We’re all over the show with our new episode of Yeah… Nah!, starting with Mark talking about his recent visit to another Creationist talk - and this one was as inspiring as it was factual. Katrina’s been concerning herself with the question of whether octopuses are going to take over the world, and Bronwyn’s managed to dig up some archive material about a small church in Lower Hutt that appears to have had more than its fair share of controversy and bad behaviour during its lifetime.

• Articles we talk about:
  • How Creationism Hurts My Brain
  • Could Octopodes take over the world?
  • Commonwealth Covenant Church: A forgotten NZ sect
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2025-05-12
• Mentioned in this episode:
  • Dr Kemp’s Petition
  • Decult Film Night

In this episode of the Yeah… Nah! podcast, the team ponder an email sent in by Barry Lennox, who knows a little more about EMF than the people selling EMF Rocks. Katrina finishes off her series on Sovereign Citizens, looking at how the courts have dealt with the madness, and Bronwyn and Mark both have some weird and wonderful stories about the Catholic church, just in time for the Conclave.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Catholic Conspiracies
  • Holy Weed and Holy Forgeries
  • SoulCore - Catholic Yoga
  • EMF WooWoo
  • Sovereign Citizens: Part Three - the Courts
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2025-04-28

CONTENT WARNING: This episode involves Mark describing his colonic irrigation in excruciating detail, and includes audio samples of his ordeal. As well as this horrendous segment, Bronwyn talks about how December in NZ is connected with UFOs and aliens, and Brad has tried to answer a question about playing a piano on Mars, a thought experiment that turns out to have more depth to it than you might think.

• Articles we talk about:
  • How would a piano sound on Mars?
  • Ring around Uranus: My Colonic, part 1
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-12-23

The Yeah… Nah! crew are preparing for Christmas, and for Mark this means getting ready for his upcoming colonic irrigation.  Bronwyn has spent the last month annoying Mark by sending him AI videos of buff and chubby cats, and then decided to try to figure out what’s motivating the people who have been making them. Brad has noticed a relatively new trend that vocalists are using, and wonders if it’s a case of form above function. Katrina has found some pretty obscure local cryptids, although it appears that all of them have likely rational explanations. And finally Mark has been watching sermons given by Jonathan Ayling, the CEO of the Free Speech Union, and wonders whether his love of free speech hides an ulterior motive.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Chubby the AI cat: Another image scan, Elsagate 2024, or a bit of both?
  • Hip-singing and vocal fry; why do I hate them so much?
  • Cryptids of New Zealand: Part 1
  • Cryptids of New Zealand: Part 2
  • Jonathan Ayling - a wolf in sheep’s clothing
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-11-25
  • 2024-12-09
  • 2025-01-21

The team are back from the NZ Skeptics’ annual conference and ready to give you their honest thoughts on how the event went, along with a low-down of each of the speakers’ talks. And, as if that isn’t enough to fill an entire episode, we also hear from Bronwyn about claims that lasers can cure autism, and from Mark who has now watched three out of five Christian apologist movies in the God’s Not Dead series from Pureflix, and has failed to solve a mystery.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Post Conference Thoughts
  • Wham, Bam, Autism Scam: Pew pew Autism lasers
  • God's Not Dead 3: A Light in Darkness
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-11-25

We’re at the NZ Skeptics’ annual conference for this special live recording of Yeah… Nah! We reveal our Bent Spoon, Bravo and Skeptic of the Year winners, trash talk the Go Green Expo (and LifeWave in particular) and try to convince our live audience that going on a ghost hunting tour is a really fun thing to do.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Go Green Garbage
  • X39 Patches, brought to you by LifeWave
  • There's a patch for that: LifeWave moves into New Zealand
  • Ghost Hunting for Skeptics
  • Post Conference Thoughts
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-11-11
  • 2024-11-25

Mark and Bronwyn are back from the DeCult conference, and have some thoughts about their experiences while they were there, and some of the suggestions that had been floated about how to deal with the issue of cults. Mark comes full-circle on the idea of a weirdly shaped straw, Katrina wants to be a super-hero, but is disappointed in the lack of progress science is making to realise her dreams. And Brad gets horsey again, trying to figure out why some of his friends and colleagues pay good money for ineffective equine treatments.

