Conversations with Peter Boghossian

James Lindsay is a bestselling author, mathematician, and a leading expert on the ensuing culture war. He is the founder of “New Discourses,” a website and podcast analyzing the theory behind, effects of, and solutions to "Woke Marxism". James speaks widely on language, education, and Social Justice ideology. In May, he spoke to the European Union Parliament about this evolved form of Marxism in Western culture. James' books include “Cynical Theories,” which he wrote with Helen Pluckrose, “How to Have Impossible Conversations,” which he wrote with yours truly, "Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis", and also his most recent book, “The Marxification of Education: Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education.” Watch this episode on YouTube.

The world’s leading skeptic, author Michael Shermer, explains what it would take for him to believe claims of extraterrestrial visitation. Michael follows Pierre-Simon Laplace’s principle, popularized by Carl Sagan: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Michael has bet $1,000 that irrefutable evidence of human contact with aliens will not materialize by the end of next year. So far, he has no takers. Peter and Michael discuss the brain as “an engine of belief” and how the human desire for transcendence and moralization leads people to extend their confidence beyond the warrant of the evidence. Education is one antidote to this cognitive malady, and Michael promotes teaching children statistics, probability, and how to “think like scientists”.  Peter and Michael also discuss organizational splintering (including in the skeptic and atheist movement), fashionable beliefs, why believers in alien visitations aren’t interested in SETI, Bayesian reasoning, the deep state, true conspiracies, Dr. Paul Hotez vs. RFK Jr., childhood gender transition, and Michael’s forthcoming book, Truth.  Dr. Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. Michael wrote a monthly column for Scientific American for 18 years. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain. His latest book is Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational.   Twitter: @michaelshermer You can watch this conversation on YouTube!

Michael Shellenberger appreciates the challenge skeptics offer regarding the existence of UFOs (also termed UAPs, "Unexplained Aerial Phenomena"). Skeptics, true believers, and everyone in between have taken note of Michael’s reporting on the topic. In this conversation with Peter Boghossian, Michael explains his level of confidence about visitations by non-terrestrial spacecraft. (Peter says the verified discovery of alien spacecraft would be a revolution comparable to humanity’s domestication of fire—and he wants it to be true but requires evidence.) Peter and Michael also discuss a more down-to-earth possible cover-up regarding the source of COVID-19. They explore free speech, censorship for adults vs. children, the Orwellian “Institute for Strategic Dialogue,” levels of societal hate, “crazy-making,” the attitudinal disposition to the truth as a basis of friendship, their friendship, and much more. Michael Shellenberger is an author, investigative journalist, and the founder & president of Environmental Progress, a nonprofit research organization. He also co-founded the California Peace Coalition, an alliance of parents of children killed by fentanyl and parents of homeless addicts. Michael is the author of Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility (with Ted Nordhaus), Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, and most recently, San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. He also coauthored An EcoModernist Manifesto. Twitter: @shellenberger Skeptic Michael Shermer also spoke with Michael Shellenberger about his reporting on alien spacecraft.  Next week, we’ll hear Peter's interview with Shermer! Watch this episode on YouTube

Helen Joyce, an Irish journalist and director of advocacy at Sex Matters, joins Peter Boghossian to discuss the differences between men and women, the controversy surrounding transgender individuals in gendered spaces, and the challenges of speaking out on these issues. They also touch on belief formation, the impact of religion, and the difficulty of changing beliefs.

According to journalist and author Kenny Xu, progressives fail to grasp the importance of merit in academic admissions and degree conferral, particularly in medicine. While Xu supports the long-held liberal ideal of equal opportunity through education, he argues that the university is not the place to address group achievement gaps. Instead, educational interventions need to begin much earlier—ideally in kindergarten. In this conversation, Peter Boghossian and Xu discuss holistic admissions vs. merit in medicine, overcoming “diversity statements,” calculating competence, the elevation of kindness over data, discrimination against Asian students, what the SAT measures, why merit requires objectivity, the humility of the scientific method, the unsustainability of “kind lies,” violence against Asians, and much more. Kenny Xu is a journalist, author, and president of Color Us United, a non-profit organization advocating for a race-blind America. His forthcoming book is School of Woke: How Critical Race Theory Infiltrated American Schools and Why We Must Reclaim Them (August 1, 2023). Xu reported on academic discrimination against Asians in his former book, An Inconvenient Minority: The Harvard Admissions Case and the Attack on Asian American Excellence. Watch this conversation on YouTube!

