with Julia Galef
September 15, 2013 How has alternative medicine managed to become so mainstream? This episode of Rationally Speaking features Dr. Paul Offit, award-winning specialist in vaccines, immunology and pediatrics, and author of popular books such as “Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine.” Julia and Massimo interview Dr. Offit about the fight against … Read more
September 1, 2013 On this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia survey the present, past, and future of skepticism. Special guest Kendrick Frazier, editor of Skeptical Inquirer, talks about how the movement’s focus has changed and what the frontiers of skepticism should be.
June 30, 2013 In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Julia and Massimo turn their attention to connoisseurship — or snobbery, depending on your point of view! Fine wines, bottled water, high-end audio equipment — what all these have in common are passionate customers who are discriminating enough to pay top dollar for subtle differences between … Read more
June 17, 2013 Looking for love online? You’re not alone — one in five new relationships nowadays begin on a dating site. But just how scientific are the “matching algorithms” sites like eHarmony and OKCupid use? What does cognitive psychology tell us about how this new choice context affects our happiness? Massimo and Julia turn … Read more
June 3, 2013 The next time you’re kicking yourself for some stupid mistake, remember: Even history’s genuises screw up! Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio joins this episode of Rationally Speaking to talk about his new book, “Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein – Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe.” Learn about … Read more
May 19, 2013 Astrophysicist and author Sean Carroll joins this episode of Rationally Speaking, to talk about “naturalism” — the philosophical viewpoint that there are no supernatural phenomena, and the universe runs on scientific laws. Sean, Julia, and Massimo discuss what distinguishes naturalism from similar philosophies like physicalism and materialism, and what a naturalistic worldview implies about … Read more
May 5, 2013 Why does the universe exist? And is that even a sensical question to ask? Philosopher Jim Holt has written extensively for publications such as the New Yorker, the New York Times and Harper’s, and most recently embarked on this “existential detective story” in his new book, Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story Jim … Read more
April 21, 2013 In a special live Rationally Speaking, taped at NECSS 2013, Julia Galef moderates a lively discussion between Massimo and Michael Shermer, head of the Skeptic Society and founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine. The topic: Can science tell us what is “moral”? This discussion comes after both men have tackled the question separately in … Read more
April 7, 2013 Just like love, motherhood, and apple pie, no one could be against fairness. No one, that is, except philosopher Stephen Asma, the author of “Against Fairness.” Massimo and Julia sit down with Stephen in this episode of Rationally Speaking, to talk about what he thinks is wrong with the concept of fairness — and about … Read more
March 24, 2013 How long does it take for one-half of everything we know about a subject to be proven wrong? Depends on the subject. 45 years, for example, if that subject is cirrhosis or hepatitis. Samuel Arbesman, applied mathematician and author of “The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an expiration Date”, joins Julia … Read more