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When Entertainment Meets Science: Summit Boosts Innovative Education JAMES UNDERDOWN
SI May June 11 CUT_SI new design masters 3/25/11 10:01 AM Page 5 [ NEWS AND COMMENT When Entertainment Meets Science: Summit Boosts Innovative Education JAMES UNDERDOWN Can the entertainment media, with their formidable skills, help educate young people about science? That was just one of the hopes as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) hosted the unusual Summit on Science, En ter - tainment, and Education at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, Cal- ifornia, on February 4, 2011. The all-day symposium featured a top- shelf lineup of speakers from all over the United States on the status and direction of science education today. Each of its From left: Superstring theorist Brian Greene, writer/director/producer Jerry Zucker, and educator Tyler Johnstone three categories (science, entertainment, discuss ways to attract students to the world of science. and education) was well represented by in- novators in their respective fields with rel- her students to testify how they are drawn tainment who need help with content. evant knowledge and experience. toward science. In this day and age of Thanks to a $225,000 grant from the From the world of science, luminaries myriad distractions, catching the eye of Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, such as Ralph Cicerone, NAS president; students is more of a challenge than ever. the Ex change “is seeking proposals to es- Sean B. Carroll, biologist; and Charles But the program didn’t begin and end tablish collaborative partnerships among Vest, president of the National Academy with a group of experts bemoaning the scientists, entertainment industry profes- of Engineering and president emeritus of failures of the education system and sionals, and educators to develop educa- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pointing fingers at Hollywood schlock tional products or services that effectively were present. -
An Honest Liar Premieres on Independent Lens Monday, March 28, 2016 on PBS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Lisa Tawil, ITVS 415-356-8383 [email protected] Mary Lugo 770-623-8190 [email protected] Cara White 843-881-1480 [email protected] For downloadable images, visit pbs.org/pressroom/ An Honest Liar Premieres on Independent Lens Monday, March 28, 2016 on PBS Portrait of James “The Amazing” Randi, the Extraordinary Magician Who Dedicated His Life to Exposing Hucksters and Frauds “Magicians are the most honest people in the world. They tell you they’re gonna fool you, and then they do it.” – James Randi (San Francisco, CA) — For the last half-century, James “The Amazing” Randi has entertained millions of people around the world with his remarkable feats of magic, escape, and trickery. But when he saw faith healers, fortunetellers, and psychics using his beloved magician’s tricks to steal money from innocent people and destroy lives, he dedicated his life to exposing frauds, using the wit and style of the great showman that he is. Part detective story, part biography, and a bit of a magic act itself, the award- James "The Amazing" Randi. winning An Honest Liar, directed and produced by Credit: Justin Weinstein, Tyler Measom Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, premieres on Independent Lens Monday, March 28, 2016, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS. A self-described liar, cheat, and charlatan, Randi embarked on a mission for truth by perpetrating a series of unparalleled investigations and elaborate hoaxes. These grand schemes fooled scientists, the media, and a gullible public, but always with a deeper goal of demonstrating the importance of evidence and the dangers of magical thinking. -
The Project Alpha Papers Edited by Peter R
Journal of Scientifi c Exploration, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 458–466, 2016 0892-3310/16 BOOK REVIEW The Project Alpha Papers edited by Peter R. Phillips, Prologue by Lance Storm. The Australian Institute for Parapsychological Research, 2015. http://www.aiprinc.org/the-project-alpha-papers/ The electronic archival document The Project Alpha Papers is a collection of 18 articles relevant to “Project Alpha,” an intervention designed and executed by the magician James Randi and his confederates. The target of the intervention was the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research (known as the “MacLab”) located at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. This document was originally conceptualized as a book by Michael Thalbourne, an Australian parapsychologist and scholar, but he died before he could fi nish the task. The erstwhile director of the Laboratory, Peter Phillips, assembled Thalbourne’s material and produced an archive for the website of the Australian Institute for Parapsychological Research, and it is available there. All the articles were written and