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502 Conversations - Science, Skepticism, Pseudoscience, Philosophy, and more.

502 Conversations - Science, Skepticism, Pseudoscience, Philosophy, and more.

By Brian Kerby

Audio uploads of Dedham TV's "502 Conversations". Conversations with experts in their fields about science; skepticism; medicine; quackery; pseudoscience; philosophy; belief, why and how we believe; knowledge; and more. Guests have included Dr. Paul Offit; microbiologist Natalia Pasternak; Julia Sweeney; Sheldon Helms; JAMA Editor in Chief Dr. Howard Bauchner; Massimo Pigliucci; James Randi; Ray Hyman; James Alcock; Dr. Harriet Hall; and others. Full interviews also available on youtube. © 2022 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.
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Conspiracy theory expert and political scientist ~ Joe Uscinski

502 Conversations - Science, Skepticism, Pseudoscience, Philosophy, and more. Jun 15, 2022

00:00
50:10
Dr. Paul Offit ~ Tell Me When It’s Over: An Insider’s Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World

Dr. Paul Offit ~ Tell Me When It’s Over: An Insider’s Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World

This episode may be seen as a video here: https://youtu.be/-8n9ZVV9M5E

Dr. Paul Offit is a pediatrician; a professor of both pediatrics and vaccinology; and he is the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology and co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine RotoTeq, and is a member of the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Committee. He has published hundreds of papers in medical and scientific journals, speaks at both professional and public conferences, and is the author of 13 books. His newest book is Tell Me When It’s Over: An Insider’s Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World.

© 2024 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission, is prohibited.

Mar 02, 202438:27
David Samson - Our Tribal Future

David Samson - Our Tribal Future

A video version is available at https://youtu.be/_VdNPIoajSc

David Samson, PhD., is an Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Toronto, and Director of the Sleep and Human Evolution Lab. He is the author of “Our Tribal Future: How to channel our foundational human instincts into a force for good”. His research directly addresses the central anthropological question of human uniqueness. In other words, the question he asks is what is it about our species that has made us the most successful animal on the planet? He’s comparatively worked with human and non-human primates around the globe to better understand the behavioral, physiological, and cognitive suite of traits that likely played a crucial role in our advance. © 2024 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission, is prohibited.

Feb 23, 202401:09:05
Anthony Magnabosco and Street Epistemology

Anthony Magnabosco and Street Epistemology

This episode may be viewed as a video here https://youtu.be/wGlswKJMHTU

Anthony Magnabosco is from San Antonio, Texas and is a founder and the current Executive Director of the nonprofit Street Epistemology International (SEI). SEI is an educational organization committed to addressing dysfunction in public and private discourse by encouraging rationality through civil conversation. SEI's goal is to provide people with the resources needed to develop, practice, and promote Street Epistemology, an approach that helps people critically reflect on the quality of their reasoning so as to update the confidence they have in their conclusions. © 2024 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited. Links: streetepistemology.com navigatingbeliefs.com linktr.ee/magnabosco Anthony's Youtube Channel

Jan 22, 202450:00
Dr. Christopher Labos Round Two ~ more about "Does Coffee Cause Cancer" plus this year in Cardiology

Dr. Christopher Labos Round Two ~ more about "Does Coffee Cause Cancer" plus this year in Cardiology

This episode may also be viewed here. Remember when we were young and chocolate was good for us? And red wine too, the more the better? Dr. Christopher Labos is here once again to set the record straight. He talks more about his book - plot and character development; the French Paradox; Mendelian randomization; this year in Cardiology, and more!

A cardiologist with a degree in epidemiology, he spends most of his time doing things for which he does not get paid, like research, teaching, and podcasting. Occasionally, he finds time to practice as a cardiologist so he can pay his rent. He realizes that half of his research findings will be disproved in five years: he just doesn't know which half. He writes for the Montreal Gazette, and makes regular appearances on CBC radio and TV.

© 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.

