This week: Debunking ghost hunting in the Wall Street Journal; Psychic Sally backs down from challenge; SGU talks with Banachek about the JREF's Primetime Nightline challenge.
Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2011 Want to Bust Some Ghosts? There's an App for That D.J. Grothe, president of the James Randi Educational Foundation in Los Angeles, which promotes critical thinking, likens ghostly apps to tea leaves. "Just five years ago, ghost hunters were the silly goofballs trying to spook themselves with a night camera," Mr. Grothe says. "Now they're the old fuddy-duddies who are trying to keep the status quo."
The Drum | ABC News 24 Australia, November 3, 2011 Paranormal success is a psychic's only power Hundreds have applied, but so far no applicant has won the prize. This, says Randi, is because these healers, psychics and astrologers are either deluded or deceptive. The "cruel farce" of paranormal business, he argues, relies on tricks, suspension of disbelief, ignorance and desperation: grieving or unhappy customers, paying good money for consolation or hope.
USA Today, October 28, 2011 Magicians say their craft makes them see faith as just hocus-pocus "It isn't automatic that if you learn magic you'll become a skeptic of the supernatural," said D.J. Grothe, president of the Virginia-based James Randi Educational Foundation, which debunks supernatural claims and was founded by Randi. "But knowing magic does give you a leg up on how the mind works and how easy it is to be deceived. And from there, skepticism can be a fortunate result."