Episode 269: Fluoride fallacies and dentistry weirdness with Dr. Grant Ritchie, DDS
Squaring the Strange
This week we plumb current events to discuss microbe art, VAERS data and alleged covid vaccine deaths, the "sanpaku eyes" of a killer, AI kidnapping scams, and Tara Reid. Then our guest, Grant Ritchey (@SkepticalDDS) breaks down fluoride for us. How does it work, when did we start using it for dental care, and what makes it one of the most significant public health efforts of the modern era? What's the best way to dispell someone's fears about fluoride? He illuminates the holes in those studies RFK Jr. and others have pointed to as linking fluoride to lowering IQ in children, and we hit on...
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Episode 268 - Daniel Reed on Vegetable Man and Gray Barker
Squaring the Strange
First, Ben and Celestia ruminate on past Key Bridge conspiracy theories, RFK Jr.'s latest efforts to destroy public health, rage bait and the "Cártel de los Soles." Then for our main segment Daniel Reed, founder of the West Virginia Skeptics Society, joins us to discuss the Vegetable Man, a cryptid/alien one-hit-wonder. This blood-sucking, fiber-rich fiction is part of Gray Barker's menagerie -- Barker was a colorful character who loved a good story and had a few skeletons in his own closet, one of which led to the creation of the modern "men in black" mythos. Daniel has done his homework and...
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Episode 267 - Billionaire Boogeymen with Brian Dunning
Squaring the Strange
First, Ben and Celestia go over the latest CDC website shenanigans, an unfortunate update on a Human Barbie, some voodoo accusations in the world of soccer, the true cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, and a djinn committing crimes in Pakistan. Then Brian Dunning joins us for a discussion on billionaires and why we all seem to hate them. Should we? Would the world be better off without them? Brian brings some economic research on the "two types of billionaires," and we also examine some tropes and memes -- folklore, that is -- about how billionaires hoard resources. Do they? Can they? Is money...
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Episode 266 - Jon Michael visits, plus corporate lore and legends!
Squaring the Strange
Celestia is fresh from the Very Vegas SkeptiCamp, and a week earlier Jon Michael presented at the West Virginia SkeptiCamp, so he visits to compare notes and then chat about will o' the wisps, RFK's "walkback" on Tylenol, J.D. Vance speculating on UFOs being supernatural, and the resurgence of the Welfare Queen boogeyman. For our main segment, Ben and Celestia take a tour of legends involving brands, corporations and products. Anyone in marketing will appreciate the merging of folklore, commercial design and crisis communication all these stories bring to light. From Tootsie Pop contests to...
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Episode 265 - The Alleged ghosts of the Territorial House, with Cody Polston
Squaring the Strange
First, Celestia and a voice from the past discuss a hat trick of rat stories (maybe a rat trick?). Then Ben chats with author, ghost story enthusiast and former ghost hunter Cody Polston about the historic Territorial House in Corrales, New Mexico. Cody led an investigation there, and Ben worked there as a teenage busboy, so their points of view collide as they talk about what they've heard about the venue and what they'd experienced in person. From moving chairs to lit cigarettes, people have reported strange phenomena, attributing the experiences to restless spirits, perhaps those who died...
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Episode 264 - SCAMPOCALYPSE with Brian Brushwood
Squaring the Strange
We've got a bushel of SWAYSOs first! Chocolate is disappearing, an ongoing "psychic study" tries to recruit Ben, Las Vegas tries to recruit a random ghost hunter, Trump tries to find Amelia Earhart files, and Netflix releases "The Truth about Jussie Smollett?" Then at 43:12, we bring on Brian Brushwood, who Celestia cornered while he was visiting Las Vegas for Scoopfest. We talk about his many shows -- Scam School, Scam Nation, World's Greatest Con, Modern Rogue, Great Night, and NatGeo's "Hacking the System -- as well as his current work in deceptive role play, or "wolf-masking." Brian talks...
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Episode 263 - The Tylenol Presser and Sailing Stones with Brian Dunning
Squaring the Strange
Much of our intro segment is spent with Celestia gnashing her teeth about the recent Trump-RFK-Oz press conference that unveiled a purported link between acetaminophen and autism. It was . . . not good. Then Ben and Celestia are joined by Skeptoid's Brian Dunning to discuss his lifelong love of Death Valley and his part in the solution to a longtime mystery there: the sailing stones of Racetrack Playa. These heavy rocks have, for decades, mystified visitors (and apparently park rangers too) by leaving long, winding trails behind them when no one was looking. The remote location would seem to...
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Episode 262 - Bigfoot Tracks with Matt Crowley
Squaring the Strange
Bigfoot prints . . . do they track? So many questions! First, we discuss skeptic offerings at Dragon Con, then muse about Florida wanting to get rid of vaccine mandates for public school and RFK Jr. rolling back access to the COVID-19 shots just as we enter respiratory virus season. Seasoned Bigfoot enthusiast Matt Crowley ("Bigfooter of the Year," 2005) joins us to discuss all aspects of the main, namesake evidence for Bigfoot. Those huge honkin' tracks of his (or hers). We go into the competitive subculture of Bigfootery and nuances like dermal ridges and toe flexion. How do believers reckon...
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Episode 261 - Hobos, Swingers and Masons: Secret Signs in Plain Sight
Squaring the Strange
First, Ben and Celestia discuss the needle-spiking panic fallout, missing kids in Virginia, screw worms, radioactive shrimp and seeing double in Las Vegas. Then our main segment is secret signs and signals! Real or legendary, these signs and markers are throughout human history to tell "those in the know" what to expect (food, sex, danger). From secret codes sewn into quilts to help the Underground Railroad effort to rock cairns and inukshuks, there are many tales of people making an effort to show others a safe path. We also look at the ancient bro code known as Masonic symbols, which manly...
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Episode 260 - Food History and Flavor Myths with Sarah Lohman
Squaring the Strange
First, Ben and Celestia react to the CDC shooting, then Ben looks at some skeptical-leaning responses of ghost hunters to Dan Rivera's death and the Annabelle narrative. Rounding out current events, Celestia has another RFK-adjacent story, this one about two women hospitalized after peptide injections at a Las Vegas wellness festival. For our main segment, food historian and Vegas gal-about-town Sarah Lohman joins us to share some interesting food mythos... everything from beer, MSG, spices and spoiled meat to the connection between corn flakes, enemas, masturbation and vegetarian dishes....
info_outlineAfter some discussion on a few current events that resulted in quick debunkings, Ben, Pascual, and Celestia take a close look at what could be real-time formation of a social panic. Antifa has all the hallmarks of a propped-up paper tiger used by some as a political tool, and by others as a social boogeyman. We look at the coverage, the rumors, the Trump tweets, the implications, and the real statistics. How has the reputation of this nebulous non-organization caused harm? Plus we look into the price of bricks versus hippie crystals and the best state to register a converted schoolbus.