505: Ray Hyman - Skeptical Observer

Nonagenarian Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregon, Ray Hyman, is one of the founders (along with James Randi and Martin Gardner) of the skeptical movement. He consulted for Alice Cooper and the federal government during his colorful career. And he still teaches workshops on “character reading” (see: cold reading) to skeptics.

In this workshop from The Amaz!ng Meeting 2012, Ray Hyman instructs participants on how to do "psychic" or character readings. They also perform readings on each other. The goal is not to increase the number of cold readers, but to show how easily a cold reading can convince people they have experienced the supernatural.

This is a TV interview of the truth. Jerry Andrus

In this podcast, Ray talks about meeting Dai Vernon, Dr. Stanley Jaks and Persi Diaconis and his close relationship with Jerry Andrus and James Randi. At one point in his life, James Randi asked Ray to come in to help consult with rock legend, Alice Cooper. He also talks about working with the government to dispel psychic phenomena and the development of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI),

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500: Uri Geller - Not Bending the Truth

Uri Geller is undoubtedly one of the most interesting, enigmatic, charismatic, controversial, influential and well-known entertainers in the world today. His name has become part of our zeitgeist and, like Houdini, has become part of our international culture and language.

There have been several articles, televised performances, interviews and podcasts on Uri Geller. One of the more recent ones (aside from this one), was done for the podcast called “Pretend” (#S405: The Psychic Spy with Uri Geller) which I recommend you take an hour to hear. It goes into much of his background which this week’s podcast does not cover.

Uri Geller, the illusionist known for his spoon-bending stunts, unveils an 11 ton spoon in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, next to the site where he plans to open his museum in late 2019.

In this podcast, Uri talks about his appearance on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and his subsequent battle with James Randi, metal bending, existential and metaphysical interests, dowsing, powers of the mind, and more. Throughout our discussion, Uri suggests that listeners visit his website at https://www.urigeller.com/ which contains a wealth of information and free downloads. You can spend a lot of time there delving into the many facets of this multi-dimensional man.

This 500th episode is one small podcast for a man. One giant leap for magic.

261: Project Alpha with Mike Edwards

After viewing the highly acclaimed documentary, "An Honest Liar" about the career of James "The Amazing" Randi, I wanted to talk with Mike Edwards, the "psychic" who was "tested" along with Steve Shaw (Banachek) over a three year period in the late 70;s to the early 80;s. I have discussed Project Alpha with Banachek many times privately, on the podcast and on an L&L Video (Psi Series Volume 4 - Psychokenisis) but I had never met or spoken with, Mike Edwards, his partner on the project.

The stars aligned with my travel plans to Phoenix, Arizona and Mike's availability so we were able to find a relatively quiet corner in an otherwise busy restaurant and record this chat. It is a completely different perspective from the one I have heard from Banachek and the revelation during the last few minutes of our conversation figuratively "bowled me over". I was not expecting that news. You might be surprised and excited once you hear it, too.

Recorded: 5/27/2010 Original Alpha Kid, Michael Edwards pays a visit to the foundation and recalls some of the behind the scenes tricks that he and Steve Shaw (Banachek) did during the MacLab test. From Wikipedia: Project Alpha was an elaborate hoax orchestrated by the stage magician and skeptic James Randi.

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