Category: Podcast

Zerin Firoze set me up with this interview with Ryan Witmer, an immigration attorney who has worked on asylum claims, and all kinds of other immigration cases. He joins us to give an insider’s perspective on US immigration policy, the law, asylum system, and where we’re really shooting ourselves in the foot.

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Today’s episode starts off with a bit of monologuing. I heard what I think are some bad arguments around the recent election results, so I wanted to put some thoughts out there. After that, I have a brief interview with Steve Hill! Steve will be the emcee of California Freethought Day this year. He is a comedian, atheist, satanist, activist, and more! We talk about his background, his run for the CA state senate, why he’s boycotting the NFL, and about a tragedy that struck his family this year.

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Dr. Elizabeth Picciuto wrote an article on Trump’s ethics and how his ethical code centers around basically one value: loyalty to him. We discuss the article, different ethical systems, and the limits and drawbacks of loyalty as a virtue. After that, we talk about a tweet of hers which went massively viral. In it, she lamented that the state of our politics has a lot to do with the decline in the Humanities.

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I’ve been researching recent US political and election history, and I had some realizations that made me incredibly depressed about the future. I’m making predictions about 2018, 2020, and 2022 that you can hold me to. I really hope I’ll be wrong.

After that I’ve got some fantastic listener email and voicemail! Topics include being sad about #metoo, being hopeful about #metoo, how to reconcile good science with bad peer reviewed papers, and more!

Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point!

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Last week’s episode featured what I thought was a rational and philosophically consistent approach that educated, but non-expert, skeptics took toward a peer-reviewed article in a top journal making claims of evidence for ESP related phenomena. In today’s episode though, we get a chance to hear from an expert in the field of Experimental Psychology who took an in-depth look at some of the studies mentioned in the original review paper. Here’s the link again if you’d like to go back and read it. Dr. Lindsey Osterman also teaches classes on appropriate research methods, so she is absolutely perfect to help teach us where this review paper went wrong!

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A new meta-study was recently published in the American Psychologist, the major journal of the American Psychological Association, which shows statistically significant results regarding ESP-like stuff. While this seems completely fantastical and against everything materialists like me tend to believe in, it has passed peer review in a major journal. So what are skeptics like us to make of this? To help us sort out these questions, I’ve got philosopher Aaron Rabi from ETV and Philosophers in Space, and Aaron’s dad Jessie Rabinowitz, who happens to have expertise in the field of psychology. We also discuss the SGU reaction to the paper, which was incredibly dismissive. Here’s an article on Ganzfeld studies that Aaron mentions.

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On the show this week is another incredible person with a compelling story to tell. Zerin Firoze is an ex-Muslim atheist, currently residing in the US, but on a student Visa which may not last for much longer. She has applied for asylum but given the horrendous nature of our asylum process, she hasn’t yet gotten a meeting or anything. Being an atheist in her home country has literally meant abuse and death for others. Listen as Zerin tells her story and puts a real voice behind all kinds of reasons why Trump and Republican policy hurts people.

I normally leave this spot to promote my support methods, but this week let’s give Zerin some love at https://www.patreon.com/ZerinFiroze

Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! The last week in each month will feature listen voicemail from that month!

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I’m so pleased to bring you an interview with Callie Wright, co-host (along with Ari Stillman!) of the Gaytheist Manifesto! Callie speaks about social justice issues with clarity and humanity and is incredible at bringing understanding and learning to those who might not otherwise find it. In that spirit, she’s here to take on the recent controversy over Scarlett Johansson playing a transgender role in an upcoming movie. (If you’d like to get a quick introduction to how badly people can misunderstand the issue, check out this aborted column from Business Insider.) After that, we talk about the Netflix Comedy Special from Hannah Gadsby called “Nanette.” I absolutely recommend you watch the special before the second half of the show, because – oddly enough – there are spoilers.

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First up in this episode are some factual corrections I need to make regarding episode 145, as well as an apology to Aimee for neglecting to honor a request she made. After that, it’s a rousing edition of SIO voicemail! We talk socialism, putting the liberal agenda into pithy catchphrases, mandatory voting, and a whole lot about metoo! Lots of discussion on BDSM and the fact that the Canadian Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that you can’t consent to sexual activity while unconscious, even if you want to ahead of time..

Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point!

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It’s part 2 with Aimee Terese! Aimee offers what she views as legitimate leftist critique of the #metoo moment. She also shares her own story. We have what I hope is a healthy, but rigorous debate about areas where the movement has gone too far, and affirmative consent vs. the previous paradigm. I’m very curious to get feedback on this one! Next episode will be voicemail, so that makes it an extra good time to chime in with a phone call!

Hillary Facebook Explanation; Vice Article on BDSM and Consent

Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point!

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