Bjorn Lomborg

World leaders have promised everything to everyone. But they are failing. Together with more than a hundred of the world’s top economists, Bjorn Lomborg has worked for years to identify the world’s best solutions. Based on 12 new, peer-reviewed papers, forthcoming in Cambridge University Press’ Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Lomborg’s latest book highlights the world’s best policies. Shermer and Lomborg discuss: perfect solutions vs. practical trade-offs • benefit-cost analysis • time horizons and discounting the future • the value of a statistical life • saving the environment, the poor, the diseased • the millennium development goals • the sustainable development goals • tuberculosis • education • maternal and newborn health • agricultural R&amp;D (more and cheaper food) • malaria • land tenure security • nutrition • chronic diseases • childhood immunization • corruption • highly skilled migration. Bjorn Lomborg is an academic and the author of the best-selling The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It. He is a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School, and president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center which brings together top economists, including seven Nobel Laureates, to set data-driven priorities for the world. Lomborg is a frequent commentator in print and broadcast media, for outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, CNN, FOX, and the BBC. His monthly column is published in 19 languages, in 30+ newspapers with more than 30 million readers globally. Follow him on twitter @BjornLomborg.

World leaders have promised everything to everyone. But they are failing. Together with more than a hundred of the world’s top economists, Bjorn Lomborg has worked for years to identify the world’s best solutions. Based on 12 new, peer-reviewed papers, forthcoming in Cambridge University Press’ Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Lomborg’s latest book highlights the world’s best policies. Shermer and Lomborg discuss: perfect solutions vs. practical trade-offs • benefit-cost analysis • time horizons and discounting the future • the value of a statistical life • saving the environment, the poor, the diseased • the millennium development goals • the sustainable development goals • tuberculosis • education • maternal and newborn health • agricultural R&amp;D (more and cheaper food) • malaria • land tenure security • nutrition • chronic diseases • childhood immunization • corruption • highly skilled migration. Bjorn Lomborg is an academic and the author of the best-selling The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It. He is a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School, and president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center which brings together top economists, including seven Nobel Laureates, to set data-driven priorities for the world. Lomborg is a frequent commentator in print and broadcast media, for outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, CNN, FOX, and the BBC. His monthly column is published in 19 languages, in 30+ newspapers with more than 30 million readers globally. Follow him on twitter @BjornLomborg.

Is a Human Life Worth $10 Million or Only $187,000? (Bjorn Lomborg)

From phishing scams to Ponzi schemes, fraudulent science to fake art, chess cheaters to crypto hucksters, and marketers to magicians, our world brims with deception. In Nobody’s Fool, psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris show us how to avoid being taken in. They describe the key habits of thinking and reasoning that serve us well most of the time but make us vulnerable—like our tendency to accept what we see, stick to our commitments, and overvalue precision and consistency. Each chapter illustrates their new take on the science of deception, describing scams you’ve never heard of and shedding new light on some you have. Simons and Chabris provide memorable maxims and practical tools you can use to spot deception before it’s too late. Christopher Chabris is a professor at Geisinger, a Pennsylvania healthcare system, where he co-directs the Behavioral Insights Team. He previously taught at Union College and Harvard University, and is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Chris received his Ph.D. in psychology and A.B. in computer science from Harvard. His research focuses on decision-making, attention, intelligence, and behavior genetics. His work has been published in leading journals including Science, Nature, PNAS, and Perception, and he has published essays in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post. Chris is also a chess master, games enthusiast, and co-author of the bestselling book The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us. Together Daniel and Christopher co-authored the new book Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do about It. Shermer, Simons, and Chabris discuss: • How rational vs. irrational are humans? (Daniel Kahneman vs. Gerd Gingerenzer) • Truth Default Theory, or Truth Bias • deception vs. deception detection • social proof and the influence of others on our beliefs • cults • Bernie Madoff • Harvey Weinstein • Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos • Nigerian spam scam • cheating in chess • habits of thought that can be exploited • information hooks we find especially enticing instead of triggering skepticism • scientific fraud and the replication crisis • how to prevent from being a victim of fraud or a con.

From phishing scams to Ponzi schemes, fraudulent science to fake art, chess cheaters to crypto hucksters, and marketers to magicians, our world brims with deception. In Nobody’s Fool, psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris show us how to avoid being taken in. They describe the key habits of thinking and reasoning that serve us well most of the time but make us vulnerable—like our tendency to accept what we see, stick to our commitments, and overvalue precision and consistency. Each chapter illustrates their new take on the science of deception, describing scams you’ve never heard of and shedding new light on some you have. Simons and Chabris provide memorable maxims and practical tools you can use to spot deception before it’s too late. Christopher Chabris is a professor at Geisinger, a Pennsylvania healthcare system, where he co-directs the Behavioral Insights Team. He previously taught at Union College and Harvard University, and is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Chris received his Ph.D. in psychology and A.B. in computer science from Harvard. His research focuses on decision-making, attention, intelligence, and behavior genetics. His work has been published in leading journals including Science, Nature, PNAS, and Perception, and he has published essays in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post. Chris is also a chess master, games enthusiast, and co-author of the bestselling book The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us. Together Daniel and Christopher co-authored the new book Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do about It. Shermer, Simons, and Chabris discuss: • How rational vs. irrational are humans? (Daniel Kahneman vs. Gerd Gingerenzer) • Truth Default Theory, or Truth Bias • deception vs. deception detection • social proof and the influence of others on our beliefs • cults • Bernie Madoff • Harvey Weinstein • Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos • Nigerian spam scam • cheating in chess • habits of thought that can be exploited • information hooks we find especially enticing instead of triggering skepticism • scientific fraud and the replication crisis • how to prevent from being a victim of fraud or a con.

Why We Get Fooled

Everyone wants to be happy. The question “How can I be happy?” drives countless decisions across the world, and billions of dollars are spent on marketing a wide variety of answers to it. Increasing evidence shows, however, that unhappiness is on the rise. Already known to an audience of hundreds of thousands as “the therapist for everyone,” Dr. Saad contends that happiness is not merely a changeable mood, but a process toward which all people can strive by following basic steps known to humans for millennia; happiness can be measured and assessed, and strategies devised to achieve it. Drawing on scientific studies, the wisdom of ancient philosophy and religion, and his extraordinary personal experience as a refugee from war-torn Lebanon, Gad offers a provocative, helpful, and entertaining treatise on how to strive for happiness, win it, and keep it. Gad Saad, PhD, one of the best-known public intellectuals fighting the tyranny of political correctness, is a professor of marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, where he held the Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption from 2008 to 2018. A pioneer in the application of evolutionary psychology to consumer behavior, he is the author of The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption, The Consuming Instinct, and numerous scientific papers and the editor of the book Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences. His previous bestselling popular trade book is The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. His new book is The Saad Truth about Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life. Shermer and Saad discuss: operational definitions of the “good life,” “happiness,” and “well being” • emotions • eudaimonia (the pursuit of meaning) versus hedonism (the pursuit of pleasure) • genetics and heritability • cultural components • the Big Five (OCEAN) • marriage (mate selection) • health • exercise and stress reduction • religion • anti-fragility • a playful outlook and curiosity • variety (the “spice of life”) • what the ancient Greeks got right about living the good life • how failure may actually be a key to more happiness • persistence, grit, and risk taking • regret and the dark side of consumption and addictions.

Everyone wants to be happy. The question “How can I be happy?” drives countless decisions across the world, and billions of dollars are spent on marketing a wide variety of answers to it. Increasing evidence shows, however, that unhappiness is on the rise. Already known to an audience of hundreds of thousands as “the therapist for everyone,” Dr. Saad contends that happiness is not merely a changeable mood, but a process toward which all people can strive by following basic steps known to humans for millennia; happiness can be measured and assessed, and strategies devised to achieve it. Drawing on scientific studies, the wisdom of ancient philosophy and religion, and his extraordinary personal experience as a refugee from war-torn Lebanon, Gad offers a provocative, helpful, and entertaining treatise on how to strive for happiness, win it, and keep it. Gad Saad, PhD, one of the best-known public intellectuals fighting the tyranny of political correctness, is a professor of marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, where he held the Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption from 2008 to 2018. A pioneer in the application of evolutionary psychology to consumer behavior, he is the author of The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption, The Consuming Instinct, and numerous scientific papers and the editor of the book Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences. His previous bestselling popular trade book is The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. His new book is The Saad Truth about Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life. Shermer and Saad discuss: operational definitions of the “good life,” “happiness,” and “well being” • emotions • eudaimonia (the pursuit of meaning) versus hedonism (the pursuit of pleasure) • genetics and heritability • cultural components • the Big Five (OCEAN) • marriage (mate selection) • health • exercise and stress reduction • religion • anti-fragility • a playful outlook and curiosity • variety (the “spice of life”) • what the ancient Greeks got right about living the good life • how failure may actually be a key to more happiness • persistence, grit, and risk taking • regret and the dark side of consumption and addictions.

