Podcast Sample CD

[joreth]

***LIST UPDATED BELOW***


 I routinely get into conversations with people IRL that end up with me rattling off a list of podcasts that explain something I'm trying to explain, such as why taking megadoses of vitamin C doesn't make your cold go away faster or what a logical fallacy is or the difference between atheism and agnosticism or why crop circles are hoaxes and not evidence of alien visitation.  I find myself needing to reference books whose names I can't remember, prominent experts whose names I can't remember, and podcasts whose episodes I can't remember.  

The last gig I worked was for a super-food pyramid scheme which, fortunately, most of my coworkers saw for the fraud that it was, but it tended to spark conversations about how they were fake but this other wacky belief wasn't (like the guy who tried to convince me that eating a teaspoon of pure cinnamon would make you vomit because he saw it on YouTube and flat out refused to believe me when I said I used to munch on cinnamon sticks all the time as a kid without getting sick), or the girl who thought all that was bunk, but crop circles really made her think there was something spooky going on.

My long list of references is hard enough for me to remember, let alone the person I'm arguing with, and one person I was talking to sounded interested in hearing all this "evidence" I had for why her beliefs were wrong and wished there was some way she could just get a sample of all the podcasts and a list of books.  So I thought, "if only I had a CD with all the podcast episodes I most commonly reference when I argue with coworkers.  I already have several saved in a playlist on my iPod, but then I have to play my iPod for them, and with a CD, they could take it home and listen to them all!"

So I am now putting together a list of audio files that I can burn to a CD (hopefully one of those mini discs) and carry a bunch around to hand out to people.  I've decided to make 2 separate playlists - one to address woo and pseudosciences and the other to address religious claims.  Here's what I have so far:

Religious claims:

• What is Evolution? (Evolution 101)
• What is NOT Evolution? (Evolution 101)
• What is Irreducible Complexity? (Evolution 101)
• Mr Deity and the Magic
• Mr Deity and the Identity Crisis
• Mr. Deity and the Magic, Part Deux
• Eugenie Scott - The Dover Trial: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design (Point of Inquiry)
• Edward Tabash - True Meaning of Church/State Separation (Point of Inquiry)
• Joe Nickell - The Relics of the Christ (Point of Inquiry)
• Joe Nickell - The New Idolatry (Point of Inquiry)
• Alan Dershowitz - Blasphemy (Point of Inquiry)
• Skeptoid #10: An Evolution Primer for Creationists
• Skeptoid #65: How to Argue with a Creationist
• Skeptoid #76: Who Kills More, Religion or Atheism?
• Skeptoid #82: What Do Creationists Really Believe?
• Big Thinkers: Why Does Evolution Matter? (NOVA scienceNOW)
• This American Life #290: Godless America
• audio of me recommending my favorite critical thinking books & html file with hyperlinks to my book recommendations

Science, woo, and pseudoscience:

• Carol Tavris - Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me (For Good Reason)
• inFact: Wheatgrass Juice
• inFact: New Age Energy 
• inFact: Fast Food Phobia 
• inFact: Nuclear Energy 
• inFact: Ghost Hunting 
• Joe Nickell - Skeptical Inquiry vs. Debunking (Point of Inquiry)
• Andrew Skolnick - The Dangers of Alternative Medicine (Point of Inquiry)
• Joe Nickell - Aliens and Abductions (Point of Inquiry)
• James Randi - Science, Magic, and Future of Skepticism (Point of Inquiry)
• Bill Nye - Changing The World With Science Education (Point of Inquiry)
• QuackCast 2. Echinacea 
• QuackCast 3. Homeopathic Theory 
• QuackCast 5. Placebo Effect 
• QuackCast 7. Theory of Acupuncture 
• QuackCast 8. Acupuncture's Efficacy 
• QuackCast 9. Lies, Damn Lies and the use of alt med 
• QuackCast 11. Evidence to Support Efficacy and Complications of Chiropractic
• QuackCast 22. Boost your immune system And die 
• Quackcast 27. Acupuncture and Chiropractic Update 
• QuackCast 28 Vitamin C and the Common Cold 
• QuackCast 29. Reiki and Theraputic Touch 
• Quackcast 30. Lets Kill The Children or A Defense of Vaccines.
• 'The Baloney Detection Kit' featuring Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine (Richard Dawkins Foundation TV (RDF TV))
• Skeptics' Guide To The Universe #109 - Aug 24 2007 Perry DeAngelis 1963-2007; The Psychology of Belief
• Skeptics' Guide To The Universe #118 - Oct 24 2007 Interview with Joe Nickell; News Items: Autism and Vaccines, Ben Stein on OReilly, James Watson Followup, The Dangers of Pseudoscience; Your Questions and E-mails: Honey, Flu Vaccine Myths; Science or Fiction; Skeptical Puzzle
• Skeptoid #01: New Age Energy
• Skeptoid #06: Wheatgrass Juice
• Skeptoid #19: Organic Food Myths 
• Skeptoid #34: Homeopathy: Pure Water or Pure Nonsense? 
• Skeptoid #37: How to Spot Pseudoscience 
• Skeptoid #42: Whacking, Cracking, and Chiropracting 
• Skeptoid #47: Free Range Chicken and Farm Raised Fish 
• Skeptoid #53: Inside the World's Most Haunted House 
• Skeptoid #61: Irradiation: Is Your Food Toxic? 
• Skeptoid #73: A Magical Journey through the Land of Logical Fallacies - Part 1 
• Skeptoid #74: A Magical Journey through the Land of Logical Fallacies - Part 2 
• Skeptoid #78: Medical Myths in Movies and Culture
• Skeptoid #81: Ghost Hunting Tools Of The Trade
• Skeptoid #83: The Detoxification Myth 
• Skeptoid #85: World Trade Center 7: The Lies Come Crashing Down 
• Skeptoid #86: MonaVie and Other "Superfruit" Juices 
• Skeptoid #88: Super Sized Fast Food Phobia 
• Skeptoid #92: The Terror of Nuclear Power
• Skeptoid #93: Apocalypse 2012 
• Skeptoid #109: Will the Large Hadron Collider Destroy the Earth?
• Skeptoid #112: Genetically Modified Organisms: Jeopardy or Jackpot? 
• Skeptoid #117: How Dangerous Is Cell Phone Radiation? 
• Skeptoid #127: The Truth about Aspartame 
• Skeptoid #151: The Placebo Effect
• Skeptoid #157: High Fructose Corn Syrup: Toxic or Tame?
• Skeptoid #162: Locally Grown Produce 
• Skeptoid #166: Organic vs. Conventional Agriculture 
• Skeptoid #180: Vaccine Ingredients 
• Skeptoid #200: Buy It!
• Skeptoid #227: Boost Your Immune System!
• Here Be Dragons - video about critical thinking by Brian Dunning of Skeptoid
• Tiny Holes (on the LHC) (Nova scienceNOW)
• The 2012 Hoax (Nova scienceNOW)
• audio of me recommending my favorite critical thinking books & html file with hyperlinks to my book recommendations

**I've had to update my list.  There is too much data on the Woo list to fit on a standard CD and I didn't want to put it all on a DVD because I want it to play in the widest range of players (computer, car CD player, etc.).  So I am removing the video files (fortunately, all the inFact episodes have an audio Skeptoid episode to replace it).  I am considering making a separate DVD for only video files.

Do you wish you had a CD like this? Steal the list and download these episodes to make your own CDs! All are available for free on iTunes (you can download just the specific episode if you don't want to subscribe).

Possible Video Podcast DVD:

• inFact: Wheatgrass Juice
• inFact: New Age Energy
• inFact: Fast Food Phobia
• inFact: Nuclear Energy
• inFact: Ghost Hunting
• inFact: Vaccines
• 'The Baloney Detection Kit' featuring Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine (Richard Dawkins Foundation TV (RDF TV))
• Here Be Dragons - video about critical thinking by Brian Dunning of Skeptoid
• Mr Deity and the Magic
• Mr Deity and the Identity Crisis
• Mr Deity and the Magic, Part Deux
• Mr Deity and the Planes
• Mr Deity and the Skeptic
• Mr Deity and the Science Advisor

I'm also adding the following booklist to the CD in the form of an audio file of me naming the books and authors, with some Symphony of Science music remixed underneath

If you can't see / don't like the rotating book widget, click here for a plain hyperlink list of my recommended Skeptical & Critical Thinking books

Comments

[petite-lambda.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this!!

[aziraphalesshop.livejournal.com]

The whole spoonful of cinnamon thing isn't so much that it's cinnamon but that it's a whole heaping lot of powder that you are trying to shove in your mouth and the second you inhale even a little it's gonna go flying into your throat and your sinuses and everywhere else.

[aziraphalesshop.livejournal.com]

Also this is a cool idea.

[joreth]

His position was that it was cinnamon specifically and a teaspoon of it would make you vomit. I claimed there must be something else going on because cinnamon does not make people sick. There are plenty of ways to eat a teaspoon (note, a teaspoon, not a tablespoon) of powder, people have shoved handfuls of dry Saltines in their mouth for the whistling trick, etc. without throwing up.