Dec 15, 202301:38:58
Debunk the Funk Creator ~ Dr. Dan Wilson

Debunk the Funk Creator ~ Dr. Dan Wilson

This episode is also available as a video here: https://youtu.be/o7Jc2OKpa5o

Dr. Wilson is a molecular biologist and science communicator. Dr. Wilson got his Bachelor's degree in molecular biology and biotechnology from Clarion University and his PhD in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University. After getting his PhD he began working for Eurofins as a process analytical scientist, and is now currently a senior associate scientist at Janssen working on gene therapies. In his spare time he produces and hosts Debunk the Funk, his YouTube channel dedicated to debunking vaccine and COVID-related misinformation. https://www.youtube.com/c/DebunktheFunkwithDrWilson © 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.

Dec 10, 202357:23
Lee McIntyre On Disinformation How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy

Lee McIntyre On Disinformation How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy

This episode may be viewed as a video here: https://youtu.be/gPuAxnoBaIA

Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. The recipient of several teaching awards, he has taught philosophy at Colgate University, Boston University, Tufts Experimental College, Simmons College, and Harvard Extension School. Formerly Executive Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, he has also served as a policy advisor to the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. He is the author of several books, including How to Talk to A Science Denier; The Scientific Attitude; The Art of Good and Evil; and Post Truth. His latest book is On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy. © 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.

Nov 16, 202301:07:35
Dr. Dannagal Young ~ Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive our Appetite for Misinformation.

Dr. Dannagal Young ~ Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive our Appetite for Misinformation.

This episode may be seen as a video here https://youtu.be/NK6QxIdhueQ

Dr. Young is a Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware where she studies the content, audience, and effects of nontraditional political information. She has published over sixty academic articles and book chapters on the content, psychology, and effects of political information, satire, and misinformation. She is a Research Fellow with the University of Delaware's Center for Political Communication and is a recipient of the University’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Young's 2020 TED Talk explaining how our psychology shapes our politics, and how media exploit these relationships, has been viewed almost two million times. She publishes extensively in the popular press with essays and Op-eds in outlets including Vox.comThe Washington Post, and The Atlantic.

She has appeared on CNN, PBS Newshour, ABC News, NPR, and various national and international podcasts. Her popular University of Delaware course "Propaganda and Persuasion" was released by Wondrium’s The Great Courses in 2023.

Her book Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the U.S. examines satire and outrage as the logical extensions of the respective psychological profiles of liberals and conservatives, and her new book is Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive our Appetite for Misinformation.

Dr. Young is also an improvisational comedian, performing regularly with the improv comedy troupe, ComedySportz Philadelphia, and she has worked with Flackcheck.org to debunk inaccurate political claims through satire and parody.

She grew up in New Hampshire and graduated from the University of New Hampshirebefore moving to Philadelphia to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. She has been a professor at the University of Delaware since 2006. © 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.

Oct 16, 202355:07
Halloween Lore, Urban Legends, and the Paranormal, with Investigator and Research Fellow - Ben Radford

Halloween Lore, Urban Legends, and the Paranormal, with Investigator and Research Fellow - Ben Radford

This episode is also available as a video here: https://youtu.be/hK9DaPsYgNA

Writer, folklorist, and research fellow, and paranormal investigator Benjamin Radford discusses a history of Halloween; urban legends including organ theft and bad clowns; investigating ghosts and the paranormal; and more, much more! Benjamin Radford is one of the world’s few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into mysterious phenomena in sixteen countries on four continents. His research work has included psychics; ghosts and haunted houses; exorcisms; miracles; Bigfoot; stigmata; lake monsters; UFO sightings; reincarnation; crop circles; and many other topics. He is perhaps best known for solving the mysteries of the Santa Fe Courthouse Ghost, the Hispanic vampire el Choo-PAH-CAB-RAH, and his book Bad Clowns, the first to fully examine the evil clown phenomenon. He has written thousands of articles on a wide variety of topics, including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy and is the author of 13 books including: America the Fearful; Tracking the Choo-Pah-Cab-Rah; Bad Clowns; Scientific Paranormal Investigation; Media Mythmakers; Big if True; The Martians Have Landed - A History of Media Driven Panic, co-authored with Robert Bartholomew; and Investigating Ghosts - The Scientific Search for Spirits.