The Saad Truth About Happiness

Christopher Rufo

In this conversation based on his new book, America’s Cultural Revolution, Christopher Rufo exposes the inner history of the intellectuals and militants who slowly and methodically captured America’s institutions. With profiles of Herbert Marcuse, Angela Davis, Paulo Freire, and Derrick Bell, Rufo shows how activists have profoundly influenced American culture with an insidious mix of Marxism and racialist ideology. Through deep historical research, Rufo shows how the ideas first formulated in the pamphlets of the Weather Underground, Black Panther Party, and Black Liberation Army have been sanitized and adopted as the official ideology of America’s prestige institutions, from the Ivy League universities to the boardrooms of Walmart, Disney, and Bank of America. Shermer and Rufo discuss: race as America’s original sin • civil rights movement then and now • liberalism vs. illiberalism • equality vs. equity • overt racism vs. systemic racism • intellectual origins of the cultural revolution: Herbert Marcuse, Angela Davis, Paulo Freire, Derrick Bell, Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton • Black Lives Matter origins in the Black Liberation Army and the Black Panthers • critical race theory (CRT) • diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and more… Christopher Rufo is a writer, filmmaker, and activist. He has directed four documentaries for PBS, including America Lost, which tells the story of three forgotten American cities. He is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of the public policy magazine City Journal. His reporting and activism have inspired a presidential order, a national grassroots movement, and legislation in 22 states. Christopher holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Master’s of Liberal Arts from Harvard University.

In this conversation based on his new book, America’s Cultural Revolution, Christopher Rufo exposes the inner history of the intellectuals and militants who slowly and methodically captured America’s institutions. With profiles of Herbert Marcuse, Angela Davis, Paulo Freire, and Derrick Bell, Rufo shows how activists have profoundly influenced American culture with an insidious mix of Marxism and racialist ideology. Through deep historical research, Rufo shows how the ideas first formulated in the pamphlets of the Weather Underground, Black Panther Party, and Black Liberation Army have been sanitized and adopted as the official ideology of America’s prestige institutions, from the Ivy League universities to the boardrooms of Walmart, Disney, and Bank of America. Shermer and Rufo discuss: race as America’s original sin • civil rights movement then and now • liberalism vs. illiberalism • equality vs. equity • overt racism vs. systemic racism • intellectual origins of the cultural revolution: Herbert Marcuse, Angela Davis, Paulo Freire, Derrick Bell, Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton • Black Lives Matter origins in the Black Liberation Army and the Black Panthers • critical race theory (CRT) • diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and more… Christopher Rufo is a writer, filmmaker, and activist. He has directed four documentaries for PBS, including America Lost, which tells the story of three forgotten American cities. He is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of the public policy magazine City Journal. His reporting and activism have inspired a presidential order, a national grassroots movement, and legislation in 22 states. Christopher holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Master’s of Liberal Arts from Harvard University.

Christopher Rufo Decodes Cultural Shifts in America

Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. — and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. King reveals a minister wrestling with his own human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government, and a man determined to fight for justice even if it proved to be a fight to the death. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis, Eig dramatically re-creates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father — as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr. Shermer and Eig discuss: how to write biography • the history of the King family going back to slavery, Jim Crow, etc. • the influence of King Sr. on Martin’s intellectual and emotional development and the Ebenezer Baptist Church • King’s early experience with racism in the south • King’s religious beliefs and the influence of his faith on his civil rights activism • the influence of Gandhi and Reinhold Niebuhr on King’s strategic activism and deep belief in nonviolence • King’s politics • Malcolm X • Native Americans • gay rights • accusations of plagiarism, and more… Jonathan Eig is a former senior writer for the Wall Street Journal. He is the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including Ali: A Life; Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig; and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season. Ken Burns calls him “a master storyteller,” and Eig’s books have been listed among the best of the year by the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Sports Illustrated, and Slate. He lives in Chicago with his wife and children.

Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. — and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father, and fellow activists. King reveals a minister wrestling with his own human frailties and dark moods, a citizen hunted by his own government, and a man determined to fight for justice even if it proved to be a fight to the death. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis, Eig dramatically re-creates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father — as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr. Shermer and Eig discuss: how to write biography • the history of the King family going back to slavery, Jim Crow, etc. • the influence of King Sr. on Martin’s intellectual and emotional development and the Ebenezer Baptist Church • King’s early experience with racism in the south • King’s religious beliefs and the influence of his faith on his civil rights activism • the influence of Gandhi and Reinhold Niebuhr on King’s strategic activism and deep belief in nonviolence • King’s politics • Malcolm X • Native Americans • gay rights • accusations of plagiarism, and more… Jonathan Eig is a former senior writer for the Wall Street Journal. He is the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including Ali: A Life; Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig; and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season. Ken Burns calls him “a master storyteller,” and Eig’s books have been listed among the best of the year by the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Sports Illustrated, and Slate. He lives in Chicago with his wife and children.

The Truth About Martin Luther King Jr.

Right now, someone, somewhere is being cancelled. Off-the-cuff tweets or “harmless” office banter have the potential to wreck lives. The Left condemns the Right, and the bigotry of the old elites. The Right complains about brain-dead political correctness, and the erosion of liberal values. In reality, both sides are colluding in a reactionary, exclusionary politics that is as self-defeating as it is divisive. Can the Left escape this extremism and stay true to the progressive ideals it once professed? In this provocative conversation based on his new book, Umut Özkirimli reveals the similarities between right-wing populism and radical identity politics, and sets out an alternative vision. Shermer and Özkirimli discuss: identity politics, cancel culture • woke, TERF, anti-fragility, anti-racism • diversity, equity, and inclusion • Ibram X. Kendi, Robin DiAngelo • Loretta Ross, rape, retributive vs. restorative justice • Woman’s March • leftism, progressivism, democratic socialism, liberalism, classical liberalism, libertarianism, conservatism, populism, nationalism, white nationalism, authoritarianism, tyranny • moral panics • MAGA, Trump • victimhood • safetyism • trigger warnings, safe spaces, microaggressions • What Went Wrong? Umut Özkirimli is a senior research fellow at IBEI (Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals), a professor at Blanquerna, Ramon Llull University, and a senior research associate at CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs). His writings appear in the Guardian, openDemocracy, Times Higher Education, Huffington Post, among others. Find him on Twitter at @UOzkirimli and umutozkirimli.com.

Right now, someone, somewhere is being cancelled. Off-the-cuff tweets or “harmless” office banter have the potential to wreck lives. The Left condemns the Right, and the bigotry of the old elites. The Right complains about brain-dead political correctness, and the erosion of liberal values. In reality, both sides are colluding in a reactionary, exclusionary politics that is as self-defeating as it is divisive. Can the Left escape this extremism and stay true to the progressive ideals it once professed? In this provocative conversation based on his new book, Umut Özkirimli reveals the similarities between right-wing populism and radical identity politics, and sets out an alternative vision. Shermer and Özkirimli discuss: identity politics, cancel culture • woke, TERF, anti-fragility, anti-racism • diversity, equity, and inclusion • Ibram X. Kendi, Robin DiAngelo • Loretta Ross, rape, retributive vs. restorative justice • Woman’s March • leftism, progressivism, democratic socialism, liberalism, classical liberalism, libertarianism, conservatism, populism, nationalism, white nationalism, authoritarianism, tyranny • moral panics • MAGA, Trump • victimhood • safetyism • trigger warnings, safe spaces, microaggressions • What Went Wrong? Umut Özkirimli is a senior research fellow at IBEI (Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals), a professor at Blanquerna, Ramon Llull University, and a senior research associate at CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs). His writings appear in the Guardian, openDemocracy, Times Higher Education, Huffington Post, among others. Find him on Twitter at @UOzkirimli and <a href="http://umutozkirimli.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">umutozkirimli.com</a>.

An Outsider’s Perspective on American Culture Wars

According to conservative commentator Bethany Mandel, “the Left is waging an all-out battle on the American family, particularly the youngest members. If they can make our children miserable, lead them to question every building block of society, and rebuild their entire concept of reality, then the Left and their woke indoctrinators will consider that a victory.” She firmly believes “Our children’s lives and the survival of our families are at stake.” In this honest conversation, Dr. Shermer disagrees with some of Mandel's conclusions, agrees with others, and pushes back against certain aspects of her worldview. Shermer and Mandel discuss: • anecdotes vs. data about children and politics • What is a woman? What is a man? • sex and gender • woke medicine • transgender affirming care • libraries and publishers of children’s books • abortion: pro-Choice or pro-Life? • support for children: government or private? Bethany Mandel is a columnist for Fox News and a homeschooling mother of six. She has written for the New York Times, Newsweek, Spectator, and more. Her new book is Stolen Youth: How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation.

According to conservative commentator Bethany Mandel, “the Left is waging an all-out battle on the American family, particularly the youngest members. If they can make our children miserable, lead them to question every building block of society, and rebuild their entire concept of reality, then the Left and their woke indoctrinators will consider that a victory.” She firmly believes “Our children’s lives and the survival of our families are at stake.” In this honest conversation, Dr. Shermer disagrees with some of Mandel's conclusions, agrees with others, and pushes back against certain aspects of her worldview. Shermer and Mandel discuss: • anecdotes vs. data about children and politics • What is a woman? What is a man? • sex and gender • woke medicine • transgender affirming care • libraries and publishers of children’s books • abortion: pro-Choice or pro-Life? • support for children: government or private? Bethany Mandel is a columnist for Fox News and a homeschooling mother of six. She has written for the New York Times, Newsweek, Spectator, and more. Her new book is Stolen Youth: How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation.

