Hear Skepticism in Podcast

Last June, I know I blogged about Skeptic.com, the Skeptics Society website containing educational articles and ideas regarding controversial issues, revolutionary ideas, extraordinary claims and simple promotion of science. I’ve always been a fan of the site that’s why I always go back for more and more readings.

And though their official podcast, Skepticality, has already been around since 2005, I’ve only recently became hooked on it. Also, it helped that I have a phone that can play mp3 files, so that I can listen to the podcasts even when I’m away from the computer.

Hosts of the show are Derek Colanduno and Swoopy. I find them both funny without having to try too hard to bring life to the show. Well, actually, they don’t have to try too much because of the lineup of the guests in their show can really make you listen: Sam Harris (author of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and Future of Reason and Letter to a Christian Nation), Philip Zimbardo (author of the book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, a book in which he tells findings from an experiment done in ’70s, the Stanford Prison Experiment, which is one of the most important experiments done in the history of social sciences and one that cannot be repeated today because of the horrific results), and, of course, Michael Shermer (director of Skeptic Society and author of the book Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design).

My favorite’s got to be the May 29th episode, a Visit To The Trenches of Nontheism:

Atheism is outside the mandate of the Skeptics Society and Skepticality. And yet, negative public perception of atheists weighs heavily on many nontheistic skeptics. Last episode, Skeptic publisher Dr. Michael Shermer shared his thoughts about a recently televised Nightline debate between evangelical ministers Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron and Rational Response Squad members Brian Sapient and Kelly. Brian and Kelly contacted Skepticality, and Swoopy had a chance to talk with them this week about the work of the Rational Response Squad, and about what went on behind the scenes of the Nightline debate. Also, Skepticality’s Washington DC correspondent — former Nevada State Senator Lori Lipman Brown, the federal lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America — updates Derek & Swoopy about legislative issues pertaining to nontheists.

The Rational Response Squad had far more to say than could be included in this regular Skepticality episode.

Download the episode here. And don’t forget the supplementary episode here.

The October 30th episode is also interesting. It was about the new movie, Flock of Dodos: The Evolution - Intelligent Design Circus:

Dr. Olson’s film, Flock of Dodos: The Evolution — Intelligent Design Circus, is not your typical evolution versus ID documentary. Rather than simply pitting one camp against the other, this whimsical film explores how the two sides of the debate market their ideas to the public — and, more specifically, how the scientific community has failed to capture their audience as effectively as the Intelligent Design camp has done in recent years.

Download the episode here.

I wish the film would be available here in the Philippines, too. Though the discussion in the movie is largely set in the American culture, I do think that Filipinos would be able to relate to what it’s trying to say too. Openminded Filipinos, that is. And it’s not another one of those documentary/movies that purpose to trample down on another kind of belief. It is merely a funny, refreshing way of seeing the issue, thus, more likely to engage the viewers to know more about the issue instead of disinteresting them by being seemingly superior and unreachable.

I do recommend that you listen to the podcasts in the archive and not just the episodes I’ve mentioned here. There’s nothing like a natural, intellectual discourse to feed the mind.

And yup, it has also eaten away most of my phone’s memory. But no regrets for that.