Warning: This episode has brief mentions of abuse during the cult segment.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Decompressing from DeCult
  • Anti-Ageing Straws
  • Superhero science IRL
  • Equine Touch
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-10-29

Another fortnight, another episode of your favourite podcast, Yeah… Nah! This time round the block, we’re all over the place, starting with Katrina talking about the history of Halloween traditions. Mark has been farming his children for content again, and has learned about Aura Points. Bronwyn’s found yet another dodgy piece of autism research, and Brad’s been considering the importance of choosing your words carefully.

• Articles we talk about:
  • All Hallows Eve
  • Aura Points
  • Wham, Bam, Autism Scams: Reversing Autism through diet and therapy
  • Weaponising Words
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-10-14

Brad’s just had surgery, but that’s not stopping him from coming onto the podcast this week, where the team talk about his operation, as well as a brain drink he was given by a well-meaning client. Katrina talks about multivariate data analysis, and Mark considers whether sticking your tongue against the roof of your mouth is going to give you a chiselled jaw and perfect teeth.

• Articles we talk about:
  • More variables please (with sprinkles on top)
  • Mewing
  • Ārepa: great minds drink alike? Or a storm in a drink bottle?
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-09-30

In this VERY special episode, Mark and Bronwyn talk with Anke, a journalist with a long-standing interest in cult groups who is organising a weekend conference in Christchurch in October that focuses on all things culty. We talk about cult survivors, cult experts, the difficulties of organising a large event, and Anke’s hopes for the future.

We’ve not scared Katrina or Brad away yet, so the Yeah… Nah! team are marching on, to pastures new. Both Mark and Bronwyn have been poking around astrology software, trying to figure out what, and who, makes it tick. Brad has tried to make sense of the impossible - homeopathy - and its use in treating horses. And Katrina looks into creative ways to get high both legally and for free.

• Articles we talk about:
  • A steaming pile of Horse Homeopathy
  • The <FAULT> in our stars: Digitising astrology
  • A PEEK inside some Astrology Software
  • Way remains murky for MDMA assisted therapy
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-09-16

It’s our first episode with new co-hosts Katrina Borthwick and Brad MacClure, so the Yeah… Nah! squad 2.0 get to work tackling some topical issues. Bronwyn, Katrina and Mark have all suffered through watching the entire season of spiritual healing reality TV show Lost Resort, and have a lot to say about it. Katrina has looked into a dubious chiropractic company who caused a New Zealand scientific paper to be retracted. Brad complains about a fellow old-white-man who’s been complaining about the Olympics. And Mark points out the clinical ineffectiveness of the Throckmorton Sign in radiology.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Skeptical AV Club: Lost Resort (American Reality Series, 2020)
  • NZ Researcher Silenced
  • Richard Dawkins is officially a curmudgeon
  • The Throckmorton Sign
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-09-02

Scams, scams, scams in this episode of the Yeah… Nah! Podcast, with Mark talking about his activism dealing with an NZ Post text-based scam, Bronwyn looking into vastly-overpriced bags of rocks that are supposed to protect you from harmful Electromagnetic radiation, and Katrina documenting how some Sovereign Citizens in New Zealand have been trying to scam Justices of the Peace into signing copies of their sham legal documents.

• Articles we talk about:
  • NZ Post Scams: A little bit of Activism
  • Sovereign Citizens: Part Two – Justices of the Peace 
  • EMF can't hurt you if you're dead: A new nadir for the electrosensitivity industry
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2025-04-14

It’s the end of an era for the Yeah… Nah! podcast as we bid Craig farewell. After we recover from the shock of his departure, we get down to business. Brian Paavo joins us from his helicopter to tell us about his recent visit to Scientology in Honolulu, Bronwyn snakes her way through Spiritualist history, from the enactment of the Spiritualist Church of New Zealand Act 1924 through to Red Seal Toothpaste, and Mark dunks on a couple of new personal AI devices.

