25 November 2024
Last weekend we held our annual conference in Auckland - this time co-organised with the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists (NZARH). We started off the weekend on Friday evening at Rationalist House, the NZARH's building on Symonds street. The first event was a Skeptical quiz, hosted by me, as usual featuring some pretty tough questions:
16 September 2024
A couple of weeks ago I talked with a journalist about psychics, as she was looking into a story that Kelvin Cruickshank appeared to have muscled his way into. As well as giving her some information about how psychics work, and a little about Kelvin, I had also suggested to her that she should visit a psychic to get an idea of how they operate. A day later she let me know that she was planning to visit a psychic fair that weekend, and I suggested that I could meet her there to brief her on what to expect. So, on Saturday morning two weekends ago, Bronwyn and I headed to Upper Hutt and met with Virginia.
18 March 2024
Last week we received a request from the editor of the Katikati Advertiser asking for our response to a story that was being written about a psychic:
11 September 2023
At the prompting of Mark and Bronwyn during last week's podcast episode, I attended a church meeting last evening. This was an event called “Lean In: Christianity and Politics - Meet the Candidates”. This was held at the Windsor Park Baptist Church - only a few kilometres away from my home. The venue itself was pretty un-chuchlike, in that it was previously the Windsor Park Tavern.
4 September 2023
In the last two months, two of the non-religious organisations I volunteer for, the Humanists and the NZARH, have both been contacted by a young street preacher called Nic Blackie. Nic is looking for someone to interview on his Christian apologist podcast, called The Garrison. In order to figure out whether it's a good idea to have someone talk with Nic, I've spent several hours listening to most episodes of his podcast. I suffer, so you don't have to!
24 July 2023
Last Monday night I attended a local talk given by National Party leader Chris Luxon, along with Tim and Alexander, who have written articles for this week's newsletter. This meeting wasn't the main attraction, it was just a prelude to the big event of the week on Tuesday.
27 February 2023
If you live in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which most of our readers do, it's time for the 5 yearly census.
24 January 2023
An article in Stuff yesterday, reprinted from the Telegraph, showcased the efforts of a scientist to bring statistics to bear on the problem of cryptids. Floe Foxen has supposedly written a couple of papers, yet to be peer reviewed, that look at the “probability” of Bigfoot and Loch Ness monster sightings being something more mundane than a hominid and plesiosaur respectively.
2 August 2021
Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter.
1 May 2020
Take this questionnaire if you enjoy critical thinking and have a high tolerance for nonsense.
1 August 2018
In the last issue of this publication it was mentioned some skeptics were pulling out of this talk due to the nature of the allegations against Lawrence Krauss. He was accused of sexually assaulting a number of women. That case continues, and his name persists in the link to the show at the Isaac Theatre Royal.
5 November 2017
My kids went out trick or treating the other day for halloween, and came back with more than just chocolate and lollies. Religious pamphlets were being handed out at some of the local houses, and my 10 year old daughter knew that I'd be interested to see them.
18 June 2017
The Jehovah's Witnesses came around for an hour or more yesterday, having previously chatted with me last week.
1 November 2015
With its scenic miniature railway, the National Rugby Museum and the country's second-largest ball of string, Palmerston North is often wrongly described as “the Armpit of New Zealand”.
1 February 2009
Nikos Petousis, in his article Skepticism Greek-style answers many questions which have previously puzzled me, for which I thank him sincerely.
1 November 2004
Don't judge them by their demeanour. The vast majority of people in this business are sincere, well-meaning individuals, and they are very hard to distinguish from the con artists. They might well be honest, but this doesn't mean they can do what they think they are doing
1 May 2001
Being a skeptical parent in New Zealand isn't always easy, but it has its rewards. This was originally presented to the Skeptics' World Convention in Sydney, in November.
1 August 1999
Three sketpics go head to head with a creationist lecturer.
1 February 1999
New Zealand was recently treated to a visit by what was proclaimed as "probably the best known archaeologist in the world", a chap by the name of Ron Wyatt. He was claiming to give us evidence that he had found the site of Noah's Ark, among many other things.
1 November 1996
The organisation responsible for setting exams for New Zealand secondary students receives the Skeptics' annual rap on the knuckles for bad science.
1 August 1991
A couple have had five girls in a row. What is their next baby likely to be? (a) boy, (b) girl, (c) either equally likely.
1 August 1988
Futile dreams of apocalyptic grandeur