Children and Politics

We are on the cusp of a major transformation in healthcare. Using information gleaned from our blood and genes and tapping into the data revolution made possible by AI, doctors can catch the onset of disease years before symptoms arise, revolutionizing prevention. At top hospitals and a few innovative health-tech startups, scientists are working closely with patients to dramatically extend their “healthspan”―the number of healthy years before disease sets in. In The Age of Scientific Wellness, two visionary leaders of this revolution in health take us on a thrilling journey to this new frontier of medicine. Hood, Price, and Shermer discuss: why we age and die • sickcare vs. healthcare • the 10 most popular drugs in the U.S. work for only about 10% of treated people • chronological age ≠ biological age • life expectancy, life span, longevity, and healthspan • why eliminating all cancers would only increase average life span by 3 years • genome vs. phenome • gut biome • optimizing brain function • brain plasticity • sleep, nutrition, exercise • Alzheimer’s • AI and quantum computing for better health.

We are on the cusp of a major transformation in healthcare. Using information gleaned from our blood and genes and tapping into the data revolution made possible by AI, doctors can catch the onset of disease years before symptoms arise, revolutionizing prevention. At top hospitals and a few innovative health-tech startups, scientists are working closely with patients to dramatically extend their “healthspan”―the number of healthy years before disease sets in. In The Age of Scientific Wellness, two visionary leaders of this revolution in health take us on a thrilling journey to this new frontier of medicine. Hood, Price, and Shermer discuss: why we age and die • sickcare vs. healthcare • the 10 most popular drugs in the U.S. work for only about 10% of treated people • chronological age ≠ biological age • life expectancy, life span, longevity, and healthspan • why eliminating all cancers would only increase average life span by 3 years • genome vs. phenome • gut biome • optimizing brain function • brain plasticity • sleep, nutrition, exercise • Alzheimer’s • AI and quantum computing for better health.

The Future of Medicine: What You Need to Know

Michael Shellenberger

Shermer and Shellenberger discuss: the original article in Debrief • the authors Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal • why this story was not covered by the New York Times or the Washington Post • whistleblower David Grusch and his claim that the U.S. government and its allies have in their possession “intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin,” along with the dead alien pilots • claims of the many types of alien ships and alien beings, and that the aliens might be multi-dimensional in nature • that there is a sophisticated cover-up by the military of which even the POTUS isn’t aware • what Shellenberger’s new sources told him about Grusch’s claims, and more… Michael Shellenberger is an investigative journalist who has broken major stories on crime and drug policy; homelessness; Amazon deforestation; rising climate resilience; growing eco-anxiety; the U.S. government’s role in the fracking revolution; climate change and California’s fires, and now UFO whistleblowers, which he revealed in his substack article in Public. He was on the show previously to discuss his book Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, and since then he wrote San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Earlier this year he worked with Elon Musk, Bari Weiss, and Matt Taibbi on the “Twitter Files,” which revealed the extent to which censorship of unpopular ideas and politically incorrect beliefs was rampant at Twitter before Musk purchased the company. In his Public Substack article Shellenberger revealed what he learned from UFO whistleblowers, which he shares with us in this episode.

Shermer and Shellenberger discuss: the original article in Debrief • the authors Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal • why this story was not covered by the New York Times or the Washington Post • whistleblower David Grusch and his claim that the U.S. government and its allies have in their possession “intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin,” along with the dead alien pilots • claims of the many types of alien ships and alien beings, and that the aliens might be multi-dimensional in nature • that there is a sophisticated cover-up by the military of which even the POTUS isn’t aware • what Shellenberger’s new sources told him about Grusch’s claims, and more… Michael Shellenberger is an investigative journalist who has broken major stories on crime and drug policy; homelessness; Amazon deforestation; rising climate resilience; growing eco-anxiety; the U.S. government’s role in the fracking revolution; climate change and California’s fires, and now UFO whistleblowers, which he revealed in his substack article in Public. He was on the show previously to discuss his book Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, and since then he wrote San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Earlier this year he worked with Elon Musk, Bari Weiss, and Matt Taibbi on the “Twitter Files,” which revealed the extent to which censorship of unpopular ideas and politically incorrect beliefs was rampant at Twitter before Musk purchased the company. In his Public Substack article Shellenberger revealed what he learned from UFO whistleblowers, which he shares with us in this episode.

Michael Shellenberger on UFO Whistleblowers

A commentary on the latest UAP/UFO story about the whistleblower and the government UFO retrieval program. In this special episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Dr. Shermer addresses the latest claims by a whistleblower that the U.S. government and its allies has spacecraft that are “off-world,” meaning extraterrestrial in nature. If true, it would be one of the greatest discoveries in human history, but is it, in fact, true? Very very unlikely, for a number of reasons that Dr. Shermer considers as he puts this story into historical context after 30+ years of studying UFOs, a topic of regular coverage in Skeptic magazine. Also, read Dr. Shermer’s article in Quillette: “Aliens…Again! This time, they always say, it could be different.”

A commentary on the latest UAP/UFO story about the whistleblower and the government UFO retrieval program. In this special episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Dr. Shermer addresses the latest claims by a whistleblower that the U.S. government and its allies has spacecraft that are “off-world,” meaning extraterrestrial in nature. If true, it would be one of the greatest discoveries in human history, but is it, in fact, true? Very very unlikely, for a number of reasons that Dr. Shermer considers as he puts this story into historical context after 30+ years of studying UFOs, a topic of regular coverage in Skeptic magazine. Also, read Dr. Shermer’s article in Quillette: “<a href="https://quillette.com/2023/06/08/aliens-again/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aliens…Again! This time, they always say, it could be different.</a>”

Is the Government Hiding Aliens?

The Michael Shermer Show is a series of long-form conversations between Dr. Michael Shermer and leading scientists, philosophers, historians, scholars, writers and thinkers about the most important issues of our time.

If you like Sam Harris, you’ll love this.

Great podcast

Thanks Michael   I bought the book “one giant leap” after listening you five minutes 
What a story

The best interviewer

The Michael Shermer Show

Bart Ehrman

In this remote Science Salon (recorded on February 19, 2018), Dr. Shermer converses with the great bible scholar and historian Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, the Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity and the author of 8 Teaching Company courses and a number of New York Times bestselling books, including Misquoting Jesus and How Jesus Became God. In his new book, The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World, Dr. Ehrman explores how a tiny sect of just 20 people at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion in 30 CE became 25 to 35 million Christians by 400 CE. Imagine if the couple of dozen Branch Davidians living near Waco, Texas in early 1990s, instead of being incinerated by Federal agents in a botched stand-off, went on to convert two billion people around the world to their religion. That is what early Christians did. How did they do that? Shermer and Ehrman also discuss the modern atheism movement, how Jesus became a Republican in the second half of the 20th century, the intractable (for Christians) problem of evil, the problem of identity for Jesus (how could he be both man and God?), what pre-Christian pagans believed about the gods, what early Christians had to offer pagans that other religions didn’t, how religions invented the afterlife and what people believed before the rise of Christianity about what happens after you die, and other fascinating topics.

In this remote Science Salon (recorded on February 19, 2018), Dr. Shermer converses with the great bible scholar and historian Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, the Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity and the author of 8 Teaching Company courses and a number of New York Times bestselling books, including Misquoting Jesus and How Jesus Became God. In his new book, The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World, Dr. Ehrman explores how a tiny sect of just 20 people at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion in 30 CE became 25 to 35 million Christians by 400 CE. Imagine if the couple of dozen Branch Davidians living near Waco, Texas in early 1990s, instead of being incinerated by Federal agents in a botched stand-off, went on to convert two billion people around the world to their religion. That is what early Christians did. How did they do that? Shermer and Ehrman also discuss the modern atheism movement, how Jesus became a Republican in the second half of the 20th century, the intractable (for Christians) problem of evil, the problem of identity for Jesus (how could he be both man and God?), what pre-Christian pagans believed about the gods, what early Christians had to offer pagans that other religions didn’t, how religions invented the afterlife and what people believed before the rise of Christianity about what happens after you die, and other fascinating topics.

18. Dr. Bart Ehrman — How a Forbidden Religion (Christianity) Swept the World

Donald Hoffman

In his new book, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth From Our Eyes, the U.C. Irvine cognitive scientist Dr. Donald Hoffman challenges the leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality. How can it be possible that the world we see is not objective reality? And how can our senses be useful if they are not communicating the truth? Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. His evolutionary model contends that natural selection has favored perception that hides the truth and guides us toward useful action, shaping our senses to keep us alive and reproducing. We observe a speeding car and do not walk in front of it; we see mold growing on bread and do not eat it. These impressions, though, are not objective reality. Just like a file icon on a desktop screen is a useful symbol rather than a genuine representation of what a computer file looks like, the objects we see every day are merely icons, allowing us to navigate the world safely and with ease. The real-world implications for this discovery are huge, even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality. The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see. In this conversation, Hoffman and Shermer get deep into the weeds of:  the nature of reality (ontology) how we know anything about reality (epistemology) the possibility that we’re living in a simulation the possibility that we’re just a brain in a vat the problem of other minds (that I’m the only sentient conscious being while everyone else is a zombie) the hard problem of consciousness what it means to ask “what’s it like to be a bat?” does the moon exist if there are no conscious sentient beings anywhere in the universe? is spacetime doomed? quantum physics and consciousness the microtubule theory of consciousness the global workspace theory of consciousness, and how Hoffman’s Interface Theory of Perception differs from Jordan Peterson’s Archetypal Theory of Truth (Shermer’s label for Peterson’s evolutionary theory of truth).  Listen to Science Salon via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