published in the 1980s, except for an article by Thalbourne, which was delayed until 1995. Phillips produced an eBook, Companion to the Project Alpha Papers, which is available at a modest price. This archive is thorough and well-collated; this review will not describe all of the contents but will focus on some highlights, especially those of which I have fi rsthand knowledge. It will also raise questions as to why Randi’s hoax was not detected earlier, given the many clues, some of which were supplied by Randi himself. In the companion piece, Phillips describes how the magician James Randi sent two of his confederates (Steve Shaw and Michael Edwards, AKA “The Alpha Boys”) to his laboratory to simulate psychic effects by trickery, suspecting that the staff would not be able to detect fraud without the aid of an expert conjuror. -
Scientific Report on Bial Fellowship 36/08 Theoretical Background
Scientific Report on Bial Fellowship 36/08 Theoretical background and study overview In sympathetic magical belief, objects are deemed to possess an affinity of power through their resemblance or connection to individuals by the ‘Law of Similarity’ (Frazer, 1922). Early belief in these laws underpin folk herbal remedies, alchemy and voodoo witchcraft, but also trigger magical notions in modern scientifically literate adults (e.g. Rozin & Nemeroff, 1990). One of the most dramatic examples of belief in sympathetic magic is the concern that damage to a representation can somehow harm the real-world person or object it is representing (Behrand, 2003). In our pilot studies, we have demonstrated that adults who do not think that they will be upset by cutting up a photograph of their childhood sentimental object will show significantly elevated arousal as measured by their galvanic skin response. Following the destruction they reported no awareness of increased arousal. This suggests that there may be latent emotional responses to perceived destruction that are suppressed. We predict that this reflects suppression of amygdala fear activation by inhibitory dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPC) networks. The rationale for this frontal inhibitory effect is the recent demonstration that activation of the DLPC and anterior cingulate is associated with unwanted prejudicial responses to Black faces by White participants (Richeson et al, 2003; Cunningham et al, 2004). These studies on prejudice are consistent with the idea that it is possible to control spontaneously activated negative attitudes. The current body of work examined whether the same network might be implicated in sympathetic magical reasoning. Sixty-seventy percent of Western children form a strong emotional attachment to a specific toy which they then treat as invaluable and irreplaceable (Lehman et al., 1995). -
Oh No, Ross and Carrie! Theme Song” by Brian Keith Dalton
00:00:00 Music Music “Oh No, Ross and Carrie! Theme Song” by Brian Keith Dalton. A jaunty, upbeat instrumental. 00:00:08 Ross Host Hello, and welcome to Oh No, Ross and Carrie!, the show where we Blocher don’t just report on fringe science, spirituality, and claims of the paranormal, no, we take part ourselves. 00:00:17 Carrie Host Yup, when they make the claims, we show up so you don’t have to. Poppy I’m Carrie Poppy. 00:00:20 Ross Host And I’m Ross Blocher, and we are joined with two exciting guests today. We have Susan Gerbic— 00:00:25 Susan Guest Yay! Gerbic 00:00:26 Ross Host —and Mark Edward. 00:00:27 Mark Guest Hey. Edward 00:00:28 Ross Host Welcome, and welcome back, Mark. 00:00:29 Mark Guest Thank you. It’s been awhile. 00:00:30 Ross Host I had to look this up. Our thirteenth episode was an interview with you. 00:00:34 Susan Guest Carrie said this house was weird— 00:00:35 Mark Guest Blissfully creepy, which I really liked. [Carrie laughs.] 00:00:38 Susan Guest He’s bringing it to my house in Salinas now. My house is becoming blissfully creepy, it’s great. 00:00:43 Ross Host Wonderful. 00:00:44 Carrie Host So you’re moving in. You’re shacking up. 00:00:46 Mark Guest Yeah, we’re shacking up. 00:00:47 Susan Guest It’s only been ten years. 00:00:48 Mark Guest After ten years, you know. -
Reception and Adaptation: Magic Tricks, Mysteries, Con Games
Reception and Adaptation: Magic Tricks, Mysteries, Con Games by Joseph Daniel Culpepper A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Comparative Literature University of Toronto © Copyright by Joseph Daniel Culpepper 2014 Reception and Adaptation: Magic Tricks, Mysteries, Con Games Joseph Daniel Culpepper Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Comparative Literature University of Toronto 2014 Abstract This study of the reception and adaptation of magic tricks, murder mysteries, and con games calls for magic adaptations that create critical imaginative geographies (Said) and writerly (Barthes) spectators. Its argument begins in the cave of the magician, Alicandre, where a mystical incantation is heard: "Not in this life, but in the next." These