Trolling With Logic

Consumed – Movie Review Are we too old for all this GMO shit? Microblogganism and Cal certainly aren’t as they look at the 2016 anti-gmo drama “Consumed”. Intended as an examination of concerns over GMO’s, the film instead plays like one woman’s descent into madness. Featuring “GMO cops” whose sole job it is to drive aggressively near people, a thinly veiled mega corporation called Monsanto Clonestra. Monsanto  Clonestra is one evil, evil bunch of dudes lawsuits included!. Danny Glover stars as a good ole timey organic farmer relentlessly pursued by Monsanto Clonestra for cross pollination and he’s sure chemtrails are in use because of reasons.   Food Science Institute review: https://foodscienceinstitute.com/2016/03/09/consumed-the-movie-a-misinformed-anti-gmo-thriller/ Watch Consumed on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80105697 Follow MicroBlogganism: https://www.youtube.com/user/MicroBlogganism

Why People Reject Evidence, According to Matthew Facciani What are some of the social and psychological factors which lead people to reject evidence that conflicts with their worldview? Joining us to tackle this and related questions is Matthew Facciani. Currently working on a PhD in sociology at the University of South Carolina, Matthew is an activist, speaker, and writer who teaches psychological statistics at USC. He received his B.A. in Psychology at Westminster College. Before switching into sociology, Matthew was working on a PhD in cognitive neuroscience. He currently writes for Patheos with his blog titled According to Matthew and hosts a podcast of the same name. Links: Matthew Facciani on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewFacciani Matthew Facciani’s website: http://www.matthewfacciani.com/ Matthew Facciani, “The Science of Why We Reject Science and What We Can Do about It,” http://www.patheos.com/blogs/accordingtomatthew/2016/08/the-science-of-why-we-reject-science-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/.

#058 - Bad Christian Movie Tropes WIth Marissa Alexa McCool

What is the public not understanding about GM foods that creates the significant gap between scientists and the public in how each views biotechnology? What are the science and public-policy benefits of widespread use of biotechnology in food and medicine that naysayers are not accounting for? And in what ways does embracing science and calling out fear-based myths impact justice and democracy? Joining us as a special guest on this episode to discuss these questions is author, writer, and science activist Kavin Senapathy. Co-founder and director of the international, pro-science, and pro-biotech movement March Against Myths, Kavin communicates to the public on science topics ranging from health, medicine, biotechnology, agriculture and food. She’s co-author of the book “The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House,” which discusses popular food misconceptions and why they proliferate despite evidence against them. As a mom to two children, Kavin often tackles health and nutrition misinformation targeted at parents. She’s a regular contributor to Forbes, with work frequently appearing in outlets like Slate, Gawker, Grounded Parents and more. Links Follow Kavin Senapathy on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ksenapathy Kavin Senapathy, “The Anti-GMO Movement Has a Social Justice Problem,” https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/2017/11/20/the-anti-gmo-movement-has-a-social-justice-problem/#23f030c23a54 Kavin’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Babe-Shattering-Haris-Glass/dp/069250981X Science Moms documentary: http://www.sciencemomsdoc.com/ SciMoms website: http://www.scimoms.com/who-are-we/ On the gap between scientists’ and the public’s views on GMOs: Cary Funk and Lee Rainie, “Public and Scientists’ Views on Science and Society,” Pew Research Center, January 29, 2015, http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/.

#056 - Zombie Apocalypse with Steven Schlozman

What is race? Where did the concept of biological races come from, and does it make any logical or scientific sense? What does the history of human migration, invention, and conquest really teach us about the role of race in shaping human civilization? Why are racial stereotypes so powerful in society, and what can we do to effectively challenge racism? In this episode, we tackle these questions with special guest Guy P. Harrison, journalist and author of the 2010 book “Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know about Our Biological Diversity.” We talk about both the science and the social issues surrounding race and diversity, correcting the false assumptions and popular misconceptions that lead many people to think that biological race defines and divides humanity. The reality turns out not to be that simple. Links: Guy P. Harrison on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Harrisonauthor Guy P. Harrison’s website: http://www.guypharrison.com/ “Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know about Our Biological Diversity”: https://www.amazon.com/Race-Reality-Everyone-Biological-Diversity/dp/1591027675 American Anthropological Association (AAA) “Statement on Race”: www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) “Statement on Biological Aspects of Race”: http://physanth.org/about/position-statements/biological-aspects-race/ CGP Grey’s videos summarizing key arguments in Jared Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEYh5WACqEk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOmjnioNulo C0nc0rdance, “Do Human Races Exist?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrKrGkgeww4 C0nc0rdance, “The Science of Human Races” Parts 1 and 2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teyvcs2S4mI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVmj8dDx9yY

