Yardie Skeptics

It's a wrap, folks! The Yardie Skeptics are leaving the building after yet another riveting season batting for reason and skepticism over the past few months. Thank you for your support! Needless to say, we're going out guns blazing! We turn our attention to that impenetrable wall between church and state. In the case of some states, like Jamaica, this wall is more like a sieve, where the distinction between the two is blurred. Does it have to be like this? Can the state operate in a context without being influenced, derailed, or hijacked by the actions of the church? Or must we in Jamaica get used to parliament being a part time revival tent? Join us in this discussion along with featured guest Dr. Latoya Lazarus of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies UWI, Cave Hill, who published an article entitled; "Religion and rights: Is there still room for Christianity at the table?" If that wasn't enough, we'll also be joined by veteran Jamaican journalist and champion Christian apologist Ian Boyne, whose recent article in the Gleaner, "Sin, Sex, and the Church" warned the church that it needs to "wake up!" But hold the press! We still have more... a general in the #TambourineArmy will be with us none other than the firebrand Stella Gibson, who has been hurling brimstone boulders at the Moravian church in Jamaica after the sex scandal dropped earlier this year. Will her advocacy finally be the catalyst to change the rape culture in Jamaica's churches, or will her fiery social media persona ultimately raze the movement before it even gets off the ground?

Kiss mi neck! The unimaginable has actually occured! What started out as a side show distraction to the US presidential campaign has now turned into a living nightmare for millions in the USA and the world over. Did it really happen? Will Americans have to sit by and watch as 8 years of the Obama presidency become undone? How have Caribbean folk abroad been dealing with the bombshell election results? Where do we go from here? Well this Sunday Nov. 13th at 12:30pm EST the Yardie Skeptic are inviting you to come and sit on our couch and tell us what's on your mind. That's right folks, we are open for group therapy on our next episode as we seek to unpack, analyze, and indeed recover from the shock of an impending Trump presidency! To listen to any episode live, or catch the archived version afterwards, simply click the link below. Feel free to call in and share your views live on air or interact with other listeners in the live chatroom. For a full list of ways to contact the Yardie Skeptics, click this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EEyUtd44w3hT5dvu6sxuFYkKxZjlijbLdx04C2cfa6w/edit?usp=sharing Be sure to like our new Facebook page "Yardie Skeptics Network!"

The Yardie Skeptics return this Sunday, September 20th at 12:30pm EDT (11:30am Jamaica time) to take into the very private, rarely investigated professional life of Caribbean judges. What kind of training is required to be a judge in the Caribbean and what is the philosophical framework which informs the notion of "justice" in the Caribbean - is it restorative or simply about vengeance? What is the role of the judiciary in the establishment and protection of human rights and what ideologies influence such rights - secular or religious? Joining us live on air will be Madam Justice Jacqueline Cornelius of the High Court of Barbados; Justice Douglas Mendes, former Court of Appeal Judge for Belize; and Chief Magistrate Ann-Marie Smith also from Belize. This promises to be quite an educational episode so do tune in and land a coveted opportunity to talk justice with a Caribbean judge! Be sure to catch us at the beginning when we explore the interesting Jamaican-Nicaraguan connection as seen from the perspective of the Bacons - a family brought together by a whirlwind romance between two love birds on different sides of the Caribbean.

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The Yardie Skeptics are back for their penultimate episode in Season 3, this Sunday October 18th at 12:30pm EDT (11:30am Jamaica time) to revisit an issue which we have dealt with for an unprecedented three times in our media networks - religious encroachment in a Jamaican public school. But this time things are different; the vast majority of voices in the public all agree that religious influence has gone too far and is in clear violation of a code of ethics, and the Jamaican public defender as official declared as much. The removal of a student from the post of head girl on religious grounds proved to be the tipping point for tolerance of religious privilege, and the Yardie Skeptics are putting this issue front and centre. Joining us live on air will be none other than veteran Jamaican human rights advocate Yvonne McCalla-Sobers. Be sure to catch us early in the broadcast to listen to Prof. Verene Shepherd recount the "Walk to Stony Gut" in remembrance of the fateful Morant Bay Rebellion which resulted in the hanging of Jamaican National Hero, Paul Bogle. To listen to this episode live, or catch the archived version afterwards, simply click the link below. Feel free to call in and share your views live on air or interact with other listeners in the live chatroom. Be sure to like our new Facebook page Yardie Skeptics Network! "The home of the ackee of rationality and the saltfish of skepticism"? "The home of the ackee of rationality and the saltfish of skepticism"?