Point of Inquiry

Host: Karen Stollznow Robert Sheaffer is a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry fellow and author of the "Psychic Vibrations" column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. He writes the "Bad UFO" blog and "The Debunker's Domain" website, and is the author of The UFO Verdict: Examining the Evidence, UFO Sightings - The Evidence and The Making of the Messiah: Christianity and Resentment.  A prolific researcher of supernatural claims, Robert specializes in UFOs and conspiracy theories. Many favor the term "investigator", but he doesn't shy away from the label "debunker". In this interview with Karen Stollznow, Robert talks about his observations of pseudoscience and the paranormal over the 30-year course of his column. He presents us with a potted history of UFOs, and discusses the trends over time in both belief and skepticism. The evidence is as poor (or non-existent) as ever, but the fascination is stronger than ever. Robert delves into the themes of conspiracy theories; what are the things "they" don't want us to know? He speaks about how and why they emerge and how we can tackle them. He answers the question, "Have any conspiracy theories ever turned out to be correct, or is a "true conspiracy theory" really something else?"

Special Guest Host: Ronald A. Lindsay In this special episode, Chris Mooney changes places and becomes the interviewee—and then finds himself facing some probing questions from CFI President and CEO Ronald A. Lindsay. This frank interview is all substance and no fluff as Mooney is asked to defend accommodationism and his Templeton Foundation fellowship. The tough questions elicit vigorous replies as Mooney restates his belief that some of the New Atheists are adopting the wrong tactics in criticizing religion. In the second part of the interview, Mooney discusses his recent work on the psychology of belief in general, emphasizing how our commitments and our values shape our reasoning and our processing of information. Ronald A. Lindsay is a bioethicist, lawyer, and President and CEO of the Center for Inquiry. For many years he practiced law in Washington, DC, and was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and American University, where he taught jurisprudence and philosophy courses. As well as a usual host of Point of Inquiry, Chris Mooney is a science and political journalist and commentator and the author of three books, including the New York Times bestselling The Republican War on Science and Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, co-authored by Sheril Kirshenbaum. They also write "The Intersection" blog together for Discover blogs. Note: This episode was recorded on board the 2011 CFI Greek Islands Cruise on which Mooney was a speaker.

Host: Robert Price Robert "Bo" Bennett wears many hats (author, motivational speaker, black belt Karate master, businessman, etc.) but manages not to have a swelled head to accommodate them! His latest book is called The Concept: Introduction to Christian Nontheism, an accessible and engaging presentation of the case for maintaining one's Christian identity once one has outgrown belief in biblical inspiration, miracles, even God. True, if anyone else in your church found out, they might kick you out, but you wouldn't have a guilty conscience! How to manage this? Is it a mere mind-game? Why bother? What makes Christianity still attractive once the beliefs are gone? This is one interview certain to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable!

George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist at UC Berkeley, discusses the neuroscience of politics, biconceptualism, metaphors in morality and governance, the relationship between religion and politics, and indicators of the new enlightenment.

Host: Karen Stollznow Our guest this week is Josh Rosenau, the Programs and Policy Director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and writer of the blog "Thoughts from Kansas" at ScienceBlogs. Josh has pursued a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas, studying the ways ecological competition shapes the ecological niche and geographical ranges of species. In his role at the NCSE, he works with grassroots groups, testifies before school boards, meets with legislators, works with scientists to be more effective communicators and the public to increase science literacy globally. In this interview with Karen Stollznow, Josh presents the "Three Pillars of Creationism", the beliefs and claims of creationists. He describes their rhetoric and propaganda, and the setbacks they cause for science, from legal cases to creationist theme parks. Josh also talks about some recent successes for science. The NCSE works tirelessly to battle creationists and improve the public understanding of evolution. But this is an organization that aims to "go out of business", and where the staff members ultimately aim to be out of their jobs.

Host: Chris Mooney When the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan last month, it left behind not only mass destruction, but also a nuclear crisis that was covered 24-7 by the international media.  Since then, we've been embroiled in a huge debate about nuclear policy—should there be a "Nuclear Renaissance" in the United States, or should we put it on hold? A central issue underlying all this is the scientific question of risk. How dangerous is radiation, anyway? Do we overreact to reactors?  To tackle that question, we turned to two different guests. One is one of the world's foremost experts on radiation exposure and its health consequences; the other is a journalist who's done a new book about why we often misperceive risk, to our own detriment. David Brenner is the director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. His research focuses on understanding the effects of radiation, at both high and low doses, on living systems, and he has published more than 200 papers in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Dr. Brenner was the recipient of the 1991 Radiation Research Society Annual Research Award, and the 1992 National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements Award for Radiation Protection in Medicine.  David Ropeik is an author, consultant, and speaker on risk communication and risk perception, and an instructor in the Harvard University School of Education, Environmental Management program. He's the author of the 2010 book How Risky is it Really? Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts.

