Skeptic: Extraordinary Claims, Revolutionary Ideas, and the Promotion of Science

2008 Episodes

January 8th: Church-State Update for the New Year

Skepticality welcomes 2008 with an update from the Secular Coalition for America’s Lori Lipman Brown — the only lobbyist dedicated solely to the concerns of secular humanists and non-theists and to the preservation of the separation of church and state. Lori talks with Derek & Swoopy about why 2007 was the best year yet for the SCA, the top issues on the agenda for 2008, and how the current presidential candidates stack up on the issues important to skeptics. (download 31MB MP3)

January 22nd: Markets & Monkeys

Our brains are constantly bombarded with messages about how to behave, what to buy, and whom to trust. How do we parse these messages, and how do our choices affect the world economy? This week on Skepticality, Derek & Swoopy discuss how economic and evolutionary theory speak the same language, and how our hardwired human biology affects modern economics, with Skeptic Society founder Dr. Michael Shermer (author of The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics). (download 34MB MP3)

February 5th: Triple Insight

In this week’s Skepticality, Derek talks with Dr. Phil Plait (a.k.a. “The Bad Astronomer”), Alison Smith (founder of the Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society), and author Michael A. Stackpole (leader of the Arizona Skeptics) about the recent Amazing Meeting 5.5 conference on the topic of “Skepticism & Activism.” These distinguished guests also reveal details of their plans for 2008, and Phil sheds some light on possible impending Death from the Skies — the subject of his soon-to-be-published second book.
(download 29.4MB MP3)

February 19th: The Irrepressible Dr. Karl

This week on Skepticality, science educator and skeptic Michael McRae interviews one of Australia’s most recognizable scientists, Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki, who is known to most Aussies simply as “Dr. Karl.” Dr. Karl is the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow at the University of Sydney, as well as a proud recipient of the Ig Nobel prize. He is also a popular science commentator on radio and television, and a bestselling author of 26 books — including his most recent, Please Explain, which gives the facts on everything from why we yawn, to the history of near death experiences. (download 26MB MP3)

March 4th: Doubting Dave!

Can a kids’ science and critical thinking television program be both entertaining and informative? The award-winning Mystery Hunters, beginning its fourth season, is proving that it can. On this week’s Skepticality, Swoopy talks with David Acer — known to fans of Mystery Hunters as “Doubting Dave,” the skeptical scientist who helps the junior members of his team (Araya Mengesha and Christina Broccolini) investigate paranormal mysteries.

David is a close up magician, comedian, and actor and writer for children’s educational programs including Popular Mechanics for Kids and Prank Patrol. David shares his thoughts about how to make debunking myths entertaining, and explains why it’s difficult to get quality kids’ science programs on TV in today’s climate. (download 37MB MP3)

March 18th: Toxic Water?

Last week, a widely circulated Associated Press story reported that “a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.”

Derek & Swoopy look beyond the headline hype in their interview with Dr. Shane Snyder, who published his first study on “Screening of Drinking Water for Possible Endocrine Disrupting Compounds” over ten years ago. As a doctor of Environmental Toxicology and Zoology, Dr. Snyder has devoted most of his career to studying the evidence of chemical, environmental and pharmaceutical compounds in the water supply — and what harm, if any, it poses to the organisms that utilize it. (download 29MB MP3)

April 1st: Dawkins & Shermer on “Expelled”

In the upcoming pro-Intelligent Design documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (starring comedy actor Ben Stein), several notable scientists speak in support of science and evolution, including evolutionary biologist (and outspoken atheist) Richard Dawkins, science blogger PZ Meyers, and Skeptics Society founder Michael Shermer.

As Swoopy finds out this week when she talks with Shermer and Dawkins, Expelled is not the film these scientists agreed to be a part of — nor were their experiences at advanced screenings what they expected… (download 41MB MP3)

April 15th: The Profit of “Free” and the Insight of the Blind

This week on Skepticality we talk to two good friends, both skeptics and podcasters making an impact in their areas of expertise.

Author Scott Sigler sent a shot across the bow of mainstream publishing when, after first giving away his novel Ancestor for free as a PDF, the printed retail version then broke the Amazon.com top 10. As a result, Scott earned himself a seat at the table and a deal with Crown books. We talk to Scott about his new novel Infected — released on April 1st and already a bestseller. (download 51MB MP3)