All posts by Thomas Smith

AS73: Circumcision Vs. FGM

I’m joined today by Sarah from The Whole Network. This organization wants to provide accurate information about circumcision. Is it just as bad as FGM? Are Americans culturally blinded about this issue? Find out!

https://www.facebook.com/WholeNetwork

Thanks to @helpfulatheist3 for bringing this issue to my attention!

AS72: Anonymous Steve and Jake Farr-Wharton on Suicide, Part 2

The three of us continue the discussion. Thanks so much for all the positive reaction to these episodes! Talking about this stuff is very difficult but it will become easier the more people talk openly about it. Big thanks to Steve and Jake.

AS71: Anonymous Steve and Jake Farr-Wharton on Suicide, Part 1

This episode is exactly what it sounds like. Listener Anonymous Steve, whose has made appearances on the Skepticule podcast, contacted me after the episode with Jake previous, regarding depression and suicide. Steve considers himself suicidal. This was a difficult episode but was an incredibly unique experience and hopefully good will come out of it.

AS70: Sexism in Atheism

The topic of sexism in atheism has warranted another episode. There was a huge response from Monday, and a huge range of response as well. I discuss a lot of the comments and emails I got, as well as the following blog post:

Is Sam Harris Sexist?

AS69: Is Sam Harris the Sexist Pig We’re Looking For?

Sam Harris made some comments that feminists did not take kindly to. Here’s a link to his explanation:

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/im-not-the-sexist-pig-youre-looking-for

I think there are some troubling points to his commentary, and here are some critics:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2014/09/12/sam-harris-is-just-factually-wrong-globally-atheism-has-no-gender-split/

“a professional responsibility to get the facts straight”

I find this one pretty outrageous though:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/another-week-another-atheist-demands-we-call-his-sexism-not-sexism-this-time-sam-harris/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+(The+Raw+Story)

Amanda Marcotte writes this as though Sam Harris has said women are biologically inferior to men, something I’m pretty sure he would disagree with vehemently.

AS67: Cognitive Dissonance on Atheist Celebrities, Part 1

Tom and Cecil are back! Talking with these guys is the absolute most fun. They are such a great blend of humor and insight! This time we’re discussing the phenomenon of atheist celebrities. We rehash a bit of the Dawkins Twitter stuff simply because it’s germane to the discussion, but we also go on to talk about the topic more broadly. Also, should we separate ideas or books from the people who write them? Or is it ok and natural to reject ideas or writings of bad people out of a reaction to their personalities? These and other questions, ANSWERED.

AS66: Abortion with Tracey Moody

Tracey and I have a lengthy discussion on abortion. Despite both being pro choice, there is still quite a lot of gray area that is very interesting to discuss. Then of course, there’s always Richard Dawkins to spice things up. Is it ethical to abort a fetus that has a high chance of Down’s Syndrome?

Here are some links discussed:

A logical thought experiment about abortion

https://richarddawkins.net/2014/08/abortion-down-syndrome-an-apology-for-letting-slip-the-dogs-of-twitterwar/

 

AS65: The Portable Atheist, Part 2, and More

Part 2 of The Portable Atheist features Omar Khayyam. Poet, astronomer, mathematician, husband, lover, rotary member, blood donor, etc. Omar had it all. He was a multifaceted Iranian who lived around 1050ish to 1150ish.

Then I discuss 3 comments at length. One of them has a corresponding link. Here is that link. This is not an endorsement, but I’m open to all arguments.

Comment
byu/Tentacolt from discussion
inchangemyview

AS64: Stealing Private Nude Photos is a Sex Crime

Can’t really put it any more plainly than that. But FIRST, I have a long and uninteresting story about being Comcast free at last! I’ve gone through some decently big life changes and you get to hear about them for 20 minutes! (fast forward to 20:00ish if you want to skip straight to discussion on the nude photo hacking.)

Speaking of the photo hacking, this is an appalling sexual crime and the person guilty is a sex offender. Plain and simple. I talk about this and other aspects of it at length.