Skepticality #120 - Evolution of Jr. Skeptic - Guests: Pat Linse and Daniel Loxton

01/26/10 • 54 min

Skepticality - The Official Podcast of Skeptic Magazine

This week on Skepticality, Swoopy talks with a true skeptical original: Skeptics Society co-founder Pat Linse, co-publisher and Art Director of Skeptic magazine. She is among skepticism's most influential pioneers — and yet, she has rarely stepped into the public spotlight. Among Pat's many groundbreaking innovations was the creation of Junior Skeptic (the 10-page kids' critical thinking insert bound within Skeptic magazine). Joining Pat in this interview is current Junior Skeptic editor and illustrator Daniel Loxton, here to talk about their latest creation: a full-color children's book released this week by Kids Can Press, entitled "Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be".

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Skepticality #119 - Worlds of Their Own - Guest: Lois Schadewald

"The Universe does not bend itself to our ignorance." This simple truism is just one of the many observations made by author, skeptic and former president of the National Center for Science Education Robert J. Schadewald, who died of cancer on March 12th, 2000. This week on Skepticality, Swoopy talks with his sister Lois Schadewald, who compiled and published a humorous, insightful volume of her brother's articles, essays and interviews in 2008. Entitled Worlds of Their Own: A Brief History of Misguided Ideas; Creationism, Flat-Earthism, Energy Scams, and the Velikovsky Affair, Robert Schadewald's work reminds us that in order to understand the difference between science and pseudoscience we must investigate the unique claims and personalities of some of history's most unorthodox thinkers. Only then can we begin to learn what leads some people to embrace critical thinking and science — and others cling to their own realities despite all the evidence in the universe….

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Skepticality #121 - Astronomy Overload Hour - Guest: Dr. Phil Plait, The Bad Astronomer

For a myriad of reasons, NASA is in the news this week. For an update on everything astronomical Skepticality is proud to welcome back The Bad Astronomer himself, Dr. Phil Plait (author of the popular books Bad Astronomy, Death from the Skies and his award-winning blog at Discovermagazine.com). Swoopy chats with Phil about this week's planned launch of the space shuttle Endeavour (one of five final missions marking the retirement of the shuttle fleet by the close of 2010); the surprising recent announcement of President Obama's plans to increase NASA's funding but cancel the Constellation program already five years underway; and, Phil's own tough decision to step down as president of the James Randi Educational Foundation in order to extend his skeptical outreach to a global audience through television.