April 04, 2010

Five Years of Skepticality

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Derek and Swoopy

Derek and Swoopy discuss the growth of skeptical podcasting in the five years since they founded the influential podcast Skepticality. They talk about how hosting their show opened new opportunities for them.They explore the extent to which skeptical podcasts foster insularity within the skeptical movement, or succeed as outreach tools reaching new audiences for science and critical thinking, and the influence of such podcasts on the growth of local skeptics community groups. And they talk about the future of skepticism and skeptical digital outreach.

In this week’s installment of the Honest Liar, Jamy Ian Swiss poses the question: What’s the harm?

Listener Reactions

  1. Talking about formats, I’ve always enjoyed the thoughtful interview format D.J. Grothe so skillfully did on the Point of Inquiry, and now on the For Good Reason Podcast. But it’s even better with the Honest Liar section.

    Anyways, thank you Derek and Swoopy for starting what it has turned to be a phenomenal movement. I was a fan of science and skepticism before, usually quenching my thirst on few magazines, or online articles, but with the rise of podcasts, and with it, the rise of skepticism - spearheaded by you guys, I’ve had the opportunity to get in touch with people that are curious, like me, and don’t want to accept any simple explanation….

    This movement introduced me to a lot of literature that I might not have considered even reading before. Introduced me to subjects I didn’t know I liked.

    Perhaps others had a similar story, and for that I thank you.
    smile

    Brian Tani 06:48am, 04/06/2010 #1

  2. Congrats Swoopy and Derek on this grand milestone. Skepticality and Point of Inquiry were the first podcasts I started listening to as a skeptic and now all of you are on For Good Reason! I don’t agree with all of you about the iPad but I thought that discussion was funny too. I hope to meet you at TAM, this is my first year I will be there and I hope you will be, too, but I don’t see you on the program *HINT HINT.

    Larry the Skeptic Guy 11:12am, 04/06/2010 #2

  3. I love listening to Skepticality and other great critical thinking podcasts.  It helps me antagonize believers and deny my life element on a daily basis lol.  Seriously, though, good job Derrek and Swoopy, keep the non-faith baby.

    Robert 03:14pm, 04/07/2010 #3

  4. Thank you for pointing me towards another skeptical podcast, I’ll definitely check Skepticality out (*ashamed of not having done so before*)

    As for the iPad debate, my answer is: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ipad.

    ...I wonder why the skeptical community doesn’t talk more about DRM, open source and all that.

    Anicka 02:38pm, 04/08/2010 #4

  5. Brilliant! Great to see DJ will still be keeping us all sane. This one is definitely going on the list and congrats Skepticality!

    Psychmaven 06:07am, 04/09/2010 #5

  6. I really enjoyed this podcast, DJ. I had actually never heard of the Skepticality podcast before, and am glad to have learned about it. I see that all of Derek and Swoopy’s podcasts are available for download, and I look forward to listening to some of them.

    George Maschke 09:01am, 04/10/2010 #6

  7. DJ as always great episode!
    There are few indeed great science|skeptic podcasts.

    Skeptoid, Skeptic Guide to the Universe, Point of Inquiry, Skepticality and now we can enjoy For Good Reason. Glad to see the reason-based community is growing in this New Age era.

    And now, please do forgive me dmabus, but in my opinion this forum is not a good place for your spam-like comments.

    If I am supposed to treat your comments seriously, they are not really constructive. It looks just like a small, young, angry baby shouting some impolite mantras. If your comments are a kind of joke, they are not funny.

    Anyway, please stop copy & pasting your comment with each episode. It’s not clever, impolite and disturbs this clean, intelligent and reason-based website, created for critical thinking, critical doubt, etc. But not for discharging some immature feeling about god.

    It is not a comment for further discussion - it is point you should consider.
    I won’t discuss with you. I guess all people here will ignore your posts unless you write something more mature.

    Kind regards,

    Qayin

    Qayin 07:02pm, 04/10/2010 #7

  8. Derek and Swoopy are wonderful people. Upbeat and kind.  I’ve enjoyed listening to their podcasts.

    Riley 07:32am, 04/12/2010 #8

  9. Another great podcast, well balanced and thought provoking.
    I just wondered about the celebratory tones when hearing about people who had been converted from religion. Don’t get me wrong - I am an atheist, I think religion carries the blame for many wars and much heartache but it is a great comfort for many, especially near their time of death. I come across this frequently in my work and would never try and remove this source of comfort from those who are suffering.

    There’s nothing more scary than someone who is confidently wrong - and this applies to atheists as well as theists. Maybe we should concentrate on the search for evidence and, where we can’t prove a negative, lets put the unexplained on the unexplained pile rather than just dismissing it.

    Dr Bill 01:25am, 04/13/2010 #9

  10. Great episode! Thank you Derek and Swoopy, hope to meet you at TAM

    Owlik 05:48am, 04/15/2010 #10

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