Serious Inquiries Only

Joining us today is Travis Rieder! Travis is a philosopher at Johns Hopkins who deals with Population Ethics and related questions. Find his academic page here. Given the uncertainty of outcomes of our potential children, and given the many problems humanity faces due to overpopulation, is it morally acceptable to have children? Travis and I discuss that question and many related ones in a fascinating philosophy edition of SIO!

Here are Travis’s main works on these questions, for further reading:
1. Adoption and Procreation
2. Population Engineering
3. Small Family Ethic (book)
Highest-impact Media Pieces:
4. NPR Profile
5. Response to Critics

Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746!

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

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

For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com

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

Direct Download

In today’s episode I want to discuss one of the most significant battles that will be fought in the new administration: that is the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. While looking into a lot of the claims made by Sean Spicer and other Trump apologists, I was struck by how fascinating the story of Obamacare really is. So, the first 15 minutes or so of today’s episode is on the history of Obamacare, and what implications it has for the future of Trumpcare.

Good Obamacare Timeline, Another Good Timeline, CNN’s Piss-Poor Timeline

NYT Article on Trumpcare, Demographics That Will Suffer Most

Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746!

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

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

For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com

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

Direct Download

Joining me today is Michael Marshall, host of the podcast Be Reasonable.  On his show, Marsh speaks with people who have incredibly fringe views.  Whether it’s a ghost hunter or flat Earther, Be Reasonable allows a place for these folks to speak at length on their views. Marsh messaged me after my interview with Trump supporter Dr. Price because of the similarity in that recording to what Marsh is doing on his show. In this interview, Marsh and I have a dialogue about what tactics he uses when speaking to people of vastly different views, and I pick his brain on a number of issues involved. There’s a lot to learn here about how I want to conduct interviews in the future when I’m dealing with someone of vastly different views.

Check out Marsh’s charity goodthinkingsociety.org

Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746!

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

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

For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com

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

Direct Download

In today’s episode, after a few thoughts on the Trump address to Congress and his BS spending plan, the topic is “How to change people’s minds.” Haeley and I set about to do some research on a: how possible it is to change minds, and b: if so, what are the best methods? I take a look at and describe a number of studies that shed light on this issue, and the goal is to apply it to both the Dr. Price debate and any future debates! Have a listen and see what conclusions we reached!
After that I’ve got an extra long voicemail and response segment, since I didn’t do one last week. I had a ton of voicemail and I picked out some good ones to react to.

Here are the links to the articles/studies we referenced:

Paradoxical Thinking study

ChangeMyView study

Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds

Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746!

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

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

For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com

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

Direct Download

Joining us today is Ron Miscavige – the father of Scientology cult leader David Miscavige. Ron has a long history with the church and he takes us through the background of how his son went from an asthmatic 9 year old to the supreme leader of Scientology, and further, how Ron managed his and his wife’s eventual escape from the organization.

To get deeper into Ron’s story, check out his book here.

Here are links to the documents Ron mentioned:

Document 1 from Ron

Fair Game Policy Document

Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746!

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod

Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod

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

For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com

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

Direct Download