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2013 Episodes
- June 4th: Watching Bad Science
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This week on Skepticality, Derek talks with Michael Kruse, the current Chair of Bad Science Watch, “an independent non-profit consumer protection watchdog and science advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of Canadians by countering bad science.” Kruse and his group have been in recent struggles with anti wi-fi panic caused by a misinformed public, frustrating governmental restrictions on scientists communicating their findings, and ‘nosodes’ — a form of homeopathy claiming to be an effective vaccine for preventable disease, which has been contributing to a low vaccination rate in several areas across Canada.
- May 21st: What The Frak!?
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This week on Skepticality, Derek spends some time talking to Dr. Michael Webber, an alternative energy expert and advocate, based out of Austin Texas. Webber describes some of the current issues he sees related to power generation and consumption. In a time when everyone seems interested in better ways to gather and produce energy for an increasingly power-hungry world, it is good to assess all potential energy solutions—weighing their pros and cons—in the search of the silver bullet that will keep the lights on in the future.
- May 7th: Science, ASAP!
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Scientific laws, concepts, and theories can be difficult to understand. Thanks to the duo at ASAP Science, you can watch short, bite-sized videos on YouTube and learn some pretty cool facts. This week on Skepticality, Derek talks with Mitchell Moffit, one of the co-creators and producers of ASAP Science.
- April 23rd: Superlaw!
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This week on Skepticality, Derek chats with James Daily and Ryan Davidson, the creators of the popular legal blog, Law and The Multiverse and the newly released book based on the site, The Law of Superheroes. If there’s one thing that many science and reality-minded people tend to do quite a bit, it’s over analyze every little detail in the movies, TV shows, books, etc., that they find entertaining. James and Ryan, being lawyers, decided to take that same mindset and explore what might happen, legally, if some of the fantastic things depicted in comic books and superhero entertainment actually happend in real life.
- April 9th: Goin’ Prehistoric
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This week on Skepticality, Derek presents double dino-related goodness! First off he has a discussion with Tyler Keillor, a Fossil Laboratory fossil preparator and paleoartist. Then Daniel Loxton, Editor of Junior Skeptic, joins in to talk about his newest book, Pterosaur Trouble, the next installment in the Kids Can Press series Tales of Prehistoric Life.
- March 26th: Spot The Bull
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This week on Skepticality, Derek has a discussion with Loren Collins, the author of Bullspotting: Finding Facts in the Age of Misinformation, a guidebook for people to distinguish between real conspiracies and conspiracy theories, and real science from pseudoscience. Collins’ book provides a way to use the tools of critical thinking to spot real evidence from information which has been manipulated to create false impressions of the truth.
- March 12th: Rocks Don’t Lie
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This week on Skepticality, Derek interviews geomorphologist and Professor of Earth and Space Sciences (University of Washington) David R. Montgomery about how his work led him to write his latest book The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood. The book is thoughtful and readable, and attempts to respect both young Earth creationist views and the world of evidence-based geological science. According to the book’s publisher, with “an explorer’s eye and a refreshing approach to both faith and science, Montgomery takes readers on a journey across landscapes and cultures. In the process we discover the illusive nature of truth, whether viewed through the lens of science or religion, and how it changed through history and continues changing, even today.”
- February 26th: Intelligence and The Future
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This week on Skepticality, Derek sits down with Nicholas Eftimiades, Chinese Intelligence expert who was the Chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency Space Division for a period of time. He recently penned a book called Edward of Planet Earth—a science fiction novel set 200 years in the future in which a few androids decide to communicate with the Almighty.
- February 12th: Should You Answer Aristotle?
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This week on Skepticality, Derek interviews Massimo Pigliucci about his latest book, Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to A More Meaningful Life, discussing what led him to write the book, and getting his personal take on the modern skeptical movement.
- January 29th: Happy 200th Birthday, Skepticality!
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In this, the 200th episode, Derek sits down with Swoopy for a long while to ramble about the past (and future) of the podcast (and a bit about what Swoopy’s been up to while absent from the show). Derek then talks with Dr. Michael Shermer about the recent news surrounding Lance Armstrong and the reality of doping in athletics. They also discuss Michael’s recent articles about the Sandy Hook mass shooting, and the new conspiracy thinking which has cropped up in the few days since that tragic event.
- January 8th: 2012—Another Doubtful Year
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We all survived one more end of the world scare! Now that we are still here, Derek decided to sit down with Doubtful News Editor Sharon Hill to review some of the big skeptical news stories of 2012 and get her thoughts on what might be looming over the horizon for 2013.
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The Believing Brain
(now in paperback)
Get the autographed paperback
In this, his magnum opus, Dr. Michael Shermer presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. Sam Harris calls The Believing Brain “a wonderfully lucid, accessible, and wide-ranging account of the boundary between justified and unjustified belief.” Leonard Mlodinow calls it “a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences.”
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Top 10 Myths About Evolution (and how we know it really happened)
This concise pamphlet provides answers to common objections to evolution, such as: If humans came from apes, why aren’t apes evolving into humans?; Only an intelligent designer could have made something as complex as an eye; The second law of thermo-dynamics proves that evolution is impossible; Evolution can’t account for morality; and more…
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Top 10 Things You Should Know About Alternative Medicine
Harriet Hall, MD (aka the SkepDoc), shares her wit and wisdom about alternative medicine including: chiropractic, the placebo effect, homeopathy, acupuncture, and the questionable benefits of organic food, detoxification, and ‘natural’ remedies.
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Learn to be a Psychic in 10
Easy Lessons
Psychic readings and fortunetelling are an ancient art — a combination of acting and psychological manipulation. While some psychics are known to cheat and acquire information ahead of time, these ten tips focus on what is known as “cold reading” — reading someone “cold” without any prior knowledge about them.