“Is the trans movement anti-gay?” In honor of Pride Month, Peter Boghossian begins this conversation with an investigation into the increasing rejection of trans ideology by the LGB (without the T) community. Peter’s guest is Andrew Doyle, acclaimed author, comedian, and host of Free Speech Nation on GB News. Here’s an important piece of information to better understand this conversation: Andrew is gay. Andrew explains the impact the trans movement has inflicted on gay people over the last several years, including the rise of abusive language toward gays he “hasn’t seen since the ‘80s." Lesbians are labelled “sexual racists” or “transphobes” if they reject trans women as partners. (The same is true for gay men rejecting trans men—that is, women—but the abuse is not as pervasive.) Peter and Andrew discuss the incoherence of gender ideology, the nature of sexual attraction, how predators manipulate gender self-ID, and the sterilization of gay youth.   Also discussed: Bad woke art, sensitivity readers, primary education, censorship, standpoint epistemology, critical thinking, the long history of human fantasy and folly, and more.  Andrew Doyle is a journalist, playwright, satirist, and comedian. He is the creator of Titania McGrath, “a radical intersectionalist poet committed to feminism, social justice and armed peaceful protest.” He is the host of Free Speech Nation and an unabashed lover of art and literature. Watch this conversation on YouTube!

Keri Smith says she was in a cult for twenty years. It wasn’t NXIVM, Peoples Temple, or Heaven’s Gate, but something more widespread and insidious. Keri was a self-described Social Justice Warrior. Peter Boghossian talks to Keri about how Women’s Studies classes at Duke University provided the gateway to her conversion through new words, new definitions, and exposure to oft-repeated axioms. Keri describes her former self as a “woke evangelist,” spreading newfound truths about the patriarchy and righteous censorship. She became a Wikipedia editor to “correct history” and limited her media consumption to news, books, and speakers approved by the ideology. Keri lost friends and job opportunities when she left the Social Justice tribe, but she emerged with valuable experience. She shares advice about how to help others obtain freedom from illiberal dogma. Spoiler Alert: Facts aren’t enough to break the spell. Keri Smith is the host of Deprogrammed with Keri Smith where she interviews notable thinkers like Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay, William Allen, Samuel Sey, Charles Murray, Barbara Kay, and Dr. Bret Weinstein You can find her writing in Human Events, Fee.org, and The Dissenters Project, a collection of essays on the price of dissent. Keri has been a guest on many podcasts, including Timcast, Nerdrotic, Triggernometry, and Real Talk with Zuby. She recently hosted Mindsfest 2023 in Austin, Texas. Watch this interview on YouTube!

There is an epidemic of primarily white people—and white women in particular—who are pretending to be Native Americans for professional gain. Dubbed “Pretendians,” these individuals are predominantly active in academia and hold tenured faculty positions or even department chairs. To help make sense of this institutionally supported fraud, Peter Boghossian spoke with Jacqueline Keeler, a Native American author and journalist who’s an expert on the phenomena of Pretendians. Keeler names names and pulls no punches in this conversation. In light of Peter's experience at Portland State University (PSU), he was only mildly surprised to hear Keeler’s report that three of its leading Indigenous Nations faculty are Pretendians: Ted Van Alst, Grace Dillon, and Judy Bluehorse Skelton. Jacqueline Keeler: https://linktr.ee/jfkeeler Watch this conversation on YouTube!

You can watch this episode on YouTube! Billboard Chris is a child protection advocate who travels the world talking to people about gender ideology. When Chris came to Oregon, Peter Boghossian joined him for street conversations at Portland State University (PSU) and the University of Oregon. The night before their visit to PSU, Peter hosted a meeting with Chris, journalists Andy Ngo and Savanah Hernandez, author Matt Thornton, and activist Honey Badger. Videographer Reid Nicewonder filmed the discussion.  Peter’s guests have experienced public violence from far-left activists. They discuss the decline of civil discourse and the rise of speech suppression, particularly on university campuses. They consider possible explanations for how police respond to violence by trans activists—often ignoring it or arresting victims to appease the mob.   Billboard Chris explains his moral and philosophical opposition to the life-long medicalization of children through “gender affirming” puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery. He argues that while gender ideology permeates many institutions and dominates corporate messaging, public opposition is widespread and bipartisan.   Don’t miss this conversation. You’ll hear stories from the trenches about the struggle to shine light on one of the most contentious issues of our time.  

This conversation can be viewed on YouTube  When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives is the latest book by bestselling author Heather Mac Donald. Mac Donald sounds an alarm about the erosion of meritocracy through “disparate-impact” ideology in science, medicine, jurisprudence, and art. While concerns about civilizational decline are not a laughing matter, Peter Boghossian injects a playful element to this interview by taking on the role of a progressive and challenging Mac Donald to defend her claims. Mac Donald shares her research and views on equity, the scientific method, credentials in medicine and law, colorblind meritocracy, classical music, crime, and the skills gap, all while affably referring to Peter as “Mr. Lefty.” Heather Mac Donald is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a New York Times bestselling author. Her writing has appeared in various publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, and The New Criterion. Her numerous honors include the Integrity in Journalism Award, the Eugene Katz Award, and the 2005 Bradley Prize.