The Honest Liar, Episode #9

April 16, 2010

Simon Singh details recent news regarding the libel case brought against him by the British Chiropractic Association for an article he wrote in the Guardian criticizing chiropractic. He talks about English libel laws, and explains why he says they are the worst in the Western world. He details how the recent appeals court decision in [...]

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The Honest Liar: Episode #8

April 8, 2010

Derek and Swoopy discuss the growth of skeptical podcasting in the five years since they founded the influential podcast Skepticality. They talk about how hosting their show opened new opportunities for them.They explore the extent to which skeptical podcasts foster insularity within the skeptical movement, or succeed as outreach tools reaching new audiences for science [...]

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The Honset Liar: Episode #7

April 8, 2010

Bruce M. Hood discusses why so many people believe in the supernatural despite the lack of evidence, explaining that it may have something to do with how our brains are wired. He draws a distinction between religious supernatural beliefs, which are culturally determined, and more universal secular supernatural beliefs such as mind-body dualism and causality. [...]

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Edward Tufte

March 11, 2010

My friend, information design maestro Edward Tufte, is in the news: How Master Information Designer Edward Tufte Can Help Obama Govern Edward tells me that “The internet stories greatly over-estimate the possible results of my work,” but I know the nature of Edward’s patient and powerful commitment to principle and ideas, and I suspect – [...]

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The Honest Liar: Episode #6

March 8, 2010

Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University, talks about how religion takes place in brains, and not just in churches, temples and mosques. He explains how the brain created religion, and how religion feeds the brain. He relates his own experiences of religion, as a skeptic. He contrasts his approach to the [...]

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The Honest Liar: Episode #5

March 6, 2010

In this week’s episode of For Good Reason, D.J. Grothe interviews Dr. Harriet Hall, the SkepDoc, who discusses her column in O, The Oprah Magazine that focuses on debunking medical myths. She contrasts science-based medicine and “complementary and alternative medicine,” and tells why she objects to the latter term. She details why homeopathy elicits more [...]

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Latest News & Appearances

February 23, 2010

March 24: San Diego Science Festival March 29 – April 4: Magic Castle Parlour (new dates!) April 17: Northeast Conference on Science & Skepticism (NECSS) in NYC April 18: Monday Night Magic April 19: Magical Nights at Feinsteins in the Loews Regence May 13: San Francisco City Arts & Letters with Adam Savage

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The Honest Liar: Episode #4

February 23, 2010

This week’s episode of For Good Reason features Carol Tavris, author of the book Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me). The social psychologist describes dissonance theory and how self-justification and self-deception often keep people from changing their minds even in the light of compelling contrary evidence, because the evidence is often dissonant with one’s [...]

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The Honest Liar: Episode #3

February 13, 2010

This week’s episode of For Good Reason features Richard Dawkins, and what more need be said? You’ll want to listen to it. Among other things, we announce that Professor Dawkins will be the keynote speaker at this year’s The Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas! In my Honest Liar commentary this week, I talk about the [...]

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The Honest Liar: Episode #2

February 8, 2010

This week on “For Good Reason,” DJ Grothe interviews Daniel Loxton, editor of Junior Skeptic, and author of the new children’s book Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be. My “Honest Liar” commentary is about the most dangerous deception of all. Some items touched upon include: ATSC ADE651 Bomb “Detector” device – [...]

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