The Hormone Myth – How many times have you heard a woman be dismissed as “hormonal”, or her rationality be questioned, because of assumed endocrine imbalance? Chances are you’ve heard the phrases “on the rag” or “PMSing” used to put someone down, or been witness to jokes about that “time of the month” where “women get moody” etc. In this episode, our special guest Robyn Stein DeLuca, author of The Hormone Myth: How Junk Science, Gender Politics, and Lies About PMS Keep Women Down, joins Natalie and Jenna to discuss whether hormone fluctuations really play such a huge role in women’s behaviour. We talk post-natal depression, the menstrual cycle, social conditioning and behavioural assumptions, gender bias & perceptions and how much hormones really play a role in our cognitive variance. Links: Robyn Stein DeLuca on Twitter: HTTPS://Twitter.com/RSDeLucaRobyn’s Website: http://delucainsight.com/The Hormone Myth book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hormone-Myth-Science-Gender-Politics/dp/1626255091The Good News About PMS – TEDx Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/robyn_stein_deluca_the_good_news_about_pms

What can a reincarnating Time Lord who gallivants across time and space in a 1950s-era police box whilst battling evil robots and aliens teach us about real-world science? To answer this question, Nathan, Jenn, and Cal are joined by Simon Guerrier, a documentary filmmaker, science fiction writer, and Whovian, to discuss the ideas in his book “The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who,” co-authored with astronomer Marek Kukula. In what ways does the Doctor in his various incarnations exemplify the scientific method in action? Has the life of science imitated the art of Doctor Who in any way? What is the source of the TARDIS’s power, and what does the Eye of Harmony have to do with black holes? What laws of time obtain in the Doctor Who universe, and do any of these in-universe laws conflict with what physicists know about time? How many episodes of Doctor Who are lost and/or missing, and how many have been recovered by dedicated, treasure-hunting Whovians? Can Simon Guerrier help us decipher and understand the 1989 “Ghost Light” episode? And what’s the deal with those knife-wielding, badger-faced space pirates? Links: Simon Guerrier on Twitter: https://twitter.com/0tralala Simon Guerrier’s blog: http://0tralala.blogspot.co.uk/ “The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who” book: https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Secrets-Doctor-Who/dp/0062386964 “Wiped! Doctor Who's Missing Episodes” by Richard Molesworth: https://www.amazon.com/Wiped-Doctor-Whos-Missing-Episodes/dp/1845830806   Simon Guerrier’s Doctor Who novels: “The Time Travellers”: (BBC Past Doctor Adventures #74): http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Time_Travellers_(novel) “The Pirate Loop” (BBC New Series Adventures #20): http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Pirate_Loop_(novel) “The Slitheen Excursion (BBC New Series Adventures #32)”: http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Slitheen_Excursion_(novel)

In this episode of Trolling with Logic, the crew takes a hard look at the magical world of young-earth creationism, as envisioned by everyone’s favorite creationist Kent Hovind. Before spending the last decade in federal prison for tax fraud and evasion, Hovind was a traveling evangelist preaching creationism and attacking evolution, armed with wacky strawmen. There’s no shortage of weird and wonderful nonsense to unravel on this fascinating tour through the mind of a creationist: An Earth that’s 4,499,994,000 years younger than it looks (because scientists, like the IRS, are apparently agents of Satan), dinosaurs living with humans who live to be hundreds of years old, a global flood via magical comet, anti-government conspiracy theories, a single drop of water that can cover the whole Earth if you just spread it thin enough, and more. Links: Hovind’s “doctoral dissertation”: https://wlstorage.net/file/kent-hovind-doctoral-dissertation.pdf. Hovind’s “debate” with evolutionary biologist Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, moderated by Reginald Finley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rphxOs5YFcY. Tracey Holley, “Evolution is the Root of All Evil: An Examination of the Paranoid Style of Creation Science Evangelism,” http://www.ijessnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2.pdf. Dave E. Matson, “How Good Are Those Young-Earth Arguments? A Close Look at Dr. Hovind’s List of Young-Earth Arguments and Other Claims,” http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood.html. Trolling with Logic host Nathan Dickey wrote this 50-page deconstruction of Hovind’s “dissertation”: https://tinyurl.com/y7mvfg8c. Ronald L. Numbers’ book about the history and evolution of the creationist movement (recommended by Nathan): https://www.amazon.com/Creationists-Scientific-Creationism-Intelligent-Expanded/dp/0674023390.

