Rationally Speaking
Summary: Rationally Speaking is the bi-weekly podcast of New York City Skeptics. Join host Julia Galef and guests as they explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense, likely from unlikely, and science from pseudoscience. Any topic is fair game as long as we can bring reason to bear upon it, with both a skeptical eye and a good dose of humor! We agree with the Marquis de Condorcet, who said that in an open society we ought to devote ourselves to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them."Rationally Speaking was co-created with Massimo Pigliucci, is produced by Benny Pollak, and is recorded in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village.
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- Artist: New York City Skeptics
- Copyright: (c) 2010-2019 New York City Skeptics
Podcasts:
Massimo and Julia do their best to answer listeners' skeptical questions.
Guest Brendan Nyhan on False Beliefs that Refuse to Die. Plus Brendan's picks: "True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society", "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts", and "The Macro Polity (Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology) "
Evolutionary Psychology: does it makes sense to apply evolutionary principles to the study of human behavior? Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: "A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense" and "Stumbling on Happiness"
Transhumanism: What's so great about being human, anyway? Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: "Being Wrong" and "Expert Political Judgment"
When, and how much, should we take someone's expertise into account in considering his claim? Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: "Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . ." and "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion"
Massimo and Julia do their best to answer listeners' skeptical questions.
Guest Jennifer Michael Hecht discusses whether we take science too seriously and perhaps we should look more at poetry. Plus Jennifer's picks: hilobrow.com and The Best American Poetry Blog.
In this episode we tackle superstition, It would be bad luck to talk about anything else, it is episode 13 after all! Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: Epistemelinks and How Pleasure Works.
Are thought experiments in science and philosophy just armchair speculation? Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: John Norton Goodies and Great Myths of Popular Psychology.
Guest Eugenie Scott updates us on the status of the intelligent design wars. Plus Eugenie's "un-pick": The website of the Institute for Creation Research.
A conversation about Massimo's book: "Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk." Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: philosophypathways.com/questions and "Historians' Fallacies : Toward a Logic of Historical Thought "
Why is it that smart people who make it a point of being skeptical and of promoting critical thinking fall for notions that are barely more defensible than astrology, or criticize well established scientific notions. Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: itisonlyatheory.blogspot.com and "The Miracle Detective"
Is the universe finely tuned for human life to exist? Does the Anthropic Principle add anything to our understanding of the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everyhing? Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: andphilosophy.com and "House."
Columbia Univ.mathematical physicist Peter Woit discusses whether is string theory “not even wrong.” Plus our guest's pick: the book "The End of Science."
Fluffy Thinking: a peculiar type of uncritical thinking that sounds sophisticated. Plus Massimo and Julia's picks: the "Omnipotence Paradox" and "The Book of Genesis Illustrated."