Oct 09, 202301:41:53
502 Conversations with Andy Norman, author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think

502 Conversations with Andy Norman, author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think

This episode may also be viewed as a video here https://youtu.be/A564BmrXTAo

Andy Norman has a PhD in Philosophy from Northwestern University and is the award-winning author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. andynorman.org His research illuminates the evolutionary origins of human reasoning, the norms that make dialogue fruitful, and the workings of the mind’s immune system. He champions the emerging science of mental immunity as the antidote to disinformation, propaganda, hate, and division. His work has appeared in Scientific American, Psychology Today, Skeptic, Free Inquiry, and The Humanist and he directs the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the founder of CIRCE, the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative. © 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.


Sep 18, 202357:28
Does Coffee Cause Cancer? ~ with Cardiologist and Epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos

Does Coffee Cause Cancer? ~ with Cardiologist and Epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos

This episode may also be viewed as a video here: 502 Conversations with Dr. Christopher Labos. Dr. Christopher Labos is a cardiologist with a degree in epidemiology, and the author of the new book "Does Coffee Cause Cancer? and Eight More Myths About the Food We Eat" at doescoffeecausecancer.com He writes for the Montreal Gazette, and makes regular appearances on CBC radio and TV. He is also the co-host of The Body of Evidence podcast, where he and Jonathan Jarry take a skeptical eye at health claims and look at the body of evidence on a variety of health topics. © 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.

Jul 08, 202301:31:30
How to Talk to A Science Denier ~ Lee McIntyre on 502 Conversations

How to Talk to A Science Denier ~ Lee McIntyre on 502 Conversations

This episode may also be viewed as a video here, or at 502conversations.com

Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. He is the author of several books, including How to Talk to A Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason; The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience; The Art of Good and Evil; and Post Truth. Lee McIntyre’s popular essays have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Nature, Newsweek, Scientific American, and numerous other venues. He has appeared on CNN International; PBS, NPR; the BBC—and has spoken at the United Nations, NASA, and the Vatican, and his work has been translated into seventeen languages. His newest book, soon to be released in August, is On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy. © 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited. Thumbnail photo credit Rick Bern

May 08, 202301:30:51
ThinkingIsPower with Melanie Trecek-King

ThinkingIsPower with Melanie Trecek-King

This episode may be viewed as a video here 502 Conversations with Melanie Trecek-King.
Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of ThinkingIsPower.com, an online resource that provides critical thinking education to the general public. She is currently an Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills.  An active speaker and consultant, Melanie loves to share her "teach skills, not facts" approach with other science educators, and help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking. She is also the Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.
© 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.

Mar 10, 202359:28
Philanthropist Todd Stiefel ~ Stiefel Freethought Foundation and Science Saves

Philanthropist Todd Stiefel ~ Stiefel Freethought Foundation and Science Saves

This episode may be viewed as a video at 502 Conversations. Todd Stiefel is founder and president of the Stiefel Freethought Foundation and he is also president of Heretical Reason Productions and the founder and chair of the ScienceSaves campaign. He is an activist and philanthropist, and has gifted over $8.7 million to charitable causes. When not raising funds and advocating for the principles he is passionate about, Todd executive produces independent movies such as the documentary "Shot in the Arm". © 2023 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.

Feb 24, 202343:36
Michael Shermer ~ Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational

Michael Shermer ~ Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational

This episode may also be viewed as a video on 502 Conversations video.
Dr. Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101.
He is the author of some 44 scholarly articles, 5 academic books, and 15 popular books including the New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things; Why Darwin Matters; The Moral Arc; The Science of Good and Evil; and Giving the Devil His Due. His most recent book is Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational.
For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific Americanduring which time he wrote 214 columns, and he now writes a weekly Substack column. Dr. Shermer also regularly contributes opinion editorials, essays, and reviews to: the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Science, Nature, and other publications. He has been interviewed in countless documentaries aired on PBS, A&E, Discovery, The History Channel, The Science Channel, and The Learning Channel. His two TED talks, have been seen by millions, and were voted in the top 100.
He has been called a beacon of reason in an ocean of irrationality by none other than Neil deGrasse Tyson. Follow him on Twitter @michaelshermer.
This is Dr. Shermer's second appearance on 502 Conversations.

