While Tim Caulfield is a fantastic author, you can鈥檛 read one of his books and see him perform 鈥淪exy Cat with a Twist鈥�. That鈥檚 where the television series聽聽comes to the rescue.
The goal of the series is to explore the popular and controversial procedures which, we are told, will improve our health, reverse aging, and stave off death. Tim Caulfield serves as our guide, narrator, and guinea pig.
The beauty of Caulfield鈥檚 written tomes was always that he combined the personal experience and the science expos茅 in a well balanced concoction. The TV show brings this to life with beautiful cinematography, a subtly crafted musical score, and elegant title cards.
The 鈥淪exy Cat with a Twist鈥� is a yoga pose that is supposed to expose your toxins. The first episode explores the myth of detoxification and the varied ways in which healers claim those dastardly poisons can be removed from the human body. There鈥檚 the ionic foot bath, with its oxygen-reacting iron electrode that creates rust to give the illusion of shed toxins; there鈥檚 the infrared sauna, which an employee claims allows 鈥渢he body [to] heal itself naturally鈥�; and who can forget Gwyneth Paltrow鈥檚 steamed vagina? Special guest Jennifer Gunter, MD, reminds the audience that this lady part is meant to be low in oxygen. Steaming it introduces more oxygen, which is not a good thing. The vagina is a self-cleaning oven, she says. Dr. Gunter worries that accepting this kind of nonsense leads to an erosion of science.
Tim Caulfield is an excellent host for a show that shines a disinfecting light on medical pseudoscience. Unlike many skeptics in the public eye, he does not come across as antagonistic or condescending. I do not mean to imply that skeptics are聽those things but that, too often (and much to my chagrin), this is the impression given to the public. Caulfield is honest, curious, and willing, and his open demeanour and non-threatening approach allow believers to confide in him, and the show is richer for it. Only his narration in the voice-overs often lacks the same energy he displays on camera.
We need science superstars to drown out the scientifically illiterate celebrity masses. As Caulfield points out early on, we seem to be living in a world where science conflates with pop culture. A show like聽A User鈥檚 Guide to Cheating Death鈥攕o rare in our landscape of ideological documentaries and hyperbolic science shows鈥攎anages to merge accurate science with lavish production values. Appealing in its content and elegant in its presentation, the show itself deserves to cheat death.聽
Declaration of conflict of interest: Dr. Joe Schwarcz, the director of the 平特五不中 Office for Science and Society, appears as a guest in this episode, and he is my boss. Can I get points for transparency?
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airs Mondays at 9聽p.m.聽EST on聽VisionTV.聽
In Canada, it can be found on聽Rogers聽channel聽60, Bell聽channel聽1161, Bell Fibe 1213 or check your local listings.聽
