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2016 Episodes

December 20th: The Clades

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek has another conversation with Jonathan Tweet, game designer, book author, and past Skepticality guest. After the success of his last book, Grandmother Fish, a book aimed at teaching pre-school children about evolution, his follow up is a card game: Clades. Clades is a kids card matching game which centers around the evolutionary concept of Clades. Find out more about the new game, and maybe some updates on the status of Grandmother Fish.

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November 16th: Drawing The Skeptics

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek has a conversation with Tini Howard, writer of graphic novels and former comics contributor for Paste magazine and Teen Vogue. Just a couple weeks ago Tini released her newest comic book series The Skeptics. The series is a political adventure about a pair of hip, clever teens who fool the world into believing they have superpowers. Loosely based on the real events surrounding Project Alpha and other skeptical investigation tales.

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October 25th: Dream On

This episode of Skepticality begins with a touching message about a friend of the show, and past Skepticality contributor, Bob Carroll. Then Derek talks with comedian, talk show host, and political commentator, John Fugelsang about Dream On, a PBS documentary about the American Dream, and a road trip across the country to find out if it is still alive.

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October 18th: Medical Nonsense

There are a lot of misconceptions about what constitutes effective medicine. In this episode of Skepticality, Derek speaks with emergency room doctor Angie Feazel Mattke who reveals some of the most common (and sometimes funny) treatments that patients say they have tried when they visit doctors’ offices and emergency rooms. Mattke gave a talk at Dragon Con aimed at explaining just how ubiquitous these “unscientific” medical ideas have become.

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September 20th: Illustrating Women in Science

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek talks with illustrator/author Rachel Ignotofsky. Once an illustrator for Hallmark Greeting cards, she now uses her talent for making easy to understand and attractive art to create works that teach people about science and history. Her first book, Women In Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World (recently released), is an illustrated encyclopedia of women in history (both well- and lesser-known) who have made significant contributions to science. Find out more about Rachel and what drove her to shift her career to focus on education and the history of science.

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August 16th: HALmilton

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek hands over most of the episode to Swoopy who conducts an in-depth interview with Hal Bidlack, a Hamiltonian scholar and performer who gives Chautauqua performances as Alexander Hamilton himself. They discuss how Hal ended up living a double life as Hamilton, and his importance in American history, as well as a bit about the resurgence of Hamilton’s popularity due to the smash-hit Broadway play named after the founder. Bet you didn’t even know there are folks who have doubts about Hamilton!

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July 26th: Exodus: Interview with David Person & Chuck Miller

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek has a chat with David Person and Chuck Miller about their new documentary project, Exodus, a feature-length film about the growing number of African-Americans leaving religion. Chuck is a regional director for the American Atheists, and David is a journalist, radio host, and a Christian. Find out how two unlikely friends came together to work on a project which examines the rejection of religion by one of the most religious demographics in the United States.

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June 28th: Science Tales

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek has discussion with artist/writer, Darryl Cunningham, about his work and how a health care assistant/cartoonist decided to take on the job of educating the public about misconceptions surrounding psychiatry, science, and even world financial affairs.

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June 14th: Fishy Evolution

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek has a conversation with Jonathan Tweet, the author of Grandmother Fish — a child’s first book of Evolution. The last time Jonathan was on Skepticality, his book was a Kickstarter project. The book, now complete, appeals to young people, teaching them about the scientific theory of evolution. Find out if the project was a success in getting kids more interested in evolution, and how all life on Earth is interconnected.

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May 31st: The Invention of Science

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek spends some time with Professor of History David Wootton to talk about his latest book The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution, a book about the early years in which modern methods of inquiry and scientific thinking came to be. Find out how a teacher who once focused on historical topics like politics and atheism ended up writing books about science and medicine.

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May 17th: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek nabs some time with Dr. Micheal Shermer, the Publisher of Skeptic Magazine, for a little update and chat about his new book highlighting his fifteen years writing a regular column for Scientific American magazine. Then, they follow up with some discussion about how science factors into the current United States presidential election.

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April 12th: Watching Science

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek has a discussion with Dr. Ivan Oransky, MD. Oransky is the global editorial editor for MedPage Today, and co-founder of Retraction Watch, a site which reports on scientific integrity, fraud, and other issues. He previously was executive editor of Reuters Health and held an editorial position at Scientific American and The Scientist. His main passion is the promotion of science-based medicine and encouraging those in the medical field to use a more common sense approach to diagnosis, focusing less on ‘pre-conditions’ and possible symptoms of less-than-certain diseases.

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March 29th: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek speaks with Raphael Lataster—a writer and Religious Studies expert whose focus is the history of religion. Raphael discusses his recent work with Richard Carrier on the historicity of Jesus and the likelihood of His existence.

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March 15th: A Numerate Life

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek sits down with the author of A Numerate Life: A Mathematician Explores the Vagaries of Life, His Own and Probably Yours, John Allen Paulos. The author has written books weaving math into facets of life with topics ranging from math and humor, to the stock market. This new work takes a more personal look at the intersection of math, numbers, personal stories, and histories.

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February 16th: Bad Clowns

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek chats with author, investigator, and past guest on the show, Ben Radford, about his latest book: Bad Clowns. Clowns might not make the list of usual skeptical topics, but Ben thinks you might just change your mind once you delve into the history and stories in his new work. So, turn off the lights, snuggle your favorite creepy clown, and join in for some bad clown fun!

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January 19th: Breakfast Cereal Skepticism

In this episode of Skepticality, Derek has a conversation with Zack Wienersmith, the creator/author of the popular web comic series Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC). Zach was a speaker at The Amazing Meeting 13. So, while they were both in the same bulding, Derek was able to get some time with Zack to discuss how he got interested in science, skeptical thinking, and how the two relate … or not.

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