Jeremy's Iron

A surgeon and a biostatistician take on the Wellness Industry (and others).

Episodes

Ep 31: Are masks actually protecting us from the virus??

April 24, 2020 • 73 min

In the very last Jeremy's Iron (before a long overdue name change), we discuss the effectiveness of facemasks in protecting us from the virus. We also discuss: * Should "the arts" be prioritised in the economic rescue? * How do we value a 75-year old's life? * What is David Icke's malfunction? Next episode will be the first under our new podcast name: Pseudo. Where pseudoscience be, Pseudo go.

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Ep 30: Should I drink my own urine?

February 8, 2020 • 51 min

It's more common than you think. From Rome to Russia, Africa and India.... no culture appears immune to the appeal of the golden elixir. We follow the stream from ancient ritual to instagram craze.

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Ep 29: Healing crystals

January 29, 2020 • 67 min

What are crystals and why are we obsessed with them? Perhaps more importantly, where do they come from and which poor child dug them out of a dusty mine in Madagascar? We investigate the science behind crystals, how they are being marketed and the dark side of the mining industry that produces them. Also in this episode: * Six degrees of Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos. * Megxit * Shakira's lyricism

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Ep 28: What is the gut-brain axis? Also: what happens in drummers' brains?

January 15, 2020 • 56 min

The "gut-brain axis" is making its way from kooky alternative theory to routine medical treatments. We go exploring! We also discuss how drumming re-wires your brain. Also in this episode: How can we quantify how smoky Sydney is? Will Justin Z accept Justin B's kind offer of a poop transplant? Would you allow your child to learn the drums with the knowledge that it necessarily increases the chance of them drumming in a...

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Ep 27: Mercury in Retrograde! Jeremy's Iron FREAKOUT!

November 30, 2019 • 54 min

For three weeks in November, the planet Mercury started moving backwards and alot of people went batsh%t crazy. Jeremy's Iron investigates! Also: Can bacteria talk to each other?? PLUS: Justin B obsesses over horoscopes while Justin Z wonders why he can't sing inside a church and why single people don't get to have singledom ceremonies. It's a water-tight show, really. REFERENCES: Julia C. van Kessel. PQS Signaling ...

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HALLOWEEN SPECIAL! Jeremy's Iron are.... (Very Bad) Very Bad Wizards!

October 31, 2019 • 52 min

In the Halloween tradition, we take on the personae of Tamler and Dave from Very Bad Wizards and do our own version of their Epsiode 174: More Chiang for Your Buck. It's like a cover version. For podcasts. In this episode we discuss: The Joker (film) Are morally virtuous people less funny (scientific paper) The multiverse and "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom" (short story) Very Bad Wizards is a podcast about science...

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Ep 25: Genetically-engineered killer mosquitos! (actually)

October 21, 2019 • 60 min

Justin B's article: genetic engineering of self-destructive mosquitos aiming to reduce mozzie populations! Justin Z's article(s): how translatable are animal studies to human medicine?? We also lock-in a Jeremy's Iron excursion to Shen Yun, 2020.

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Ep 24: Water Fluoridation II (with Dr. Lewis Ehrlich)

October 5, 2019 • 63 min

People are scared of fluoride. From rat poison to calcified third-eyes, negative associations of fluoride are rife. SO! We enlist the help of Sydney's hottest dentist Dr. Lewis Ehrlich to separate fiction from the tooth. We ask Dr. Lewis about: * His invitation to become the Bachelor * What is holistic dentistry? * Do we really need fluoride in our toothpaste? * What's the deal with charcoal toothpaste? Special Guest: Dr....

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Ep 23: Water Fluoridation I - Are we poisoning ourselves??

September 30, 2019 • 60 min

Australia is one of the few countries that still fluoridates it's water. This is despite minimal conclusive evidence that it assists regular fluoride toothpaste use in the prevention of tooth decay or gum disease. Forget the fact that ingested fluoride is the ONLY medical intervention delivered en masse with no dosage controls! This is a spicy one so we've devoted two episodes to it. Part one features a break-down of the hi...

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Ep 22: Vape crisis! Is vaping more dangerous than we thought?

September 16, 2019 • 57 min

We also look into the health benefits of being religious and discuss whether mathematics is a natural phenomenon or wholly man-made.

PLUS!!
Can you find our in-podcast references to the following songs:

Black Eyed Peas - The Weekend

A Perfect Circle - Judith

The Vapors - Turning Japanese

Ritchie Valens - La Bamba

No prizes for finding all four - but seriously, at this point we could float the podcast as a music digest for your dad.

