Brennen McKenzie DVM joins us to discuss his new book "Placebos for Pets?:  The Truth About Alternative Medicine in Animals."

We also have a conversation about how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected veterinary practices, pets, and pet owners in these unprecedented times.

Randi is a medical writer, and serves at Yale University as a Writer in Residence at the medical school and lecturer in the English Department. She is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Randi has worked as a medical writer for the London bureau of The Associated Press and was the London bureau chief of Physicians’ Weekly. Randi focuses on the interplay between medicine and society. In other words, how cultural attitudes influence medical treatment, public health and research; and vice versa, how research and treatment influence societal perceptions of health and disease. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Parents, More, among other newspapers and magazines. 

Randi earned a B.S. from The University of Pennsylvania where she studied the history and sociology of science; an M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; an M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine, and an M.P.H. from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Also, Clay and Grant discuss Grant's recent Science Based Medicine article about fluoride and IQ.

Dr. Jonathan Howard, neurologist and psychiatrist, talks about his book Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes:  A Case-Based Guide to Critical Thinking in Medicine.  

Dr. Nathan Lents discusses his book Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes about how evolution did just enough to get each generation to the next round of life.  Lots of weird things happened along the way.

Also, Clay and Grant discuss their secret trip to Skull Island.  Shhhhh.

We survived 100 episodes!  We get the band back together, with Jason, Clay, and Grant reminiscing and also talking about tongue ties.

Thank you to Mitzi and our other 6 listeners for sticking with us through all these years!

Dr. Paul Duncan McGarrity chats with Clay and Grant about archeology, comedy, and science education.

Paul began performing stand up in 2009 and since then has been combining his day-job as a Senior Archaeologist with Museum of London Archaeology with his growing popularity on the UK comedy circuit. He has supported Hal Cruttenden on tour, appeared on The Big Dig on BBC4, he has been a main cast member in the hugely successful ‘Knightmare Live’ stage show and in 2011 he reached the final of the prestigious Amused Moose Laugh Off.  He has also performed at QED, Edinburgh Fringe, and other locations.

Getting ready for Episode 100!!

Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris is a bestselling author, and medical historian with a doctorate from the University of Oxford. Her debut book, The Butchering Art, won the 2018 PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science. She is the creator of the popular blog, The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice, as well as the host of the YouTube series, Under the Knife. She has written for a variety of publications, including Scientific America, The Guardian, The Lancet, and New Scientist. Her next book will be on the birth of plastic surgery told through the incredible story of Harold Gillies, the pioneering surgeon who first united art & medicine to address the horrific injures that resulted from World War I.

Also, Grant is going to QED to hopefully pick up the Ockham Award that is rightfully The Prism's, rock climbing with Buck Mulligan, and Clay's sister-in-law has a narrow escape.

Dr. John Byrne joins Clay and Grant to discuss stem cell therapy.  What are stem cells, what are the legitimate uses for stem cells in medicine, and what about all these "Stem Cell Clinics" that are popping up, claiming to cure anything and everything?

John Byrne is a doctor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in private practice in Michigan and is the creator of the Skeptical Medicine website and blog (www.skepticalmedicine.com).

In this very special episode of the Prism Podcast, we present a "live" panel discussion, recorded at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism.

Joining Grant and Clay on the panel are Lydia Finch, Jonathan Jarry, and Michael Marshall.  We discuss the state of skepticism currently, how it differs in the UK and Canada, and suggestions for future work.

Joe Schwarcz is Director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. He is well known for his informative and entertaining public lectures on topics ranging from the chemistry of love to the science of aging. Dr. Joe has received numerous awards for teaching chemistry and for interpreting science for the public and is the only non-American ever to win the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Grady-Stack Award for demystifying chemistry. He hosts "The Dr. Joe Show" on Montreal's CJAD and has appeared hundreds of times on The Discovery Channel, CTV, CBC, TV Ontario and Global Television. He is also an amateur conjurer and often spices up his presentations with a little magic. Dr. Joe also writes a newspaper column entitled “The Right Chemistry” and has authored a number of books including best-sellers, Radar, Hula Hoops and Playful Pigs, The Genie in the Bottle, The Right Chemistry, An Apple a Day, Is That a Fact?, and Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules.  Dr. Joe was awarded the 2010 Montreal Medal, the Canadian Chemical Institute’s premier prize recognizing lifetime contributions to chemistry in Canada. In 2015 he was named winner of the Balles Prize for critical thinking by the US based Committee for Skeptical Inquiry in recognition of his 2014 book, Is That A Fact?

In this episode, Clay and Grant discuss SciCom in general, and Joe's new book "A Feast of Science" in particular.

Also, Clay's SBM article about pediatricians dismissing vaccine hesitant families, and a plug for NECSS.