Join Thomas for some critical thinking on questions of science, philosophy, skepticism and politics. These serious topics are discussed with some serious guests, but in an entertaining and engaging way! This is not your typical interview podcast; it's a friendly dialogue, conducted thoughtfully and with plenty of humor. It's Serious Inquiries Only; but like, not boring or anything.
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Skeptical Inquiry Podcasts
A podcast for scientific, skeptical, secular, rational and humanistic inquiry. They've got answers? We've got questions.
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The Michael Shermer Show is a series of long-form conversations between Dr. Michael Shermer and leading scientists, philosophers, historians, scholars, writers and thinkers about the most important issues of our time.
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A roundup of news relevant to the secular, skeptic, reality-based community. Hosted by Paul Fidalgo, creator of The Morning Heresy blog and newsletter. Presented by the Center for Inquiry. Learn more at centerforinquiry.org
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Is capitalism the engine of destruction or the engine of prosperity? On this podcast we talk about the ways capitalism is—or more often isn’t—working in our world today. Hosted by author and journalist Bethany McLean and world renowned economist Luigi Zingales, we explain how capitalism can go wrong, and what we can do to fix it. Cover photo attributions: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/research/stigler/about/capitalisnt. If you would like to send us feedback, suggestions for guests we should b ...
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The Internet Explorer's Podcast is a comedy-ish, science-ish, history-ish, popculture-ish parody podcast where curiosity meets absurdity. Each week, self-proclaimed "internet explorer" Jimmy dives headfirst into the wildest, weirdest, and most questionable corners of the internet. He “researches” topics like DIY invisibility cloaks, medieval alchemy, and whether plants can feel pain—then confidently explains his findings to a real expert, who sets the record straight while humoring Jimmy’s m ...
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We talk to interesting people via podcast and weekly livestream.
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Welcome to Caleb Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories and perspectives that challenge conventional religious thought. Join me, Caleb Parker, your host and fellow seeker, as we embark on a journey to explore spirituality, faith, and humanity from a refreshingly open-minded perspective. In each episode, I sit down with guests from diverse backgrounds and walks of life. From artists to activists, scientists to philosophers, we engage in candid conversations that transcend the boundaries ...
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New episodes coming soon! Chasing Shadows Radio is a podcast that investigates the world’s strangest stories — from cryptids and conspiracies to ancient legends and cutting-edge technolgy— all through a skeptical, evidence-based lens. Originally broadcast on community radio, Chasing Shadows built its foundation on curious inquiry and critical thinking. Now, with a new season and renewed focus, we’re doubling down on expert voices, scientific perspectives, and thorough investigations that go ...
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Dear People of Earth Science and Physics- The UFO Podcast - Disclosure - Aliens - UAP
Steve Sprague
🌌 Welcome to ”Dear People of Earth,” the podcast that takes you on an exhilarating journey into the heart of the UFO and UAP enigma through the lens of science and discovery. 🚀 If you’ve ever wondered about the mysteries that reside in the night sky or the science behind those unidentified flying objects, you’re in the right place. Join us as we embark on an exploration of the cosmos and the uncharted territory of UFOs and UAPs. 🔬 Dive deep into the realm of UFO science and physics with our ...
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Deborah Hyde: Skeptical Inquiry into the Supernatural
59:20
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59:20Deborah Hyde joins the Plutopia News Network podcast to explore why sane, rational people can sincerely report supernatural experiences — ghosts, werewolves, UFOs — without those experiences necessarily reflecting reality. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, social influence (including “mass sociogenic” phenomena), history, and folklore, she argue…
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SIO501: What Pluribus Gets Right about Neuroscience
50:41
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50:41Subject of much sci-fi media and philosophy discussions, the "hive mind" is also a key element of Vince Gilligan's (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) new show, Pluribus. Dr. Jenessa Seymour joins the pod to walk us through examples that we have studied of hive mind behavior (in the insect world), and why we can reasonably assert that you could not ma…
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What Makes You "You" When Everything Is Just Atoms?
