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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SIO108: Sam Harris Sides with Ben Shapiro Over the FFRF
What in the hell is the atheism world coming to when atheist horse-person Sam Harris would agree with a religious conservative on a matter of Church-State Separation over the Freedom from Religion Foundation? I talk about the details of this strange and depressing convergence, as well as some of the other broader implications of the Eric Weinstein, Ben Shapiro, Sam Harris conversation, and Weinstein's so-called Intellectual Dark Web. Sources: Harris Podcast; FFRF View on Masterpiece Cake Case; Ben Shapiro Lying About the Case; Eric Weinstein Tinfoil Hat Tweet; Contra Video Taken Down; German Law. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com
SIO107: Alix Jules on the Coates-West Controversy
Back for another great conversation is Alix Jules! This was originally going to be a follow up commentary but in speaking with Alix, it became clear that having him on would make for a much better episode! We discuss a Coates critique Twitter thread that got a lot of traction with the anti-feminist, anti-BLM factions but that I find quite off-base. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com
SIO106: Thinking Rationally on Cenk Uygur's Past Sexism
... and another great round of your voicemails! A website called thewrap.com unearthed some old blog posts by Cenk Uygur in which he wrote some alarmingly sexist things. He has since apologized and emphasized that he doesn't believe those things anymore. Here is their article and here's the biased Gateway Pundit Article. How ought we to evaluate something like this in the wake of the #metoo moment? I have a lot to say about that, and about the cynical, bad-faith attempts on the right to both claim #metoo is a witch hunt, but also to use it when it pleases them. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com
SIO105: Traumatic Brain Injuries, with Dr. Topher Stephenson
Dr. Topher Stephenson joins me today to talk about traumatic brain injuries. He educates us a bit on the basics, and then we talk about how he, as a parent, evaluates the decision of letting his kids play sports. Which ones are safe? Should youth soccer require headgear? And much more. Check out his organization here. Also the CDC page on TBI is a good resource. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com
SIO104: Cornel West Owes Ta-Nehisi Coates an Apology
Ok so maybe the left is eating its own... After brushing by a couple points on the tax bill, I talk about a few instances of people on the left being unfairly demonized and harassed by other people on the left. It sucks. ContraPoints on YouTube seemed to me to be very affected by harassment over her decision to attend an event with Blaire White and Theryn Meyer. I talk briefly about that but then I move onto a bigger example that I discuss in depth, and that is Cornel West's hit-piece on Ta-Nehisi Coates. It's very straw-manny and disturbing to me. Here are some links: West's Piece; Weird Coates Atheism Piece; Slate Breakdown; Vox Breakdown Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com
SIO103: Samantha Corbin of #WeSaidEnough
Samantha Corbin is a Sacramento lobbyist who was fed up with the pervasive culture of sexual misconduct in the Capitol. She and some colleagues wrote an open letter and started an organization called #WeSaidEnough. It has absolutely caught fire! Her co-founder ended up on the cover of Time Magazine. In this interview, Samantha takes us through how pervasive this behavior has been and what her and others plan to do about it! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO102: Moral Philosophy with Aaron Rabi
Congratulations to Doug Jones and thank you so much to black voters of Alabama for turning out and getting us 1 vote closer to taking back the Senate!!!! First up today I've got an update on the Patreon situation. They backed down, but I'm still going forward with a membership option on my website. I explain in more depth, and then I've got a fantastic conversation with Aaron Rabi of Embrace the Void! Due to a great response to the idea of me taking on the anti-natalism topic again, I endeavor to do so and I brought an actual philosopher along for the ride! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO101: Science Mom Natalie Newell
Natalie Newell was just a science loving mom who wanted to make a documentary about some other science loving moms... but once she did, she found herself the topic of some bizarre conspiracies! We talk about that experience, and we discuss some common anti-scientific attitudes in this country, like chiropractic, vaccinations, GMOs, and alternative medicine. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO100: The Red Pill, Part 2: MRAs Should Be Democrats
It's finally here! Part of of my series examining the arguments in the "documentary" "The Red Pill." Today we talk about video game addiction, porn addiction, toxic masculinity, and then the main topic: sentencing disparity. Are men treated unfairly by the justice system? Spoiler, the answer is actually yes. Here's the study most in line with MRA claims. Others have it lower, but this one is very convincing. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO99: Crystal Lee, 2014 Miss America Runner-Up and Entrepreneur
Crystal Lee was First Runner-Up in the 2014 Miss America pageant, and now she's part of a tech startup in Silicon Valley. Crystal has written some incisive pieces including one for CNN.com in response to what happened at the most recent Miss America - that is, a contested answered a question competently and the world exploded. We talk about her background, how exactly one becomes a Miss America contestant, and whether she thinks pageants will be able to escape their undeniably sexist roots!
SIO98: Republicans Don't Care About You
...unless you're a bazillionaire or a bank or some other corporation. I talk about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - the brainchild of one future president Elizabeth Warren - and that the only reason you could possibly be against it is if you hate people and prefer banks. So, naturally the Republicans are against it. Then I'm onto another rousing voicemail segment that takes up most of the show because I love hearing from you and engaging your arguments and criticisms! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO97: Lonnie Miller, Republican Candidate for TN Governor
In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, during which you no doubt spent hours arguing with your conservative family members, I bring you a discussion with a Trump supporting Republican. Though undoubtedly a gigantic underdog, Lonnie Miller is making a grassroots effort to become Governor of Tennessee. We talk about how he decided to do that, and we have some cross-political dialogue and the electoral college, healthcare, and taxes. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO96: Franken Must Go; What Happened At Laurier University?
In the first part of this episode I do some followup on Monday's show. There's another Franken accuser (and another 2...) and there are some more points to be made. A woman tweeted that she didn't care that men might be falsely accused, and the internet exploded. Did it matter that she clarified and apologized? Nah. Also, the process for dealing with sexual harassment in Congress is AWFUL. Then at 27:30, I discuss the latest obsession of the free speech warriors, and that is a secretly recorded meeting in which a Laurier professor and some other admin scolded a grad student for showing a Jordan B. Peterson debate in a class. Here's a reasonable breakdown of the facts. So is this a case of the free speech right losing their minds or the SJWs going out of control? Full Audio; Laurier Apologies Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO95: The Franken Fallout, with Dr. Kristi Winters and Charone Frankel
In a world where we're finally starting to take allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, what is next? How do we as a society treat the perpetrators? Does it matter if they are contrite? Are there different levels of seriousness? All these are very tough questions that I don't think we, as a whole, quite have the answers to yet. Here to help us get the dialogue started are Dr. Kristi Winters and Charone Frankel! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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
SIO94: Do We Really Need A Tax Cut?
A House vote on the new Republican Tax Bill is happening as early as today, so I reluctantly have decided to take a peek into Paul Ryan's deepest fantasies. I cover some of the low-lights, and then talk about putting the Bill and income inequality into historical context. Do we really need a tax cut right now? Paul Ryan Explains Himself; Biggest Tax Cut Ever?; 538 on House Reps Who Could Cause Trouble; Blue States Hit Harder; NYT Breakdown of House Bill; Dem Medium Post on the Bill; Grad School Students Are Screwed; Bartlett Adapted Testimony on Trickle Down; Republicans May Cut Entitlements; Why Aren't Hands Up?; Income Inequality Factsheet; Historic Tax Rates; NYT Opinion on Paradise Papers Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! 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