31 March 2025
It was announced this week that RFK Jr. has hired David Geier as an analyst on a new study into the links between Autism and vaccines. A link that was debunked years ago, which even its most profitable holdout, American charity Autism Speaks, disavowed about a decade ago. This decision is just another in a series of attacks the White House has made against the disabled, and against science in general.
17 July 2023
The goings on of the late “Bishop” Douglas Metcalf and the Full Gospel Mission/God Squad/Camp David have been on my list to profile for awhile. When I'm able to steer the conversation to my special interest (MLMs, Cults, New Religious Movements etc.,) it is truly touch-and-go whether my unsuspecting audience has even heard of this group. It isn't as if the shenanigans of The God Squad were ever under the radar or have fully faded from public consciousness; Christchurch newspaper The Press has always kept their finger on that pulse and publish updates on former members while ex-followers Serafina Tané and Rosina Claxton/Ngapaki Rose have made their stories available for Australasian news outlets in recent decades. Metcalf's group also draws comparison to a far better known Branch Davidian's and, albeit less frequently, is a topic for American podcasts.
30 August 2021
Finally this week, and related to the Streisand Effect above, comes the tale from David Farrier, of the popular Webworm blog.
19 May 2021
There's a website in New Zealand promoting "Vortex Water". The front page of the site starts by saying:
9 November 2020
The Luminate festival, held each year outside of Nelson, has always been a little out of touch with science. But, as David Farrier shows, things appear to be getting worse. The festival has been flirting with conspiracy theories and woo peddlers, in a list they published on the Luminate website called the “13 Crystal Seeds of Positive Change”. The list included the names of people who have inspired the festival's organisers. You get one point for each of the following names you recognise:
11 March 2018
The field of Artificial Intelligence is blooming at the moment, with companies like Google and Alexa delivering small, inexpensive devices to your living room for $75 that can listen to you talk and tell you the weather, order pizza and turn your TV on.
25 February 2018
The conspiracy theorists are out in force already after the recent school shooting tragedy. One of the survivors, 17 year old David Hogg, has gone on national TV in the US to publicly state that he's not a "crisis actor".
1 October 2017
David Meade, who I spoke about last month as predicting the end of the world around the 20th of September, has given us all a reprieve. Obviously the world didn't end, but he now says that October the 21st is the real end of the world.
27 November 2016
After last Sunday's show, when I talked about Bioptron at the Go Green Expo, a Bioptron rep called up RadioLive and asked for me to contact them. I called, and was then contacted the next day by a Division Manager for Bioptron - David.
14 February 2016
David Icke was last in NZ in 2011. He'll talk in Auckland about his new book (surprise, surprise!), lizards, the illuminati and many other nonsense subjects.
11 October 2015
He has fixed two errors and the new corrected model finds the climate's sensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO2) is much lower than was thought.
1 August 2006
Warwick Don celebrated the 21st annual NZ Skeptics conference by presenting a potted history of the society.
1 November 2000
Wherein intrepid ace reporter Vicki Hyde spills the beans on what Skeptics get up to at their annual meetings…
1 August 2000
Many moons ago I packed into a dimmed lecture theatre along with 400 other keen-eyed stage I psych students to listen to a presentation on psychic ability.
1 November 1999
Hedgehogs do not impale fruit with their prickles and run away with it, nor do they steal the milk from slow-witted cows. These are just two of the unsubstantiated rumours and misconceptions that were exploded at the recent Skeptics' conference in Auckland.
1 November 1998
As a follow-up to inspiring comments made by David Russell at the recent conference, we are looking for someone with possibly a little legal training (or a lot of enthusiasm) to undertake some research on behalf of the Skeptics.
1 May 1987
You have as much to gain by showing that someone has paranormal powers. David [Marks] and I would win a Nobel Prize if we could prove that. We've nothing to gain by just refuting another case.
1 May 1987
David gave an account of three psychics he has studied, Kreskin, Geller and Colin Emery. It has taught him a great deal about human nature.