1:50:20
1:50:20
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1:50:20What is consciousness, really? Why does it not simply switch on at a single moment? Neuroscientist Niko Kukushkin explains how even single cells can show primitive forms of memory and agency, why the human mind is not a mysterious force floating above biology, and why reducing it to "just neurons" misses what actually matters. He also discusses the…
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How To Fix The American Tax System - ft. Ray Madoff
54:46
54:46
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54:46Is the American tax code a fair engine for growth, or a "second estate" where the rich choose whether or not to pay? We are often told that the top 1% of earners already pay 40% of all taxes, while nearly half of Americans pay nothing at all. Legal scholar Ray Madoff argues that this statistic is a deliberate "bait-and-switch" designed to confuse t…
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Roy Casagranda returns to the Plutopia News Network to help the hosts process what Scoop calls the “cornucopia of crap” that was 2025, ranging from social media’s corrosive incentives to AI hype, rising economic pain, and the destabilizing effects of Trump-era foreign and domestic policy heading into the 2026 midterms. Casagranda argues the U.S. is…
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Francis Crick is best known as one of the figures behind the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, but the familiar story leaves out as much as it explains. Historian of science Matthew Cobb looks closely at how Crick's life actually unfolded, revealing a career shaped less by inevitability than by luck, conflict, false starts, and a seri…
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SIO500: A New Study Suggests Brain Imaging Might Have Significant Flaws
1:12:56
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1:12:56Brain pics, or they didn't happen? There's a recent study that demonstrates that some brain region activity might interact differently with oxygen than previously assumed. This could upend significant neuroscience research spanning decades. Thankfully SIO has Dr. Jenessa Seymour to come in and break it all down for us! We start with a primer on the…
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How One Black Man Dismantled the KKK, One Conversation at a Time
1:05:15
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1:05:15What do you do when someone believes you shouldn't exist? Daryl Davis didn't protest. He didn't shout. He sat down, asked questions, and kept showing up. Over decades, that approach has led more than 200 Ku Klux Klan members and white supremacists to walk away from their robes for good. In this conversation, Davis explains why people radicalize, an…
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In this excerpt from the Plutopia News Network, Cory Doctorow discusses his book Enshittification and the broader forces behind why digital platforms (and other industries) have “suddenly gotten worse.” He explains the term’s now-famous three-stage cycle: platforms lure users with quality, pivot to serving business customers at users’ expense, then…
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The Collapse of Open Inquiry: Sacred Victims and Forbidden Questions
1:30:00
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1:30:00Open inquiry depends on the ability to ask uncomfortable questions and follow evidence wherever it leads. Eric Kaufmann argues that this norm is now under strain. Drawing on history, survey data, and political theory, Kaufmann outlines how certain identity categories came to be treated as morally sacred—and how that shift has reshaped debates about…
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The Future of Brain Implants: Restoring Speech, Regaining Mobility, Treating Pain
1:00:21
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1:00:21Brain-computer interfaces are moving out of the lab and into real medical use. In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael Shermer talks with Dr. Matt Angle, founder and CEO of Paradromics, a neurotechnology company developing one of the most advanced high-data-rate brain implants in the world, similar to Neuralink. These devices record ac…
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Austin environmental activist Paul Robbins joins the Plutopia News Network to discuss the 2025–26 edition of the Austin Environmental Directory, framed around “resilience” in the wake of Winter Storm Uri and recurring disasters, and packed with practical guidance on low-cost outage survival, home-scale energy and water conservation, and local food …
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The Original Alien Craze: When People Believed in Martians
1:26:06
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1:26:06At the turn of the 20th century, millions of Americans, including elite scientists, major newspapers, and cultural icons, were convinced that Mars was home to an advanced civilization. In this episode, Michael Shermer speaks with award-winning science journalist David Baron about one of the most astonishing episodes in scientific-cultural history. …
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How Capitalism Became Global ft. Sven Beckert
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52:52Is capitalism a force of nature, or a human-made order that we have the power to shape? In this episode, Luigi and Bethany sit down with Sven Beckert, a Harvard historian and author of the new book A Global History of Capitalism, to tackle a question that seems basic but remains surprisingly difficult to answer: what exactly is capitalism? Beckert …
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Living life as a Humanist, with Steve Ghikadis
1:00:40
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1:00:40Steve Ghikadis is a Humanist Officiant, who conducts secular marriages, memorials, and other life affirming celebrations. Raised as a freethinker, Steve has been married to a Christian for over a decade. Steve serves as an Ambassador for Humanist Canada, Recovering from Religion, and Sunday Assembly. Leslie speaks with Steve about his book, Humanis…
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How AI Sees Science Differently Than We Do
2:07:33
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2:07:33What if the great discoveries of science came in the "wrong" order? The Laws of Thermodynamics were discovered well after the creation of algebra, classical physics, and chemistry, but are perhaps much more important to our basic understanding of the universe. Chris Edwards argues that AI will be able to understand science outside of the traditiona…
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Can You Spot a Killer? The Dangerous Fantasy of Criminal Profiling
1:14:10
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1:14:10Criminal profiling promises certainty in the face of horror: this is what a killer looks like, this is how they think, this is how we stop them. But what if that promise is mostly an illusion? In this episode, Michael Shermer is joined by journalist and author Rachel Corbett to dismantle the myths behind criminal profiling, from the FBI's Behaviora…
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How to Stop “Ensh*ttification” Before It Kills the Internet - ft. Cory Doctorow
56:10
56:10
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56:10There’s a word that’s gained a lot of popularity in the last year: “ensh*ttification”. It refers to a trajectory many see with digital platforms: they initially offer immense value to users, only to systematically degrade that quality over time in order to extract maximum surplus for shareholders. We invited the coiner of this term, science fiction…
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Johannes Grenzfurthner: Hacking at Leaves
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1:05:41Austrian filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist Johannes Grenzfurthner joins the Plutopia podcast to discuss his two new films: Hacking at Leaves, an experimental documentary sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic and rooted in the struggles of Navajo communities, U.S. healthcare failures, and hacker-led mutual aid; and Solvent, a found-footage horror fi…
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Why Wars Last Longer Than Experts Predict
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1:01:39For nearly two centuries, international relations have been premised on the idea of the "Great Powers." As the thinking went, these mighty states—the European empires of the nineteenth century, the United States and the USSR during the Cold War—were uniquely able to exert their influence on the world stage because of their overwhelming military cap…
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The Emergent Mind: From Ant Colonies to Human Thought to Artificial Intelligence
1:44:30
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1:44:30In this episode of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael sits down with two giants of mind and machine science: Jay McClelland, one of the founders of modern neural networks, and Gaurav Suri, computational neuroscientist and director of the RAD Lab. Drawing from decades of research, they walk us through the revolution from behaviorism to cognitive psyc…
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