | Iodine (Wikipedia) | Fortification and Health: Challenges and Opportunities (Advances in Nutrition, Oxford Academic) | Rationale and Plan for Vitamin D Food Fortification: A Review and Guidance Paper (NIH)

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Posted by on 27 July 2020 in History, Medicine, Science and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

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