In his new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393254690/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth From Our Eyes</a>, the U.C. Irvine cognitive scientist Dr. Donald Hoffman challenges the leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality. How can it be possible that the world we see is not objective reality? And how can our senses be useful if they are not communicating the truth? Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. His evolutionary model contends that natural selection has favored perception that hides the truth and guides us toward useful action, shaping our senses to keep us alive and reproducing. We observe a speeding car and do not walk in front of it; we see mold growing on bread and do not eat it. These impressions, though, are not objective reality. Just like a file icon on a desktop screen is a useful symbol rather than a genuine representation of what a computer file looks like, the objects we see every day are merely icons, allowing us to navigate the world safely and with ease. The real-world implications for this discovery are huge, even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality. The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see. In this conversation, Hoffman and Shermer get deep into the weeds of: <ul> <li>the nature of reality (ontology)</li> <li>how we know anything about reality (epistemology)</li> <li>the possibility that we’re living in a simulation</li> <li>the possibility that we’re just a brain in a vat</li> <li>the problem of other minds (that I’m the only sentient conscious being while everyone else is a zombie)</li> <li>the hard problem of consciousness</li> <li>what it means to ask “what’s it like to be a bat?”</li> <li>does the moon exist if there are no conscious sentient beings anywhere in the universe?</li> <li>is spacetime doomed?</li> <li>quantum physics and consciousness</li> <li>the microtubule theory of consciousness</li> <li>the global workspace theory of consciousness, and</li> <li>how Hoffman’s Interface Theory of Perception differs from Jordan Peterson’s Archetypal Theory of Truth (Shermer’s label for Peterson’s evolutionary theory of truth).</li> </ul> Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

78. Dr. Donald Hoffman — The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth From Our Eyes

Jonathan Haidt

In this fascinating dialogue Dr. Haidt and Dr. Shermer discuss what has been going wrong on many college campuses in the last few years. Speakers are shouted down. Students and professors say they are walking on eggshells and are afraid to speak honestly. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide are rising—on campus as well as nationally. How did this happen? In his new book Haidt has teamed up with First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff to show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being and ancient wisdom from many cultures. Embracing these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—interferes with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. It makes it harder for them to become autonomous adults who are able to navigate the bumpy road of life. They explore changes in childhood such as the rise of fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised, child-directed play, and the new world of social media that has engulfed teenagers in the last decade. They examine changes on campus, including the corporatization of universities and the emergence of new ideas about identity and justice. They situate the conflicts on campus within the context of America’s rapidly rising political polarization and dysfunction. Dr. Jonathan Haidt is Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is a social psychologist whose field is moral psychology. He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom and The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. This remote Science Salon was recorded on August 27, 2018.

In this fascinating dialogue Dr. Haidt and Dr. Shermer discuss what has been going wrong on many college campuses in the last few years. Speakers are shouted down. Students and professors say they are walking on eggshells and are afraid to speak honestly. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide are rising—on campus as well as nationally. How did this happen? In his new book Haidt has teamed up with First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff to show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being and ancient wisdom from many cultures. Embracing these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—interferes with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. It makes it harder for them to become autonomous adults who are able to navigate the bumpy road of life. They explore changes in childhood such as the rise of fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised, child-directed play, and the new world of social media that has engulfed teenagers in the last decade. They examine changes on campus, including the corporatization of universities and the emergence of new ideas about identity and justice. They situate the conflicts on campus within the context of America’s rapidly rising political polarization and dysfunction. Dr. Jonathan Haidt is Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is a social psychologist whose field is moral psychology. He is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465028020/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307455777/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion</a>. This remote Science Salon was recorded on August 27, 2018.

36. Dr. Jonathan Haidt — The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

In this episode of the Science Salon Podcast, Michael Shermer talks to the renowned evolutionary behavioral scientist and Concordia University professor Dr. Gad Saad. Starting with his escape to Canada from war-torn Lebanon, Dr. Saad recounts how he got interested in the study of human nature in general and consumer behavior in particular through the evolutionary lens, why people make the choices they do in the marketplace, why evolutionary psychology is an equal-opportunity offender to both the political left and right, what’s wrong with the Blank Slate model of human nature, what it means to hypothesize that something evolved “for” an adaptive reason, how evolutionary psychologists test their claims, the consilience of human knowledge, epistemological humility, postmodernism and how it has corrupted the academy, and the vital importance of free speech and free inquiry in science and society. Dr. Gad Saad held the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption from 2008 to 2018. He is the author of The Consuming Instinct (2011, Prometheus Books) and The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption (2007, Lawrence Erlbaum), editor of Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences (2011, Springer), and is finishing his next book on idea pathogens and how they have spread like a contagion in the academy, now spilling out into government and corporations. He is the host of the popular podcast The Saad Truth, which focuses on science, religion, political correctness, multiculturalism, postmodernism, third-wave feminism, Islam, safe spaces, trigger warnings, and many other topics. Listen to Science Salon via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud.   This Science Salon was recorded on December 26, 2018.

In this episode of the Science Salon Podcast, Michael Shermer talks to the renowned evolutionary behavioral scientist and Concordia University professor Dr. Gad Saad. Starting with his escape to Canada from war-torn Lebanon, Dr. Saad recounts how he got interested in the study of human nature in general and consumer behavior in particular through the evolutionary lens, why people make the choices they do in the marketplace, why evolutionary psychology is an equal-opportunity offender to both the political left and right, what’s wrong with the Blank Slate model of human nature, what it means to hypothesize that something evolved “for” an adaptive reason, how evolutionary psychologists test their claims, the consilience of human knowledge, epistemological humility, postmodernism and how it has corrupted the academy, and the vital importance of free speech and free inquiry in science and society. Dr. Gad Saad held the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption from 2008 to 2018. He is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1616144297/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Consuming Instinct</a> (2011, Prometheus Books) and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/080585150X/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption</a> (2007, Lawrence Erlbaum), editor of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/3540927832/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences</a> (2011, Springer), and is finishing his next book on idea pathogens and how they have spread like a contagion in the academy, now spilling out into government and corporations. He is the host of the popular podcast <a href="http://www.thesaadtruth.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Saad Truth</a>, which focuses on science, religion, political correctness, multiculturalism, postmodernism, third-wave feminism, Islam, safe spaces, trigger warnings, and many other topics. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-Science-Salo-A-Podc-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. This Science Salon was recorded on December 26, 2018.

49. Dr. Gad Saad — Doing Gad’s Work

Ben Shapiro

In this wide ranging conversation, the noted conservative political commentator and public intellectual Ben Shapiro makes the case that what makes the West great is its foundation in Judeo-Christian values. We can thank these values, Shapiro argues, “for the birth of science, the dream of progress, human rights, prosperity, peace, and artistic beauty.” Shapiro says “Jerusalem and Athens built America, ended slavery, defeated the Nazis and the Communists, lifted billions from poverty and gave billions spiritual purpose. Jerusalem and Athens were the foundations of the Magna Carta and the Treaty of Westphalia; they were the foundations of the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.” As you might expect, Dr. Shermer disagrees on the source of these values, attributing them instead to the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment and the secular thinkers who used reason and evidence to make the case for human rights and progress. For example:  people are never to be treated as a means to an end but as an end in themselves (Kant) people have an inalienable right to life, liberty &amp; happiness (Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence) people have an inherent right to privacy, speech, thought, and action (U.S. Constitution) governments may not infringe on such rights (John Stuart Mill) people should be treated equally under the law (John Locke) punishments should fit the crime and society should be based on the greatest good for the greatest number (Jeremy Bentham).  These are all purely secular moral values derived from Enlightenment science and reason. Shermer also asks Shapiro how he derives “all men are created equal” from “we were created in God’s image”. Shapiro has a very reasonable answer, to which Shermer read from Thomas Jefferson’s own explanation for the origin of that phrase. In a letter to Henry Lee in 1825, Jefferson wrote: Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion. All its authority rests then on the harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation, in letters, printed essays, or in the elementary books of public right as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, &amp;c. Shapiro responded to Shermer’s counter-examples to his thesis, namely successful civilizations that arose before Judaism and Christianity, such as Sumeria, Babylonia, Akkadia, Assyria, Egypt, and Greece, and Christian civilizations that did not flourish, such as the Catholic countries of South America, or historically all the Christian nations in the Middle Ages that never produced anything like a democracy or capitalism. As two members of the Intellectual Dark Web, Shapiro and Shermer show how people can disagree even on fundamental principles and still have a civil conversation, and along the way find agreement and common cause. Other topics that came up:  free will and determinism human nature and sexuality why rates of abortion are higher in the U.S. than other Western countries the increase in rates of suicide and depression in the U.S. unionizing the Intellectual Dark Web and striking for higher wages and redistribution of resources…  Listen to Science Salon via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud. This Science Salon was recorded on February 27, 2019. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

