In the very last Jeremy's Iron (before a long overdue name change), we discuss the effectiveness of facemasks in protecting us from the virus.

We also discuss:

* Should "the arts" be prioritised in the economic rescue?

* How do we value a 75-year old's life?

* What is David Icke's malfunction?

Next episode will be the first under our new podcast name: Pseudo.

Where pseudoscience be, Pseudo go.

It's more common than you think. From Rome to Russia, Africa and India.... no culture appears immune to the appeal of the golden elixir. We follow the stream from ancient ritual to instagram craze.

What are crystals and why are we obsessed with them?

Perhaps more importantly, where do they come from and which poor child dug them out of a dusty mine in Madagascar?

We investigate the science behind crystals, how they are being marketed and the dark side of the mining industry that produces them.

Also in this episode:

* Six degrees of Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos.

* Megxit

* Shakira's lyricism

The "gut-brain axis" is making its way from kooky alternative theory to routine medical treatments.

We go exploring! We also discuss how drumming re-wires your brain.

Also in this episode:

How can we quantify how smoky Sydney is?

Will Justin Z accept Justin B's kind offer of a poop transplant?

Would you allow your child to learn the drums with the knowledge that it necessarily increases the chance of them drumming in a cover band?

For three weeks in November, the planet Mercury started moving backwards and alot of people went batsh%t crazy. Jeremy's Iron investigates! Also: Can bacteria talk to each other??

PLUS: Justin B obsesses over horoscopes while Justin Z wonders why he can't sing inside a church and why single people don't get to have singledom ceremonies. It's a water-tight show, really.

REFERENCES:

Julia C. van Kessel. PQS Signaling for More than a Quorum: the Collective Stress Response Protects Healthy Pseudomonas aeruginosa Populations. Journal of Bacteriology, 2019; 201 (23) DOI: 10.1128/JB.00568-19

In the Halloween tradition, we take on the personae of Tamler and Dave from Very Bad Wizards and do our own version of their Epsiode 174: More Chiang for Your Buck. It's like a cover version. For podcasts.

In this episode we discuss:

* The Joker (film)

* Are morally virtuous people less funny (scientific paper)

* The multiverse and "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom" (short story)

Very Bad Wizards is a podcast about science and research and ethics. It's also about Peez's beats. We do all these things (and more) in an attempt to become our podcast heroes for one hour.

Why? Halloween.

Justin B's article: genetic engineering of self-destructive mosquitos aiming to reduce mozzie populations!

Justin Z's article(s): how translatable are animal studies to human medicine??

We also lock-in a Jeremy's Iron excursion to Shen Yun, 2020.

People are scared of fluoride. From rat poison to calcified third-eyes, negative associations of fluoride are rife. SO! We enlist the help of Sydney's hottest dentist Dr. Lewis Ehrlich to separate fiction from the tooth.

We ask Dr. Lewis about:

* His invitation to become the Bachelor

* What is holistic dentistry?

* Do we really need fluoride in our toothpaste?

* What's the deal with charcoal toothpaste?

Australia is one of the few countries that still fluoridates it's water. This is despite minimal conclusive evidence that it assists regular fluoride toothpaste use in the prevention of tooth decay or gum disease. Forget the fact that ingested fluoride is the ONLY medical intervention delivered en masse with no dosage controls!

This is a spicy one so we've devoted two episodes to it.

Part one features a break-down of the history of fluoridation, which is WILDLY FASCINATING, and a look at the available evidence for the efficacy on tooth decay prevention. Tune in next week where we interview dentist Dr. Lewis Ehrlich and investigate the conspiracy theories around fluoride's effect on the pineal gland.

We also look into the health benefits of being religious and discuss whether mathematics is a natural phenomenon or wholly man-made.

PLUS!! Can you find our in-podcast references to the following songs: Black Eyed Peas - The Weekend, A Perfect Circle - Judith, The Vapors - Turning Japanese, Ritchie Valens - La Bamba.

No prizes for finding all four - but seriously, at this point we could float the podcast as a music digest for your dad.