• Our Guest
  • Brian Paavo
• Articles we talk about:
  • Scientological Visit
  • Mobile AI, over-promising and under-delivering
  • The Spiritualist Church of New Zealand Act 1924
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-08-19

Craig is back and as busy as ever, so you might be listening to this podcast on a day that is not Thursday. This week we are chewing the fat about intuitive eating, The Divine Light Mission, and bad batteries.

• Articles we talk about:
  • The Child Lord of the Universe: Prem Rawat and the Divine Light Mission, Part 1
  • The child god grows up: Prem Rawat and the Divine Light Mission, Part 2
  • Intuitive Eating
  • The Calm after the Steorn
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-08-05
  • 2024-07-22

Craig is away again this week, and again we’ve had to call on two committee members to do the job of one. Returning guests Dan Ryan and Katrina Borthwick try not to get bogged down by bad data, either historical or contemporary; Mark takes transubstantiation to its logical extreme; and Dan needs tech support for a sentient laptop monitor.

• Our Guests:
  • Katrina Borthwick
  • Dan Ryan
• Articles we talk about:
  • Bogged Down by Mistakes: Tracking two hundred years of Irish Misinformation
  • Paper mills
  • 900 ft. Jesus?
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-07-22

Craig is away this episode and singing his heart out at the World Choir Games, leaving Bronwyn and Mark to fill the hole he’s left in their hearts (at least for the next two weeks). Fortunately, they’ve been able to replace him twice over with TWO special guests! Committee member Brad MacClure returns to discuss placebos, and Hamish Dickson makes his podcast debut to share his visit to the Dunedin Spiritual Expo. Bronwyn is back on her Colin Amery nonsense, and Mark talks about everything. If you are in Auckland next week, be sure to stay listening for our Membership corner, for a special Skeptics in the Pub announcement.

• Our Guests:
  • Brad MacClure
  • Hamish Dickson
• Articles we talk about:
  • Stop crediting the placebo effect, it doesn't make you better!
  • The Dunedin Spiritual Expo
  • Tarotmancer: A brief biography of Colin Amery
  • Jim Ring, Nelson
  • YouTube Update
  • Souls of the dead tracking across the sky
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-07-08

“Yeah…Nah!” says hell yeah to another episode with a smorgasbord of features. Craig tags along to a Matariki celebration; Bronwyn wonders if her sugar-free electrolytes are illegal, and Mark keeps himself busy as always; getting the NZ Skeptics out of the YouTube naughty corner, attending a creationist “education” session.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Are sugar-free electrolyte drinks actually illegal in New Zealand?
  • In the YouTube Naughty Corner
  • Matariki 2024
  • Eyelashes on an Ichthyosaur
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-06-24

Your faithful podcasters are testing the limits of the NZ Skeptics’ insurance policy in this episode. Craig laments on Michael Shermer’s turn towards the unskeptical; Mark reads Sue Nicholson’s memoir, so you don’t have to; and Bronwyn examines the life of a former global Skeptics challenge contender, Colin Amery. Heads up for mentions of suicide and child death.