In this episode, the Trolling with Logic crew reviews the 2012 sci-fi travesty “Prometheus,” aka “Erich von Däniken’s Wet Dream.” It’s the prequel to the classic sci-fi horror “Alien” franchise, but this time it’s not a wonderful Lovecraftian tale of blood, terror, entropy, and female empowerment. Instead, “Prometheus” is about an over-expository, scientifically-illiterate mess of a movie that features a spaceship full of god-botherers who don’t understand how carbon-dating works and a misanthropic android who embark on a voyage to a distant planet to unravel the mystery of where humans came from. To discover the answer, which would make even Michael Tellinger blush in embarrassment, our heroes must discover for themselves the spiritual joy of natural xeno-child birth. And also the terror of only being able to run in a straight line when running from a rolling donut-shaped alien spacecraft. Like the show? Support us on patreon :- http://www.patreon.com/trollingwithlogic TWL website : http://www.trollingwithlogic.com/TWL facebook group : http://on.fb.me/TZwgy3TWL twitter : https://twitter.com/TrollingWLogicTWL facebook page : http://on.fb.me/1Eq3b8k Subscribe to the podcast:-Feedburner: http://tinyurl.com/twl-feed-burnItunes : http://tinyurl.com/twl-itunesStitcher : http://tinyurl.com/twl-stitcher Podbean : http://tinyurl.com/twl-podbeanPodfeed : http://tinyurl.com/twl-podfeed

Mission to MarsIn this episode, the Trolling with Logic crew reviews “Mission to Don Cheadle's Tent,” aka “Skittles on Mars,” aka Brian De Palma’s 2000 fantasy film “Mission to Mars.” This movie tells the story of a band of scientific illiterates who are exiled to Mars on an ill-fated mission sponsored by Mars Inc. and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. On the voyage there, the crew succeeds in demonstrating their utter incompetence, yet still somehow manage to land on the red planet unscathed so they can plant an American flag and fail at science even more. “Mission to Mars” IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183523/ Like the show? Support us on patreon :- http://www.patreon.com/trollingwithlogic TWL website : http://www.trollingwithlogic.com/TWL facebook group : http://on.fb.me/TZwgy3TWL twitter : https://twitter.com/TrollingWLogicTWL facebook page : http://on.fb.me/1Eq3b8k Subscribe to the podcast:-Feedburner: http://tinyurl.com/twl-feed-burnItunes : http://tinyurl.com/twl-itunesStitcher : http://tinyurl.com/twl-stitcher Podbean : http://tinyurl.com/twl-podbeanPodfeed : http://tinyurl.com/twl-podfeed

In this episode of Trolling with Logic, the team learns that the only thing better than blasting off for Mars is a high-stakes helicopter chase in a desert on Earth. Nathan, Cal, and Jenn review the 1977 action thriller “Capricorn One,” the story of three astronauts who are unwittingly recruited to participate in a government conspiracy to fake a Mars landing and who must run for their lives from government mercenaries when they refuse to play along with the ruse. It’s also the story of an intrepid journalist who helps expose the hoax thanks to the government being powerless to kill him no matter what. We talk about the cultural impact this film had on the conspiracy-theory community in general and the moon-landing conspiracy theorists specifically and the implausibility of such a massive conspiracy ever getting off the ground. We also ask some important questions: Why are government snipers such poor shots? How much does it cost to crop-dust a field? Will Nathan’s prediction that this movie will get the Michael Bay remake treatment come true? We wrap up with Nathan doing a dramatic reading of Dr. Seuss’ “Fox in Socks.” Links: “Capricorn One” on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077294/ David Robert Grimes, “On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs,” PLOS ONE 11(3): e0151003. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147905.