In this wide ranging conversation, the noted conservative political commentator and public intellectual Ben Shapiro makes the case that what makes the West great is its foundation in Judeo-Christian values. We can thank these values, Shapiro argues, “for the birth of science, the dream of progress, human rights, prosperity, peace, and artistic beauty.” Shapiro says “Jerusalem and Athens built America, ended slavery, defeated the Nazis and the Communists, lifted billions from poverty and gave billions spiritual purpose. Jerusalem and Athens were the foundations of the Magna Carta and the Treaty of Westphalia; they were the foundations of the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.” As you might expect, Dr. Shermer disagrees on the source of these values, attributing them instead to the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment and the secular thinkers who used reason and evidence to make the case for human rights and progress. For example: <ul> <li>people are never to be treated as a means to an end but as an end in themselves (Kant)</li> <li>people have an inalienable right to life, liberty &amp; happiness (Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence)</li> <li>people have an inherent right to privacy, speech, thought, and action (U.S. Constitution)</li> <li>governments may not infringe on such rights (John Stuart Mill)</li> <li>people should be treated equally under the law (John Locke)</li> <li>punishments should fit the crime and society should be based on the greatest good for the greatest number (Jeremy Bentham).</li> </ul> These are all purely secular moral values derived from Enlightenment science and reason. Shermer also asks Shapiro how he derives “all men are created equal” from “we were created in God’s image”. Shapiro has a very reasonable answer, to which Shermer read from Thomas Jefferson’s own explanation for the origin of that phrase. In a letter to Henry Lee in 1825, Jefferson wrote: Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion. All its authority rests then on the harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation, in letters, printed essays, or in the elementary books of public right as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, &amp;c. Shapiro responded to Shermer’s counter-examples to his thesis, namely successful civilizations that arose before Judaism and Christianity, such as Sumeria, Babylonia, Akkadia, Assyria, Egypt, and Greece, and Christian civilizations that did not flourish, such as the Catholic countries of South America, or historically all the Christian nations in the Middle Ages that never produced anything like a democracy or capitalism. As two members of the <a href="https://intellectualdarkweb.site/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Intellectual Dark Web</a>, Shapiro and Shermer show how people can disagree even on fundamental principles and still have a civil conversation, and along the way find agreement and common cause. Other topics that came up: <ul> <li>free will and determinism</li> <li>human nature and sexuality</li> <li>why rates of abortion are higher in the U.S. than other Western countries</li> <li>the increase in rates of suicide and depression in the U.S.</li> <li>unionizing the Intellectual Dark Web and striking for higher wages and redistribution of resources…</li> </ul> Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-Science-Salo-A-Podc-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. This Science Salon was recorded on February 27, 2019. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

58. Ben Shapiro — The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great

Yuval Noah Harari

In this dialogue with one of the most interesting minds of our time, the Hebrew University historian and best-selling author (Sapiens, Homo Deus), Dr. Yuval Noah Harari, he and Dr. Shermer discuss the central ideas of his new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, an exploration of: history, work, liberty, equality, community, civilization, nationalism, religion, immigration, terrorism, war, humility, God, secularism, ignorance, justice, post-truth, science fiction, education, meaning, and meditation. Dr. Harari and Dr. Shermer cover as many of these topics as reasonable in this wide-ranging conversation, focusing especially on nationalism, tribalism, God and religion, free will and determinism, AI algorithms and human volition, the future of liberal democracy, colonizing Mars, and much more. Dr. Yuval Noah Harari has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Oxford, and now lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in world history. His two books, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, have become global best­sellers, with more than twelve million copies sold and translations in more than forty-five languages. Listen to Science Salon via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud. This remote Science Salon was recorded on August 19, 2018.

In this dialogue with one of the most interesting minds of our time, the Hebrew University historian and best-selling author (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062316117/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sapiens</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062464345/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homo Deus</a>), Dr. Yuval Noah Harari, he and Dr. Shermer discuss the central ideas of his new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525512179/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">21 Lessons for the 21st Century</a>, an exploration of: history, work, liberty, equality, community, civilization, nationalism, religion, immigration, terrorism, war, humility, God, secularism, ignorance, justice, post-truth, science fiction, education, meaning, and meditation. Dr. Harari and Dr. Shermer cover as many of these topics as reasonable in this wide-ranging conversation, focusing especially on nationalism, tribalism, God and religion, free will and determinism, AI algorithms and human volition, the future of liberal democracy, colonizing Mars, and much more. Dr. Yuval Noah Harari has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Oxford, and now lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in world history. His two books, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062316117/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062464345/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow</a>, have become global best­sellers, with more than twelve million copies sold and translations in more than forty-five languages. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-Science-Salo-A-Podc-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. This remote Science Salon was recorded on August 19, 2018.

38. Dr. Yuval Noah Harari — 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Jared Diamond

For this special edition of the Science Salon Podcast Dr. Shermer took a camera crew to Jared Diamond’s home in Los Angeles for an especially intimate portrait of the man and his theories. You won’t want to miss this conversation, one of the best we’ve yet recorded, with one of the most interesting minds of our time, perhaps of all time. In his earlier bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in the final book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crisis through selective change — a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma. In a dazzling comparative study, Diamond shows us how seven countries have survived defining upheavals in the recent past — from US Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan to the Soviet invasion of Finland to Pinochet’s regime in Chile — through a process of painful self-appraisal and adaptation, and he identifies patterns in the way that these distinct nations recovered from calamity. Looking ahead to the future, he investigates whether the United States, and the world, are squandering their natural advantages, on a path towards political conflict and decline. Or can we still learn from the lessons of the past? Adding a psychological dimension to the awe-inspiring grasp of history, geography, economics, and anthropology that marks all Diamond’s work, Upheaval reveals how both nations and individuals can become more resilient. The result is a book that is epic, urgent, and groundbreaking. Listen to Science Salon via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud. This Science Salon was recorded on March 13, 2019. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

For this special edition of the Science Salon Podcast Dr. Shermer took a camera crew to Jared Diamond’s home in Los Angeles for an especially intimate portrait of the man and his theories. You won’t want to miss this conversation, one of the best we’ve yet recorded, with one of the most interesting minds of our time, perhaps of all time. In his earlier bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in the final book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crisis through selective change — a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma. In a dazzling comparative study, Diamond shows us how seven countries have survived defining upheavals in the recent past — from US Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan to the Soviet invasion of Finland to Pinochet’s regime in Chile — through a process of painful self-appraisal and adaptation, and he identifies patterns in the way that these distinct nations recovered from calamity. Looking ahead to the future, he investigates whether the United States, and the world, are squandering their natural advantages, on a path towards political conflict and decline. Or can we still learn from the lessons of the past? Adding a psychological dimension to the awe-inspiring grasp of history, geography, economics, and anthropology that marks all Diamond’s work, Upheaval reveals how both nations and individuals can become more resilient. The result is a book that is epic, urgent, and groundbreaking. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-Science-Salo-A-Podc-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. This Science Salon was recorded on March 13, 2019. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

65. Jared Diamond — Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis

Kip Thorne

Join us for what promises to be one of the deepest and most profound conversations we’ve had in our Science Salon series as Dr. Thorne reflects on his life and career in theoretical physics, his pursuit of the detection of the long-elusive gravitational waves through the LIGO detector, his relationship and bet with Stephen Hawking, how he came to consult on Carl Sagan’s Contact and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, his curious work on black holes, wormholes, and time travel, and what it’s like to go to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize.

Join us for what promises to be one of the deepest and most profound conversations we’ve had in our Science Salon series as Dr. Thorne reflects on his life and career in theoretical physics, his pursuit of the detection of the long-elusive gravitational waves through the LIGO detector, his relationship and bet with Stephen Hawking, how he came to consult on Carl Sagan’s Contact and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, his curious work on black holes, wormholes, and time travel, and what it’s like to go to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize.

17. Dr. Kip Thorne — Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, Time Travel, and Hollywood

Sean B. Carroll

How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions, and shows how their discoveries matter for our health and the health of the planet we depend upon. One of the most important revelations about the natural world is that everything is regulated—there are rules that regulate the amount of every molecule in our bodies and rules that govern the numbers of every animal and plant in the wild. And the most surprising revelation about the rules that regulate life at such different scales is that they are remarkably similar—there is a common underlying logic of life. Carroll recounts how our deep knowledge of the rules and logic of the human body has spurred the advent of revolutionary life-saving medicines, and makes the compelling case that it is now time to use the Serengeti Rules to heal our ailing planet.

How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions, and shows how their discoveries matter for our health and the health of the planet we depend upon. One of the most important revelations about the natural world is that everything is regulated—there are rules that regulate the amount of every molecule in our bodies and rules that govern the numbers of every animal and plant in the wild. And the most surprising revelation about the rules that regulate life at such different scales is that they are remarkably similar—there is a common underlying logic of life. Carroll recounts how our deep knowledge of the rules and logic of the human body has spurred the advent of revolutionary life-saving medicines, and makes the compelling case that it is now time to use the Serengeti Rules to heal our ailing planet.