• Articles we talk about:
  • A Call from the Other Side
  • Tarotmancer: A brief biography of Colin Amery
  • Michael Shermer used to be a good skeptic
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-06-10
  • 2024-05-13

Buckle in for a wild yet contemplative ride. We’re talking about the fast-tracked ‘gamer’ saint and Jason Scamoa. Craig may be onto a winner with an astrology-based betting system, and Bronwyn and Mark try to beat Wellington on a not-great day by checking out the School of Practical Philosophy.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Don the Astrologer
  • A Visit to the School of Practical Philosophy
  • Get schooled: A practical history of the School of Practical Philosophy
  • Jason Momoa: From Aquaman to Aquascam
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-05-27

With the news that Reality Check Radio met their fundraising goals, the “Yeah… Nah!” team are back to their old tricks: tapping into the New Zealand zeitgeist, and maybe signing our own deals with the devil. This week, we expound on the science of the Aurora Australis, the portrayal of skeptics on film, Marsden Point, and the recent sale of ex-Centrepoint site Kawai Purapura.

• Articles we talk about:
  • A Beautiful Display
  • Movie Review: Late Night with the Devil
  • Marsden Pointless
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-05-13

Yeah… Nah!’s ascent to the bottom rung of the NZ news ladder is on hold as Reality Check Radio scrambles for donations. Bronwyn explores an MLM that seems to have it all: misuse of real science, pseudoscientific practices, and talking olive trees. Mark makes the mistake of visiting Australia, and after weeks of badgering, Craig finally watches the new Gloriavale documentary Escaping Utopia.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Conspiracy loons update
  • The state of the Mo-nation: MLM Monat in turmoil in the US
  • Oliveda/The Olive Tree People: $15,000 for what???!!
  • Trans-Tasman Troublemaking
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-04-29

Another week, another NZ news outlet bites the dust. Will Yeah…Nah continue it’s slow rise to the top of the NZ media mountain on pure attrition? It sure feels like it! Join us as Craig potentially eulogises Reality Check Radio. Bronwyn makes a case for archiving all sorts of sundry websites, and Mark investigates an audio mystery.

• Articles we talk about:
  • RCR gets a reality check?
  • Ghosts of futures' past: The fragility of digital archives
  • Time Travelling Song Lyrics
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-04-15

In this episode of the only official podcast of the NZ Skeptics ever to have existed, Bronwyn is concerned that skeptical slapdowns aren’t enough to keep a good bullshit peddler down, Mark is dismayed at people contacting the NZ Skeptics who want us to try to trick search engines into increasing our ranking, and Katrina starts a very long journey in the first of a multi-part look into the history of sovereign citizens, and what they’re up to in New Zealand.

• Articles we talk about:
  • SEO Shenanigans: A story in four emails
  • SEO Silliness
  • Wham, Bam, Autism Scams: Wasting resources, and having conflicts of interest, in a White House that claims to want neither
  • Sovereign Citizens: Part One - Intro, Police and Councils
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2025-03-03
  • 2025-04-03

It’s a smorgasbord of topics on the podcast for the week after holy week. Mark has some very definitive things to say about the resurrection and the Sex.Life podcast; Craig considers a future as a bible salesman; and Bronwyn goes to extremes with a mini update on Raman Pascha.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?
  • Bibles for sale!
  • Sex.Life.Nonsense
  • Crossed Lines: Ascended Masters and the Kiwis who channel them
• Newsletters issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-04-02

In this week’s episode, Craig, Bronwyn and Mark are back with some weird and wonderful topics. Mark has been visited by Mormon sister missionaries, again. Bronwyn has responded to a request for comment about a psychic cafe in Katikati, Craig has been on a field trip to an Effective Altruism meeting at Rationalist House, and Mark has spent the last two months rolling one side of his face with a jade roller.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Katikati Psychic Cafe
  • Effective Altruism at University
  • They See Me (Jade) Rollin'
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-03-18

Yeah…Nah is back to definitely not bring you the 6pm news from your local cranks, and those around the world. The gang talks about their surprise at receiving actual mail; Special guest Louise chats about King Charles’ magical thinking; Bronwyn is dismayed by developments from Alabama; Craig gives an early post-mortem of New Zealand journalism; and Mark is still on a wicket about cheaters, fakers, and plagiarists.

