Conversations with Peter Boghossian

In today's conversation, I am joined by Audrey Unverferth, a visiting Fellow at Hungary’s MCC, whose research specializes in Soviet totalitarianism. Audrey draws parallels between Russian totalitarianism and current trends in the United States and across the Western world, highlighting how Russian history serves as a stark warning about the perils of totalitarianism and the fragility of democratic republics.
Watch this episode on YouTube.

The world’s leading skeptic, author Michael Shermer, explains what it would take for him to believe claims of extraterrestrial visitation. Michael follows Pierre-Simon Laplace’s principle, popularized by Carl Sagan: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Michael has bet $1,000 that irrefutable evidence of human contact with aliens will not materialize by the end of next year. So far, he has no takers.
Peter and Michael discuss the brain as “an engine of belief” and how the human desire for transcendence and moralization leads people to extend their confidence beyond the warrant of the evidence. Education is one antidote to this cognitive malady, and Michael promotes teaching children statistics, probability, and how to “think like scientists”.
Peter and Michael also discuss organizational splintering (including in the skeptic and atheist movement), fashionable beliefs, why believers in alien visitations aren’t interested in SETI, Bayesian reasoning, the deep state, true conspiracies, Dr. Paul Hotez vs. RFK Jr., childhood gender transition, and Michael’s forthcoming book, Truth.
Dr. Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. Michael wrote a monthly column for Scientific American for 18 years. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain. His latest book is Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational.

Twitter: @michaelshermerYou can watch this conversation on YouTube!

“Is the trans movement anti-gay?” In honor of Pride Month, Peter Boghossian begins this conversation with an investigation into the increasing rejection of trans ideology by the LGB (without the T) community. Peter’s guest is Andrew Doyle, acclaimed author, comedian, and host of Free Speech Nation on GB News. Here’s an important piece of information to better understand this conversation: Andrew is gay.

Andrew explains the impact the trans movement has inflicted on gay people over the last several years, including the rise of abusive language toward gays he “hasn’t seen since the ‘80s." Lesbians are labelled “sexual racists” or “transphobes” if they reject trans women as partners. (The same is true for gay men rejecting trans men—that is, women—but the abuse is not as pervasive.) Peter and Andrew discuss the incoherence of gender ideology, the nature of sexual attraction, how predators manipulate gender self-ID, and the sterilization of gay youth.

Also discussed: Bad woke art, sensitivity readers, primary education, censorship, standpoint epistemology, critical thinking, the long history of human fantasy and folly, and more.
Andrew Doyle is a journalist, playwright, satirist, and comedian. He is the creator of Titania McGrath, “a radical intersectionalist poet committed to feminism, social justice and armed peaceful protest.” He is the host of Free Speech Nation and an unabashed lover of art and literature.
Watch this conversation on YouTube!

According to author, MMA coach, and one of the first people in the United States to receive a black belt in jiu-jitsu, Matt Thornton, violence is as natural to human evolution as sex and food. In his book, “The Gift of Violence: Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World,” Matt provides the tools and mindset necessary to avoid—and if necessary, engage in—violent encounters.
Matt has been Peter Boghossian’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach for over a decade, and they are also close friends. In this intimate conversation, they discuss the practical value of jiu-jitsu and MMA training. Matt outlines specific moves to gain control in a fight and the importance of situational awareness and weapon training.
According to Matt, many people have a glamorized view of violence and do not understand the limits of their own capabilities. Worse still, ideology has blunted people’s connection to defensive evolutionary instincts, resulting in dangerous encounters that could be avoided.
Matt Thornton has taught functional martial arts for more than 30 years. He holds a 5th-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is the founder of Straight Blast Gym International, training champion MMA fighters and world-class law enforcement instructors. Matt addresses policing, gang violence, and crime data in his series “Wokeness, Public Safety, BLM, & Antifa.”
Watch this episode on YouTube.

In this episode, Peter Boghossian interviews Carl Benjamin. This is what Peter said about the discussion:
Carl Benjamin, AKA "Sargon of Akkad," is best described as a free-speech activist, staunch critic of identity politics, and champion of English Liberalism. When YouTube and Google shadowbanned his channel in 2019 for wrongthink, Carl continued creating content on Akkad Daily. In November 2020, he launched a new media venture: Lotuseaters.com.

Carl and I have fundamental differences about our core principles, but we are able to explore these differences constructively. Carl challenged my views and I find his take on social and cultural issues to be insightful, refreshing, and unhindered by moral fashions. We discussed myriad topics over more than two hours; I’m sharing the most interesting segment, where the issue of national sovereignty sparks a deep inquiry into the value of rationality, the possibility of “moral facts,” the attainment of objective universal principles, and the possible pitfall of a doctrine of human rights. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

For further reading on ideas discussed, check out Michael Oakeshott, John Rawls, Richard Rorty, J. L. Mackie, Jürgen Habermas, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Michael Shermer.
You can watch this conversation on YouTube.