4. Dr. Sean B. Carroll — The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters

Geoffrey Miller

Michael Shermer talks with the polymathic polyamorous sapiosexual classically liberal evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller about:  virtue signaling and why we all do it how the phrase “virtue signaling” became a derogatory political meme how virtue signaling really works and why it is not a bad thing why evolutionary psychology is not based on “just so” story telling how multiple traits can be selected at once individual selection vs. group selection the role of virtue signaling in the evolution of the moral sentiments how virtue signaling helps produce real morality (and not just fake altruism) abortion, immigration, Trump, the Far Right, the Far Left, and other topical controversies gender differences in career preferences neurodiversity and speech codes cultural diversity and the Harvard lawsuit over discrimination why social groups tend to splinter and defenestrate members who are not virtuous enough.  Geoffrey Miller is a tenured evolutionary psychology professor at University of New Mexico. He’s been writing and teaching about the origins and functions of moral virtues for decades. His previous books include The Mating Mind, Spent, Mating Intelligence, and What Women Want. He got his B.A. from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He’s also worked at NYU Stern Business School, UCLA, University College London, and the London School of Economics. He has over 110 publications about sexual selection, mate choice, signaling theory, fitness indicators, consumer behavior, marketing, intelligence, creativity, language, art, music, humor, emotions, personality, psychopathology, and behavior genetics. He has also given 200 talks in 16 countries, and his research has been featured in Nature, Science, The New York Times, The Washington Post, New Scientist, and The Economist, on NPR and BBC radio, and in documentaries on CNN, PBS, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and BBC. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and  TuneIn. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

Michael Shermer talks with the polymathic polyamorous sapiosexual classically liberal evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller about: <ul> <li>virtue signaling and why we all do it</li> <li>how the phrase “virtue signaling” became a derogatory political meme</li> <li>how virtue signaling really works and why it is not a bad thing</li> <li>why evolutionary psychology is not based on “just so” story telling</li> <li>how multiple traits can be selected at once</li> <li>individual selection vs. group selection</li> <li>the role of virtue signaling in the evolution of the moral sentiments</li> <li>how virtue signaling helps produce real morality (and not just fake altruism)</li> <li>abortion, immigration, Trump, the Far Right, the Far Left, and other topical controversies</li> <li>gender differences in career preferences</li> <li>neurodiversity and speech codes</li> <li>cultural diversity and the Harvard lawsuit over discrimination</li> <li>why social groups tend to splinter and defenestrate members who are not virtuous enough.</li> </ul> Geoffrey Miller is a tenured evolutionary psychology professor at University of New Mexico. He’s been writing and teaching about the origins and functions of moral virtues for decades. His previous books include <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/038549517X/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Mating Mind</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143117238/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spent</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805857494/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mating Intelligence</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316375330/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What Women Want</a>. He got his B.A. from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He’s also worked at NYU Stern Business School, UCLA, University College London, and the London School of Economics. He has over 110 publications about sexual selection, mate choice, signaling theory, fitness indicators, consumer behavior, marketing, intelligence, creativity, language, art, music, humor, emotions, personality, psychopathology, and behavior genetics. He has also given 200 talks in 16 countries, and his research has been featured in Nature, Science, The New York Times, The Washington Post, New Scientist, and The Economist, on NPR and BBC radio, and in documentaries on CNN, PBS, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and BBC. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

93. Geoffrey Miller — Virtue Signaling: Essays on Darwinian Politics & Free Speech

David Sloan Wilson

In this dialogue Dr. Shermer speaks with Dr. David Sloan Wilson, the renowned evolutionary biologist and Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University. His previous books include Evolution for Everyone, The Neighborhood Project, Does Altruism Exist? and Darwin’s Cathedral. He is the president of the Evolution Institute and editor in chief of its online magazine, This View of Life. His new book, out this week, is This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution. He and Shermer discuss…  what it means to complete the Darwinian Revolution solving the “is-ought” and “naturalistic fallacy” through proper science and philosophy why evolutionary psychology is an equal opportunity offender for liberals and conservatives why both laissez faire and command economies fail what is morality? dispelling the myth of social darwinism policy as a branch of biology solving the tragedy of the commons through game theory the evolutionary origins of good and evil natural selection, group selection, multi-level selection and the debate with Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins over selfish genes why nationalism is like religion how a biologist thinks about immigration, nuclear deterrence and other policy issues the rise of nationalism and what to do about it.  Listen to Science Salon via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud. This Science Salon was recorded on February 1, 2019. We apologize for the quality of this episode; it was recorded before Michael moved to the new recording studio. We still have a couple episodes to release from the old studio. Quality of subsequent episodes will be better. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

In this dialogue Dr. Shermer speaks with Dr. David Sloan Wilson, the renowned evolutionary biologist and Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University. His previous books include <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385340923/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Evolution for Everyone</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316037672/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Neighborhood Project</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300189494/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Does Altruism Exist?</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0226901351/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Darwin’s Cathedral</a>. He is the president of the Evolution Institute and editor in chief of its online magazine, <a href="https://evolution-institute.org/this-view-of-life/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This View of Life</a>. His new book, out this week, is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101870206/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution</a>. He and Shermer discuss… <ul> <li>what it means to complete the Darwinian Revolution</li> <li>solving the “is-ought” and “naturalistic fallacy” through proper science and philosophy</li> <li>why evolutionary psychology is an equal opportunity offender for liberals and conservatives</li> <li>why both laissez faire and command economies fail</li> <li>what is morality?</li> <li>dispelling the myth of social darwinism</li> <li>policy as a branch of biology</li> <li>solving the tragedy of the commons through game theory</li> <li>the evolutionary origins of good and evil</li> <li>natural selection, group selection, multi-level selection and the debate with Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins over selfish genes</li> <li>why nationalism is like religion</li> <li>how a biologist thinks about immigration, nuclear deterrence and other policy issues</li> <li>the rise of nationalism and what to do about it.</li> </ul> Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-Science-Salo-A-Podc-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. This Science Salon was recorded on February 1, 2019. We apologize for the quality of this episode; it was recorded before Michael moved to the new recording studio. We still have a couple episodes to release from the old studio. Quality of subsequent episodes will be better. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

55. Dr. David Sloan Wilson — This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution

Michael Shermer

In his most ambitious work yet—a scientific exploration into humanity’s obsession with the afterlife and quest for immortality—bestselling author and skeptic, Michael Shermer, sets out to discover what drives humans’ belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality along with utopian attempts to create heaven on earth. For millennia, religions have concocted numerous manifestations of heaven and the afterlife, and though no one has ever returned from such a place to report what it is really like—or that it even exists—today science and technology are being used to try to make it happen in our lifetime. From radical life extension to cryonic suspension to mind uploading, Shermer considers how realistic these attempts are from a proper skeptical perspective. Heavens on Earth concludes with an uplifting paean to purpose and progress and how we can live well in the here-and-now, whether or not there is a hereafter.

In his most ambitious work yet—a scientific exploration into humanity’s obsession with the afterlife and quest for immortality—bestselling author and skeptic, Michael Shermer, sets out to discover what drives humans’ belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality along with utopian attempts to create heaven on earth. For millennia, religions have concocted numerous manifestations of heaven and the afterlife, and though no one has ever returned from such a place to report what it is really like—or that it even exists—today science and technology are being used to try to make it happen in our lifetime. From radical life extension to cryonic suspension to mind uploading, Shermer considers how realistic these attempts are from a proper skeptical perspective. Heavens on Earth concludes with an uplifting paean to purpose and progress and how we can live well in the here-and-now, whether or not there is a hereafter.

20. Dr. Michael Shermer — Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia

Daniel Oberhaus

The endlessly fascinating question of whether we are alone in the universe has always been accompanied by another, more complicated one: if there is extraterrestrial life, how would we communicate with it? In his book Extraterrestrial Languages, Daniel Oberhaus leads readers on a quest for extraterrestrial communication. Exploring Earthlings’ various attempts to reach out to non-Earthlings over the centuries, he poses some not entirely answerable questions. If we send a message into space, will extraterrestrial beings receive it? Will they understand? What languages will they (and we) speak? If we can’t even communicate with dolphins and whales, which are mammals, or chimpanzees and gorillas, which are primates, how are we going to communicate with sentient beings that evolved on another planet? If we want to send a message to far-future humans to, say, warn them not to open a container of radioactive waste from a nuclear plant, what would we put on the container to communicate the danger within? Is there not only a universal grammar (as Noam Chomsky has posited), but also a grammar of the universe? In this incredibly fascinating conversation Shermer and Oberhaus also discuss:  the late-19th-century idea to communicate with Martians via Morse code and mirrors the emergence in the 20th century of SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence), CETI (communication with extraterrestrial intelligence), and finally METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence) the one-way space voyage of Ella, an artificial intelligence agent that can play cards, tell fortunes, and recite poetry different media used in attempts at extraterrestrial communication, from microwave systems to plaques on spacecrafts to formal logic, and our attempts to formulate a language for our message, including the Astraglossa and two generations of Lincos (lingua cosmica) how philosophy, linguistics, mathematics, science, and art have informed the design or limited the effectiveness of our interstellar messaging.  Daniel Oberhaus is a science and technology journalist whose work has appeared in Wired, the Atlantic, Popular Mechanics, Slate, the Baffler, Nautilus, Vice, the Awl, and other publications. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

The endlessly fascinating question of whether we are alone in the universe has always been accompanied by another, more complicated one: if there is extraterrestrial life, how would we communicate with it? In his book Extraterrestrial Languages, Daniel Oberhaus leads readers on a quest for extraterrestrial communication. Exploring Earthlings’ various attempts to reach out to non-Earthlings over the centuries, he poses some not entirely answerable questions. If we send a message into space, will extraterrestrial beings receive it? Will they understand? What languages will they (and we) speak? If we can’t even communicate with dolphins and whales, which are mammals, or chimpanzees and gorillas, which are primates, how are we going to communicate with sentient beings that evolved on another planet? If we want to send a message to far-future humans to, say, warn them not to open a container of radioactive waste from a nuclear plant, what would we put on the container to communicate the danger within? Is there not only a universal grammar (as Noam Chomsky has posited), but also a grammar of the universe? In this incredibly fascinating conversation Shermer and Oberhaus also discuss: <ul> <li>the late-19th-century idea to communicate with Martians via Morse code and mirrors</li> <li>the emergence in the 20th century of SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence), CETI (communication with extraterrestrial intelligence), and finally METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence)</li> <li>the one-way space voyage of Ella, an artificial intelligence agent that can play cards, tell fortunes, and recite poetry</li> <li>different media used in attempts at extraterrestrial communication, from microwave systems to plaques on spacecrafts to formal logic, and our attempts to formulate a language for our message, including the Astraglossa and two generations of Lincos (lingua cosmica)</li> <li>how philosophy, linguistics, mathematics, science, and art have informed the design or limited the effectiveness of our interstellar messaging.</li> </ul> Daniel Oberhaus is a science and technology journalist whose work has appeared in Wired, the Atlantic, Popular Mechanics, Slate, the Baffler, Nautilus, Vice, the Awl, and other publications. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

