SGU Episode 893

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SGU Episode 893
August 20th 2022
Alex Jones' lawyer accidentally sent two years' worth of texts to plaintiffs' lawyers
SGU 892                      SGU 894
Skeptical Rogues
S: Steven Novella
B: Bob Novella
J: Jay Novella
E: Evan Bernstein
Guests
AJR: Andrea Jones-Rooy, political, social, and data scientist
KB: Kelly Burke, from Guerrilla Skeptics
GH: George Hrab, NECSS emcee
IC: Ian Callanan, SGU tech guru
Quote of the Week
An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious – just dead wrong.
Russell Baker, American journalist
Links
Download Podcast
Show Notes
Forum Discussion

Introduction, Live from NECSS, Book Update

• Perry DeAngelis Memorial Episode

Voice-over: You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.

Special Segment: Chorizo Hoax (7:09)

• French Scientist's Photo of ‘Distant Star’ Was Actually Chorizo

News Items

S:

B:

C:

J:

E:

(laughs) (laughter) (applause) [inaudible]

Scientific Rigor (13:25)

• NIH To Fund Scientific Rigor Initiative

More Space Debris (23:51)

• Why space debris keeps falling out of the sky—and will continue to do so

Auditory Pareidolia Again (34:16)

• 'Green needle' or 'brainstorm'? Hear the latest audio clip dividing the internet

The Alex Jones Saga (39:15)

• Jury awards $45.2 million in punitive damages in Alex Jones Sandy Hook trial

Earth Spinning Faster (58:21)

• Earth Is Suddenly Spinning Faster. Why Our Planet Just Recorded Its Shortest Day Since Records Began

Science or Fiction (1:11:11)

Theme: Misinformation Item #1: Reported trust in the media in 2021 was highest in China at 80%, and lowest in Russia at 29%, with the US in between at 39%. Item #2: Analysis of social media posts finds that bots are far more likely to spread false information and are responsible for as much as 90% of its spread on the most popular platforms. Item #3: Research shows that fake news spreads 6 times faster and 10 times farther on Twitter than true news, and that people are 70% more likely to share a false tweet than a truthful one.

Answer	Item
Fiction	Bots spread 90% of disinfo
Science	Reported trust in the media
Science	Fake news faster & farther

Host	Result
Steve	win

Rogue	Guess
Evan	Reported trust in the media
Kelly	Reported trust in the media
Jay	Reported trust in the media
Bob	Reported trust in the media
Andrea	Bots spread 90% of disinfo

Voice-over: It's time for Science or Fiction.

Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:24:57)

An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious – just dead wrong.
– Russell Baker (1925-2019), American journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, host of PBS' Masterpiece Theater

Signoff/Announcements

S: —and until next week, this is your Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

S: Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information, visit us at theskepticsguide.org. Send your questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. And, if you would like to support the show and all the work that we do, go to patreon.com/SkepticsGuide and consider becoming a patron and becoming part of the SGU community. Our listeners and supporters are what make SGU possible.

GH: (in a Russian accent) I think is basically—I don't trust, I don't trust the media because I am inebriated. And feel free to talk about— (Rogues laugh.)

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Today I Learned

• Fact/Description, possibly with an article reference
• Fact/Description
• Fact/Description

References

Vocabulary