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Ep 21: Vegan diets for toddlers: are they safe?

September 9, 2019 • 64 min

Justin B's article: Blue light and effects on sleep
Justin Z's article: Vegan Babies.

This week we put the vegan diet squarely in the spotlight where it relates to the physical health and neurodevelopment of toddlers. We try to take a balanced reading of the research keeping in mind we (a) don't have babies (b) are reasonably unlikely to have them in the near future and (c) are not vegan or vegetarian.

We also take a hard...

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Ep 20: Anti-biotic resistance: viruses to the rescue!

September 5, 2019 • 61 min

Our friend’s wife got the flu. Conveniently, they found an old half-used antibiotics packet in their cupboard. So they agreed she should take a couple of anti-biotic tablets for a few days just to be on the safe side. Yep. This actually happened. And we’re sure it happens all the time. No wonder antibiotic resistance is a problem. Ignorance around antibiotic resistance is rife and bugs are slowly winning the war against the old g...

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Ep 19: Creationism! Can we defend it??

August 18, 2019 • 54 min

It took 4 billion years for the first cells to evolve into the talking, walking, podcast-making, online shitposting, creative and utterly insane humans that now populate the earth. BUT! Is that ACTUALLY enough time for Darwin’s theory of incremental mutation to work its slow brand of magic??? A whole lot of smart people reckon it’s not. Justin and Justin try to find out whether they have a point! Spoiler alert: they don’t. Justi...

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Ep 18: Why is it so hard to do research in Russia?

August 12, 2019 • 51 min

Believe it or not, we actually went to Russia to find out.

Hopefully you’ll forgive the “on-location” sound quality as we discuss the difficulties of conducting and publishing research in Russia.

We also answer the following questions:

What caused the mystery radioactive fog that descended on Europe in 2017?

Can machine learning identify autism in babies from merely analysing eye movements?

How does Burger King possibly have a 4.5 star...

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Ep 17: Justin vs Justin: Race/Off

July 15, 2019 • 11 min

In an experiment that would make most researchers shudder with its methodological flaws, Justin Z and Justin B go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all 50m swim sprint.

Why?

We're both in our mid 30s, single and have too much time on our hands. And with content like this its probably staying that way.

Jeremy’s Iron is available on iTunes: HERE
Join our Facebook page: HERE

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Ep 16: Will tofu give me man-boobs?

July 3, 2019 • 64 min

Scared of soy?? Us too.

This episode unpacks the man-boob myth and also looks at the effects of soy consumption on pre- and post-menopausal women.

Justin B grabs a strong Aeropress coffee just before the show - clearly his usual frenetic enthusiasm was going to be insufficient for this one. So we make it rain in the first half of the show as we deliver a some long overdue listener shout-outs, investigate the placebo effect, cross-e...

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Ep 15: Meditation II (with Dylan Baskin from Qwilr)

June 30, 2019 • 19 min

Our sophmore interview on Jeremy’s Iron is with renaissance tech bro Dylan Baskind. He’s the CEO of Qwilr - an online document-creation platform. He’s also the lead singer of Winter People and a visual artist. But what brings him to the podcast is his regular meditation habit. We ask him how meditation affects his high pressure work life and also how regular meditation might adversely affect the creative process. Special Guest: D...

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Ep 14: Meditation I: Why can't we prove that it works??

June 23, 2019 • 59 min

Meditation is practiced by billions across the globe. Each person with their own personal relationship to their practice. There are countless stories of meditation’s positive effect on people’s lives. From tales of rapture, to people who have come back from the brink through meditation to those that just feel that meditation makes them 10% happier. Great! Meditation works then. Cool! No need for a podcast about it [resumes online ...

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Ep 13: Montessori and Steiner schools! Do they work??

June 10, 2019 • 74 min

Montessori and Steiner schools have been preaching “student-focussed” education for more than 100 years. What’s more, their rejection of teacher authority and strict curricula is progressively encroaching on mainstream schools. BUT is there any evidence that their progressive take on schooling provides any longterm benefits to students?? Justin and Justin hope to find out! In this episode we discuss the education principles of Mont...

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Ep 12: Fly Shame

May 12, 2019 • 55 min

So you think you’re eco-conscious hey? You don’t own a car, you keep a kitchen compost and you even reuse those brown paper mushroom bags to discretely drink your canned beer on public transport. Good for you! Unfortunately it adds up to about nothing if you take just one domestic flight. Fly shame is real, and many people are going cold turkey on holiday making to reduce their environmental impact. In this episode, Justin B tries ...

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