Sunday, October 25, 2020

Flopcast 442: Amazing

We lost a hero this week, so this show is our memorial tribute to James Randi. As a magician, The Amazing Randi performed around the world, toured with Alice Cooper, and taught Fonzie an escape trick on Happy Days. (By the way, Happy 75th Birthday to Henry Winkler!) But Randi was even better known as a skeptic and an investigator of claims of the paranormal and supernatural. His work debunked countless psychics, faith healers, and alternative medicine snake oil peddlers. He taught us to think critically, demand evidence, and follow the science. In addition to discussing his remarkable life, we also share some personal memories of our time with Randi, and we replay our quick Flopcast interview from way back at DragonCon 2012. (Randi loved DragonCon. He was a geek like us.) So join us as we celebrate a little guy with a big beard and a bigger heart, a self-proclaimed cheat and charlatan, an honest liar. Then let's get back to work.

---

Show Notes

Remember to check out Cereal Mascots vs Serial Killers, Kevin's latest Quarantine panel with the American Sci-Fi Classics Track!

---

Kevin interviewing Randi at DragonCon 2012:

That same year, Randi and Alice Cooper appeared together to discuss their collaboration:

Randi as he appeared on Happy Days in 1978:

---

It helps to see Randi in action to understand what a smart and entertaining person he was. Here is a TED Talk he gave in 2010.

---

Our friends Rebecca, Maria, and A discussed their history with Randi and the Skeptic community, both good and bad, on the Skepchick podcast.

---

Steven Novella of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe wrote a blog post about Randi and his work, expanding on the Million Dollar Challenge.