Point of Inquiry

Host: Robert Price A couple of student hecklers once reproved Marlowe's Dr. Faustus: "Faustus! Plumb the depths of that which you profess!" Many evangelical Christians have buckled down to study apologetics or biblical studies in just that spirit—and wound up not professing any more! Their stories are often eerily similar yet always fascinating! And such a delver was Jaco Gericke. First he read the "safe" stuff, then the books they warned him not to read, and then everything else! Today Dr. Gericke is on the faculty of Humanities at North-West University in South Africa. He holds the Doctor of Letters degree in Semitic Languages and a Ph.D. in Old Testament with a specialization in Philosophy of Religion. He is the author of dozens of published papers and conference presentations. One of his essays, "Can God Exist if Yahweh Doesn't?" appears in the new John W. Loftus anthology, The End of Christianity from Prometheus Books. His quest is strikingly similar to that of Point of Inquiry host Robert M. Price, who interviews him here. You're welcome to come and compare notes.

Host: Chris Mooney Our guest this week is Rebecca Watson, the founder of the Skepchick blog. Recently, she's been at the center of an explosive controversy over the relationship between feminism and the skeptic/atheist movement. It all started when Watson made a relatively casual remark in a video to her followers. She was discussing her travels and a talk she'd given in Ireland about sexism in the atheist/skeptic community. Overall, Watson said, the response to her remarks had been great—but then she added something else. After the talk, she said, she'd received an advance from a man in an elevator—a man who apparently didn't get the message. "Guys, don't do that," said Watson. "I was a single woman in a foreign country at 4 am in a hotel elevator with you. Just you. Don't invite me back to your hotel room right after I finish talking about how it creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner." In one way or another—and with many other debate participants involved-this story led to thousands upon thousands of blog comments, and an outpouring of support-and criticism. So Point of Inquiry asked Watson to address the controversy, and to talk more generally about atheism and feminism. Rebecca Watson is the founder of the Skepchick blog, a co-host of the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe podcast, and a prominent speaker and commenter on skepticism, feminism, freethought, and the religious right.

Host: Karen Stollznow Richard Wiseman is Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in England. Richard began his career as a professional magician before pursuing a career in psychology, and developing a reputation for research into luck, deception, the paranormal, humor, and the science of self-help. Richard is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Skeptical Inquirer consulting editor. He is the author of many books, including The Luck Factor, Quirkology and 59 Seconds. In this interview with Karen Stollznow, Richard talks about his latest book, Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There. Instead of examining paranormal phenomena, he discusses why it's more worthwhile to investigate the insights paranormal phenomena tell us about our brains, behavior and beliefs. Richard explains why we're "wired for weird", demonstrates how skeptics can perform "miracles", and reveals the real secrets of the supernatural.

Host: Chris Mooney It's not often that Hollywood takes up the subject of atheism directly—much less sympathetically. Even rarer is finding this in a film starring major names like Liv Tyler and Terence Howard. But that's what Matthew Chapman has achieved in The Ledge—which also stars Patrick Wilson and Charlie Hunnan. Besides being a screenwriter and author, Chapman himself is an atheist, freethinker, science advocate, and great-great grandson of Charles Darwin. Without giving away the plot of The Ledge—which opens on July 8 in New York and Los Angeles—suffice it to say that it is a gutsy defense of freethinking and unbelief, framed as a star-studded romantic thriller. And perhaps even more than any work of nonfiction, it may have a unique potential to drive a national conversation about atheism. So recently, Chris Mooney caught up with Matthew Chapman for lunch in New York City to interview him about the film, what inspired it, and what he hopes its impact will be.

Host: Robert Price D.M. Murdock, who also goes by the pen name "Acharya S.," is the author of The Christ Conspiracy, the most controversial of modern treatments of the Christ Myth theory. She has had to field flack from both apologists and atheists.  An independent scholar of comparative religion and mythology, Murdock was educated in Classics and Greek Civilization, at Franklin & Marshall College and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. She has traveled extensively around Greece, participating in the archaeological excavation at Corinth, in addition, probably, to eating loads of squid. Her other books include Suns of God, Who Was Jesus? and Christ in Egypt. Her articles and books can be found at her websites TruthBeKnown.com, StellarHousePublishing.com and FreethoughtNation.com. Point of Inquiry is happy to feature an interview with Acharya by fellow Jesus Mythicist Robert M. Price (assuming, of course, that both of them exist!).

