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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SIO287: AHA Revokes Dawkins Award, Atheists Lose Minds
Sorry, we interrupt the scheduled programming to bring you a yelly rant episode about how terrible all the arguments around the Richard Dawkins humanist award revocation are. It's a bunch of the "smartest people on the internet" saying really stupid things and I've had enough.
SIO286: Studies of Racial Bias in Criminal Justice
Official co-host Dr. Lindsey Osterman is here to give us a breakdown of some studies measuring racial bias in Criminal Justice. Part 1 talks about split decision shooting studies, part 2 will focus on sentencing discrepancies. Links: Meta-analysis on racial bias in first-person shooter tasks, Across the Thin Blue Line: Police Officers and Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot, When Fatigue Turns Deadly: The Effects of Cognitive Depletion and Sleep Deprivation on the Decision To Shoot, When Practice Fails to Reduce Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot: The Case of Cognitive Load
SIO285: Debunking "The End of Gender" Part 2
Here is Part 2 of our debunking of a book by Dr. Debra Soh called "The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society." Soh is someone with a relevant credential, which perhaps makes her anti-trans schtick even more dangerous. Within the text are kernels of truth about the science of sex and gender, but she abuses that science beyond recognition to defend cultural conservative norms. Lindsey has the breakdown for us! Links: (for both parts) Proposal about the definition of "sex," Nature editorial responding to the definition, Teen vogue video on gender diversity, Myth of persistence, Response to Soh re: rapid onset gender dysphoria, Original study on ROGD, Transgender suicide, Review on current best practices in care of transgender youth
SIO284: Debunking "The End of Gender" Part 1
Somehow, esteemed co-host Dr. Lindsey Osterman got through all of the terribly transphobic book by Dr. Debra Soh called "The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society." Soh is someone with a relevant credential, which perhaps makes her anti-trans schtick even more dangerous. Within the text are kernels of truth about the science of sex and gender, but she abuses that science beyond recognition to defend cultural conservative norms. Lindsey has the breakdown for us, and it's too much for one episode so look for part 2 tomorrow! Links: (for both parts) Proposal about the definition of "sex," Nature editorial responding to the definition, Teen vogue video on gender diversity, Myth of persistence, Response to Soh re: rapid onset gender dysphoria, Original study on ROGD, Transgender suicide, Review on current best practices in care of transgender youth
SIO283: Quantum Physics 101, with the What the FUP Podcast!
What is the "What the FUP?" Podcast, you ask? It's none other than Dr. Lindsey Osterman's new show with physicist Dr. Brian Gentry! We all watched "What the BLEEP Do We Know?" with a mind to critique it, but the episode turned into a fascinating Quantum Physics 101 lecture because there was so much to go over before we could even dive into how wrong the documentary is on every level!
SIO282: Debunking the Latest 'Campus Craziness' Stories
If you're thinking "are they still doing this whole thing?" about 'campus craziness' then you're not alone. But fortunately Dr. Lindsey Osterman is here to do some debunking for us! Did a professor get fired for racist tweets? Did a research paper get retracted due to progressive outrage? Find out! Links: Jussim's blogpost, Articles on the Negy firing: Orlando Sentinel, NYT, pro-Negy article about it: Inside Sources Sources for the AlShebli retraction: Original article, Retraction note from the editors, Response, More Response: https://osf.io/ybfk6
SIO281: Frank and Dan Want You To Run for Something!
Somehow we've all been podcasting for 10 years in atheism and never done anything together (except a midnight tryst back on NYE) but Frank and Dan of Thank God I'm Atheist are finally on the show! We talk about their background and also their drive to get more atheists into office! That could mean you! Click on the link and check it out, but also listen to this really fun interview!
SIO280: A Scientific Case for Repressed Memory?
After last week's episode with Carrie Poppy, I got a number of responses saying we might have been a little too dismissive of the evolutionary case for repressed memory. As it turns out, Dr. Jennifer Freyd, has developed a theory that could account for something like it. Yes, that Jennifer Freyd, the accuser whose story was told in The Cut's article that started this whole thing! The entire situation is as fascinating as it is tragic for virtually everyone involved, but Dr. Lindsey Osterman is here to give us a more complete understanding of the science!
SIO279: How 'The Cut' Dangerously Mishandled Recovered Memory, with Carrie Poppy
A recent article in The Cut discusses allegations of sexual abuse which were made based on "recovered memories." Regardless of the truth or falsity of the accusations, the science of memory may have been very badly represented in this article, to harmful effect. Carrie of Oh No Ross and Carrie breaks it down for us! Complete with a Satanic Panic tie-in. (Link to the letters.)
SIO278: The Filibuster is F***ing Stupid
It is unfathomable to me that Senator Kyrsten Sinema wants to preserve this idiotic accident of history. It is not anything the founders intended. It's not in the constitution. It's pure crap that stands in the way of not just progress but basic governance. I do a mini break down of how we got here, and I have a few ideas of how we could get around the filibuster and not make liars out of Manchin and Sinema.
SIO277: The GameStop Fiasco, with Phil Ferguson
The only thing that could possibly wrestle the internet back from Bernie Sanders's warm mittened hands is the GameStop madness. Joining me to break it down and try to explain and comment on approximately 1 billionth of everything to it is Phil Ferguson of the Phil Ferguson Show! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, short and to the point! Support the show at patreon.com/seriouspod! Come watch us on Twitch! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SIOmembers For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com
SIO276: Is the Dunning-Kruger Effect Real?
A recent article by Jonathan Jarry made a few waves on the internet recently, as it claims that the Dunning-Kruger effect might not actually be real! Official SIO Science-splainer Lindsey Osterman is on with a full breakdown! Is the effect real or is it just statistical noise? Tune in and find out! Links: (Original paper) Kruger & Dunning (1999), (Review chapter) Dunning (2011), (Response to early statistical critiques) Kruger & Dunning (2002), (First Nuhfer paper): Nuhfer et al (2016), (Second Nuhfer paper): Nuhfer et al (2017)
SIO275: President Biden! (marginal happiness warranted)
It's a celebratory show! I've got some thoughts on it all, and why we shouldn't waste any time being mad at Joe Manchin. Also, this election was closer than 2016 and that blew my mind.
SIO274: A Pornhub Rebuttal with Tom Curry
A few weeks back I had Eli Bosnick on to talk about Nicholas D. Kristof's Pornhub article. Eli attacked some of the fundamentalist Christian sources for the piece, and talked about the plight sex workers who had been left without income after the backlash. Tom, from Cognitive Dissonance and Citation Needed, has major disagreements with Eli on the topic and wanted to respond.
SIO273: Sam Harris is Wrong Again
Harris recently released another both sidesy "I'm the only rational one" podcast episode about the recent insurrection at the Capitol. While he condemns Trump and the right, he also makes a series of terrible arguments in the name of anti-wokeness. Lindsey and I are here to set him straight! *note I said 2 Capitol officers were arrested. They were only suspended.* Check us out at twitch.tv/seriouspod! Lindsey's Links: Reporting on police response to January 6th vs. BLM -WaPo, ProPublica, nbc news, Business Insider, Uprising: A Guide From Portland Articles contextualizing the "bending the knee" moment during the BLM protests: Metro Times, WaPo Reporting/video of police instigating and escalating violence in BLM protests: Drone Video of the BLM protest in Richmond, Guardian, CNN