Archive for the ‘skepticism’ 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?
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Podcast #80 - Simon Singh [57:27m]:
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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 »
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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Podcast #79 - E-meters for Haiti? [43:51m]:
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Tags: atsc, faith comes by hearing, gayest city in america, george tiller, haiti, jim mccormick, john travolta, proclaimer, scientology, scott roeder
Posted in children, christianity, civil rights, gay rights, humor, news, podcast, religion, skepticism | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
Holy Haleakala! After just over a year at the helm, Phil “Bad Astronomer” Plait is stepping down as president of the James Randi Educational Foundation to pursue an undisclosed TV project. His worthy successor is Center for Inquiry’s D.J. Grothe. Read JREF’s press release here, and Plait’s comments here.
Tags: dj grothe, james randi, jref, phil plait
Posted in news, skepticism | 1 Comment »
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
If you live in–or are going to be in–the Washington, DC area on Saturday, October 24th, here’s your opportunity to participate in a day-long event of science, magic and skepticism. Center for Inquiry DC and National Capital Area Skeptics have teamed up to bring Jamy Ian Swiss, skeptic and world-renowned magician and mentalist, for a day of workshops and an evening performance of the incredible show HEAVY MENTAL.
Interested? Check out this announcement from CFI DC.
Tags: center for inquiry, heavy mental, jamy ian swiss, national capital area skeptics
Posted in arts, news, skepticism | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
We interview Danny Zepeda, a skeptical blogger living in Morelia, a city in central Mexico. He talks about the state of freethought South of the Border, the prevalence of superstition and alt-medicine quackery in Mexican society, and the challenges of raising children to be critical thinkers. Visit Danny’s Spanish-language blog Un Papá Escéptico (A Skeptical Papa) at papaesceptico.wordpress.com. If you can’t read Spanish, try pasting the URL into the Babel Fish text translation tool: the results are sometimes a bit iffy but readable.
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Podcast #66 - Freethought in Mexico [43:47m]:
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Tags: danny zepeda, mexico, papa esceptico
Posted in atheism, children, christianity, international freethought, podcast, religion, skepticism, superstitions | 2 Comments »
Friday, September 4th, 2009
Okay, people, let’s do this thing! I (John Snider) will be a Dragon*Con pretty much the whole weekend, so if you see me wandering the halls, please say hello. I’ll be hanging out at the Skeptics Track quite a bit, but I’ll be taking in the science fictiony goodness elsewhere as well.
When he’s not watching Wrestling, David Driscoll will also be around, but I don’t know his complete schedule.
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Tags: dragon*con
Posted in news, skepticism | No Comments »
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
My adopted state is in the news twice today for laughable church-state issues.
First up is an AP report (“Is Ga. kosher law kosher?”) that non-Orthodox Jews have their yarmulkes in a bunch over a Georgia law that mandates kosher foods comply with “orthodox Hebrew” rules. I looked this up on LexisNexus (Title 26, Chapter 2, Article 11 of the Georgia Code) and it’s true–persons who fraudulently present foods as “kosher” can be punished by fine up to $500 and/or six months in jail. Members of the Conservative branch of Judaism are challenging this law (although why now isn’t clear since the law’s been in place since 1980).
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Tags: georgia, kosher, prayer, rain, sonny perdue
Posted in christianity, civil rights, judaism, news, politics, religion, religious rights, science, skepticism | No Comments »
We’ll post the live episode we recorded on September 5th as soon as it’s available; meanwhile, we look back at our experience at
Charlotte Pop Fest happening now!
Friday, September 25th, 2009The Charlotte Pop Fest is underway right now, September 24-26! Proceeds from this non-profit fest will benefit the Richard Dawkins Foundation. If you’re within striking distance of Charlotte, NC and want to attend, there’s more info at CharlottePopFest.com.
Not surprisingly, CPF has stirred up a bit of controversy, mostly thanks to news reporters who smell a juicy story, and from religious locals who don’t like that somebody’s raising money for a-t-h-e-i-s-t-s in a public way.
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Tags: charlotte pop fest, richard dawkins, richard dawkins foundation
Posted in atheism, commentary, evolution, music, news, religion, science, skepticism | 1 Comment »