• Our Guests:
  • Louise Richardson
• Articles we talk about:
  • How to shoot yourself in the foot: Alabama, rights of the Embryo
  • Majestic magical thinking
  • Queen Pwnzalot
  • News on the news
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-03-04

Craig broke himself at the gym, but valiantly rallied so that he could avoid postponing this episode! Katrina is back to give a low down on the repeal of the Therapeutic Products Act, Mark has a movie review for us, Craig is inspired by individuals who hold multiple crank ideas at once, and Bronwyn discusses the Christchurch phenomenon that is Yasmeen Clark and Raman Pascha.

• Our Guests:
  • Katrina Borthwick
• Articles we talk about:
  • Repeal of the Therapeutic Products Act 2023 – What does this mean?
  • Response to a member's concern
  • Movie Review: The Mandela Effect
  • Crank Magnetism
  • Crossed Lines: Ascended Masters and the Kiwis who channel them
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-02-19
• Business Shout-out: Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe (Facebook)

Welcome back for another rundown on skeptical topics, old and new, that make the world go round. Craig gives an update on Neuralink; Mark sets us straight on historical myths and reverse idioms; and Bronwyn talks about Alice A. Bailey, the grandmother of the New Age, and what she has to do with New Zealand.

• Articles we talk about:
  • New Neuralink News
  • Crossed Lines: Ascended Masters and the Kiwis who channel them
  • Skepticism away from the Coal Face
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-02-05
  • 2024-01-08
  • 2023-12-23

Another fortnight, another podcast. Bronwyn gives us some news hot off the internet, and exposes Craig for having a very expensive EMF Meter. Mark is sent in circles by Circling, and Craig gives a literal armchair critique of a YouTube debate between Evolutionary Biologist/Christian Apologist Dr. Zach Ardern and Stephen Woodward of the YouTube channel Rationality Rules.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Yet another ISTA update
  • A very human update on the “living man”, Roger Blake
  • Dr Zach vs Rationality Rules
  • Circle-jerk-ing
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-01-23

No more tears! Yeah… Nah! is back for 2024 with a recent addition to our guest host retinue, new NZ Skeptics committee member Louise Richardson. We expel a bit of hot air over the books we’ve read during the hiatus, before delving into our favourite topics from the last couple of editions of the newsletter; Mark is scouted by a predatory journal, and Louise gives us two solid topics: Jim Humble’s tumble off the mortal coil, and being kinder when engaging skeptically online.

• Our Guests:
  • Louise Richardson
• Articles we talk about:
  • Some predatory journals have no sense
  • Book Review: How Minds Change
  • Shadow Worlds: A History of the Occult and Esoteric in New Zealand - A review
  • Jim Humble and the MMS Pantomime
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2024-01-08
  • 2023-12-25

The truth can be strange, but the ways that people can and do twist it can oftentimes be stranger. In this installment of the Yeah… Nah! podcast, we talk about the Mother Of All Revelations (MOAR) and find debunkers in unexpected places. Mark breaks down 15 Minute Cities, and the inevitable conspiracy theories that had risen from them, and Bronwyn pulls another one from the archives and chats about Tabaash, one of several millennia-old deities that have chosen kiwis to be their vessels of choice.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Barry Young and the data dump
  • 15 Minute Cities
  • Crossed Lines: Ascended Masters and the Kiwis who channel them
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-12-11

Recorded live in front of a skeptical audience. We talk about our annual awards, the media Bravos, Skeptic of the Year, and a very surprising winner of the Bent Spoon. We also have our own bugbears to share: Craig talks about the emerging scandal that is the Twin Flames universe, Mark describes his attempt to entrap an online scammer named Agent Patrick Smith, and Bronwyn picks apart the myth of Blue Zones.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Our 2023 Awards
  • Twin Flames: Twin Documentaries
  • Are blue zones bogus?
  • Would the real Judy Eliassen please stand up
  • Running out of Steam: The fake Judy scam, part 2
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-11-27
  • 2023-11-20
  • 2023-11-13
  • 2023-10-30