2:10 Conspiracy: How does this book fit into your previous writing?
3:30 Is it rational to act on mistaken beliefs?
6:30 What are tribal and constructive conspiracism?
12:48 Are conspiracy theories a problem of modernity, or do you find them in hunter gatherer societies?
16:07 Trust vs. distrust
20:00  Who is and who is not susceptible?
23:42 Belief in conspiracy theories as a type of Pascal’s wager
25:22 Sometimes things happen that just seem too unbelievable to not be part of a plan - such as the JFK assassination.
28:41 Anomaly hunting - opening an umbrella?
33:00 Failed government conspiracies
38:00 Shermer’s Conspiracy Principle
39:00 What happens when a conspiracy theory falls apart, or is refuted by evidence; loss aversion and the  sunk cost fallacy
42:10 Shrodinger's bin Laden: the ability for some to hold two or more opposing C.T.'s such as those that bin laden was already dead when U.S. special forces got to the compound and also think bin laden is still alive. How is that explained?
45:30 How come some things don't become CT's?
48:25 Has there been a shift in C.T's? Conspiracy by assertion, the “I know it's true, lots of people think so” but no evidence attitude.
53:10 How much of the  “assertions as proof” concept, or “I just know it to be true”, is the fault of higher education promoting post modernism and other ways of knowing, personal truths, and the claim that there is no objective truth?
56:15 Some good news?
58:20 Is Michael Shermer a conspirator shill being paid to spread disinformation and throw us off track?
59:00 Is there a veiled SOS call for help repeated throughout his book?

Dec 15, 202201:02:24
Why Trust Science? with Naomi Oreskes, science historian and author

Why Trust Science? with Naomi Oreskes, science historian and author

A conversation with Dr. Naomi Oreskes, professor of the History of Science, and author of Why Trust Science, and Merchants of Doubt. This episode may be viewed as a video here.

Dr. Oreskes is a world-renowned earth scientist, historian and public speaker, as well as a leading voice on the role of science in society, the reality of anthropogenic climate change, and the role of disinformation in blocking climate action. She is the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science; and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.  Dr. Oreskes is the author or co-author of 10 books, including Why Trust Science?; The Collapse of Western Civilization; Discerning Experts; and of course the best selling book Merchants of Doubt, co-authored with Erik Conway, which has been translated into nine languages and was made into a documentary film of the same name. 

She is also author or co-author of over 150 articles, essays and opinion pieces, some of which have appeared in leading newspapers around the globe, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and the Times (of London). Her numerous awards and prizes include the 2019 Geological Society of America Mary C. Rabbitt Award; the British Academy Medal 2019; and the 2016 Stephen Schneider Award for outstanding Climate Science Communication, to name just a few. 

She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In 2018 she was named a Guggenheim Fellow for her upcoming book with Erik Conway, The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market, which will be published by Bloomsbury Press in February 2023.

Nov 25, 202249:39
Dr. Paul Offit ~ September 22, 2022 Is this our Covid-19 steady state and more

Dr. Paul Offit ~ September 22, 2022 Is this our Covid-19 steady state and more

This episode may be viewed as a video here Dr. Paul Offit on 502 Conversations
Dr. Paul Offit reappears on 502 Conversations for a Covid vaccine update, including a discussion of the bivalent booster. He also speaks about the flu 2022; a potential RSV vaccine; tips for budding writers; and more.  © 2022 Dedham TV. Unauthorized duplication, for any reason, without permission is prohibited.
Dr. Paul Offit is a pediatrician, and a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. Dr. Offit is co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine RotoTeq, and is a member of VRPAC, the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Committee. He has published hundreds of papers in medical and scientific journals, and is author of 12 books including Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong; Bad Advice: Why Celebrities, Politicians and Activists Aren’t Your Best Source of Health Information;  Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine;Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes to Far; and his newest book is You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccinations, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation.