88. Daniel Oberhaus — Extraterrestrial Languages

According to a recent Pew Research poll, 72% of Americans believe in a literal heaven and 58% in a literal hell (more evidence of the over-optimism bias and self-serving bias). Worldwide, over two billion Christians believe that because of their faith they will have a glorious afterlife. And nearly everyone wonders about what, if anything, comes after death. In Heaven and Hell, renowned biblical scholar and historian of religion Dr. Bart Ehrman investigates the powerful instincts that gave rise to the common ideas of heaven and hell and that help them endure. From the Epic of Gilgamesh to the writings of Augustine, Ehrman recounts the long history of the life after death. In different times, places, and cultures, people held a wide variety of views, and Ehrman is adept at showing how these influenced one another and changed in response to their historical, social, and cultural situations. His driving question is why and how Christians came up with the idea that souls will experience either eternal bliss or everlasting torment. Ehrman shows that the historical Jesus, Paul, and the author of Revelation would have been utterly perplexed by such ideas. These ideas are later Christian developments. Shermer and Ehrman also discuss:  Ehrman’s personal journey from Christian to nonbeliever the earliest writings on the afterlife why the Old Testament says nothing about Heaven and Hell what the New Testament says about Heaven and Hell early pagan influences on Judaism and Christianity who invented the afterlife and why what Jesus really said about the afterlife, souls, and immortality what commoners believed about the afterlife in Greek, Roman and biblical times myths, stories, and parables: their original meaning and use the real meaning of the resurrection Is the Kingdom of Heaven within us all? What does a nonbeliever say to a believer about the (non-existence) of the afterlife?  Bart D. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity, and the author or editor of more than thirty books, including the New York Times bestsellers Misquoting Jesus, How Jesus Became God, and The Triumph of Christianity. A Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he has created eight popular audio and video courses for The Great Courses. He has been featured in Time, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post, and has appeared on NBC, CNN, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, BBC, and NPR. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and  TuneIn.

According to a recent Pew Research poll, 72% of Americans believe in a literal heaven and 58% in a literal hell (more evidence of the over-optimism bias and self-serving bias). Worldwide, over two billion Christians believe that because of their faith they will have a glorious afterlife. And nearly everyone wonders about what, if anything, comes after death. In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501136739/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Heaven and Hell</a>, renowned biblical scholar and historian of religion Dr. Bart Ehrman investigates the powerful instincts that gave rise to the common ideas of heaven and hell and that help them endure. From the Epic of Gilgamesh to the writings of Augustine, Ehrman recounts the long history of the life after death. In different times, places, and cultures, people held a wide variety of views, and Ehrman is adept at showing how these influenced one another and changed in response to their historical, social, and cultural situations. His driving question is why and how Christians came up with the idea that souls will experience either eternal bliss or everlasting torment. Ehrman shows that the historical Jesus, Paul, and the author of Revelation would have been utterly perplexed by such ideas. These ideas are later Christian developments. Shermer and Ehrman also discuss: <ul> <li>Ehrman’s personal journey from Christian to nonbeliever</li> <li>the earliest writings on the afterlife</li> <li>why the Old Testament says nothing about Heaven and Hell</li> <li>what the New Testament says about Heaven and Hell</li> <li>early pagan influences on Judaism and Christianity</li> <li>who invented the afterlife and why</li> <li>what Jesus really said about the afterlife, souls, and immortality</li> <li>what commoners believed about the afterlife in Greek, Roman and biblical times</li> <li>myths, stories, and parables: their original meaning and use</li> <li>the real meaning of the resurrection</li> <li>Is the Kingdom of Heaven within us all?</li> <li>What does a nonbeliever say to a believer about the (non-existence) of the afterlife?</li> </ul> Bart D. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity, and the author or editor of more than thirty books, including the New York Times bestsellers <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060859512/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Misquoting Jesus</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061778192/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Jesus Became God</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501136712/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Triumph of Christianity</a>. A Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he has created eight popular audio and video courses for The Great Courses. He has been featured in Time, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post, and has appeared on NBC, CNN, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, BBC, and NPR. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>.

110. Bart Ehrman — Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife

Melvin Konner

World renowned biological anthropologist Mel Konner examines the nature of human nature, including and especially in his new book the nature of religiosity. In Believers, Konner, who was raised in an orthodox Jewish home but has been an atheist his entire adult life, responds to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers, most notably the “new atheists” Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens―known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Konner explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Konner and Shermer discuss: the nature of human nature what is religion? what is faith? is religion and faith adaptive or the byproduct of some other evolved adaptation? his experience living among hunter-gatherers how hunter-gatherers conceive of religion vs. modern peoples the “Big Gods” theory of religion the “God Module” theory of religion the group selection theory of religion why faith is not for everyone the rise of the nones, but why religion will never completely die out the upside of religion … and the downside were our paleolithic ancestors warlike or peaceful? would you want to switch places and live in a hunter-gatherer society? why for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away.  Melvin Konner, MD, is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University. He is the author of Believers, Women After All, Becoming a Doctor, and The Tangled Wing, among other books. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and  TuneIn. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

World renowned biological anthropologist Mel Konner examines the nature of human nature, including and especially in his new book the nature of religiosity. In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/039365186X/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Believers</a>, Konner, who was raised in an orthodox Jewish home but has been an atheist his entire adult life, responds to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers, most notably the “new atheists” Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens―known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Konner explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species. Konner and Shermer discuss:<ul> <li>the nature of human nature</li> <li>what is religion?</li> <li>what is faith?</li> <li>is religion and faith adaptive or the byproduct of some other evolved adaptation?</li> <li>his experience living among hunter-gatherers</li> <li>how hunter-gatherers conceive of religion vs. modern peoples</li> <li>the “Big Gods” theory of religion</li> <li>the “God Module” theory of religion</li> <li>the group selection theory of religion</li> <li>why faith is not for everyone</li> <li>the rise of the nones, but why religion will never completely die out</li> <li>the upside of religion … and the downside</li> <li>were our paleolithic ancestors warlike or peaceful?</li> <li>would you want to switch places and live in a hunter-gatherer society?</li> <li>why for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away.</li> </ul> Melvin Konner, MD, is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University. He is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/039365186X/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Believers</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393352315/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Women After All</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140111166/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Becoming a Doctor</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805072799/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Tangled Wing</a>, among other books. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

90. Melvin Konner — Believers: Faith in Human Nature

In his second Ask Me Anything, recorded on the final day of 2018, Dr. Shermer reviews the latest issue of Skeptic magazine, introduces upcoming podcast guests Rachel Kleinfeld (A Savage Order: How the World’s Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security), Bruce Schneier (Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-Connected World), Mark W. Moffett (The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall), and Jared Diamond (Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis). Dr. Shermer also discusses his book publishing plans for 2019, including an essay collection of his last 70 Scientific American columns, which he is sad to report is coming to an end with the January 2019 issue of that august magazine, along with that of other popular contributors, such as the popular tech columnist David Pogue. Dr. Shermer reflects on his 18 years and reads aloud the final column, titled “Stein’s Law and Science’s Mission”.

In his second Ask Me Anything, recorded on the final day of 2018, Dr. Shermer reviews the <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/magazine/archives/23.4/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">latest issue of Skeptic magazine</a>, introduces upcoming podcast guests Rachel Kleinfeld (A Savage Order: How the World’s Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security), Bruce Schneier (Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-Connected World), Mark W. Moffett (The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall), and Jared Diamond (Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis). Dr. Shermer also discusses his book publishing plans for 2019, including an essay collection of his last 70 Scientific American columns, which he is sad to report is coming to an end with the January 2019 issue of that august magazine, along with that of other popular contributors, such as the popular tech columnist David Pogue. Dr. Shermer reflects on his 18 years and reads aloud the final column, titled “<a href="https://michaelshermer.com/2019/01/steins-law-and-sciences-mission/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stein’s Law and Science’s Mission</a>”.

AMA-2. Dr. Michael Shermer: Ask Me Anything!

David Leiser

This is the first book to explain why people misunderstand economics. From the cognitive shortcuts we use to make sense of complex information, to the metaphors we rely on and their effect on our thinking, this important book lays bare not only the psychological traits that distort our ability to understand such a vital topic, but also what this means for policy makers and civil society more widely. Shermer and Leiser dive into the mismatch between the complexities of economics and the constraints of human cognition that lie at the root of our misconceptions, as well as explore:  folk economics and why our intuitions are so often wrong the evolutionary origins of our thinking about economics and why we are not prepared cognitively to understand complex economic ideas Universal Basic Income income inequality CEO pay and why we think it’s too high the importance of trust in economic exchanges tariffs and Trump China, and reparations for slavery vs. reparations for the Holocaust.  David Leiser is Full Professor of Economic and Social Psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He is Past President of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology, and President of the Economic Psychology Division of the International Association of Applied Psychology. He studies lay conceptions, especially in the economic domain. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and  TuneIn.

