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.
Listen on
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
iHeart
PatreonEpisodes
AS82: Catcalling with Lydia (and Actual Cats)
Lydia returns! You likely have seen the video going around featuring a model being catcalled hundreds of times throughout New York. I've mentioned before my stance on catcalling and how absolutely idiotic it is. Lydia joins me as a repeated victim of catcalling to talk about it and how it makes women feel. Important stuff …
AS81: Conversation with Ex-Muslim, Ben
Today I have listener Ben on, who is of course much more than simply an ex-Muslim, but having an episode named "Ben" seemed weird. Ben had a great comment on the site about the Affleck/Maher debate, and seeing as how his background is a lot different than mine, I wanted to have him on to …
AS80: The Portable Atheist, Part 3 (cont.)
I'm continuing where I left off from Hobbes's Leviathan chapter, Of Religion. Very interesting stuff!
AS79: The Portable Atheist, Part 3
We're back to our Portable Atheists studies! I love these! This time, we're reading Of Religion by Thomas Hobbes, from his book called Leviathan. It's very fascinating, and brilliant of course. Tune in and hear my summary and analysis! Also, I discuss a couple comments about the pro-life debate. Since I asked specifically for comments regarding …
AS78: Islamophobia; Reza Aslan and Nathan Lean
In this episode I'm revisiting some of the Islamophobia ideas. This time I'm reading some new articles and blog posts about the subject. Here are some links: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119898/bill-maher-ben-affleck-islam-debate-there-no-muslim-world http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/10/reza-aslan-on-what-the-new-atheists-get-wrong.html http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/on-the-mechanics-of-defamation
AS77: Observations on CJ Werleman
Please note that CJ is not actually on this episode. He's been a guest several times before but this time I wanted to talk about what's happening with him, and not have him in the proverbial room. He has been very vocal about his dislike of Harris's views, as seen in this video: And now …
AS76: Dying with Dignity and Abortion Debate Follow-Up
In this episode I talk way too long about this article: http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/there-is-nothing-brave-about-suicide/ It's very relevant to topics we've discussed recently. Apparently there are people who think you owe it to someone to stay alive in the face of terrible suffering. I'm sure if they were being tortured or something they would never want to have the …
AS75: Pro-Life Humanist, Kristine Kruszelnicki
Today I have the executive director of http://www.prolifehumanists.org, Kristine! Oftentimes it seems as though atheists are 100% pro-choice, but Kristine is here to represent the other side. She contends that there are perfectly reasonable secular arguments to be pro-life. I'm really excited to get into these arguments!
AS74: Holy Codified Doctrine of Islam, Batman!
On this episode I first discuss the Ben Affleck Sam Harris Bill Maher video that has made some waves. Here's a link: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/can-liberalism-be-saved-from-itself Then, I spend a lot of time going back on the circumcision discussion from Monday. I received a ton of comments and unfortunately couldn't get to them all, but I went through a …
AS73: Circumcision Vs. FGM
I'm joined today by Sarah from The Whole Network. This organization wants to provide accurate information about circumcision. Is it just as bad as FGM? Are Americans culturally blinded about this issue? Find out! https://www.facebook.com/WholeNetwork Thanks to @helpfulatheist3 for bringing this issue to my attention!
AS72: Anonymous Steve and Jake Farr-Wharton on Suicide, Part 2
The three of us continue the discussion. Thanks so much for all the positive reaction to these episodes! Talking about this stuff is very difficult but it will become easier the more people talk openly about it. Big thanks to Steve and Jake.
AS71: Anonymous Steve and Jake Farr-Wharton on Suicide, Part 1
This episode is exactly what it sounds like. Listener Anonymous Steve, whose has made appearances on the Skepticule podcast, contacted me after the episode with Jake previous, regarding depression and suicide. Steve considers himself suicidal. This was a difficult episode but was an incredibly unique experience and hopefully good will come out of it.
AS70: Sexism in Atheism
The topic of sexism in atheism has warranted another episode. There was a huge response from Monday, and a huge range of response as well. I discuss a lot of the comments and emails I got, as well as the following blog post: Is Sam Harris Sexist?
AS69: Is Sam Harris the Sexist Pig We're Looking For?
Sam Harris made some comments that feminists did not take kindly to. Here's a link to his explanation: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/im-not-the-sexist-pig-youre-looking-for I think there are some troubling points to his commentary, and here are some critics: http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2014/09/12/sam-harris-is-just-factually-wrong-globally-atheism-has-no-gender-split/ http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/09/15/a-professional-responsibility-to-get-the-facts-straight/#more-20633 I find this one pretty outrageous though: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/another-week-another-atheist-demands-we-call-his-sexism-not-sexism-this-time-sam-harris/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+(The+Raw+Story) Amanda Marcotte writes this as though Sam Harris has said women …
AS68: Cognitive Dissonance on Atheist Celebrities, Part 2
Well here we are for part 2. It's like part one, but twoer.