Sep 22, 202243:07
Craig Good ~ Relax and Enjoy Your Food
Aug 23, 202252:53
Dr. Paul Offit ~ "Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far".

Dr. Paul Offit ~ "Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far".

Dr. Paul Offit discusses his book "Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far". Brian Kerby and Dr. Offit talk about current studies regarding Vitamin D; mammographies; stents; supplements; and more.  This episode may be viewed here.
Paul A. Offit, M.D., is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. The co-inventor of RotoTeq, a rotavirus vaccine, Dr. Offit is credited with saving hundreds of lives worldwide every day, and approximately 60 of those saved are here in the U.S.He is the author of several books including Do You Believe in Magic? Vitamins, Supplements, and all Things Natural: A Look Behind the Curtain; Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong; several books on vaccines such as The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Vaccine Crisis; and Deadly Choices: How the Anti-vaccination Movement Threatens Us All; and his newest book is Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes to Far. Thumbnail Credit: Book cover used with permission of the author.

Jul 13, 202227:15
Giving the Devil His Due with Dr. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine.

Giving the Devil His Due with Dr. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine.

Dr. Shermer discusses his book "Giving the Devil His Due"; scientific humanism; pseudo-history and holocaust denialism; how listening to those that disagree with you helps you better understand your own position; government limitations on speech; biological sex vs. gender; scientism; and much more. This podcast may be viewed as a video here 502 Conversations with Michael Shermer.
Dr. Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American during which time he wrote 214 columns, and he now writes a weekly Substack column.  
He is the author of 44 scholarly articles, 5 academic books, and 14 popular books including the New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things; The Believing Brain; Why Darwin Matters; The Science of Good and Evil; The Moral Arc; Heavens on Earth; and now Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist.  Dr. Shermer also regularly contributes opinion editorials, essays, and reviews to: the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Science, Nature, and other publications.
He has appeared on such shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Dateline, Charlie Rose, Oprah, and Larry King Live.  He has been interviewed in countless documentaries aired on PBS, A&E, Discovery, The History Channel, The Science Channel, and The Learning Channel. Dr. Shermer was the co-host and co-producer of the Family Channel television series, Exploring the Unknown. His two TED talks have been seen by millions, and were voted in the top 100.
Dr. Shermer has been called a beacon of reason in an ocean of irrationality by none other than Neil deGrasse Tyson. Follow him on Twitter @michaelshermer.

Jul 05, 202201:12:51
Conspiracy theory expert and political scientist ~ Joe Uscinski
Jun 15, 202250:10
Skeptical Activist Rob Palmer on 502 Conversations ~ Belief in Psychics and What's The Harm?
Jun 08, 202238:13
Medical Sociologist Robert Bartholomew ~ Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria

Medical Sociologist Robert Bartholomew ~ Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria

This episode may also be viewed as a video here: 502 Conversations with Medical Sociologist Robert Bartholomew
Robert Bartholomew is co-author of Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria. In this conversation, he speaks about Havana Syndrome and its symptoms; mass psychogenic illness (MPI) and its symptoms; historical examples and documentation of MPI; causes; the purported weaponry suggested for Havana Syndrome; the FBI and CIA investigations; the journalistic embarrassment of Scott Pelley and 60 Minutes; and more.
Robert Bartholomew is medical sociologist, writer, journalist, and human rights advocate. Well-known for his books on social panics and outbreaks of mass hysteria throughout history, he has examined cases ranging from demonically possessed nuns during the Middle Ages to the Salem witch-hunts of 1692, to contemporary episodes involving twitching schoolgirls in LeRoy, New York, to the students at a Massachusetts school who hiccupped for a year.  An Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, he has has written 17 books including: Hoaxes, Myths & Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking; Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior (with Hilary Evans), and Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria (with Professor Robert Baloh). He is the author of more than sixty scholarly publications; has been featured in a National Geographic series on modern myths; and has appeared on The History and Discovery Channels.  A Fellow with the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, New York, he holds a Ph.D. in sociology from James Cook University in Australia, a Masters in American Sociology from the State University of New York at Albany, and a Masters in Australian Sociology from The Flinders University of South Australia. 

