Guys…. I might have changed someone’s mind… maybe… you’ll have to listen and find out. I set about to have a discussion with someone who disagrees with me on trans-discrimination laws and it went… well! This probably won’t be released for a few weeks but I’m so excited about it I wanted you guys to have it early! Sorry it’s not edited, but it’s not too bad I don’t think.
SIO38: Obama’s Unfortunate Payday
When I saw the news of Obama’s $400k paycheck for a speech to a Wall St bank, I posted this reaction on Facebook. The slew of comments that resulted was quite surprising to me. In my view, a lot of liberals are doing some logical backflips to justify Obama’s payday, or to obfuscate and divert attention away from it. I think these gymnastics are unbecoming of skeptical people. I hope to add a little nuance to this black and white thinking!
White Liberals BS clickbait, Obama Record Setting Book Deal, Obamas Could Earn $200 Million, Obama $2 Million Donation
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SIO37: Josh Zepps of #WeThePeople LIVE
Joining me today is Josh Zepps! I first came across Josh’s work when Sam Harris and Hannibal Buress had a bizarre interaction on his podcast #WeThePeople LIVE (here’s a SoundCloud link). I was impressed with how Josh handled it and have followed him ever since. He has interviewed people like Gad Saad and ACTUALLY challenged them on their narratives. Josh is an impressive thinker and interviewer, and we talk about his broadcasting history (which might not be what you expect!) and about where our focuses are and should be in today’s political climate. It’s a fascinating conversation on many fronts and I look forward to many more with Josh!
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SIO36: The New Version of Trumpcare Should Scare You
Trump is closing in on 100 days as president, something that he simultaneously has said means nothing but is also important enough to have him scrambling for any sort of policy victory. I’m going to give you the details of two very important pieces of legislation to keep an eye on – that is the new version of the AHCA, and Trump’s Tax Reform bill. They’re both…. not good. So tune in and find out the details!
Definitely check out this site on whose cage to rattle over this terrible healthcare bill!!!
Changes to the AHCA, Trump’s Tax Reform Bill, ABC News Poll on Obamacare Provisions, Trump’s Border Wall, Inciting Incident 100th Episode Live Show!!!
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SIO35: The Perils of Being Ex-Muslim, with Eiynah
Joining me today is Eiynah! You may know her from her podcast Polite Conversations or from a very active and insightful Twitter account, @NiceMangos. First up we talk a bit about the jarring experience I had of seeing fully burka’d women in Europe and what, if anything, can anyone do about it. Then we talk about the hatred that Eiynah has been the subject of from multiple fronts. Some of the discussion gets a little particular to Twitter. I did my best to make sure Eiynah spelled it out for the uninitiated, but I highly recommend checking out her blog where she is able to spell this out in more detail. Find it here!
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SIO33: Thinking Clearly on Syria
I support Trump’s Syria strike against the Shayrat airfield. That is the punchline of today’s episode but I encourage you to listen with an open mind as I go through the reaction to the Syria strike, what different pundits and columnists and congresspersons have said, and why I think ultimately it was a good idea. There’s a lot of muddy and motivated thinking going on in our public discourse; I’m doing my best to go where the facts lead. And as always, I’m very open to counter argument! Here are some selected sources:
How Many Bombs Obama Dropped on Syria; Breakdown of Senate Support for the Strike; Congress Syria Statements 2013 vs 2017; Blatant Republican Hypocrisy on Syria; Opinion Piece Alleging Liberals ‘Cooing’ Over Trump; Shadi Hamid Avoiding Fallacies on Syria; Possible Anti-Trump Backlash in Special Elections
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SIO31: Why We Ignore Facts, with Sara Gorman
Joining me today is Sara Gorman! Sara is a public health expert and author based in New York. She is the co-founder of Critica, a community committed to making rational decisions about health and security. Critica’s mission is to develop and test new methods of advancing public acceptance of scientific evidence and promoting informed health decision-making.
Sara’s first book, Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us, was published in September 2016. It looks into the psychology of healthcare decision making and how people draw conclusions about perception of risk. It includes tips for the general public about how to discriminate between valid and invalid science and for public health professionals and doctors on how to communicate with people who don’t believe the best current scientific research. The book and her work have also been cited in articles about how to change people’s minds about many other things, including politics.
We discuss her book, and the possible lessons we can learn about how to convince people of things they don’t necessarily want to believe!
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SIO30: America Last, with Zachary Kiser
Joining me today is Zach Kiser, a graduate researcher and Director of Policy and Communications for the National Science Policy Group (NSPG)! Zach is here to give us some perspective on just how awful Trump’s budget proposal is and how backbreaking it might potentially be to science research in the US. Though Trump touts an America First slogan, this kind of thing is really an embarrassment and puts America behind even by Republican standards.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
If you’re interested in more information or in how to help, contact Zach directly via email here!
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SIO28: The Discussion With Dave Rubin That Never Was (and more bad news….)
Yeah, that excitement didn’t last too long. I was scheduled to speak to Dave Rubin at Mythinformation in Milwaukee in September, but despite everything having been agreed to and announced, Dave dropped out due to a previously overlooked scheduling conflict. In light of that, I share some thoughts on what happened, what I tried to do in response, and what the result was. I also looked back through Dave’s guest history at his alleged “liberals” he has interviewed to see whether I haven’t given him enough credit for hearing opposing views. The answer may, or may not, shock you.
After that it’s more bad news… I researched the senate races in 2018 and the results are… problematic. Find out just how problematic, and whether there is any hope to hold onto in terms of finally getting some accountability in the Trump presidency.
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SIO27: What Grounds Our Morals? With Aaron Rabi
Joining me for the second time is philosopher and now podcaster, Aaron Rabi! Aaron specializes in ethics, and I have questions. I’m fairly certain that our morality ultimately boils down to consequences, for reasons I explain, but not all philosophers see it that way. Aaron and I have a very interesting discussion on what exactly grounds our morals, given that there are problems to be found in every moral system. Does consequentialism ultimately win out, as I have previously opined? Find out!
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