Richard Saunders is an Australianscientific skeptic andpodcaster. In 2001, he was awarded a life membership byAustralian Skeptics[1] and has twice served as their president.[2][3] He has presented on skepticism, represented the Australian Skeptics on television and radio shows, and is the co-host ofThe Skeptic Zonepodcast.
After graduating from high school, Saunders joined educational publisher Ashton Scholastic and sold educational software for Apple II and Commodore 64 home computers. He also worked as a web designer for The Advance Bank of Australia andCommonwealth Bank[2] and in 1999 was transferred to EDS, where he designed the interface for netBank online banking and worked for two years[citation needed] before joining GreenStone Pty Ltd as a web designer for three years.[citation needed]
In 2013, he was invited to be a member of the "World Competition Jury" atAcademia Film Olomouc's 48th International Festival of Science Documentary Films or AFO48 in theCzech Republic.[7] He also gave a lecture on the claims of water divining as part of the "Pseudoscience" block and a lecture and workshops on origami as part of the "Beauty of Numbers" block.[8][9][10]
As a teenager, he became ascientific skeptic after watching television documentaries on the subject.[11][5] In 2001, he became a member of theAustralian Skeptics committee, later becoming president and vice president[2][12] of the organisation. He was later awarded a life membership in the organisation[1] and as of 2023 was their Chief Investigator.[13] In 2013, he described himself as an "old school skeptic" interested in the paranormal and consumer protection, but uninvolved in religious debates.[14]
He initiatedThe Skeptic Tank radio show on Net.FM with Stefan Sojka,[15] produced The Australian Skeptics collection on "Theories of Everything" for TVS local Sydney TV, and created several of the Australians Skeptics convention DVDs. He was the acting artistic director and layout manager forThe Skeptic Magazine from Australian Skeptics until Tim Mendham was appointed the new editor in June 2009.
In 2003, Saunders co-foundedMystery Investigators with Alynda Brown and Ian Bryce. The program teaches students to use science and critical thinking to investigate claims of the paranormal, such aswater divining,spoon bending, andfirewalking.[16][17] In 2008 Brown left the show and was replaced by biologistRachael Dunlop. In 2013, the show celebrated 10 years of performing.[citation needed]
In December 2009, Saunders conducted an informal double-blind test of the popularPower Balance hologram bracelet on the Australian television programToday Tonight. The results of the test showed evidence that the holograms' effect wasn't different than a placebo.[18][19] Saunders had previously demonstrated how someone could put together a convincing demonstration to deceive people about the effect of the product.[20] In 2011, Power Balance had to recognize the marketing claims made about the product were not supported by science and paid a large settlement in response to a lawsuit[21][22] He also penned a letter to Australian pharmacies in March 2009 asking them to take products not backed by medicine off the shelves, such ashomeopathic preparations and magnetic pain relief devices.[23]
In 2007 he did a recurring segment for the Mike Williams Saturday Night Live radio program called Myths and Mysteries.[27] In 2011 and 2012 he was a regular on The Dirty Disbelievers, a radio program on theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation radio network.[28]
In July and August 2008 (series #1) and in 2011 (series #2), Saunders appeared as the resident sceptic judge onThe One, an Australian reality television program on theSeven Network that tested the powers of several alleged psychics.[2][29][30][31][32]
Saunders produced theVaccination Chronicles in 2014. The film is a 30-minute documentary collects first-hand anecdotes about the horrors faced by parents of recent generations, whose children died from diseases which are now preventable with vaccines.[33]
Saunders (left) in 2015, on the Podcaster Panel at TAM13
Saunders was producer and host ofThe Tank Vodcast (akaThe Skeptic Tank).[34] In 2008 this podcast becameThe Skeptic Zone podcast, which released its 500th episode on 19 May 2018.[5] It is produced weekly and is billed as "The Podcast from Australia for Science and Reason".[35] Saunders has produced every episode ofThe Skeptic Zone podcast.[5]
In 2020 Saunders assembled an international team of skeptics to help him complete a project he had been working on since at least 2018, dubbed the "Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project". As of 2021, the project found psychic predictions to have an 11% success rate, out of 3224 predictions, with approximately 650 yet to be evaluated.[45][46][47] In addition to Saunders, the team includes Adrienne Hill, Michelle Bijkersma, Rob Palmer, Leonard Tramiel, Paula Lauterbach, Louis Hillman, Wendy Hughes, Angie Mattke, Kelly Burke andSusan Gerbic.[48]
The project aims to systematically gather and assess psychic predictions that have been published in Australia since the year 2000. These predictions cover a wide range of topics, predominantly related to Australia, including politics, scandals, celebrities, natural disasters, real estate trends, sports, and weather patterns. The project's creator, Richard Saunders, expressed the intention of using this collection to examine the accuracy of these predictions.[48]
Saunders, Richard; Morris, Campbell; Mackness, Brian (1988).Aussiegami : paperfolding Down Under – just for fun. Melbourne: Lothian Publishing.
Saunders, Richard; Mackness, Brian (1989).Prehistoric Aussiegami : paperfolding Down Under dinosaurs ... for fun. Melbourne: Lothian Publishing.
Saunders, Richard; Mackness, Brian (1990).Horrorgami: Spooky Paperfolding Just for Fun. Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Lothian Publishing Co.ISBN0-85091-380-2.
Alabaster, Jo; Saunders, Richard; Bowditch, Peter; Mendham, Tim (December 2014)."Is anyone there?"(PDF).The Skeptic.34 (4). Australian Skeptics:10–14. Retrieved15 March 2016. Review of the Australian Paranormal & Spiritual Expo, Oct 2014.
Bowditch, Peter; Saunders, Richard; Mendham, Tim (December 2014)."Fair's fare : purchasing the paranormal"(PDF).The Skeptic.34 (4). Australian Skeptics:15–16. Retrieved15 March 2016. Review of the Australian Paranormal & Spiritual Expo, Oct 2014.
^Richard Saunders (28 March 2021)."The Skeptic Zone".The Skeptic Zone (Podcast). Richard Saunders. Event occurs at 1:03:00.Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved30 March 2021.
^abcdPalmer, Rob (2 July 2018)."Celebrating 500".skepticalinquirer.org.Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved22 March 2021.
^Bryan Farha, Michael Shermer (2014).Pseudoscience and Deception: The Smoke and Mirrors of Paranormal Claims. Maryland: University Press of America, Inc. p. 70.ISBN978-0-7618-6292-5.
^"Episode 42".The Amateur Scientist Podcast (Podcast). AmateurScientist.org. 10 September 2008. Archived fromthe original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved6 December 2008. Audio of show available asmp3 hereArchived 31 August 2023 at theWayback Machine
^Simons, Daniel J.; Chabris, Christopher F. (2023).Nobody's Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do about It. Basic Books. pp. Chapter 1.ISBN978-1541602236.
^abHill, Adrienne; Saunders, Richard (21 March 2021)."Psychic Scams: Not for Prophet"(PDF).Skeptics.com.au. Australian Skeptics.Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved23 March 2021.With this new understanding of the potential damage that psychics can bring to people emotionally and financially, I looked forward to the opportunity of helping with Richard's project.