May 01, 202201:24:32
The Harms of Gay Conversion Therapy (otherwise known as physical and mental abuse).

The Harms of Gay Conversion Therapy (otherwise known as physical and mental abuse).

CAUTION: This episode contains descriptions of gay conversion therapy that are equivalent to mental and physical abuse.  
A discussion with psychology professor Sheldon W. Helms regarding Gay Conversation Therapy, its various iterations,  the fallacy of the concept, the brutality of its implementation, and the failure of the government to intervene in a meaningful way.
This episode may also be viewed here.
Sheldon W. Helms is professor of psychology at Ohlone College in Fremont, CA. Sheldon is also an activist and advocate for science and critical thinking, and gives public science talks on a variety of topics related to those interests.  "As a psychology professor, I have a vested interest in encouraging people to think more critically about the world around them. This is particularly true in regard to human interaction. Many of us spend our lives floundering about, trying to figure out what makes people tick (and what makes us tick), doing only a mediocre job at it. Only by studying the social sciences do we have even the slightest chance of acquiring such knowledge."

Feb 16, 202233:22
Science Communicator Jonathan Jarry
Feb 10, 202256:53
Investigative Journalist and Author ~ Brian Deer

Investigative Journalist and Author ~ Brian Deer

Brian Deer's 2020 book "The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines" chronicles Deer's exposition of the MMR/autism fraud that Andrew Wakefield perpetrated.  In this comprehensive Q&A,  Brian Deer talks about red flags he noticed right away;  exposing the multiple layers of the fraud; how the case series passed review and was published in the Lancet; the media falling for the hoax; the vulnerability of parents with severely challenged children; and much more.  This episode may be view on youtube here.

"The Doctor Who Fooled the World" was an Amazon best seller and received the Gold Award in the 2021 Independent Book Publisher Awards and the 2021 Eric Hoffer award for nonfiction.   Brian Deer is a veteran British investigative journalist for the Sunday Times of London, best known for his investigations into the drug industry, medicine, and social issues. He has twice been named the UK’s specialist reporter of the year, has received the annual Healthwatch Award; was the 2009 Susan B Meister lecturer in child health policy at the University of Michigan; the 2012 Distinguished Lecturer in Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse; was made Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) by York St. John University in 2016; has written six articles for the BMJ; and produced a documentary for British PBS Channel 4.

Feb 01, 202201:10:53
Dr. Paul Offit ~ Covid Update and more...January 28, 2022

Dr. Paul Offit ~ Covid Update and more...January 28, 2022

Where are we now? Boosters; Omicron; Sars-Cov2 drift; science communication; possibilities of a Covid-19 supervax; pig hearts; and more. This episode may be viewed on youtube here.

Paul A. Offit, M.D., is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. Dr. Offit is co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine RotoTeq, and is a member of VRPAC, the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Committee.

Jan 30, 202245:00
Natalia Pasternak - founder and President of Brazil's "A Question of Science Institute"
Jan 27, 202201:03:50
Dr. Paul Offit "Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong" and more...from CSICON 2018
Jan 25, 202255:01
A conversation with Massimo Pigliucci
Jan 25, 202253:25
Comedian, writer, producer, and actor ~ Julia Sweeney
Jan 25, 202255:24
Mentalist and Magician ~ Banachek!
Jan 25, 202201:15:27
Mark Edward - "Psychic Blues: Confessions of a Conflicted Medium"
Jan 25, 202254:28
Dr. James Alcock on his book "Belief: What It Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions Are So Compelling"
Jan 25, 202252:42
Dr. Harriet Hall, the Skepdoc, at CSICON 2016
Jan 25, 202201:01:24
Ray Hyman, James Alcock, and The Amazing Randi at CSICON 2016
Jan 25, 202201:41:47
Dr. Paul Offit from CSICON 2016
Jan 25, 202216:13