If you live in the San Diego area, and if you like bluegrass music, The Galapagos Mountain Boys (fronted by Dr. Stephen Baird) are gearing up for their upcoming Darwin Day 2009 concerts. Imbibe their special brand of “Scientific Gospel” and celebrate Charlie Darwin’s 200th birthday.
As we look forward to 2009, we take a moment to review the success and progress of the American Freethought Podcast in 2008. What was our best episode? What could we have done better?
We also unveil a new contest for our listeners with an impressive stack of cool prizes. Tune in to find out how YOU could be the recipient of this treasure trove of nifty freethought-ish tchoch.
On November 21, 1953, evidence was released that the Piltdown Man skull was a hoax. Zoologists and palaeontologists concluded that the jaw bone was that of an ape and the skull of a human. German anthropologist Franz Weidenreich exposed the hoax in 1923 and it took thirty years for the scientific community to confirm with his findings.
May I recommend the Atlanta Science Tavern? If you live in metro Atlanta, that is (if you don’t, do a little googling and you might find a science tavern active in your city). The AST is coordinated by the soft-spoken (and very tall) Josh Gough, and offers a great opportunity to hear accomplished researchers speak on subjects like astronomy, geology, biology, etc. in a friendly pub environment. How can you resist the Three “-ations”?: Education, Conversation, and Libation (there’s also Gustation, Mastication and Digestitation, but hey). The get-togethers usually attract around 25 attendees.
We talk to Dr. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) about the recent action by the Texas Board of Education [www.tea.state.tx.us/sboe] that places three creationists on the six-member committee that reviews science standards [link]. How damaging could this move be to the rest of the country?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2719223520080627
The day before we recorded episode #20 of the podcast, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed the Louisiana Science Education Act, which is essentially designed to protect teachers who might want to insert creationist teachings into public school biology classrooms. It’ll be interesting (and probably frustrating) to see how this thing plays out in practice.
Barbara Forrest - We talk to Dr. Barbara Forrest about SB 733 [link], the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act, a piece of legislation sitting on the desk of Governor Bobby Jindal that, if signed, would enable teachers and administrators in state schools to sneak Creationism/Intelligent Design in under the radar. Dr. Forrest is a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, the co-author of Creationism’s Trojan Horse [link], and was one of the star witnesses in the celebrated Kitzmiller v. Dover court case. She’s also a co-founder of the Louisiana Coalition for Science [lasciencecoalition.org] and active in defending science against religio-political encroachment at the national level.
Happy 150th Birthday, Evolution! - In 2009, the thinking world will celebrate Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his Origin of Species [link]. But we’re popping the cork early - a landmark in the history of science occurred on July 1, 1858. That’s the day that the theory of evolution by natural selection had its first public reading (at London’s famous Linnean Society). We’ll talk about how Charles Darwin and his associates gave naturalist Alfred Wallace the subtle shaft, ensuring that religious nutjobs in the 21st century would be railing about “Darwinism” instead of “Wallacism”. (For an excellent analysis of this episode, read Robert Wright’s fantastic book The Moral Animal [link].)
Independence Day- Now, here’s a holiday even the grumpiest atheist can get behind. Everybody knows that on July 4th, 1776, the American Colonists told the Brits where they could shove it. Sort of. We’ll look at some of the myths surrounding the birth of America, and revisit that pesky semi-religious language that has the fundies crowing about how this is a Christian Nation.
Goodbye, George Carlin- The skeptical world lost one of its funniest and most adamant stars. Carlin fought for free speech (and even pissed off politically correct left-wingers in the process) during the course of his five-decade career. He will be missed.
The Catholic Church - We provide an overview on the good, the bad and the crazy aspects of the Roman Catholic Church. Purgatory. Limbo. Whatever.
Ben Stein - The frontman for the anti-science documentary Expelled opens his mouth and removes all doubt. He appeared on Trinity Broadcasting Network on April 21, 2008 and made some outrageous statements. [Link]
Meanwhile, we stumbled across The Mortal Storm, a 1940 movie starring Jimmy Stewart that addresses, among other things, just how (un)scientific the Nazi outlook was. [Link]
Expelled - We discuss Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, the new crock-umentary starring Ben Stein. For a thorough critique of Expelled, visit Expelled Exposed.
Creation Museum - We discuss a recent expedition to the Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky. You can read more about it in John Snider’s report titled “The Creation Museum Is Full of Sh!t”. We’ll also talk about “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Separation of Church and State but Were Afraid to Ask”, a recent event co-sponsored by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation.
