173 - Chip Walter (Last Ape Standing)
09/29/18 • 55 min
Original release March 14, 2013.
Encore release September 29, 2018.
Encore release June 22, 2017.
We interview Chip Walter, author of Last Ape Standing: The Seven Million Year Story of How and Why We Survived, an excellent new summation of the best current understanding of human evolution. It's available in hardcover and for Kindle. For more about Chip and his work, visit ChipWalter.com and AllThingsHuman.net.
Plus:
Oddsmakers are taking bets on who the new Pope will be (although after we recorded this the Cardinals inconveniently chose Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has taken the name Pope Francis).
A Christian school in California fired a pregnant woman for breaking the school code by fornicating--then offered the job to her fiance (the man who got her pregnant)!
Muslim rioters in Pakistan burned 100 homes over rumors that a Christian garbageman made disparaging remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Luckily, President Asif Zardari is "asking religious leaders for suggestions on how to prevent misuse of the blasphemy law." Problem solved.
The Baseball Bat of Doubt - By popular demand, we introduce a new, recurring segment in which listeners share the moment in which, for them, the cognitive dissonance of superstition was knocked aside by science, reason or logic.
And a reminder: Derek Colanduno of Skepticality, Blake Smith of Monster Talk, and John Snider of American Freethought will do a special presentation for the Atlanta Skeptics. It’s a fundraiser for the upcoming Atlanta Skepticamp. For more info visit meetup.com/atlantaskeptics.
Original release March 14, 2013.
Encore release September 29, 2018.
Encore release June 22, 2017.
We interview Chip Walter, author of Last Ape Standing: The Seven Million Year Story of How and Why We Survived, an excellent new summation of the best current understanding of human evolution. It's available in hardcover and for Kindle. For more about Chip and his work, visit ChipWalter.com and AllThingsHuman.net.
Plus:
Oddsmakers are taking bets on who the new Pope will be (although after we recorded this the Cardinals inconveniently chose Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has taken the name Pope Francis).
A Christian school in California fired a pregnant woman for breaking the school code by fornicating--then offered the job to her fiance (the man who got her pregnant)!
Muslim rioters in Pakistan burned 100 homes over rumors that a Christian garbageman made disparaging remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Luckily, President Asif Zardari is "asking religious leaders for suggestions on how to prevent misuse of the blasphemy law." Problem solved.
The Baseball Bat of Doubt - By popular demand, we introduce a new, recurring segment in which listeners share the moment in which, for them, the cognitive dissonance of superstition was knocked aside by science, reason or logic.
And a reminder: Derek Colanduno of Skepticality, Blake Smith of Monster Talk, and John Snider of American Freethought will do a special presentation for the Atlanta Skeptics. It’s a fundraiser for the upcoming Atlanta Skepticamp. For more info visit meetup.com/atlantaskeptics.
Previous Episode
172 - National Atheist Party
Original release March 2, 2013.
Encore release September 28, 2018.
Encore release June 21, 2017.
We interview Troy Boyle, president of the new National Atheist Party. For more about the NAP visit USANAP.org.
Plus: Pat Robertson is at it again. This time he's warning against the dangers of possessed pre-owned sweaters. And finally, check out the new hardcover edition of the Skeptic's Annotated Bible. It's a bug-crushing 1,632 pages, containing the full King James Bible with detailed skeptical commentary from author Steve Wells. As always, the SAB is available online at SkepticsAnnotatedBible.com.
And a reminder: Derek Colanduno of Skepticality, Blake Smith of Monster Talk, and John Snider of American Freethought will do a special presentation for the Atlanta Skeptics. It’s a fundraiser for the upcoming Atlanta Skepticamp. For more info visit meetup.com/atlantaskeptics.
Next Episode
174 - Religious Belief and Hardcore Criminality
Original release March 27, 2013.
Encore release September 30, 2018.
Encore release June 23, 2017.
We interview Dr. Volkan Topalli, co-author (with Dr. Thomas Brezina and Mindy Bernhardt) of the new research paper "With God on my side: The paradoxical relationship between religious belief and criminality among hardcore street offenders," just published in the February 2013 issue of the journal Theoretical Criminology. Volkan, an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University, isn't just some tweed-wearing ivory tower intellectual--he's a dedicated researcher who visits some of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in cities like Atlanta, New Orleans and Saint Louis, interviewing career drug-dealers and car-jackers to find out what makes them tick. For a detailed account of the gritty work this guy does, check out this profile from Creative Loafing.
Plus:
As the Supreme Court tackles gay marriage, we look at two interesting developments in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. First, there's Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who revealed how he reversed course on gay marriage when his son came out. Second, Green Street United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina announces it won't perform any marriages--period--until their denomination changes its policy of discrimination against homosexuals.
The Baseball Bat of Doubt! In this installment of our new recurring segment, a listener from Finland reveals what led her to reject religion and embrace science and reason.
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