Apologies for the unexpected break. We’ve all been struck down with some form of old age (Craig), covid (Mark), and an otherwise unspecified cold (Bronwyn). But never fear, we have things to say about the past three weeks! Craig gives us a rundown of Arepa’s recent fall from grace, Bronwyn talks about the lengths people go to not celebrate Halloween, and Mark reveals that his house is becoming a proving ground for Mormon missionaries.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Ārepa
  • Hell Houses, Trunk-or-Treats, and Light Parties: How Hallowe'en alternative spread the gospel during the spooky season
  • Sisters are doing it for… a creepy old man
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-11-06
  • 2023-10-30

In this episode of the Yeah... Nah! podcast, hosts Bronwyn Rideout, Mark Honeychurch and Katrina Borthwick explore the ethical implications of using AI tools when making content for the NZ Skeptics. They discuss recent weather-related scams surrounding Cyclone Alfred, the latest strange trend on TikTok involving telekinesis, and the dubious intellectual claims of Christopher Langan - with a detailed critique of how scammers often leverage high IQ claims.

• Articles we talk about:
  • TikTok Telekinesis: Fun or Foily
  • Cyclone Alfred Nonsense
  • Chris Langan - Smartest Man in the World?
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2025-03-17

The gang is back this week with a bit of election talk, and a morbid curiosity about how the minority parties fared. Craig gives us a non-EV topic, debunking fears about spontaneously combusting lithium ion batteries, while Mark, still chasing that Eastern Lightning high, gets embroiled in more online scams. Bronwyn closes out the episode with three cases of fraudulent medical practice, either by New Zealanders, or with a Kiwi connection.

• Articles we talk about:
  • A week in NZ Skeptical History - October 16th - 22th
  • CleverTap: a Work From Home scam
  • CleverTap Scam: Can I Scam the Scammers?
  • EV Fires
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-10-16
  • 2023-04-03

This week, our guest Tim Price tells Mark why he should say Yeah… Nah! to VPNs; Craig engages in one-sided email fisticuffs about gender; and Bronwyn gets grumpy about New Zealand’s role in the distribution of GcMAF, a fake cancer and Autism treatment.

• Our Guests:
  • Tim Price
• Articles we talk about:
  • VPN companies and their claims
  • Wham, Bam, Autism Scams - The bad actors and bad science behind the most egregious claims about the causes and cure for Autism 
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-10-02
• Links:
  • https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-science-of-biological-sex/

Welcome back to another instalment of the Yeah…Nah Podcast. Craig has some thoughts about a recent RNZ interview on Near Death Experiences; Bronwyn looks at the New Zealand connection to Miracle Mineral Supplement, and the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing; Super special guest Katrina is back with a post mortem of sorts on the Therapeutic Products Act; and Mark shares his experience of being catfished.

• Our guests:
  • Katrina Borthwick
• Articles we talk about:
  • Wham, Bam, Autism Scams - The bad actors and bad science behind the most egregious claims about the causes and cure for Autism
  • Catfish Noodles
  • A Second Helping of Catfish Noodles
  • Therapeutic Products Act analysis
  • Near death experiences
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-09-18
  • 2023-09-11
  • 2023-09-04

The team at Yeah… Nah! revel in their atheism this week. We try to answer Nic Blackie’s 5 questions for non-Christians; Bronwyn ponders Naisi Chen’s hosting gig as Prayers @ Parliament’s parliamentary host; and Craig gives his mea culpa about John Dee, and talks random climate data on random substacks.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Lying for Jesus: Nic Blackie Edition
  • What to make of Naisi Chen
  • Hottest July on record?
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-09-04
  • 2023-08-28

In this special episode, we talk to Melanie Trecek-King, one of this year’s conference speakers who will be joining us all the way from the United States. As well as working as an associate professor, Melanie runs Thinking is Power, an organisation whose mission is to teach critical thinking skills to both students and everyone else. Her resources are a great primer for skepticism, tradching people about how to spot pseudoscience, common logical fallacies, what science is, and more. It was really good to talk with Melanie ahead of November’s conference in Dunedin, and we’re looking forward to meeting her in person.

