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Joining me today are that atheist and that Christian, and their names are Justin Schieber and Randal Rauser. Justin and Randal have written a book containing a very fruitful and respectful dialogue between an atheist and a Christian. Today they talk about the origins of the project and then were kind enough to go over one of the many arguments contained in the book! The argument is on the hostility of the universe and whether it makes sense under theism. There’s a very spirited back and forth that I encourage you to listen to!

You can find the book here.

If you’d like to leave a voicemail to potentially be played on the show, call (916) 750-4746!

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Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? Contact us: haeley@seriouspod.com

Welcome to the first edition of Thursday Inquiries!! My unofficial or maybe official name for the new format. Mondays will be interviews and Thursdays will be commentary and news and so forth. A lot is happening in the news and a lot of people are still very sloppy thinkers.  In an episode of The Waking Up Podcast, Sam Harris said that Trump was the end of the Democratic Party. Could this really be true in an election where Democrats won by 3 million votes? Also Trump had his first press conference as president elect and it was predictably terrifying. And yes, Trump mocked a disabled person.

All this and more, plus leave me a voicemail at my new Serious Pod number!! It’s (916) 750-4746.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod

Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? Contact us: haeley@seriouspod.com

Today I’m talking with Dr. Joel Breakstone, director of the Stanford History Education Group. He was co-director of a recent study that looked at thousands of students, from middle school through college, and tested their ability to discern fake news from real news. The results are worrying, and may give us some insight into why this is such a problem in America today.

Then I take a few minutes to talk to Bruce Gleason, Director of LogiCal LA about their upcoming conference. 

Find the Executive Summary of the Stanford University research study here

And an article discussing the study here

Learn more about LogiCal LA and get tickets to the upcoming event here

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod

Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? Contact us: haeley@seriouspod.com

In this episode I am joined by Scott and David. We discuss some of the science behind the rise in internet trolling. They share their ideas about the ways psychology, sociology, and our ever increasing dependence on technology for socialization; have led to more trolling. We also discuss some other behaviors and traits that correlate with online trolling, some of the possible origins of these behaviors, and speculate as to what can be done about it.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod

Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? Contact us: haeley@seriouspod.com

In this episode we continue to look into Trump’s cabinet picks. This time we take a look at his nominations for Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Education, and Secretary of Energy and continue to have some concerns…

10 things to know about Sen. Jeff Sessions- Washington Post

Will Rick Perry Promote Science at the Department of Energy? -The Atlantic

Betsy Devos and the Plan to Break Public Schools- The New Yorker

In this episode, we start taking a look Trump’s picks for his cabinet members; beginning with his choices for Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury. Just to be sure we have some perspective, we go over the job descriptions and look at some of the individuals that held these positions during the Obama and G.W. Bush administrations. You might say we have some concerns…

Will ‘drain the swamp’ be Trump’s first broken promise?- Politco

Rex Tillerson, an Aggressive Dealmaker Whose Ties With Russia May Prompt Scrutiny- NY Times

Trump’s Treasury Secretary Pick is a Lucky Man. Very Lucky. -ProPublica

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

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The podcast name change is officially underway!! It’s going to take a little while for everything to filter through, but as you should already be noticing, things are different. Joining me for episode 1 of Serious Inquiries Only is multi-time guest and everyone’s favorite ex-Scientologist Chris Shelton! Check out his website here.  Chris was recently the target of a Scientology hate-page, which is something of a badge of honor, but is also a very odd thing to go through. We find out just what Chris has been up to in the past year since we last spoke to him which prompted such a response from the church!

A few weeks ago, Eli and I had a conversation with two people who may or may not be characterized as trolls. This can be found on AS298. In the beginning of that recording, Eli made a bit of a speech on empathy which contained a lot of insight but also wasn’t quite perfect. We both got some pushback from it, and Eli wanted to get together to try to clarify and pin down what he was shooting for. The result was a highly interesting conversation in which Eli opened up about his history in a way that he hadn’t done before and that I very much appreciate.

Joining me for today is Noelle George, Executive Director of Foundation Beyond Belief! Since the holidays have rolled around again and you’ve likely started to hear the annoying, holier than thou jangle of constant Salvation Army bells outside of every grocery store and mall, I thought it might be a good idea to talk with someone doing charity without strings attached! Noelle and I talk about her background and atheism for a bit, and then we go on to discuss the exciting and important work the foundation does!

I highly recommend donation to Foundation Beyond Belief, but whoever you donate to, listen in to today’s episode to hear how to better vet them and make sure your money is doing actual good!

Here’s the 3rd and final part of my episode 300 spectacular! Joining me first is Andrew Torrez from the little known fledgling podcast Opening Arguments! First we do a little reminiscing, then a segment where I try to play the lawyer and he plays the questioner! Finally, we discuss the hate speech law that Jake brought up in his segment.

After that, it’s my great podcasting friends Tom and Cecil of Cognitive Dissonance!! As I always say, these guys really gave me my start and I owe them a ton, so I’m very thrilled to have them here for the final part of AS300!! We have a discussion on Twitter and free speech, where Tom shares some thoughts that have been percolating for him lately, and Cecil shares a great story about someone who blew up at them online but later met them in person…

Thank you SOOOO much for 300 episodes, and for all the support over at http://www.patreon.com/atheist!!! You guys are the best!