Host: Robert Price One of the outstanding leaders of organized atheism in our day is a man named August Berkshire. He is a non-believer of broad sympathies, having served as an officer and/or board member of organizations as diverse as Minnesota Atheists, Atheist Alliance International, Humanists of Minnesota, Freedom from Religion Foundation, and others.  He is also a community activist at the forefront of church-state separation issues. August brings a winning charm and personal openness to numerous speaking engagements throughout the numerous college and high school classrooms in the Minneapolis area every year. He is a prolific author of thought-provoking anti-theological pamphlets and the caretaker of a website, AugustBerkshire.com. In this wide-ranging conversation with Robert Price, Berkshire discusses his history as an atheist activist. He explains his approach to talking about atheism to the public and why it works. He talks about what atheist activists can learn from the LGBTQ movement, why we need to come out as atheists, when we should work with religious groups and when we shouldn't, and much more.

Host: Chris Mooney Physicist Lawrence Krauss has written numerous popular books about science, including the bestselling The Physics of Star Trek. But now he's tried something different—penning a scientific biography of the famed Nobel Prize winning physicist (and infamous bon vivant) Richard Feynman. The resulting book, Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science, is a fascinating look at the scientific innovations of this larger-than-life figure—a man who also revolutionized physics teaching at Caltech, played a central role in investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and was notorious for hanging out in strip clubs and playing the bongos. So Point of Inquiry reached Krauss to learn what writing this book was like, and what he learned about Feynman, and about physics at the very highest level, in the process. Lawrence Krauss is an internationally known theoretical physicist and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. He's published hundreds of scientific papers as well as numerous popular books, including The Physics of Star Trek, Fear of Physics, and The Fifth Essence.

Host: Karen Stollznow My guest this week is Cheryl Russell, a recognized authority on statistics and demographics. Cheryl is the editorial director of New Strategist Publications and the former editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine. She is the author of the "Demo Memo" blog and the books The Master Trend, 100 Predictions for the Baby Boom and Bet You Didn't Know: Hundreds of Intriguing Facts about Living in the USA. In this interview with Karen Stollznow, Cheryl reveals that demographic information challenges deeply embedded beliefs about society and explains why there is such a gap between belief and reality. She shows that statistics and demography are not so dull, but instead they afford us a fascinating glimpse into society. Cheryl explains that typically, the more economically developed the country, the lower the religiosity. Paradoxically, the United States is one of the world's most religious countries. Cheryl discusses some statistics about belief. What percentage of Americans believe in god without a doubt? Do Americans think it is necessary to believe in God to be moral? How many people believe in religious miracles? How many believe in evolution? How reliable are these statistics anyway?

Host: Chris Mooney Recently, it has come to light that many scientists—scientists who don't believe in God--nevertheless claim to be "spiritual but not religious." Some in the secular movement have responded favorably to this new trend-one unfolding against the backdrop of an increasingly secular America, and a millennial generation that is also discarding traditional religion while extolling spiritual meaning. Yet others are sharply opposed, calling secular "spirituality" little more than a semantic gambit, a misappropriation of misleading, faith-infused language. In this week's show, we present two different takes on whether we should embrace, or discard, the concept of godless spirituality. Our first guest, Adam Frank, is a nonbeliever with a deep respect for the domains of human spiritual endeavor who represents the pro-spirituality view. Frank is an assistant professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester, where he studies the formation and evolution of stars. He's also a freelance writer for Discover and Astronomy magazines, a blogger at NPR's 13.7, and author of the book The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate. Our second guest, Tom Flynn, is a non-believer represents the anti-spirituality view. He's the executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, editor of Free Inquiry magazine, director of Inquiry Media Productions, and director of the Robert G. Ingersoll Birthplace Museum, among many other accomplishments. He has written numerous books, both fictional and non fictional, including 1993's famed (and in-famed) The Trouble with Christmas.