Archive for the ‘books’ Category
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?
(more…)
Podcast #80 - Simon Singh [57:27m]:
Download (2897)
Tags: aromatherapy, british chiropractic association, edzard ernst, simon singh, trick or treatment
Posted in alternative medicine, books, medical research, news, podcast, science, skepticism | 1 Comment »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
I’m about to start an Islam/Middle East themed reading project, and if anyone wants to join me, you are welcome. My selection process is complex and meticulous: I’ve scanned my bookshelves and made a list of books on the topic that I own but have not yet read.
The first three out of the gate are all written by immigrants who now live and work in the United States:
- No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan
- Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters by Omid Safi
- A God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed the Muslim World Speaks Out Against the Evils of Islam by Wafa Sultan
The first two look to be more or less sympathetic toward Islam, but since I haven’t read them yet, it’s hard to tell. The third pretty much telegraphs its intention right there in the title. (Wafa Sultan, you may recall, is the firebrand who shouted down a couple of Muslim men during an Al Jazeera exchange in 2006.)
If there’s enough interest, I might blog the first book chapter-by-chapter, like I did with Richard Dawkins’ The Greatest Show on Earth. Let me know!
Tags: islam
Posted in books, history, islam, religion | 2 Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2009
We interview Margaret Downey, former Atheist Alliance International president and founder of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia (FSGP.org), about her experiences coordinating the annual Tree of Knowledge in Chester County, Pennsylvania, which is intended to offer an alternative to the traditional Nativity scene displayed on public property. For more about Margaret visit secular-celebrations.com.
(more…)
Podcast #74 - Margaret Downey [47:17m]:
Download (3776)
Tags: atheists guide to christmas, margaret downey, oh my god, peter rodger, tree of knowledge
Posted in atheism, books, civil rights, interviews, movies, news, podcast, religion, religious rights | No Comments »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Review by John C. Snider © 2009
Love her or loathe her, there’s no denying that Ayn Rand was a fascinating person. Born in 1905 in Czarist Russia, Alisa Rosenbaum’s childhood was devastated by the upheaval of the revolution and the subsequent reversal of her family’s fortunes under the Communist regime. Emigrating to the United States in 1926, Alisa reinvented herself as Ayn Rand, going on to write plays, screenplays and two mega-bestselling novels–The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged–and founding the still-controversial philosophy known as Objectivism. The perpetually prickly Rand became ever more strident as she grew older, eventually alienating all but a handful of sycophants. She died alone and embittered in 1982.
(more…)
Tags: ayn rand, goddess of the market, jennifer burns, objectivism
Posted in atheism, books, history, politics | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
We interview Jennifer Burns, assistant professor of history at the University of Virginia and author of the new biography Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. It’s a timely book considering the recent resurgence of Rand’s works (especially her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged) as a reaction to the country’s current economic situation. For more about Prof. Burns visit www.JenniferBurns.org. Read John Snider’s review of Goddess of the Market and/or order you very own copy at Amazon.com.
(more…)
Podcast #72 - Jennifer Burns (Goddess of the Market) [78:39m]:
Download (3846)
Tags: ayn rand, goddess of the market, jennifer burns, objectivism
Posted in atheism, books, history, interviews, podcast, politics | 1 Comment »
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Review by John C. Snider © 2009
Underground comics and counterculture icon Robert Crumb is widely praised as a brilliant satirist and is one of the most recognized pop artists of the 20th century. The seminal–and often misunderstood–creator of such characters as Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat and Devil Girl has also been called sick, perverted, racist and misogynistic.
So who better than to illustrate the Book of Genesis? After all, Richard Dawkins once infamously described the Old Testament God as a “misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” Crumb’s got nuttin’ on YHWH.
(more…)
Tags: book of genesis illustrated, genesis, robert crumb
Posted in arts, books, christianity, judaism, religion | 2 Comments »
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Review by John C. Snider © 2009
I haven’t had a biology class since I was in high school in the late 1970s. Despite two college degrees filled with math, engineering and chemistry, I never took any more biology; as a result, most of what I know about biology in general, and evolution in particular, I’ve picked up from magazine articles, internet resources and the occasional TV documentary. So I was very excited when I heard that Richard Dawkins’ new book (The Greatest Show on Earth) would be devoted to the evidence for evolution by natural selection. I was equally excited to discover that the latest book by science journalist Carl Zimmer is a textbook titled The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution (pub. by Roberts & Company, Oct 2009, 385 pp hdcvr, $59.95)
(more…)
Tags: carl zimmer, evolution, tangled bank
Posted in books, evolution, science | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Chapter-by-chapter thoughts on Richard Dawkins’ The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
by John C. Snider © 2009
Chapter 13: There is grandeur in this view of life
Well, here we are: the big finish. Dawkins chooses to close his book by taking the last half of the last paragraph of Charles Darwin’s magnum opus On the Origin of Species and offering his own ruminations one each phrase. It’s a little awkward, to be honest; in the end, it comes across like the overly-detailed commentaries offered by fundamentalist evangelicals, where they provide whole essays on the meaning and context of each word in a Bible verse.
(more…)
Tags: greatest show on earth, richard dawkins
Posted in books, evolution, science | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 19th, 2009
Chapter-by-chapter thoughts on Richard Dawkins’ The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
by John C. Snider © 2009
Chapter 12: Arms races and ‘evolutionary theodicy’
More bad news for the Creationists. Not only is the Creator apparently whimsical and inept–He is also heartless and cruel!
(more…)
Tags: greatest show on earth, richard dawkins
Posted in books, evolution, science | 1 Comment »
Podcast #82 – Creation
Friday, February 26th, 2010Thanks 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.
Tags: annie's box, charles darwin, creation, david mcallister, evolution, jason bourque, jennifer connelly, paul bettany
Posted in atheism, books, buddhism, commentary, evolution, movies, news, podcast, religion, science | 5 Comments »