A few weeks ago, Eli and I had a conversation with two people who may or may not be characterized as trolls. This can be found on AS298. In the beginning of that recording, Eli made a bit of a speech on empathy which contained a lot of insight but also wasn’t quite perfect. We both got some pushback from it, and Eli wanted to get together to try to clarify and pin down what he was shooting for. The result was a highly interesting conversation in which Eli opened up about his history in a way that he hadn’t done before and that I very much appreciate.
Joining me for today is Noelle George, Executive Director of Foundation Beyond Belief! Since the holidays have rolled around again and you’ve likely started to hear the annoying, holier than thou jangle of constant Salvation Army bells outside of every grocery store and mall, I thought it might be a good idea to talk with someone doing charity without strings attached! Noelle and I talk about her background and atheism for a bit, and then we go on to discuss the exciting and important work the foundation does!
I highly recommend donation to Foundation Beyond Belief, but whoever you donate to, listen in to today’s episode to hear how to better vet them and make sure your money is doing actual good!
Here’s the 3rd and final part of my episode 300 spectacular! Joining me first is Andrew Torrez from the little known fledgling podcast Opening Arguments! First we do a little reminiscing, then a segment where I try to play the lawyer and he plays the questioner! Finally, we discuss the hate speech law that Jake brought up in his segment.
After that, it’s my great podcasting friends Tom and Cecil of Cognitive Dissonance!! As I always say, these guys really gave me my start and I owe them a ton, so I’m very thrilled to have them here for the final part of AS300!! We have a discussion on Twitter and free speech, where Tom shares some thoughts that have been percolating for him lately, and Cecil shares a great story about someone who blew up at them online but later met them in person…
Thank you SOOOO much for 300 episodes, and for all the support over at http://www.patreon.com/atheist!!! You guys are the best!
Two more great guests for part 2 of the 3 part episode 300 spectacular! First up is Ishmael Brown of the Angry Black Rant podcast. Ishmael is someone I really enjoy speaking to because he’s thoughtful, provocative, and hilarious all in one. We talk about whitelash, Colin Kaepernick, and other post-Trump victory issues facing our nation!
Next up is Jake Farr-Wharton of the Imaginary Friends Show!! (or iFriends). Jake and I go way back and I’m so thrilled to have him on to celebrate 300 episodes. Jake brings a very interesting story about an Australian hate speech law that would violate our 1st Amendment here in the US, and yet might seem to be a net benefit… It’s an interesting utilitarian problem to look at. Is free speech absolutely fundamental or is hate speech worth banning? Jakes gives us a peek into those questions.
Joining me first to kick off my extra special 300th episode, 3 part, 3+ hour extravaganza are none other than Noah, Heath, and Eli of the Scathing Atheist and God Awful Movies! Oh right, and the Skepticrat… I interview the guys on a few different topics related to their particular approach to atheist activism and spreading knowledge while also being entertaining.
After that, I have a personal message and announcement that I’m very excited for you to hear!! Thank you so much to all my patrons over at http://patreon.com/atheist, where you can enjoy parts 2 and 3 early!!!
Alright the response for part 2 of the discussion that went bad was actually pretty overwhelming. Eyeballing it, I’d say it was at least 4 to 1 in favor. However, the people who didn’t want to hear part 2 had really good reasons… So I’ve sort of split the difference. I’m going to talk a bit about the conversation and give you some thoughts, and then I’m going to play a decent length of selected clips. They will roughly give an indication of what happened, but the full length will still be available at http://patreon.com/atheist
In looking back, I think this discussion was actually pretty useful in some ways. I think I was hugely negative on it because of how it ended and how Eli reacted in the end to it.
Well, this is the recording you may have heard or seen me allude to. Joining me is Eli Bosnick, Mike, and Dustin. WARNING: This episode contains a lot of profanity. This is an attempt at a really difficult conversation between two sides coming from way different perspectives. It will be up to you to judge if anything was accomplished. It did not go well. Though I can’t honestly recommend it as listening, the full unedited version will be available at http://patreon.com/atheist
In today’s episode I talk about several very striking examples of misleading headlines that have been created and shared in furtherance of the narrative that the PC police are ruining our lives. When I investigated these news stories though, I found that the truth was somewhat more complex and in many cases the stories were just downright misleading! Here are some links discussed:
I’m joined once again by James Lindsay! James has a new book out with some very useful insights on death. Find it here. The first 20 minutes we talk a bit about the election and the fact that many of James’s listeners are likely Trump supporters, despite James himself not being one. Then from there we discuss James’s new book, which has substantially affected the way I think about life. I hope you’ll listen and get as much out of it as I have.
Time for part 2 with Michael A. Wood Jr! Michael is a retired Baltimore police officer and veteran of the USMC. He originally went viral in 2015 for publicly speaking out against police brutality and has become an advocate for police reform. Part 2 focused on problems in policing and his proposed solutions to them, among other topics!