words, and the scene from which they come in Tony Kushner's The Illusion, provide the guiding metaphor for the conceptual journey of this dissertation: the process of reincarnation. The first chapter investigates the deaths of powerful concepts in reader-response theory, rediscovers their existence in other fields such as speech-act theory, and then applies them in modified forms to the emergent field of performance studies. Chapter two analyzes the author as a magician who employs principles of deception by reading vertiginous short stories written by Jorge Luis Borges. I argue that his techniques for manipulating the willing suspension of disbelief (Coleridge) and for creating ineffable oggetti mediatori (impossible objects of proof) suggest that fantastic literature (not magical realism) is the nearest literary equivalent to experiencing magic performed live. With this Borgesian quality of magic's reality-slippage in mind, cross-cultural and cross-media comparisons of murder mysteries and con games are made in chapter three. -
Public Debate on Science Issues Myths of Child Psychology
Superbug Crisis | Ten Tactics for Skepticism | Claims of Chi | Fake Bomb Detectors the Magazine for Science and Reason Vol. 41 No. 1 | January/February 2017 Public Debate on Project Science Greenglow Issues Creationism Myths of in Europe Child Psychology Doubt and American Fears Uncertainty Survey INTRODUCTORY PRICE U.S. and Canada $5.99 Skepticism Is Nonpartisan Published by the Center for Inquiry in association with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Robyn E. Blumner, CEO Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow www.csicop.org Fellows James E. Al cock*, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to Mur ray Gell-Mann, pro fes sor of phys ics, San ta Fe In sti tute; Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA Mar cia An gell, MD, former ed i tor-in-chief, No bel lau re ate Lor en Pan kratz, psy chol o gist, Or e gon Health New Eng land Jour nal of Med i cine Thom as Gi lov ich, psy chol o gist, Cor nell Univ. Sci en ces Univ. Kimball Atwood IV, MD, physician; author; Newton, MA David H. Gorski, cancer surgeon and re searcher at Barbara Robert L. Park, professor of physics, Univ. of Maryland Steph en Bar rett, MD, psy chi a trist; au thor; con sum er ad vo cate, Ann Kar manos Cancer Institute and chief of breast surgery Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Al len town, PA section, Wayne State University School of Medicine. -
Griffin Nov 20
November 2020 Sad News - James Randi, famous for breaking Harry Houdini’s submersion record, dies aged 92 Via AP News Wire Thursday 22 October 2020 James Randi, a magician who later challenged spoon benders, mind readers and faith healers with such voracity that he became regarded as the country’s foremost sceptic, has died, his foundation announced. He was 92. The James Randi Educational Foundation confirmed the death, saying simply that its founder succumbed to “age-related causes” on Monday. Entertainer, genius, debunker, atheist ̶ Randi was them all. He began gaining attention not long after dropping out of high school to join the carnival. As the Amazing Randi, he escaped from a locked coffin submerged in water and from a straitjacket as he dangled over Niagara Falls. Magical as his feats seemed, Randi concluded his shows around the globe with a simple statement, insisting no otherworldly powers were at play. The magician’s transparency gave a glimpse of what would become his longest-running act, as the country’s sceptic-in-chief. In that role, his first widely seen exploit was also his most lasting. On a 1972 episode of “The Tonight Show,” he helped Johnny Carson set up Uri Geller the Israeli performer who claimed to bend spoons with his mind. Randi ensured the spoons and other props were kept from Geller’s hands until showtime to prevent any tampering. The result was an agonizing 22 minutes in which Geller was unable to perform any tricks. Randi had bushy white eyebrows and beard, a bald head, and gold-rimmed glasses, and bounced his 5-foot-6 (1.6 meter) frame energetically, even in his final years. -
Fraud: Just Fraud
Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Spring 2016 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Spring 2016 Fraud: Just Fraud Reeves David Ion Morris-Stan Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2016 Part of the Acting Commons, and the Dance Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Morris-Stan, Reeves David Ion, "Fraud: Just Fraud" (2016). Senior Projects Spring 2016. 321. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2016/321 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fraud: Just Fraud Senior Project Submitted to The Division of Arts Of Bard College By Reeves Morris-Stan Annandale-on-Hudson, New York May 2016 Acknowledgements I would like to start out by thanking my mother, father, and sister who shown given me nonstop support throughout the years. You are the reason I make art. I would like to thank Kedian Keohan, my amazing collaborator, for putting up with my crazy ways and for exposing my dark side. You made fraud make sense. -
