Serious Inquiries Only
Join Thomas for some critical thinking on questions of science, philosophy, skepticism and politics. These serious topics are discussed with some serious guests, but in an entertaining and engaging way! This is not your typical interview podcast; it's a friendly dialogue, conducted thoughtfully and with plenty of humor. It's Serious Inquiries Only; but like, not boring or anything.
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SIO382: Being Reasonable with Michael Marshall
You've heard me reference Be Reasonable about a billion times lately. Well, that's because it's truly a fantastic show! On it, Marsh talks to people with extremely weird and terrible beliefs, but in a respectful and kind manner. And now that I've finished binging every episode, I wanted to have Marsh on for a discussion! We talk about platforming and de-platforming, arguing vs discussing, which beliefs are beyond the pale, and the ONE time that Marsh genuinely got angry on the show. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO381: The Bible Is Not Monotheistic
Like, at all. Now that might sound like me, an atheist, trying to bash the bible and point out the obviously flawed nature of it, but no, this is like, a respectable scholarly take on it. Today I'm joined by the two Dans of Data over Dogma! It's a cool new bible podcast that features an actual scholar. And not an atheist one, either! We talk about the good book and some things about it you really might not have ever heard! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO380: Does Which College You Go To Really Matter? (Part 2)
This is part 2! Make sure you listened to part 1! Dr. Elizabeth has a PhD in Organizational Psychology. She did a massive dive into the research on college selection and whether or not it makes a difference in outcomes. In part 2, we get to more recent studies and studies that looked at slightly different questions around this. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO379: Does Which College You Go To Really Matter?
This episode, like a few before it, was inspired by a Dear Old Dads! A while back, Tom dropped the bombshell over there that which college you go to really doesn't matter much. Dr. Elizabeth Deitch happens to be a listener of both shows and has a PhD in Organizational Psychology, and was very curious to see if this was an accurate representation of the available data. So, she underwent a massive deep dive! So, listen in and find out what the science says! This was such a massive research undertaking that Beth actually has two episodes worth of goodness for us. Listen to part 2 on Patreon now! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO378: A Not Conspiracy Theory About Conspiracy Theories
Psychology professor Dr. Ashley Scolaro is back! This time she's giving us a primer on the psychological theories about conspiracy theories. I think this will be the beginning of a series on this, since it might be the most important issue of our time. A whole lot of people right now believe a whole lot of really stupid things that are disconnected from reality. So, let's try to understand why, and to start the process of figuring out how to deprogram people. Should be super easy, simple, done in like 10 minutes. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO377: Did Scientists Really Invent A Room Temperature Superconductor?
Also what the hell is that? What would that mean for society? Is it even physically possible? Or is this all some sort of hoax? We've got Quantum Anne back for a third time to explain all this stuff to us and more! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO376: What Portal Teaches Us About the Physics of Our Universe
Astrophysicist Dr. Bryan Gillis is back! It's another really fun one as Bryan teaches us some phascinating physics by way of the Portal video game universe. Why do we have conservation of momentum? Energy? But wait do we REALLY have conservation of energy? What if that was just made up by physicists to sell more physics? Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO375: Why Are Whales Attacking Rich People Boats?
My guest today is Dr. Heidi Pearson! She's a marine biologist and someone who had no idea I was going to ask about when whales attack rich people boats. But she was more than ready for the question! Her paper on whales and the carbon cycle caught our eye here, and the interview was definitely more about that but let's face it, we all want to know about the boat attacks first and foremost. But after that, we talk about animal intelligence, evolution, climate change, and so much more! Dr. Pearson was a delight, don't miss this interview! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SAM1: Armageddon (First Half for Everyone)
Hey folks, if you're not a 2nd Tier Patron or above, you should fix that, but if you can't for some reason, I wanted to make sure you can still enjoy the fun of Seriously Awful Movies 1: Armageddon! It's so, so bad. And don't worry, this isn't some stingy 4 minute preview, you're getting an entire hour! It's so much fun and stands on its own with a bunch of fun jokes and science, even if you can't afford to jump on the 2nd Tier Patron list for the rest of it. I truly hope you enjoy! Thank you for listening! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, and 2nd Tier and above gets Seriously Awful Movies!
SIO374: Maybe Swearing Around Your Kids Is Fine?
Today's guest is Dr. Ashley Scolaro! She is a cognitive neuroscientist who teaches psychology and whose research includes taboo language, conspiracy theory belief, and memory and decision making. And she is here to tell why maybe it's totally fine to swear around your damn hell ass kids! F yeah! But also we delve into a lot of brain stuff too that's super fascinating regardless of the parenting angle. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO373: Headline Claims Neutron Star 'Defies Laws of Physics.' What Does Astrophysicist Bryan Think?
I recently came across a headline that read: "NASA Confirms That Cosmic Object Is so Bright That It Defies Laws of Physics. It's definitely not an optical illusion." So... what does Dr. Bryan Gillis think? We have a really fun time on this one crafting the headline into something a bit more... accurate. And Bryan teaches us some really cool space stuff along the way! The article: https://futurism.com/nasa-confirms-object-so-bright-defies-physics The original paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ac8d67#apjac8d67s2 Check out Bryan's YouTube Channel! Bridge Portal Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8927tjnHt4 Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO372: Quantum Entanglement In The Real World
It's another quantum SIO! Hopefully you caught Ann's last appearance when we discussed quantum computing. This time we're going more basic! Quantum entanglement, non-locality, Schrödinger's Cat... all that good stuff. But, with a bit of a twist. Ann tells us about how she actually accomplishes this stuff in the real world, and it's so much... messier than you would think. It's fascinating! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO371: When Christian Nationalists Crash Your School Board Meetings
It's part 2 with Adrienne Martin! Her story just does not quit! We haven't even gotten to her viral video moment, and on the way there she tells us about a Christian Karen who is a main force behind the attempted book bans, and her gay son she disowned who fought back. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO370: Adrienne Martin - Suburban Mom Hairstylist Turned Superstar Activist
"The speakers speaking about what great Christians they are? Great. Go tell your pastor. Our schools are not your church." If you happen to recognize those words, that means you've seen the viral video in which Adrienne Martin fought back against moral panicking conservatives at a Texas school board meeting. But how did she get here? There's so much to it, and it makes for a really fascinating and inspiring story. Listen to how this, in her words, "typical suburban mom" went from hairdresser to superstar activist! And also still a hairdresser. It's not like grassroots activism is super lucrative or something... Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
SIO369: Stress Increases Alzheimer's Risk in Women... But Not Men?
Today's guest is Hannah Edwards, a neuroscience grad student at Washington University in St. Louis, and part of the Cirrito Lab, which has released a new study on Alzheimer's and stress in mice. Stress causes the levels of Alzheimer's proteins to rise in females' brains but not males' brains. This difference may shed some light on the greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease that women have. Hannah will take us through the study and also teach us a bit of the basics on Alzheimer's along the way! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!