"Me write book. It Bigfoot Memoirs" I'm still laughing…

Bigfoot interview:

There's always the lady that use to lend him garlic. I think she's on an "Is it Real?" episode. That's also the one where some Russian (I think) bigfoot guru gets on all fours and demonstrates how bigfoot sneaks up on deer-shaped yard decorations.

Appreciate the podcast.

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I must say that I'm a little disapointed with this podcast.
I'm someone who wouldn't trust Grant & Jason as far as I could throw their Roto-Rooter van, but James Randi isn't a clean character either.
There have been several documented cases of him either distorting the truth or out'n'out lying in his debunking efforts…not to mention some shenanigans with the reffing of the Million-Dollar challenge.
You guys have honestly done a tremendous job in debunking GH.
But, I would find it extremely fascinating & entertaining if you would turn your skeptical eye towards Mr. Randi & his challenge.
Please consider it.
And remember…..What's good for the goose is good for the "polter"-goose

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The growl they heard at Wicklow Gaol was clear? It was clearly a noise. When they go interpreting the noises they hear - that is when they start looking like idiots to thinking watchers. When they heard the "voice" say "rights" or "rice" they should have just presented the sound and say "this is what we caught, your guess is as good as mine." This would help too when they catch EVP's in Serbo/Croatia or god knows where, when the people who died obviously never spoke English, to just say "Here's what we caught," and then let us listen and speculate ourselves.

I too think GHI is more trustworthy, as far as being more honest. But I don't trust their instincts and interpretations of the findings.

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Thanks for the podcast Was a good listen as always. Looking forward to the next one.

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Quick correction: Mortimer and RANDOLPH. Winthorpe was Dan Aykroyd's character.

@ Cheryl H, I thought the growl was clear insofar as it clearly wasn't an electronic blip and could be identified as an unusual noise which definitely seemed to be coming from something external to the recorder. As to what caused the noise, obviously I don't think the answer to that is at all clear.

@ Icculus, I'm not knowledgeable enough on The Amazing Randi to speak to any criticisms against him but at the same time, Stephen saw this test in action and millions of people have seen him conduct other testings on live television — it's possible he could be using his skills as a magician to secretly sabotage actual psychics from successfully completing his tests but if that was the case then I'd expect the psychics who claim to have been cheated (a list that now includes this woman whom Stephen saw tested) to have someone else administer a truly fair test so they can prove they were cheated. I've seen no such thing.

What I *have* seen are people who have personal or in many cases professional reputations as psychics (and make money as a result, either through appearances, books or whatever) and they are proven to be essentially just a one-trick magic act perhaps at most worthy of a spot on stage at the annual village fair if they were to acknowledge what they were doing was simply a trick and not an actual special ability. I see people trying to protect their reputations and income, and yet as important as that is and as much as they have a right to and *should* do everything they can to defend themselves, perpetually fail to submit themselves to any sort of controlled, scientific testing — or do submit themselves, and fail the testing.

As Stephen said, when Randi first offered the challenge it was for $10,000 and a lot of psychics refused to participate under the handy excuse that they "don't need the money". Many of the people who refused $10k to demonstrate their abilities to Randi gladly accepted far less to appear on a talk show and demonstrate their ability without Randi looking over their shoulder so given that disconnect I'm forced to strongly suspect their motives (and therefore their alleged ability). Now, I suppose it's possible that despite none of these people having any true psychic ability, Randi might also have sabotaged test just in case maybe they did, but unlike the alleged psychics there's nothing I've seen that would make me suspect Randi of being so dishonest.

…That being said, this website is about open discussion so I encourage anyone who believes otherwise to present their argument. Who knows, by next week I might think Randi is the devil, depending on what evidence is available and brought forth to make such a case

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Stephen, am I hearing wrong or does the podcast intro say ep19? Oops! Limited edition collector's podcast!

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Logisti: " but if that was the case then I'd expect the psychics who claim to have been cheated (a list that now includes this woman whom Stephen saw tested) to have someone else administer a truly fair test so they can prove they were cheated. I've seen no such thing. "

Not to mention that I would expect the psychics to know in advance that they were going to be cheated and thus be able to thwart the cheating….

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*L* It does indeed say nineteen. It's an episode number so good, we'll use it twice! (If you read this and don't know what I'm talking about, then I've fixed the podcast.)

@Icculus, I'd be happy to do a podcast focusing on the MDC at some point. If you have particular allegations that I should investigate, please PM me or email them to stephenskepticalviewer at gmail.com.

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The only problem that I have with the MDC is that some skeptics tend to use it as "proof" of something. Since no big name psychic has come forth and taken the test, in a way, it shows that they are afraid to be tested. After all, $1,000,000 is a lot of money. What psychic wouldn't want that? Well, off the top of my head…any successful big name psychic. Let me explain…

I've been taking a good long look at John Edward. He's currently on his international tour. I just chose a random engagement. Sept. 14, Perth, Australia. It's being held at the Riverside Theatre. It has 2500 seats and tickets are $132. That translates into $330,000. That doesn't include the sales of his books, CD's, DVD's, and whatever else he sells. On his website, his schedule, reaching into 2010, shows 29 dates. This doesn't include "private parties" or "personal readings" either.

There is no way on Earth that John Edward would submit to the MDC. He doesn't need the paltry one million dollar prize money. He makes infinitely more per year. Taking the test, and failing, would only hurt his earning potential.

And just for the record…Bjork is from Iceland, not Denmark…

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@ Icculus
"but James Randi isn't a clean character either.
There have been several documented cases of him either distorting the truth or out'n'out lying in his debunking efforts"

Could we get specific examples of him lying? I'd be really curious where that statement is coming from. Maybe this topic deserves a place in the forum to discus.

@ Stephen
YOU SPOILER YOU! I listen to both SGU and the SV podcast. I listened to this podcast before SGU posted theirs and had no idea Rebecca got married..sigh…:)

I was so happy to finally get my SV Podcast fix. Thanks to you both for all the effort.

I love the idea of expanding the topics past GH/GHI and touching the other realms of paranormal.

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There's a much bigger source of income he could tap IF he were able to pass Randi's testing. Think he could use it as a springboard to sueing these folks ?

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103625

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The big disappointment of the MDC is that it hasn't served as a useful way of motivating big-name "psychics" toward getting tested, and that most of the applicants have been, not to put too fine a point on it, kind of wacky. It's useful as a rhetorical point, but the big names have found ways of deflecting it. Personally, I wouldn't feel bad if they retired it. I'm glad to have seen a test, though.

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@Stephen, " It's an episode number so good, we'll use it twice!"

19 is also a favorite number of Stephen King's — and I recommend the Dark Tower series for readers of all genres.

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