From the Editor Skep Ti Cal Inq Uir E R™ the MAG a ZINE for SCI ENCE and REA SON
SI Sept/Oct pgs_SI MJ 2010 7/23/10 12:41 PM Page 4 From the Editor Skep ti cal In quir e r™ THE MAG A ZINE FOR SCI ENCE AND REA SON ED I TOR Kend rick Fra zi er ED I TO RI AL BOARD James E. Al cock Martin Gardner and the Skeptical Movement Today Thom as Cas ten Ray Hy man Joe Nick ell Am ar deo Sar ma artin Gardner’s passing and the latest successful skeptic’s conference are both causes for Benjamin Wolozin Mreflection on where the skeptical movement Gardner helped found stands now. CON SULT ING ED I TORS I begin these comments as I depart The Amazing Meeting 8 (TAM8), the James Randi Sus an J. Black more Ken neth L. Fed er Educational Foundation’s big skeptics conference in Las Vegas. Martin Gardner’s legacy was much Barry Karr in evidence, and indeed Gardner received a moving tribute from Randi at the beginning of a late- E. C. Krupp Scott O. Lil i en feld afternoon panel on the origin of the skeptics movement. Randi, Ray Hyman, and Paul Kurtz— Da vid F. Marks three giants who, with Gardner, were present at the beginning—and I talked about the events that Jay M. Pasachoff Eu ge nie Scott led to the creation of CSICOP (now our Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) in 1976. Ray’s, Randi’s, Rich ard Wis e man and Paul’s reminiscences also lead off this special Martin Gardner Tribute Issue of the SKEPTICAL CON TRIB UT ING ED I TORS INQUIRER , pp. -
Title Subtitle Featuring 1 World Renowned Magic of Paul Potassy
# Title Subtitle Featuring 1 World Renowned Magic of Paul Potassy World Renowned Magic of Paul Potassy Potassy; Paul 2 T & R Tissue T & R Tissue White; Bob 3 Card Magic A Practical Approach White; Bob 4 Classic Six Card Repeat Greater Magic Video Library Various 5 Banachek's Psi Series Mentalism for the casual performer; part 1 Banachek 6 Banachek's Psi Series Mentalism for the casual performer; part 2 Banachek 7 Banachek's Psi Series Psychophysiological Thought (muscle) Reading Banachek 8 Banachek's Psi Series Psychokinesis Banachek 9 Masters of Mental Magic Falkenstein & Willard Falkenstein & Willard 10 Masters of Mental Magic Falkenstein & Willard Falkenstein & Willard 11 Masters of Mental Magic Falkenstein & Willard Falkenstein & Willard 12 In Action Gregory Wilson Wilson 13 In Action Gregory Wilson Wilson 14 In Action Gregory Wilson Wilson 15 Here I Go Again Bill Malone Malone 16 Here I Go Again Bill Malone Malone 17 Here I Go Again Bill Malone Malone 18 Educating Archer John Archer Archer; John 19 Magic You Can Make Magic Makers Presents Grams; Martin 20 Strengthening Your Magic Mike Powers Lecture CD Powers; Mike 21 Professional Rope Routines World's Greatest Magic Various 22 Cups & Balls Magic Makers Presents Ray; Eddie 23 Card Trick Magic Expert Insight Vanel; Stephane 24 Outstanding Magic Magic for Stand-up Performers Colombini; Aldo 25 Roped In Rope routines Colombini; Aldo 26 Card Capers Easy Card Routines Colombini; Aldo 27 All Hands on Deck Ten Card Routines Colombini; Aldo 28 Learn Magic w/ Timothy Noonan Novelty Magic Noonan; -
Jennifer Forester, Faculty Mentor
Pics or It Didn’t Happen: Sexist Hyperskepticism in the Modern Skeptical Movement Author: Jennifer Forester, Faculty Mentor: Clark Pomerleau, Ph.D., Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences Department and College Affiliation: Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences Pics or It Didn’t Happen 2 Bio: Jennifer Forester graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in English with a specialization in writing and rhetoric. Jennifer was a member of the Honors College. She presented her research at University Scholars Day in April 19, 2013. She is proud of her service in the United States Marine Corps where she was a Corporal (Bandsman, Armorer) in Cherry Point, North Carolina. She is a mother of two brilliant, if often unruly, children. Her current plan is to find gainful employment, but promises that she will eventually return to college and obtain her doctorate in rhetoric with a particular focus on the ways that rhetorical studies can be applied to social justice. Pics or It Didn’t Happen 3 Abstract: In the skeptical community, there is an ongoing conflict over what—if any—actions are necessary to make the movement more welcoming to the growing numbers of women in its ranks. This conflict has brought a great deal of antifeminist sentiment to the surface, to include rape and death threats against prominent women who speak affirmatively on feminist issues within organized skepticism. The origins of this problem can be found in the grounding of skeptical dialogue on the superiority of a traditionally masculinized ideal of science and reason, which excludes the feminized personal narratives that serve as evidence for mistreatment of women within the community.