Scamapalooza 36 – Alien Autopsy Part 1 with Spyros Melaris
In 1995, the world was captivated by the Alien Autopsy video, a grainy 17-minute film supposedly depicting the dissection of an alien...
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The scientific secret behind carnival scams
If I had to list my top five things in the world it would look like this: 1. My wonderful daughter. 2. My other, slightly less wonderful...
How optical illusions may help diagnose autism
Check out this simple optical illusion: Watching this illusion, it appears like a spinning cylinder. In reality, it is two columns of...
Why your brain just let me steal your wallet
My all-time favourite movie scene comes from Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket. (Actually, my all-time favourite movie scene is when Little...
Fake monks making real money on the streets of Sydney
I got a Facebook message from The Daily Mail the other day. I cropped out the bottom half of my reply because my mother sometimes reads...
The shared secret of magic and car crashes
I got rear-ended last week. I stopped suddenly in slow moving traffic and a black BMW slammed into the back of me, destroying the back...
I have five books of illusions to give away…or do I!
Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik’s new book of optical and other illusions culled from the Best Illusion of the Year Contest and...
Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles
Neuroscientists, magicians and friends of the podcast Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik have a new book of optical illusions...
45 – The Ethics of Mentalism with Jon Archer
What’s the difference between a con artist and a magician? A great magician tells you they’re about to lie you. They admit it out right....
44 – The Doctor Will See You Now with Vyom Sharma
How do working GPs deal with alternative medicine? These frontline healthcare practitioners have to deal with constant red tape, constant...
A Gripe About Gripe Water
I have a new baby which is great for me because I happen to love babies. Particularly babies that I made myself. Unfortunately, this baby...
Episode 42 – The Gullibility Test with Alessa Teunisse
Why, given the constant need for people to measure everything from their personalities to their intellect, is there no test for...
Why can’t Donald Trump shake hands?
In recent days, the media has become obsessed with Donald Trump’s complete inability to shake hands like a normal human being. What is...
Episode 39 – The Annals Of Gullibility with Stephen Greenspan
Stephen Greenspan has dedicated a large part of his career to explaining why people act gullibly. As a psychologist and author, he’s...
Episode 37 – The Laborastory
The Laborastory is a science storytelling event in Melbourne that comes to tell the stories of science – the heroes, the egos, the...
Episode 36 – Brain Magic with Tony Barnhart
Anthony “Magic Tony” Barnhart is a cognitive psychologist at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He studies the psychological...
Why do intelligent people make such good suckers?
One of the great shames of my life is that, for a two year period, I believed Mr Ed, the talking sitcom horse, was a zebra. Producers of...
Episode 36 – Brain Magic with Tony Barnhart
Anthony “Magic Tony” Barnhart is a cognitive psychologist at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He studies the psychological...
Episode 34 – The Gentle Grafter With Tosh Greenslade
Do you remember that story about the man who sold his fob watch to buy his wife a comb while she sold her hair to buy him a watch chain?...
Episode 33 – Alien Autopsy Part 2 with Spyros Melaris
In the second part of Nicholas’ conversation with Spyros Melaris about the 1995 Alien Autopsy video, Spyros discusses the fallout from...
Here you'll find resources for teaching and promoting critical thinking, scam protection, and deception education. Many are linked to his school incursions while others are just for fun.
Make sure you subscribe to Nicholas's podcast. Scamapalooza. He interviews psychologists, authors, and researchers about why people are so easy to fool.
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