"For someone who was never meant for this world, I must confess I'm suddenly having a hard time leaving it. Of course, they say every atom in our bodies was once part of a star. Maybe I'm not leaving... maybe I'm going home." - In this episode of TwL Cal, Nate, Jenn and Marty review the cult classic Sci-Fi "Gattaca" which is a dystopian look at a possible designer society where children are screened for genetic deficiences and the problems this would bring. From wikipedia"Gattaca is a 1997 American science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, with Jude Law, Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal, and Alan Arkin appearing in supporting roles.[2] The film presents a biopunk vision of a future society driven by eugenics where potential children are conceived through genetic manipulation to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents.[3] The film centers on Vincent Freeman, played by Hawke, who was conceived outside the eugenics program and struggles to overcome genetic discrimination to realize his dream of traveling into space. The movie draws on concerns over reproductive technologies which facilitate eugenics, and the possible consequences of such technological developments for society. It also explores the idea of destiny and the ways in which it can and does govern lives. Characters in Gattaca continually battle both with society and with themselves to find their place in the world and who they are destined to be according to their genes. The film’s title is based on the letters G, A, T, and C, which stand for guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine, the four nucleobases of DNA.[4] It was a 1997 nominee for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. The film flopped at the box office, but it received generally positive reviews and has since gained a cult following."

Be prepared, this episode of Trolling with Logic is very science-heavy. But that’s why we love it. Nathan, Cal, and Jenna are joined by none other than Jenna’s brother Fred Bowyer! Fred Bowyer studies at The University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, where he is working in a PhD program specializing in the geochemistry of the Ediacaran Period -- the period lasting from about 635 to 542 million years ago -- which preceded the famous Cambrian Period. Fred provides us with an overview of the research he’s involved with, and how modern geochemical and geophysical techniques and technology have enabled scientists to resolve Darwin’s famous dilemma and come to an understanding of the environmental conditions way back at the dawn of animal life prior to the so-called “Cambrian Explosion.” We talk about what equipment scientists in this field are using, a primer on how fossils form, why pseudoscientific creationist arguments against geological dating techniques are wrong, the question of whether a rise in oxygen precipitate the evolution of animal life in the Cambrian, what dissolving rocks with acid can tell us about prehistoric atmospheres, and more. “Ediacaran Park” may not be as entertaining as Jurassic Park, but hearing from an active researcher in this prehistoric period reminds us of the amazing power and long reach of science and technology to illuminate aspects of the distant past unreachable by earlier generations of scientists.   Links: Andrew H. Knoll and Erik A. Sperling, “Oxygen and Animals in Earth History,” PNAS 111, no. 11 (March 18, 2014): 3907-3908; http://www.pnas.org/content/111/11/3907.full.pdf. Fred Bowyer’s profile at ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fred_Bowyer/publications Popular-science books recommended by Fred for those interested in learning more: Douglas H. Erwin, ‘The Cambrian Explosion: The Construction of Animal Biodiversity’: https://www.amazon.com/Cambrian-Explosion-Construction-Animal-Biodiversity/dp/1936221039 Andrew H. Knoll, ‘Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth’: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Young-Planet-Evolution-Princeton/dp/069116553X Donald E. Canfield, ‘Oxygen: A Four Billion Year History’: https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Billion-History-Science-Essentials/dp/0691168369 Tim Lenton and Andrew Watson, ‘Revolutions that Made the Earth’: https://www.amazon.com/Revolutions-that-Made-Earth-Lenton/dp/0199673462

We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore! In this episode Nathan, Cal and Jenn review Paddy Chayefsky’s 1976 dark satire “Network,” the eerily-prophetic and highly prescient story of a down-and-out television news anchor named Howard Beale whose on-air descent into madness turns him into a populist icon that millions tune in to see. But when his pro-human spirit message runs afoul the agenda of the “corporate cosmology” of the infotainment industry, “the mad prophet of the airwaves” Beale changes course and begins preaching a new message: nihilism. Links IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958/ Dave Itzkoff’s book-length analysis of the movie, mentioned by Nathan on this episode: https://www.amazon.com/Mad-Hell-Network-Fateful-Angriest/dp/0805095691 James Parker, “Madder Than Hell: How Network Anticipated Contemporary Media,” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/madder-than-hell/357572/