Tag: Fake News

Frak That! Podcast

Frak That! Ep. 85: ‘True or False’

For Episode 85, Joe Wilcox presents Randall Kennedy with the Frak That! equivalent of “Truth or Dare”—meaning: Nothing daring for being wrong. Joe asks his cohost to guess whether popular myths found on urban legend-busting site Snopes are false or not. Like:

  • Woman increased her IQ to 220 by drinking sperm for a year.
  • Doctor strangled a baby born alive during an abortion (and prosecuted for it).
  • Actress Betty White quote says don’t “grow some balls” but a vagina instead.
  • KFC stopped using Kentucky Fried Chicken because of the unhealthy connotations associated with “fried”.

… Frak That! Ep. 85: ‘True or False’

Frak That! Podcast

Frak That! Ep. 83: ‘Give Thanks!’

The day after American Thanksgiving, Randall Kennedy and Joe Wilcox discuss what they are grateful for in 2016. Joe begins Episode 83: “If not for fake news, we might have a different President of the United States, and there would be nothing, absolutely nothing, interesting to read on the Internet. This fake news stuff is just so good, and the other stuff is sooo boring—except for our podcast, but you don’t read that, you listen”.

Way, way later in the podcast, when talking about archeology, Joe brings up fake news again. “Imagine archeologists of the future, trying to understand our society, our culture, and they discover a treasure trove of fake news. What kind of mistakes could they make about what things were really like here in the 21st Century”. Of course Randall has an answer, and he identifies their source: “The ultimate arbiter of all things truthful—that news source of record for the 21st Century—the Onion.com!” They would understand, for example, “that half of us were abducted by aliens at one time in our lives”.  … Frak That! Ep. 83: ‘Give Thanks!’

Frak That! Podcast

Frak That! Ep. 81: ‘Fake News’

After a 10-day break, which Joe Wilcox attributes to the “Trump trauma”, he and Randall Kennedy return to catch up on the news that’s unfit to print. Joe begins Episode 81 by giving his cohost BBC’s fake news quiz. Which stories are true? Which are false?

Among the news reports that absolutely had to be false, but wasn’t, according to the Beeb: “A man in Edmonton, Canada was allowed to board a flight after a pipe bomb found in his bag was confiscated by airport security. A security guard at Edmonton International Airport even tried to hand the bomb back to the passenger, CBC News reported. The teenage passenger claimed to have forgotten the device was in his bag after making it with a friend for fun some months before. Canadian Air Transport Security Authority said several officers involved had been suspended”.  … Frak That! Ep. 81: ‘Fake News’