Storm

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Tim Minchin’s Storm is a 9-minute beat poem which has already attracted over a quarter of a million views on YouTube and has become the anthem for critical thinking worldwide.

The animated version of Storm will be released online in October 2010. Producer Tracy King will be talking about how the film came about and giving exclusive insight into the team's process, including showing you exclusive artwork and footage not available to the public! She will be joined afterwards for your questions by the film's director, DC Turner.

Tracy King runs a busy marketing company in London, UK whose clients include various skeptic organisations such as JREF. Her mainstream clients have included UCAS, Lloyds TSB and Macmillan Publishing. She is the Producer of Tim Minchin’s Storm movie, the organiser of TAM London and the co-organiser of The Big Libel Gig. Tracy speaks on a range of topics including viral marketing and advertising psychology, is a gaming and comics geek, and has a world record for spoonbending.

Suggestion and the Paranormal

PLEASE NOTE WE WILL BE AT OUR NEW HOME FOR THIS EVENT ONWARDS - THE SHOWROOM CAFE BAR

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In this presentation Michael shall first talk about suggestion and suggestibility and their relation to hypnosis, demonstrating how one type of suggestion, called the ideomotor effect, can account for a number of unusual and paranormal claims and practices. These include the psychic pendulum, the ouija board, table turning, facilitated communication and dowsing or water divining.

Michael Heap is a clinical forensic psychologist in private practice. He is a founding member of the Association for Skeptical Enquiry (ASKE) and is its current Chairman and Secretary.

The Psychology of Anomalous Experiences

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Ever since records began, in every known society, a substantial proportion of the population has reported unusual experiences many of which we would today label as "paranormal". Opinion polls show that the majority of the general public accepts that paranormal phenomena do occur. Such widespread experience of and belief in the paranormal can only mean one of two things. Either the paranormal is real, in which case this should be accepted by the wider scientific community which currently rejects such claims. Or else belief in and experience of ostensibly paranormal phenomena can be fully explained in terms of psychological factors.

This presentation will provide an introduction to the sub-discipline of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, in an attempt to provide non-paranormal explanations in terms of known psychological and physical factors. This approach will be illustrated with examples relating to a range of ostensibly paranormal phenomena.

Chris French is a Professor of Psychology and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths. He has published over 100 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims. He is the editor of The Skeptic.

Skeptical Activism & The Quacklash

PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE FOR THIS EVENT HAS CHANGED

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Simon is an active campaigner against nonsense. Using the ASA, Trading Standards, other regulatory bodies and even gaining help from MPs, his campaigns have helped shut down dodgy allergy test services, prevented traditional chinese medicine salesmen from claiming to cure cancer and exposed psychic scams.

His largest involvement in a campaign, coined the "Quacklash" by Jack of Kent involved almost 600 separate letters being sent to trading standards to report claims to treat childhood diseases with a back rub. 60 of the letters gained 500 signatories. Further complaints were issued with the General Chiropractic Council.

Simon will be explaining the techniques he's used to fight woo, what works and what doesn't and tell stories about some of the crazy nonsense he's encountered along the way.

Simon runs Leicester Skeptics in the Pub, blogs at http://adventuresinnonsense.blogspot.com and writes a skeptical column in the Leicester Mercury. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Simon_Perry.

Adventures in Skepticism

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The talk will focus on a number of investigations into psychic claims including, the murder of Jacqui Poole, Chris Robinson, the 'Dream Detective', and testing a parrot in Chicago for psychic ability. A few demonstrations of trickery will be included.

Though always sceptical of psychic claims Tony's interest took off following Granada's James Randi Psychic Investigator series in 1991. Tony has appeared on a number of television and radio programmes over the years including: Kilroy (okay he's sorry), Central Weekend Live, National Geographic, Vanessa, Lowry, Everyman and The Heaven and Earth Show. He posed as a tarot reader for Meridian Focus and an astrologer in The New Zodiac. His favourite was The Ultimate Psychic Challenge which meant working with James Randi.
He is a founding member of ASKE.

Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT WILL START EARLIER THAN USUAL AT 6.30PM

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Prince Charles is a staunch defender and millions of people swear by it; most UK doctors consider it to be little more than superstition and a waste of money. But how do you know which treatments really heal and which are potentially harmful? Simon Singh and his co-author Professor Edzard Ernst investigated the evidence for and against alternative therapies and published their conclusions in “Trick or Treatment?”, an honest, impartial and hard-hitting examination and judgement of more than 30 of the most popular treatments. Singh, who has also authored “Fermat’s Last Theorem” and “Big Bang”, will discuss how and why he got involved in writing about alternative medicine. In particular, he will discuss the origins, philosophy and testing of acupuncture and homeopathy, two of the most popular forms of alternative medicine. Singh, who is currently being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association, will also comment on his ongoing legal battle and the impact of libel laws on scientific journalism.

After completing a PhD in particle physics, Simon Singh MBE joined the BBC and worked as a director and producer on programmes such as Tomorrow’s World and Horizon. He has also presented programmes on Radio 4, BBC4 and Channel 4. He is best known as the author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Code Book, Big Bang and Trick or Treatment?.

The Persistence of Delusion

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The late eighteenth century was a very creative time for inventing new forms of quackery and many became quite wealthy on the back on their invention. Of these creations, it is perhaps only homeopathy that has survived virtually unchanged into the 21st century. The majority of alternative medicines available today have been invented and developed within living memory, despite claims of their origins in antiquity.

What makes an alternative medicine successful? Why should homeopathy survive when the very popular tractors of Perkins have long since been forgotten? Could you have predicted this in 1800? Today, we have a new industry of quack devices protecting is from mobile phones. Should you invest in such enterprises? In this talk, Andy will look at the factors that make pseudo-medicines thrive and why consumers and practitioners latch onto them. Importantly, we shall explore the implications of these views for regulation and protecting the public from delusional or fraudulent claims.

Andy Lewis developed the web site quackometer.net that explores the pseudo-medical claims of alternative medicine web sites and their impact on society. Despite his detractors claims, he does not own a yacht in the South of France paid for by Big Pharma. He has yet to secure a single penny from such sources for his work.

The Atheist Bus Campaign & The Atheist’s Guide To Christmas

PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION OF THIS EVENT IS THE UNIVERSITY ARMS ON BROOK HILL

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Journalist and comedy writer Ariane Sherine talks about creating the global Atheist Bus Campaign, now running in twelve countries across the world, and how it started with just 700 words on The Guardian’s website. She’ll also talk about editing the new charity book The Atheist’s Guide To Christmas, which features 42 of the world’s most entertaining atheists, including Richard Dawkins, Charlie Brooker and Derren Brown.

Ariane Sherine is a television comedy writer, journalist and the creator of the Atheist Bus Campaign. She writes regularly for The Guardian, and has also contributed to The Observer, The Independent, The Sunday Times, New Statesman and the NME, as well as writing for television shows including My Family (BBC1) and Countdown (Channel 4).

Ariane won a Special Award from the National Secular Society for the Atheist Bus Campaign, and was a nominee for Secularist of the Year 2009. She was asked to give the first humanist equivalent of Thought For The Day, which was broadcast on Radio 4 in January. She was born in 1980 and lives in London. You can find out more about Ariane on her official website.