/oss/taxonomy/term/4233/all en /oss/article/pseudoscience/netflixs-afterlife-show-dead-arrival <p>It was the psychomanteum that broke me. In episode 5 of Netflix’s <i>Life After Death with Tyler Henry</i>, the self-professed California medium asks his dad to build him a “psychomanteum.” He explains it’s a practice that dates back to Ancient Greece. What it ends up being is a room in Henry’s house, painted the colour of <i>Doctor Who’s </i>TARDIS, with the pencil scribbles he does to meditate hung up in black frames and acting like windows. Inside the dark room, Henry spends an hour looking into a mirror that’s angled away from him, trying to get impressions from the afterlife.</p> Sat, 19 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9052 at /oss /oss/article/health-pseudoscience/frustrating-rorschach-test-netflixs-unwell <p>Much like the title’s parentheses which tease a bleaker angle without committing to it, Netflix’s latest health docuseries, <i>(Un)Well</i>, behaves like the infamous Rorschach ink blot test. I imagine that the viewer will get out of it what they bring to it because the show itself is so respectful of the culture of the wellness industry. It observes but never judges, and this impartial approach causes it to commit the sin of false balance.</p> Thu, 20 Aug 2020 18:42:53 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8369 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience-reviews/beware-insidious-nonsense-netflixs-zac-efron-travelogue-show <p>If I say I just watched a Netflix mini-series about alternative health approaches hosted by a major celebrity, you may think I’m referring to<a href="/oss/article/health-reviews/goop-lab-experiments-viewers-credulity"> Gwyneth Paltrow’s The goop lab</a>, but no. I’m speaking of its recently released “dude bro” counterpart: <i>Down to Earth with Zac Efron</i>.</p> Thu, 16 Jul 2020 23:26:38 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8341 at /oss /oss/article/health-reviews/goop-lab-experiments-viewers-credulity <p>There is a lot of <em>schadenfreude</em> at the sight of Gwyneth Paltrow, high priestess of aspirational brand Goop, sadly eating a reconstituted soup that looks like it was partly digested and regurgitated by a mama bird. After years of Gwyneth encouraging women to torture their bodies in the name of the ever elusive (and delusional) detox, seeing her get a taste of her own pseudomedicine is joyful.</p> Fri, 24 Jan 2020 20:33:33 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8090 at /oss /oss/article/health-nutrition/will-game-changers-change-your-game <p>The documentary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSpglxHTJVM">“The Game Changers”</a> has been picking up steam on Netflix. This is basically a two-hour promo for a vegan lifestyle focusing on a few athletes who attribute their high-level performance to a vegan diet. Before going further, let me say that I favour a diet that has lots of fruits, vegetables and nuts, but I think that some meat, mostly poultry and fish can be accommodated.</p> Wed, 11 Dec 2019 20:59:33 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8048 at /oss