Topic: Research Associate

Cliff Stoll recounts how Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez helped him secure a mortgage for his Berkeley home. When the bank required a higher salary than Stoll's $22,000 postdoc pay, Alvarez grumpily gave him a raise to $35,000 on the spot. Stoll notes that he bought the house without an inspection or knowing how many bedrooms it had, simply because the "house liked him" and the sellers were friendly.

A No Agenda producer demonstrates the lack of vetting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) by joining for $50 without providing any scientific credentials. He subsequently received a technical survey from the Associated Press asking him to rate the health of the Gulf of Mexico on a numerical scale. The hosts argue this proves that "scientific consensus" figures are often based on surveys of unqualified individuals.

An Associated Press poll claims that anti-black prejudice has increased since 2008, affecting 51% of Americans. The hosts debunk the poll's methodology, which used "implicit" testing involving Chinese characters and flashed photos to measure subconscious feelings. They argue the online survey by GFK Custom Research is "bogus" and designed to generate headlines.