If the mechanism is simply, as you say, because it's a lot of powder and people are inhaling it, that would mean that it's not cinnamon specifically and there was no guarantee that vomiting would occur even if it was cinnamon specifically. I would think the most likely reaction would be choking or sneezing if that were the case.

At any rate, even if your suggestion is the correct explanation (and I see no reason why it wouldn't account for at least some of the cases) that guy was still an idiot, not the least of which for insisting that it had to be true because he saw it on YouTube. You mean, like the cell phones that caused popcorn to pop on YouTube? There are a bunch of those videos too and they're all fake.

[aziraphalesshop.livejournal.com]

Oh no I think he's an idiot.

I just felt it might be helpful to have some background on where he developed his particular idiocy. There is A video on youtube of a girl vomiting from it, but he then inferred(poorly) that the result was a given. Which it is not. I think it isn't limited to cinnamon has it's own effects on the sinuses and throat which will exacerbate the original problem.

Besides, if it's on the internet doesn't it HAVE to be true... ::Facepalm::

[joreth]

:-) Oh, I had no doubt there was some video somewhere, I'm even willing to believe several, of someone vomiting after eating a teaspoon of cinnamon. I agree with you, he incorrectly inferred that the result was a given, and that was the point I attempted to make to him. That someone threw up after eating it means only that someone threw up after eating it. It does not then mean that everyone will. I responded that something else had to be going on and I threw out a number of possibilities, including a setup, an allergy, or even a psychosomatic expectation.

I just never seem to learn how not to be amazed when someone says "but it IS true! I saw it on YouTube!"

[tripartite.livejournal.com]

Any chance you would put that up as an image for the rest of us to download?

[joreth]

I don't know how.

Since all the files are available for free download on iTunes and at the podcasts' own website, having the list should make it relatively easy to find all the files.

Don't forget to give the podcasts a good review in exchange for their content! They don't get anything else for their hard work and effort.

[tripartite.livejournal.com]

Easy. Make an ISO image before you burn your CD and upload it to your website. (You're surrounded by computer geeks if memory serves. If not *I'll* help.)

I know. I was just thinking if someone (probably you) has already done the work collecting the files and making a CD it would save everyone else (mostly me) from duplicating said work. :)

Oh, I know. I know lots of podcasters. I even dated one for a few years.

[joreth]

I am dating plenty of computer geeks, but none of them actually live near me and my roommate is a complete luddite. I don't know how to make an ISO image, I just drag the files to the icon of my CD drive and hit "burn" - the computer does everything else itself and doesn't give me an option for "ISO".

It wasn't so much that I've done all the work of collecting the files, it's that I subscribe to all those podcasts so the files get downloaded automatically. I didn't have to do any work other than to find them in the first place, which was ages ago.

And one of the secondary reasons for me making the CD (the first being to try and knock some sense into my idiot coworkers) is to get more people to subscribe to the podcasts. I'm hoping that exposure to them will convince some people to subscribe and listen to the rest, and maybe the idea of having a CD like this available to hand out will tempt others to subscribe for that reason.

[tripartite.livejournal.com]

They don't need to live near you. :) There are lots of ways depending on what operating system (Windows, MacOS, Linux, etc) you're using. As a matter of fact it may be easier to make the CD and the create an image of it. That's all the ISO file is, an image of the CD stored as a file on your disk.

I see.

Sounds like a worthy cause. (I wish you well in that endeavor. Educating the stupid can be painful for both parties.) That's my point. Having a CD to hand out is a great idea. Particularly for those that can't burn their own CDs. However, that will cost you money. Insignificant amounts per CD but that cost will add up over time. It'll also limit you to people you physically meet. If you stored that CD as an image on your computer and copied that image to your website people could download it and burn their own copy or listen to it as is. You could post about it in your blog and on your website thus reaching more people. None of that will cost you anything. Unless you're paying for bandwidth or for some bizarre reason a ~ 650 MB file would cost you money to store. The more people you reach the more likely you are to get more people to subscribe to those podcasts. Just a thought.

[datan0de.livejournal.com]

Bring the CDs this weekend and I'll make ISOs for you. It'll only take a few minutes each. :-)

[tripartite.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

NOW I recognize you.

[datan0de.livejournal.com]

Uh oh. I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. Do we know each other, or do you just enjoy watching reruns of "America's Most Wanted"?

[tripartite.livejournal.com]

I was the idiot that said, "YOU'RE tacit?!" and "YOU'RE joreth?!" The name on your badge did not match my memory. I knew you looked familiar. Now that I've seen that photo of her I recognize her, too. She does an awesome Baroness.