This is the first book to explain why people misunderstand economics. From the cognitive shortcuts we use to make sense of complex information, to the metaphors we rely on and their effect on our thinking, this important book lays bare not only the psychological traits that distort our ability to understand such a vital topic, but also what this means for policy makers and civil society more widely. Shermer and Leiser dive into the mismatch between the complexities of economics and the constraints of human cognition that lie at the root of our misconceptions, as well as explore: <ul> <li>folk economics and why our intuitions are so often wrong</li> <li>the evolutionary origins of our thinking about economics and why we are not prepared cognitively to understand complex economic ideas</li> <li>Universal Basic Income</li> <li>income inequality</li> <li>CEO pay and why we think it’s too high</li> <li>the importance of trust in economic exchanges</li> <li>tariffs and Trump</li> <li>China, and</li> <li>reparations for slavery vs. reparations for the Holocaust.</li> </ul> David Leiser is Full Professor of Economic and Social Psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He is Past President of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology, and President of the Economic Psychology Division of the International Association of Applied Psychology. He studies lay conceptions, especially in the economic domain. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>.

94. David Leiser — How We Misunderstand Economics and Why it Matters

John Martin

John Martin Fischer’s Death, Immortality, and Meaning in Lifeoffers a brief yet in-depth introduction to the key philosophical issues and problems concerning death and immortality. In this wide-ranging and thoughtful conversation, Shermer and Fisher discuss:  meaning in life meaning in death the badness of death different philosophical, religious, and scientific ideas on immortality near-death experiences extending life through medical technology medical immortality vs. real immortality the problem of identity for immortality (who or what becomes immortal?) living for 100 years vs. 1000 years vs. forever responding to the theistic argument that without God anything goes, there is no objective morality, and no meaning to life If you don’t believe in God or the afterlife, what do you say to someone who is dying or has lost a loved one? Is immortality, like existence, one thought too many?  John Martin Fischer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, and a University Professor at the University of California. He is coauthor of Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife (OUP, 2016), and coeditor of Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings(Eighth Edition, OUP, 2018). He was Project Leader of The Immortality Project (John Templeton Foundation). Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and  TuneIn.

John Martin Fischer’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0190921145/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Death, Immortality, and Meaning in Life</a>offers a brief yet in-depth introduction to the key philosophical issues and problems concerning death and immortality. In this wide-ranging and thoughtful conversation, Shermer and Fisher discuss: <ul> <li>meaning in life</li> <li>meaning in death</li> <li>the badness of death</li> <li>different philosophical, religious, and scientific ideas on immortality</li> <li>near-death experiences</li> <li>extending life through medical technology</li> <li>medical immortality vs. real immortality</li> <li>the problem of identity for immortality (who or what becomes immortal?)</li> <li>living for 100 years vs. 1000 years vs. forever</li> <li>responding to the theistic argument that without God anything goes, there is no objective morality, and no meaning to life</li> <li>If you don’t believe in God or the afterlife, what do you say to someone who is dying or has lost a loved one?</li> <li>Is immortality, like existence, one thought too many?</li> </ul> John Martin Fischer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, and a University Professor at the University of California. He is coauthor of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/019046660X/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Near-Death Experiences: Understanding Visions of the Afterlife</a> (OUP, 2016), and coeditor of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0190698721/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings</a>(Eighth Edition, OUP, 2018). He was Project Leader of The Immortality Project (John Templeton Foundation). Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>.

95. John Martin Fischer — Death, Immortality and Meaning in Life

Amber Scorah

In this revealing conversation Amber Scorah opens the box into the psychology of religious belief to show how, exactly, religions and cults convince members that theirs is the one true religion, to the point, she admits, that she would have gladly died for her faith. As a third-generation Jehovah’s Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God’s warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture — and a whole new way of thinking — turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true. As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities’ notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an “escape hatch,” Scorah’s loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah’s Witness. Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery — with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it’s like to start one’s life over again with an entirely new identity. Scorah and Shermer also discuss:  the legals and logistics of writing a memoir the rise of the nones and disbelief and why stories like hers provide social proof for living without religion what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe and why they believe it what it’s like to go door-to-door witnessing for a religion Armageddon and what doomsayers do when the world doesn’t end the mindset of the fundamentalist why religions are obsessed with female sexuality why religions forbid homosexuality the psychology of deconversion the problem of evil, or why bad things happen to good people how she would try to talk someone out of joining ISIS what it’s like to be expelled from a religion and be an apostate, and how to start your life over when you’ve lost everything.  Amber Scorah is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her articles have been published in The New York Times, The Believer, and USA Today. Prior to coming to New York, Scorah lived in Shanghai, where she was creator and host of the podcast Dear Amber: An Insider’s Guide to Everything China. Leaving the Witness is her first book. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and  TuneIn.

In this revealing conversation Amber Scorah opens the box into the psychology of religious belief to show how, exactly, religions and cults convince members that theirs is the one true religion, to the point, she admits, that she would have gladly died for her faith. As a third-generation Jehovah’s Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God’s warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture — and a whole new way of thinking — turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true. As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities’ notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an “escape hatch,” Scorah’s loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah’s Witness. Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery — with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it’s like to start one’s life over again with an entirely new identity. Scorah and Shermer also discuss: <ul> <li>the legals and logistics of writing a memoir</li> <li>the rise of the nones and disbelief and why stories like hers provide social proof for living without religion</li> <li>what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe and why they believe it</li> <li>what it’s like to go door-to-door witnessing for a religion</li> <li>Armageddon and what doomsayers do when the world doesn’t end</li> <li>the mindset of the fundamentalist</li> <li>why religions are obsessed with female sexuality</li> <li>why religions forbid homosexuality</li> <li>the psychology of deconversion</li> <li>the problem of evil, or why bad things happen to good people</li> <li>how she would try to talk someone out of joining ISIS</li> <li>what it’s like to be expelled from a religion and be an apostate, and</li> <li>how to start your life over when you’ve lost everything.</li> </ul> Amber Scorah is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Her articles have been published in The New York Times, The Believer, and USA Today. Prior to coming to New York, Scorah lived in Shanghai, where she was creator and host of the podcast Dear Amber: An Insider’s Guide to Everything China. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0735222541/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leaving the Witness</a> is her first book. Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, and <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>.

97. Amber Scorah — Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world’s largest online followings with his fascinating, widely accessible insights into science and our universe. Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by revealing his correspondence with people across the globe who have sought him out in search of answers. In this hand-picked collection of 101 letters, Tyson draws upon cosmic perspectives to address a vast array of questions about science, faith, philosophy, life, and of course, Pluto. His succinct, opinionated, passionate, and often funny responses reflect his popularity and standing as a leading educator. Tyson’s 2017 bestseller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry offered more than one million readers an insightful and accessible understanding of the universe. Tyson’s most candid and heartfelt writing yet, Letters from an Astrophysicist introduces us to a newly personal dimension of Tyson’s quest to explore our place in the cosmos. Shermer and Tyson discuss:  killing Pluto killing God science and religion why he takes a relatively conciliatory approach to religion why he takes a hard-line against science deniers in religion (and elsewhere) progress in science how vs. why questions race and racial progress why the arc of the moral universe still bends toward justice race and IQ and the curious letter he received about how to address this sensitive subject his middle name and why one correspondent objected to it Neil’s father and why he ends the book with a eulogy.  Listen to Science Salon via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio,  TuneIn, and Soundcloud. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please show your support by making a donation, or by becoming a patron.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world’s largest online followings with his fascinating, widely accessible insights into science and our universe. Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by revealing his correspondence with people across the globe who have sought him out in search of answers. In this hand-picked collection of 101 letters, Tyson draws upon cosmic perspectives to address a vast array of questions about science, faith, philosophy, life, and of course, Pluto. His succinct, opinionated, passionate, and often funny responses reflect his popularity and standing as a leading educator. Tyson’s 2017 bestseller <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393609391/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Astrophysics for People in a Hurry</a> offered more than one million readers an insightful and accessible understanding of the universe. Tyson’s most candid and heartfelt writing yet, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1324003316/?tag=skepticcom20-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Letters from an Astrophysicist</a> introduces us to a newly personal dimension of Tyson’s quest to explore our place in the cosmos. Shermer and Tyson discuss: <ul> <li>killing Pluto</li> <li>killing God</li> <li>science and religion</li> <li>why he takes a relatively conciliatory approach to religion</li> <li>why he takes a hard-line against science deniers in religion (and elsewhere)</li> <li>progress in science</li> <li>how vs. why questions</li> <li>race and racial progress</li> <li>why the arc of the moral universe still bends toward justice</li> <li>race and IQ and the curious letter he received about how to address this sensitive subject</li> <li>his middle name and why one correspondent objected to it</li> <li>Neil’s father and why he ends the book with a eulogy.</li> </ul> Listen to Science Salon via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/science-salon/id1352860989" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/4eDCVvVXJVwKCa0QfNbuXA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijruniqd24odd4t3asb6zvbde6a" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play Music</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=175601&amp;refid=stpr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-science-salon-29037884/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">iHeartRadio</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Science-Salon-p1106380/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TuneIn</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/science-salon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>. You play a vital part in our commitment to promote science and reason. If you enjoy the Science Salon Podcast, please <a href="https://www.skeptic.com/donate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">show your support</a> by making a donation, or by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/skeptic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">becoming a patron</a>.

86. Neil deGrasse Tyson — Letters from an Astrophysicist

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