It's been a year since Stephon Clark was gunned down in his grandmother's backyard while holding a cell phone. Last weekend it was announced that the two officers would face no charges. I talk about the news, why it's outrageous, and why something needs to change.
If you've been an atheist any time in the last 15 years, it's highly likely you've enjoyed the contributions of Russell Glasser on The Atheist Experience. Over the years, he's answered countless calls from theists and atheists of all kinds. But in the last year or so, he has taken a firm step back from atheism and hasn't appeared on TAE. He's agreed to come on to talk about why, and about many related issues.
Jussie Smollett told the world he was the victim of a hate crime. What happened next, according to the right, is a bunch of insectional libtards believed his obviously false story because of the oppression olympics , or something. For example, check out this SJW's reaction to the news. In the midst of my research on this story, Smollett has been officially charged with making a false statement. It was initially reported that a grand jury indicted him so that's what I said in the episode, but tha...
After a brief wade into the (I think mistaken) uproar over tax refunds not being as high as last year, I go on to tackle the story of an old white actor telling about the time he was George Zimmerman and then expecting it to be totally cool. And furthermore, how on Earth could ANYONE not accept his semi-pology? We must be living in the Salem Witch Trials era! In all seriousness though, I want to explore the issue and where I think people are going right, wrong, and possibly missing good points. ...
Returning to the show is everyone's favorite scholar of global catastrophic risks, Phil Torres! In the first half of the show, we discuss how global risk has changed and evolved in the years since Trump was elected. I also ask Phil if climate change has gotten so dire that it overshadows other existential risks. In the second half, we discuss the recent article Phil wrote for Salon , in which he was very critical of some of Steven Pinker's scholarship in his book Enlightenment Now. Pinker respon...
Today's show starts with an observation about how we talk about the primary candidates and how we tell the history of 2016. Then I've got lots of voicemail! Topics include: Trump being a Russian mole, technology improving quality of life while taking jobs from us, a few on whether Kristi and I unfairly lumped Sam Harris in with Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin in our episode on Louis CK, further insight into the IRB process, and finally how exactly do we define the term 'racism'? Lots of great stu...
Lots of people have asked me for an episode about this, and it turns out I was working on one anyway! Happy coincidence. Lots and lots to talk about here, and since it's me, I have to start by getting all meta on you. Very curious to hear the response on this one, make sure to leave a voicemail for next week's show!
There has been another chapter in the ongoing saga of classical liberal types seeking to prove that entire fields of academia are bogus. They allegedly do so by publishing a handful of fake studies and papers in a few different academic journals, mostly in the field of gender studies. Due to the fact that these hoaxes have utilized fake data, wasted tons of innocent people's time, and possibly constituted human experimentation, Peter Boghossian has come under a totally reasonable investigation. ...
Andrew Torrez, of the hit legal pod Opening Arguments, was kind enough to hop onto the ol' SIO to break down the recent Michigan FGM law court decision. This is one of those times the law wasn't covered very well by some media outlets. It's great to have a genius lawyer we can trust to tell us what is actually going on! Along the way we get to learn about plenary powers, the commerce clause, and all kinds of other legal goodies! Here's the NYT coverage (which was more or less correct, but Andrew...
Recently, some audio leaked of a new Louis CK standup set and.... it wasn't good. It was so bad it led to Dennis Miller trending on Twitter. Lazy, unfunny, punching down using anti-trans punchlines that are at least a decade old. I wanted to do some solo commentary on this and so many of the thoughts I'm having and bad arguments and borderline harassment on Twitter I've seen over this, but then I remembered that Kristi also used to be a huge Louis CK fan and she was kind enough to join me! Kind ...
Got a great voicemail episode for you fine folks! There were a lot of really excellent calls this month. Please keep them coming for next month! This week's topics include: doing business with conservatives, robots taking all the jobs, FGM laws in the US, the QED mental health panel, meditation, and how I stopped being a conservative! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook:...
Bryce Blankenagel is an expert on all things Mormon, and he brings history to life in brilliant narrative form. He joins us today to bring to our attention a somewhat frightening strain of fundamentalist Mormonism he has observed, which is making its way online in social media hashtag form. And be sure to check out Bryce's work over on The Naked Mormonism Podcast , The Glass Box Podcast , and My Book of Mormon ! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support t...
The panel with Kristi Winters and Chantelle Boduel continues! Since our recording, BuzzFeed has put out an excellent article with another accuser and also some more info on the first few. I highly recommend reading it. If you haven't heard part 1 of our discussion, definitely listen to that first! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod F...
I'm joined by Chantelle Boduel and Kristi Winters as the nation's favorite astrophysicist and host of the reboot of Cosmos, Neil deGrasse Tyson, has been accused of sexual harassment by (at the time of recording) 3 women (and 1 more shortly after recording, see here .) The oldest accusation is of a horrifying date rape in college, the other two involve a woman who says he touched her inappropriately and an assistant who has an alarming story of Tyson attempting to seduce her. We go over the fact...
