***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:
Science, woo, and pseudoscience:
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:
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
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 JuiceinFact: New Age EnergyinFact: Fast Food PhobiainFact: Nuclear EnergyinFact: 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
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