• Our guests:
  • Melanie Trecek-King

Bronwyn kicks off the episode with some spicy MLM drama, courtesy of Stampin’ Up. Mark peers down the rabbit hole of Liz Gunn and her connection to the Fabian Society and, in a similar vein, Craig investigates Voices for Freedom’s claims that the COVID vaccine is causing an additional 90 deaths per week. To close out the episode, Bronwyn and Mark talk about their experience at a recent Gnostic Mass.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Liz Gunn vs the Fabians
  • Gnostic Mass: A touch of Aleister in the Antipodes
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-08-21
  • 2023-08-14

In honour of the documentary Ms. Information being screened as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival, Siouxsie Wiles and Director Gwen Isaac join us for a rather fun episode. Craig gets skeptical about Thermography, an alternative breast cancer screening tool; having been kicked out of Eastern Lightning, Mark is a man with time on his hands and talks about joining a group with an, allegedly, more rationalist mindset; and finally, Bronwyn talks about the more established, and far less talkative, christian sect known as the Two by Twos.

• Our guests:
  • Siouxsie Wiles
  • Gwen Isaac
• Articles we talk about:
  • Ms. Information
  • Miss Conduct
  • Thermography in New Zealand
  • Two-by-twos: The sect with 2 many names and just as many problems (Part 1)
  • Two-by-twos: The sect with 2 many names and just as many problems (Part 2)
  • The Inner Sanctum of the GloFlo movement
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-08-07
  • 2023-07-31

Craig is back in the saddle, although still a little rusty on the mic - but we forgive him (because we need him to edit the podcast). Mark reveals the ignoble end of his time with Eastern Lightning. Recurring guests Tim Atkin and Alexander Maxwell return, as we recollect on Julian Batchelor’s most recent attempt to win over the Kapiti Coast, and Craig shares some tidbits about his recent trip to North America.

• Our guests:
  • Alexander Maxwell
  • Tim Atkin
• Articles we talk about:
  • Trick or Treaty: Should you trust an evangelist to be honest about our history?
  • Go Home Racists - A surprisingly sedate story of a counter protest
  • The Discursive Supremacy of the Treaty of Waitangi
  • How Eastern Lightning Grew in China
  • The Lightning has Died, at least for me
  • Tripping around North America
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-07-24
  • 2023-07-17

Craig is back on NZ soil in body, but not quite in mind, so while he gets over his jet lag Bronwyn, Mark and Katrina have invited fellow committee member Brad McClure to the party. Brad enlightens us that if our hearts did beat at 432 Hz, cancer wouldn’t be a problem because we’d be dead. Mark brings in the binaural beats, Bronwyn forces everyone to listen to some of the awful and not so awful music she found for the Cult Leaders and Devotees music poll, and Katrina explains why the pain you may feel after listening to all of this is oh so very real.

• Our guests:
  • Katrina Borthwick
  • Brad MacClure
• Articles we talk about:
  • I'm running out of cults to join
  • 432Hz: What the freq do we know?
  • Chants and Chords: Top tunes from leaders and devotees, as voted by YOU!
  • Binaural Beats
  • Backmasking
  • The Weirdness of Pain
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-07-10
  • 2023-07-03
  • 2023-06-26

Craig is still AWOL at his secret MLM conference so Bronwyn and Mark keep calling in some blood debts. Long-suffering skeptic James Kerr finally humours us with his presence, and gives the team an education on Universal Basic Income. Bronwyn talks about what put the zing in ZAP (Zenith Applied Philosophy). Mark talks about that old skeptical standby, UFOs, and Katrina returns yet again to discuss popular myths in psychology.