And some listener email. Some topics: climate change is going to kill us; simply being 'not a Republican' is more than enough; comparing Obama and Trump on the border; Avenatti the liberal version of Trump; listener not voting for Democrats because they are too cozy with Islam; and mansplaining mansplaining mansplaining! Tear gas fact check ; Trump's border crisis Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on ...
Johannes Breuer is the co-author of a study which looked into the relationship between sexist attitudes and video game playing. To be as precise as possible and not misrepresent it, here is what they found in their words: “We found that the amount of overall video game use at time 1 was not predictive of sexist attitudes/beliefs about gender roles at time 2 (i.e., 2 years later) and that (sexist) beliefs about gender roles at time 1 were equally not predictive of video game use at time 2 (for sa...
Really proud to have been a small part of this excellent panel at QED! The discussion centers around mental health challenges, de-stigmatization, communication, and which treatments actually work. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com...
The moment we waited 2 years for finally happened. I talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly.
October was a great month for my voice inbox! I was very happy about that until I realized it's probably because the news was so bad... But still, some amazing calls this month, topics ranging from #metoo stories probably Kavanaugh inspired, to Elizabeth Warren, to voter suppression, and third parties. Thank you so much and keep the calls coming! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter: @seriousp...
For those who weren't able to make it to the incredible, bar-setting skeptic conference that is QED in Manchester, here is the audio from my first ever live SIO I did there! Joining me was Emma McClure, a solicitor who, among many other things, has represented very serious criminals in parole hearings. We talk about what prison should be for, what it actually is for, and lots of ways the justice system is really not doing the job it should be. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember s...
And also it's the end of the world as we know it, in like 2040 , due to climate change. Shouldn't that mean we maybe vote democrat to have a chance for our kids to not die in the climate wars? After that I do an in-depth analysis of the Elizabeth Warren situation, from the beginning. Many people, including some Native American groups, have been very critical of her DNA test promotion. I think they've been very unfair and in fact completely ignored most of what she said. Critiques that I referenc...
I had the pleasure of interviewing Mandisa Thomas, the president and founder of Black Nonbelievers ! Mandisa talks about her fascinating background and the work she's doing, and then we go on to talk about the black experience, some of the history involved, and how it is unique within atheism. We talk about what organizations might do to better serve a diverse community. For all the challenges we've faced as a country lately, Mandisa does have some optimism about the future and talks about why. ...
And all I've got for you this week is rage. Warning: this is an explicit podcast and involves yelling. I break down the horrible news from this week, from a sexual predator being confirmed to the Supreme Court and Trump mocking his victim, to the Trump crime family committing fraud and avoid hundreds of millions in taxes. And NONE of this has any consequences. Because we didn't vote. Democrats didn't excite us. The Incredible NYT Investigation Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember s...
Let's face it. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think I am. I watched the entire Kavanaugh hearing and I've got thoughts. And rants. And raves. I hope it helps. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com...
In this episode, I walk through all the evidence, testimony, and witnesses we have for the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh. I believe that after applying a skeptical lense, any rational person would have to conclude that Christine Blasey Ford is almost certainly telling us the truth about what happened. I also walk through a few of the most egregious examples of patriarchy bull sh*t responses to the accusations. Some important sources: Original WaPo Story ; NYT Reporting on Accusations ; Bri...
What does a parking lot layout tell you about food safety? Why are sprouts so damn unhygienic? And more seriously, who should shoulder the burden for making our food more sustainable? Dr. Sarah Taber gives us her expertise on these questions and many more! (teaser alert: she also might have a pretty controversial view on farmers markets...) Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Fac...
Joining me today is physician and president of Long Island Atheists, Dr. Richard Schloss! We talk about his background, the secular group he leads, and then go on to talk about healthcare policy in the US. Dr. Schloss takes us through some history on healthcare and answers basics like what are the differences between Medicare for All and Single Payer, etc. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter:...
First I've got some monologuing to do on John McCain and speaking ill of the dead, and Louis CK apparently deciding he can just come back now. After recording this, I saw a great article by Roxane Gay that says a lot of what I said but also more and better, so check this out as well . After that, it's listener voicemail time! Got a lot of passionate reaction to my dire political predictions about 2022 and beyond. Here are some links for points I made: Obama's Income as President ; Larry Summers ...
Zerin Firoze set me up with this interview with Ryan Witmer, an immigration attorney who has worked on asylum claims, and all kinds of other immigration cases. He joins us to give an insider's perspective on US immigration policy, the law, asylum system, and where we're really shooting ourselves in the foot. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support ! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/s...
