A Fantasia-inspired flirt with the dark arts strips Chris of his humanity. Does hypnotherapy work for smoking cessation, getting over phobias, weight loss and pain control? And is it any better than visualization, relaxation, or straight-up counselling? And will we ever find out what Tanya loves to do (no, no we won’t). Also: valid (and less valid) criticism of a retracted Canadian paper linking aluminum to autism, and how universities keep falling for pseudoscience (clue: follow the dollar signs).

 

The CBC coverage of the retraction of Dr. Shaw’s paper: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-autsism-vaccine-paper-retraction-chris-shaw-1.4351855

 

The Cracked Science episode on the 200-million-dollar donation to UC Irvine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoRmUYlHTXU

 

Vox pop by Darren Henwood.

 

Jingle by Jillian Kate.

 

Additional music by Seth Donnelly and Kevin MacLeod.

 

Theme music: "Troll of the Mountain Swing" by the Underscore Orkestra.

 

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