• Our guests:
  • Katrina Borthwick
  • James Kerr
• Articles we talk about:
  • David Grusch and his UFO claims
  • No, your awesome policy idea will not pay for itself
  • Scientology and New Zealand
  • Scientology and New Zealand: John Dalhoff and Zenith Applied Philosophy (Z.A.P), Part 2
  • Zap to the future: What is ZAP doing now?
• Newsletter issues there articles appear in:
  • 2023-06-26
  • 2023-06-19
  • 2023-06-12
  • 2023-06-06

In this episode of the Yeah… Nah! podcast, extra special guest James Kerr joins the crew for a conversation about how a fundamental misunderstanding of how government works can lead people to believe in grand conspiracies. Bronwyn gives an update on ISTA, who are currently in a little hot water. And Katrina has found a handy online game called Bad News that teaches people about online disinformation.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Mulder would be QAnon: The deep roots of a modern conspiracy
  • Keep it real online
  • ISTA (International School of the Temple Arts) and Highden make actual headlines
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2025-03-03

Craig has abandoned us, so Bronwyn and Mark abandon any sense of brevity in revolt. Mark gives an update on the wind down of his time with Eastern Lightning, and Bronwyn talks about Frank Turnbull, David Mayo and the early history of Scientology in New Zealand. Return guests Katrina and Daniel carry the rest of the podcast. Katrina talks about Elon Musk’s brain chips, and her own life as a cyborg. Daniel, on the other hand, does twice the work as the rest of us, with the shortest segment ever (how people are trying to game the ratings of the new live-action Little Mermaid movie), and a report on the anti-trans rhetoric on show at the Freedoms NZ roadshow in the Hutt Valley last week.

• Our guests:
  • Katrina Borthwick
  • Daniel Ryan
• Articles we talk about:
  • The Warehouse puberty blockers
  • Thank Almighty God Above
  • Brain Chips in Humans
  • Diving into The Little Mermaid's Online Ratings
  • Scientology and New Zealand
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-06-12
  • 2023-06-06

Long time listener, but definitely not first time caller, Susan Shearer joins the crew this week to train the most problematic (and only) member of her downline. Bronwyn gives an update on the various travails of Highden Temple and the International School of the Temple Arts, and Craig offers a tongue in cheek eulogy to the late Rashid Buttar.

• Our guests:
  • Susan Shearer
• Articles we talk about:
  • I joined an MLM!
  • A Highden Temple / International School of the Temple Arts (ISTA) update
  • Bye bye disinformation guy
• Newsletters issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-05-29
  • 2023-05-22

Craig is back with us and having a breather before his future travels to Utah, so we are making him work twice as hard. We debunk the rise of mercury in retrograde in the current newscycle; devour a very interesting Official Information Act Request; despair that claiming allodial title doesn’t preclude you from paying taxes; and dive into the life and crazy wisdom of the late American spiritual guru, Franklin Jones, aka Adi Da Samraj, aka Da Free John, aka Bubba Free John.

• Articles we talk about:
  • Mercury in retrograde
  • New Freeland, Revisited
  • By many, many other names: The many lives of the late Avatar Adi Da Samraj
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-05-15
  • 2023-05-08

When the chair entity is away, the committee members really struggle to keep to any agenda. While Craig is off galavanting in cafes on the other side of the ditch, Bronwyn and Mark call in reinforcements in the form of Katrina and Alistair, both of whom have provided variety in our past two newsletters. Al talks about the School of Prophets, Katrina gives advice on how to increase the real science in your life by ditching the junk, and Bronwyn puts a bow on her research into Builders of the Adytum.

• Our guests:
  • Katrina Borthwick
  • Al Blenney
• Articles we talk about:
  • Detox your mind from junk science with this one simple trick!
  • School of Prophets Aotearoa
  • Builders of the Adytum: The tarot cards and Qabalah in Naenae
• Newsletter issues these articles appear in:
  • 2023-05-01
  • 2023-04-23