This episode may also be viewed as a video here: 502 Conversations with Medical Sociologist Robert Bartholomew Robert Bartholomew is co-author of Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria. In this conversation, he speaks about Havana Syndrome and its symptoms; mass psychogenic illness (MPI) and its symptoms; historical examples and documentation of MPI; causes; the purported weaponry suggested for Havana Syndrome; the FBI and CIA investi...
May 01, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 15
CAUTION: This episode contains descriptions of gay conversion therapy that are equivalent to mental and physical abuse. A discussion with psychology professor Sheldon W. Helms regarding Gay Conversation Therapy, its various iterations, the fallacy of the concept, the brutality of its implementation, and the failure of the government to intervene in a meaningful way. This episode may also be viewed here. Sheldon W. Helms is professor of psychology at Ohlone College in Fremont, CA. Sheldon is also...
Feb 16, 2022•33 min•Ep. 14
Topics discussed include intuition vs. critical thinking; how he chooses a topic; science journalism vs science communication; what constitutes a legitimate disagreement between scientists; and much more. Jonathan Jarry is a science communicator with the McGill Office for Science and Society, dedicated to separating sense from nonsense on the scientific stage. He is a biological scientist, with a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology, and he brings his expe...
Feb 10, 2022•57 min
Brian Deer's 2020 book "The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines" chronicles Deer's exposition of the MMR/autism fraud that Andrew Wakefield perpetrated. In this comprehensive Q&A, Brian Deer talks about red flags he noticed right away; exposing the multiple layers of the fraud; how the case series passed review and was published in the Lancet; the media falling for the hoax; the vulnerability of parents with severely challenged children; and much more. Th...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Where are we now? Boosters; Omicron; Sars-Cov2 drift; science communication; possibilities of a Covid-19 supervax; pig hearts; and more. This episode may be viewed on youtube here. Paul A. Offit, M.D., is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. Dr. Offit is co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine RotoTeq, and is a member of VRPAC, t...
Jan 30, 2022•45 min
Recorded at CSICON 2019. Dr. Natalia Pasternak earned a bachelor degree in Biology from Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo and a PhD and two postdoctoral fellowships in Microbiology, in the field of Bacterial Genetics at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences. She is a founding partner and president of “A Question of Science” Institute, the first Brazilian nonprofit for the promotion of skepticism and rational thinking, and publisher of the magazine Question of Science. Natali...
Jan 27, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 10
Paul A. Offit M.D. is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases; Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and Professor of Vaccinology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is a Board Member of Every Child by Two and is a founding member of the Autism Science Foundation. He is an exp...
Jan 25, 2022•55 min•Ep. 9
A discussion about belief and knowledge; "knowledge of" versus "knowledge debt"; expertise and authority; deduction vs. induction vs. intuition vs. revelation; and more. I should point out that when relating my previous conversation about knowledge with Dr. James Alcock, in addition to the comment about content and the degree of conviction, Dr. Alcock did speak of Plato's justified, true, belief rubric. Massimo Pigliucci PhD., (patreon.com/PlatoFootnotes) has a doctorate in Genetics from the Uni...
Jan 25, 2022•53 min•Ep. 8
Comedian, writer, producer, actor, monologist, voracious reader, atheist, and Center for Inquiry board of director Julia Sweeney. Some of Julia’s TV credits include Brooklyn Nine- Nine, Fraiser, Family Guy, Mad About You, and of course her multi-season stint as a cast member on SNL. She has appeared in films such as Pulp Fiction, Vegas Vacation, and Stuart Little. Julia is also a playwright and has created several one person shows, among them God Said Ha; Letting Go of God, which chronicles her ...
Jan 25, 2022•55 min•Ep. 7
Described as “the cream of the crop” of entertainers, Banachek is the world’s leading Mentalist. His talents are so incredible that he is the only mentalist ever to fool scientists into believing he possessed “Psychic powers”, only to later reveal he was fooling them. He’s astounded audiences around the world, and has been featured on CNN Live, NBC’s Today Show, Inside Edition, ABC’s Nightline, the BBC, and numerous network TV specials, as well as in print in the New York Times, USA Today, Scien...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 6
Brian Kerby Q&A's with Consulting Occultist and author Mark Edward. Mark discusses his book "Psychic Blues: Confessions of a Conflicted Medium", his work on the Psychic Friends Network, being named a "Psychic Superstar", and the "World's Greatest Psychic" and more...much more. Mark Edward has been involved in skeptic activism since circa 1989, and was on the editorial board of Skeptic Magazine. He spent almost 10 years embedded with psychics of all types, all the while collecting information...
Jan 25, 2022•54 min•Ep. 8
Dr. James Alcock has a PhD in psychology and teaches at York University in Toronto. His research interests are focused on belief and in particular, on why people believe in things that have no scientific basis. A noted critic of parapsychology, he is a fellow of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and also on the editorial board. He has received CSI’s highest award, the In Praise of Reason award. He is also a fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association. This episode may also be viewed on youtub...
Jan 25, 2022•53 min•Ep. 4
A Q&A with Dr. Harriet Hall of skepdoc.info regarding acupuncture, statistics, quackery, chiropractors, homeopathy, naturopathy and more. Dr. Hall is a retired family physician and former Air Force flight surgeon. She writes about medicine, so-called complementary and alternative medicine, science, quackery, and critical thinking. She is an editor and one of the five MD founders of the Science-Based Medicine blog. She writes the SkepDoc column in Skeptic magazine, is a contributing editor to...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 3
A conversation about how we are fooled, belief, why and how we believe; shut eyes and cold readers; cognitive psychology; making sense of the world; magic, mentalism, and trickery; and more, with: Ray Hyman, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Oregon; James Alcock, Professor Of Psychology, Glendon College, York University; and James The Amazing Randi, Magician and Escape Artist, Demystifier of the Pseudoscientific. This episode may also be viewed on youtube....
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 2
Recorded at CSICON 2016, Brian Kerby Q&A's with Dr. Paul Offit about vaccines, measles outbreaks, the false link between MMR and autism, how much damage the Lancet publication of the Wakefield paper did, the history of the anti-vaccination movement, vaccine religious exemptions and child neglect, and more. Dr. Offit is a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases and an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. He is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine that has been credited wit...
Jan 25, 2022•16 min•Ep. 1
