Serious Inquiries Only

September 22, 2020September 23, 2020

SIO254: We Have To Win

The death of the great RBG is absolutely devastating, and has made the stakes so much higher. In this episode, I talk about what we HAVE to do to keep our democracy. Things aren’t good.

Toward the end, I get into the arguments over whether RBG should have retired, mainly because in EVERY interaction I’ve seen online about this, people get a bunch of the factual information wrong. However, the arguments are almost completely moot, so if you feel you don’t need a history lesson, feel free to skip this part.

Links: Ideological measures of the court, Avg justice retirement age, excellent Rebecca Traister article, RBG on why she can’t retire, 2014 article asking her to retire.

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September 16, 2020September 17, 2020

SIO253: Unpacking ‘The Social Dilemma’

The new doc ‘The Social Dilemma’ on Netflix is making quite an impression on people. It tells a riveting story of the harms of social media, and has led to many people deleting their accounts or limiting their usage. But are all the claims backed up by science? Yes and no… If you’ve got an urge to delete all your accounts, you might want to hear what social psychologist Lindsey Osterman has to say about it! (and then maybe still delete your accounts if you want..)

Links: Verge article I really liked, social network sites and well-being study, A systematic review: the influence of social media on depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adolescents, Time Spent on Social Network Sites and Psychological Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis.

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August 26, 2020August 27, 2020

SIO252: Lindsey Osterman on Parasocial Relationships

It’s been a while, but today we’ve got a science episode! Making her return to the show is Lindsey Osterman, a psychologist who has been studying parasocial relationships. It’s already incredibly likely that you take part in some number of parasocial relationships, but now in the time of COVID they’re more prevalent and important than ever.

Here are the studies Lindsey references!

Gabriel et al (2018) – From apprentice to president Download

Osterman & Hecmanczuk (2019) – Parasocial Forgiveness Download

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August 19, 2020August 20, 2020

SIO251: Dimensions of Political Identity

I’ve got thoughts and lots of them. How do we as progressives criticize Democrats without damaging our future? Is someone who thinks the DNC is corrupt more left than I am, or more.. something else? No prison stocks didn’t go up because of Kamala Harris. Julian Assange is an absolute crap. And lots more.

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August 12, 2020August 13, 2020

SIO250: James Lindsay’s “New Discourses” Funded By Far Right Christian Nationalist

Today I’m joined by philosopher Aaron Rabinowitz of Embrace the Void and Philosophers in Space to discuss the some revelations about James Lindsay’s organization “New Discourses.” If you’re a long time listener, you’ll remember James Lindsay from this show back when he didn’t totally suck. Well he now very much sucks, and to no one’s surprise, he’s being propped up by right wing Christian Nationalist Michael O’Fallon. PZ Myers has a good writeup of it on his blog. Aaron and I talk about that, our history with James, and what to make of all this.

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August 5, 2020August 6, 2020

SIO249: Can Trump Refuse to Leave? with Andrew Torrez

Here’s part 2 of my discussion with Andrew Torrez of Opening Arguments! This time we focus on (hopefully) wild and unlikely scenarios if Trump refuses to leave office. Find out if any of them scare the expert and always optimistic P. Andrew Torrez, Esquire!

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July 29, 2020July 30, 2020

SIO248: Can Trump Steal the Election? with Andrew Torrez

Hey folks, this is one of those unintentional 2-parters! I originally intended to have Andrew on to discuss the scary (and hopefully unlikely?) ways that Trump might try to stay in power even if he lost, but before we even got to that discussion, we go through the ways that Trump and the Republicans are cheating to try to win. Is vote by mail safe? What’s the deal with poll-watchers? Those questions and more became part 1, and next episode we talk about the scary theories of how Trump could potentially try to remain president.

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July 17, 2020July 19, 2020

SIO247: Reflections on White Fragility and How To Be An Antiracist

It’s a solo show today. I have a lot of thoughts on two books I’ve read – White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.
The monopoly example I used I should have credited to Kimberly Jones.

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July 8, 2020July 9, 2020

SIO246: That Harper’s Letter, with Eli Bosnick

A lot of prominent writers, journalists, thinkers, etc, have signed an open letter about “Cancel Culture.” New dad and world’s funniest podcaster Eli Bosnick is back on the show to break it down!

Here are links we discuss: brilliant New Republic Article; James Bennet Resigns as New York Times Opinion Editor; Harper’s Editor Fired Over ‘Sh*tty Men in Media’ Story; Longtime Deadspin editor fired after controversial internal memo; Jeanine Cummins Syndrome; Pittsburgh Newspaper Bars Black Reporter From Covering Protests; UCLA Poli Sci Department Condemns Lecturer for Reading MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, Showing Video About Lynching; White professor investigated for quoting James Baldwin’s use of N-word.

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June 18, 2020June 18, 2020

SIO245: Brandon J. McKoy on #defundthepolice

We’re joined this week by Brandon J. McKoy! He’s the president of the New Jersey Policy Perspective, a think-tank whose focus is policy change to advance economic justice and prosperity. We discuss what #defundthepolice means to different advocacy groups, what it might look like in practice, and what other potential policy might lead to better policing in this country.

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