[joreth]

Why thank you! I'm working on adding some armor to my liquid latex Baroness - don't know when I'll finish though.

[tripartite.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Liquid latex? Mmmm.... /Homer. Please, by dragoncon.

[datan0de.livejournal.com]

Ah! So not only do you know who I am, but you've seen me under some pretty rare and extreme circumstances!

And no, you weren't an idiot. tacit and joreth were both quite flattered to be recognized, and I was was at least equally flattered to know that we had an audience the night before. Thanks for making Frolicon that much better.

And oh yes, she makes one hell of a Baroness!

[tripartite.livejournal.com]

Well, I know of you. That I cannot speak to, I've only met you once. :)

Thank you for the kind words, I certainly felt like one later. I'm glad the three of you were flattered. In their case, I've read their blogs and websites for a few years now. What tacit writes it's usually very well written and thought provoking. After it makes me think I usually realize that it's insightful, too. The one thing he's said that's always stuck with me and what originally turned me on to his work is, "it is possible to deeply, sincerely love someone and still not be a good partner for that person." I've seen photos of him but, to me, they don't really look like the person I met. On the other hand, joreth I've seen photos of her body and recognized her but couldn't place her. I think the blindfold helped. ;) After seeing your first icon now I recognize her. I've seen her on and off at dragoncon for several years now. If I'd seen this icon before I'd have recognized you immediately. An audience? You must have been focused on what you were doing and not paying attention to us. Under the circumstances ... understandable really. I counted at least seven people sitting around watching you. Two kids got so worked up they were providing an interesting...distraction? Yeah, let's go with that.

Yes. Yes, she does. I watched GI Joe in the 80's as a child so I notice costumes that are well done. One year caravankidd and I saw her and he said, "giggity giggity" and I responded, "giggity goo. Aw right." There's one other girl that does a really good one and she lives near he and I. I ran into her one day in traffic. Fortunately, I didn't have a fanboy moment. :)

Did you get the ISOs made for her?

[joreth]

Turns out, this isn't that easy. It's taken me 6 weeks to learn how to make an .iso and have it actually work, and now it turns out that the file sizes are too large to share - both for the need for massive amounts of server space, and for the time it takes to upload and then download such large files.

Really, for the amount of work I put into this compared to the time saved by the recipient, making someone download their own podcast episodes & burn their own CDs is not too much to ask.

However, since the process seems to be so much easier for other people, perhaps those who have the knowledge, skills, and server space that make this process "easy" for them could contribute rather than asking someone who is not nearly as qualified to do all the work.

[hollyking.livejournal.com]

I'm late to the party, but thanks for these lists.

I've downloaded most of the files for the "religious claims" CD but I've been unable to purchase the "Godless America" episode. (Thanks a lot, iTunes!) Also, I don't have the audio or HTML files you mention at the end.

I'd be willing to create an ISO of the audio CD I create and have a few ideas about ways to host and distribute the ISO. I am not sure what the copyright issues are involved to make doing so legal. Perhaps asking each podcaster for their approval and blessing is enough.

Though as you said it didn't take long for me to download the episodes myself. (Yay Google!)

[joreth]

Yeah, I had to torrent the Godless America episode. If they're not even willing to take my money in exchange for content, then I feel no remorse for pirating it, especially since I'm also giving them free advertising in exchange. I got it off Pirate Bay, so it will probably still be there.

I ended up not putting any html files on the disc, but I did upload an audio of my booklist (and a video for the DVD). I've put the video of it on YouTube (http://youtu.be/oU-aJu8tbhs), and you can copy YT videos at www.keepvid.com. If you have software that'll let you extract or just save the audio from a video, you can use that for your audio CD. I'd like to be able to offer the video & audio as a free download, but I run into the same file size problems that I did with the .iso files, even though they're not as big. I'm just out of server space and the upload/download times are not worth the effort even with the file conversion complications for the alternative routes.

You're welcome to create and host an .iso of either disc, if you really want to. I did actually make the .isos, I just can't give them to anyone via the internet.

Mr.Deity

[(Anonymous)]

Mr.Deity is frigging hilarious! Absolutely brilliant! Satire at its best! This is intelligent humour. In fact, Brian Dalton (“Mr.Deity”) is a former Mormon, or rather as he puts it: a "For-man".
I keep every episode on my iPhone. I can pick any episode and always get a good laugh.
Use iTunes to subscribe to the podcast and get all the episodes.
--
www.WiredBuddha.com