Host: Chris Mooney Recently, we've seen a spate of news stories—and news incidents—involving conservative politicians and activists getting details wrong about American history. There was, most infamously, Sarah Palin saying that Paul Revere, on his famous midnight ride, rang bells and "warned the British." There was Michele Bachman, claiming that the founding fathers "worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States." Actually, the constitution explicitly treated slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of apportioning representatives to different states. And then was David Barton, conservatives' go-to guy on history, suggesting that Tom Paine was, basically, a supporter of creationism. To try to figure out what's going on lately with conservatives and history, we turn to a historian, Rick Perlstein. Perlstein is the author of several books including Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of American Consensus, and Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. He's also a regular contributor to a variety of publications including The American Prospect and Mother Jones.

Host: Karen Stollznow This week’s guest is Jean Mercer, a Developmental Psychologist and Professor Emerita at Richard Stockton College. She is the author of the new book Child Development: Myths and Misunderstandings. Jean writes the blog "Child Myths", and along with Penn Jillette and Richard Dawkins, she is a co-author of Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion. Jean is also a contributor and Consulting Editor to the Center for Inquiry’s journal, the Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. In this interview with Karen Stollznow, Jean talks about the developing field of developmental psychology. Jean jokes that "studying child development isn’t rocket science…it’s a lot more complicated than that!" This is an area that is fraught with myths, mistakes and misconceptions; Jean explains how these develop and the often serious repercussions. Jean discusses the importance of critical thinking about child development. Pseudoscientific therapies often have the semblance of science, so what information can we trust? Jean talks about the emphasis on evidence-based practice in developmental psychology, and why we have to think critically about that too.

Host: Chris Mooney Our guest this week is Michael Shermer, the publisher of Skeptic magazine and head of the Skeptics Society, and a longtime commentator on issues relating to science, critical thinking, and the paranormal. Chris asked Michael on to discuss his new book, which is entitled The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies, How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them As Truths. Clearly, much of what Shermer has to say here will be of great relevance to skeptics and freethinkers—and along the way, Shermer also discusses his views on global warming (real, but not such a big deal) and how to promote evolution in a religious America. In addition to publishing Skeptic, Michael Shermer is  a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and Adjunct Professor at Claremont Graduate University. His other books include Why People Believe in Weird Things and Why Darwin Matters.

Host: Robert Price Do you often wish you lived in the far future? Or on a different planet? Do your friends and family think you belong there, too? Cheer up! This may not be just because you're a science fiction nerd! It may be because you espouse a worldview that is in the distinct minority in our time and place—Secular Humanism! It is a vision of a better future. And that is no doubt why many of us feel such an affinity for SF, and of course for Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. It is a vision of a future when scientific Humanism has prevailed. Join Robert Price, himself a notorious Sci-Fi/Fantasy geek, as he interviews the far more respectable Scott Lohman, a lifelong Trekker and a prominent leader and broadcaster for Humanists of Minnesota. And by the way, did you know Captain Kirk never once said the words "Beam me up, Scottie"?

Host: Chris Mooney From Birthers, to Truthers, to Deathers—to occasional Liars—America seems to be crawling right now with fevered conspiracy mongers. What's up with that? To find out, Point of Inquiry turns in this episode to Jonathan Kay, author of the new book Among the Truthers: A Journey into America's Growing Conspiracist Underground. In it, Kay provides a fascinating look at some of our indigenous kooks, and why they seem to be thriving right now. Jonathan Kay is the managing editor of Canada's National Post newspaper and a weekly columnist for its op-ed page. Kay's writing covers a diversity of subjects, and he's been published in a variety of outlets including Commentary, the New York Post, Reader's Digest, and the New Yorker. In 2002, he was awarded Canada's National Newspaper Award for Critical Writing, and in 2004 he won a National Newspaper Award for Editorial Writing.