Edinburgh Skeptics Presents...

Tours of North Korea are criticised for being Potemkin tours where the visitors are on a state conveyor belt to see 'the best of the best', and see nothing 'real'. This illustrated talk challenges that criticism and asks what a tour can really tell us beyond the western narrative about the country.

We also have an exclusive interview with Robin alongside this podcast.

Robin Tudge is a writer and tour leader, specialising in North Korea where he been visiting since 2001. Originally from London, he has lived and worked in Chicago, Moscow, Beijing, and Hanoi, and is the author of three books.

Find out more by following him on twitter @robintudge

Join Claudia Schaffner as she chats to Robin Tudge about his tours of North Korea, how not to be an idiot if you're there, and what the people and the country is really like.

Robin Tudge is a writer and tour leader, specialising in North Korea where he been visiting since 2001. Originally from London, he has lived and worked in Chicago, Moscow, Beijing, and Hanoi, and is the author of three books.

Find out more by following him on twitter @robintudge

Rumit Somaiya has spent the past 25 years touring casinos throughout the world with his team. Their aim is simply to overcome the 'House Advantage' using all cerebral methods available, in order to amass fortunes. Most people don't understand the maths of gambling and sadly addiction is a major issue.

Rumit spoke for us at our September Skeptics in the Pub event and while his massively-visual talk wasn't really podcastable (seriously, he turned the Banshee Labyrinth into a casino), we were keen to grab him for our 10 Questions segment to learn a little bit more about a topic that isn't usually at the front of the minds of skeptics... He'll also tell you about his new maths-based project which aims to educate the masses about the reality of betting.

Twitter: @rumit2186

Well, we did say that EdSkeptics regular Rumit Somaiya's talk would be out this week, but due to "scheduling conflicts" (heh) it will be delayed another week. We're really happy to bring you a great interview as an alternative, however, as newly-crowned committee member Heather Pentler talks to our old friend Michael Marshall about the media bring crap, weird medical claims and athletes' obsession with woo.

Michael Marshall is the Project Director of the Good Thinking Society and the Vice President of the Merseyside Skeptics Society. He regularly speaks with proponents of pseudoscience for the Be Reasonable podcast. His work has seen him organising international homeopathy protests and co-founding the popular QED conference. He has written for the Guardian, The Times and New Statesman.

Find out more at http://goodthinkingsociety.org/ or by following him on Twitter @MrMMarsh and @GoodThinkingSoc

On this week's podcast we're going back to the Spring for the last talk from our Science Festival programme. How do we know that DNA is a double-helix? Why is diamond beautiful but graphite is boring, when they are both made of carbon? Why are there no room-temperature superconductors? These are all questions from the field of materials physics, and their answers are what drive our understanding of everything from flexible computer screens, advanced drug delivery, and how powerful the next generation of iPhone will be.

This talk will look at the techniques that scientists use to look at materials on the atomic level, and how this knowledge helps us to better understand the materials we already know, so that we can dream up new materials to tackle the problems of the future.

Dr Andrew Princep grew up in Western Australia where he graduated from Curtin University of Western Australia with an Honours degree in Nanotechnology in 2008, before completing his PhD in Physics at UNSW Canberra in 2012 and finally taking up his current position as a Postdoc at Oxford University.

https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/contacts/people/princep

Homeopathic solutions are so dilute that there is often only 1 active molecule for every 10^60 molecules of water, or, to put it another way, if you took enough homeopathic "medicine" to equal the mass of the Earth, you would have a 1 in 5 Billion chance of getting 1 active molecule.

Here at Skeptics on the Fringe we do things differently, and for our second podcast from this year's Fringe we guarantee that 100% of your time with us will be entertaining, informative, and pure, Undiluted Brilliance.

We kicked off our 2016 Fringe run by sharing our stage with some of the other acts that appeal to the Open-Minded, the Curious, to Scientists, Geeks and Skeptics.

Dan Simpson: Twitter Matt Winning: Twitter Fran Day: Twitter Stephen Lingham: Twitter

Before wowing two full rooms of people with an impassioned defence of reason, logic and the scientific method, Prof. David Nutt sat down with our very own Claudia Schaffner for a little chat.

David Nutt is a psychiatrist at Imperial College London. Here he uses a range of brain imaging techniques to explore the causes of addiction and other psychiatric disorders and to search for new treatments. He has published over 400 original research papers, a similar number of reviews and books chapters, eight government reports on drugs and 28 books. He is currently the President of the European Brain Council and Founding Chair of DrugScience (formerly the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD).

He broadcasts widely to the general public both on radio and television. In 2010 The Times Eureka science magazine voted him one of the 100 most important figures in British Science, and the only psychiatrist in the list. In 2013 he was awarded the John Maddox Prize from Nature/Sense about Science for standing up for science.

Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt

We're back! Finally! And we have a brilliant talk for our first episode after the Fringe - Professor David Nutt! We had two full rooms (main and overspill) for this event - our most attended event in ages - and it was a treat to hear somebody of his calibre entertain and enthral us with his thoughts.

His talk explores the inconsistencies and injustices that emerge from the un-scientific methods we use to control alcohol and other drugs. He explains how there are more rational and functional approaches and encourage Scotland to rise to the challenge of breaking out of the current flawed position.

David Nutt is a psychiatrist at Imperial College London. Here he uses a range of brain imaging techniques to explore the causes of addiction and other psychiatric disorders and to search for new treatments. He has published over 400 original research papers, a similar number of reviews and books chapters, eight government reports on drugs and 28 books. He is currently the President of the European Brain Council and Founding Chair of DrugScience (formerly the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD).

He broadcasts widely to the general public both on radio and television. In 2010 The Times Eureka science magazine voted him one of the 100 most important figures in British Science, and the only psychiatrist in the list. In 2013 he was awarded the John Maddox Prize from Nature/Sense about Science for standing up for science.

Twitter: @ProfDavidNutt

As we approach our busiest month we wanted to give you a parting gift until we return in September. This week we have a recording of a talk by one of our committee - David Frank - about the tricks of the trade used by massive global cigarette companies in their advertising - especially in the face of strong legislation. David delivered the talk as part of our monthly film nights in conjunction with the British Science Association before the film Thank You For Smoking.

Don't forget! If you're in Edinburgh or close to it, or if you're going to be here during the Fringe, you should check out our Skeptics on the Fringe 2016 line up. We'll be doing nightly talks between the 6th-28th August at the Banshee Labyrinth on Niddry Street. All events start at 7:50pm.

Twitter: @TheDF http://www.davidfrank.com.au

It's time for our Summer Skeptacular Fundraiser With @AshWhiffin @stephenlingham & @gussiegrippers. We have a great line-up of comedy, poetry, insects and pelvic floor exercise for you, recorded in mid July as we prepared for the 2016 Fringe run.

Ash Whiffen - who loves insects, particularly the ones that eat dead bodies - will be telling us about 'Maggots, Murder & Museums'. Stephen Lingham – our Resident Poet - will be doing stand-up poetry which is provocative, funny, controversial and thought provoking spoken word that explores contemporary ideas surrounding free speech. Finally, Elaine Miller, physiotherapist, comedian, mother of three and recovered incontinent shares the wonders of the pelvic floor, her talk involves poo, pee and orgasms in men and women. There is, however, no show and tell.

Every year we put on a vast selection of talks at 'Skeptics on the Fringe' and the only way we're able to do that is through PBH's Free Fringe. Without PBH and the free fringe crew, we would never be able to afford to put on a show without finding £1000s.

PS: Sorry it's late...