Archive for February, 2010

Podcast #82 – Creation

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Allison’s back–yay!  She joins us to discuss the new Charles Darwin bio-pic Creation, starring real-life husband-and-wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles and Emma Darwin.  Creation is based on the nonfiction book Annie’s Box (published in the US as Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution, and reissued in conjunction with the film as Creation) by Darwin descendant Randal Keynes.  Creation is currently in limited release, so check your local art cinema to see if and when it might play in your neighborhood.  For more visit CreationtheMovie.com.

Thanks to the many fellow science fans who joined us for the Creation screening at Atlanta’s Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.  And thanks to Royal Orchid Thai Cuisine for accommodating our unexpected horde.

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Podcast #81 – Announcing Unity 2013

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Margaret Downey (former president of Atheist Alliance International, now a “freethought free agent”) announces the formation of the Unity 2013 Event Committee.  What is Unity 2013?  Nobody knows just yet, but what we do know is that it’ll be big, it has the blessing of such notables as Daniel Dennett, and it’ll involve many (if not most) of the major freethought-friendly organizations.  To keep abreast of the details as they unfold, check out the Unity 2013 Facebook page.

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Podcast #80 – Simon Singh

Monday, February 8th, 2010

We interview science journalist Simon Singh, co-author (with Dr. Edzard Ernst) of Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine (which both John and David highly recommend).  For more about Simon visit SimonSingh.net.  Please also visit LibelReform.org, a website devoted to changing the United Kingdom’s disgraceful libel laws (Simon is currently in the midst of a court battle with the British Chiropractic Association over his reporting on chiropractic treatment of children in the UK’s Guardian newspaper.)

Trick or Treatment is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Continuing this episodes alternative medicine theme, we take a look at aromatherapy.  Can smells trigger the body’s healing ability, or do they offer only a temporary placebo?

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See “Creation” with American Freethought

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

The new Charles Darwin bio-pic “Creation” (starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly) opens in Atlanta on February 19th. The guys from the American Freethought Podcast (John C. Snider and David Driscoll) would like to invite you to join us on Saturday, February 20th, to see this film, with dinner and drinks at Royal Orchid Thai Cuisine (literally right next door to the theatre) immediately following. Dutch treat.

We have a Facebook event set up for this outing.

Exact showtimes are not yet available, but we’re shooting for a 4PM-ish screening. Details to follow.

See you there!

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Obama disappoints at NPB

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

It’s disappointing that President Obama would attend the National Prayer Breakfast at all.  The NPB is organized, you may already know, by “the Family”–a secretive and power-hungry cult that attracts congressmen (as well as international totalitarians and fascists) with their bizarre ideology that justifies any action as long as it’s committed by one of God’s chosen.

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Podcast #79 – E-meters for Haiti?

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Earthquake-devastated Haiti has become a magnet for kooky, misguided (but perhaps well-intentioned) religious groups.  Scientologist John Travolta (disguised, apparently, as L. Ron Hubbard–see photo at right) has personally flown his private 707 to Haiti, delivering food, medical supplies, and “volunteer ministers” who claim the ability to heal through therapeutic touch.  Meanwhile, a Christian group called Faith Comes By Hearing has sent 600 solar-powered audiobook Bibles.  Finally, a group of Idaho Baptists were arrested trying to transport Haitian orphans (some of whom weren’t actually orphans) across the border into the Dominican Republic.

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