I would like to promote a podcast that I truly think is worth posting about. This podcast has changed my life. It is called the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.
Without going into my own personal anecdotal story, I will say that it has won the 2009 Best Educational Podcast and 2010 Best Science Podcast awards according to podcastawards.com.
Hosted by a neurologist from Yale University, Dr. Steven Novella is one of the most intelligent human beings I have ever listened to, and definitely the most well-rounded in his knowledge. He is accompanied by his geeky brother, Bob, his video game-loving brother Jay, his friend Evan, and the ever-so down-to-earth Rebecca. Old episodes also included a beloved member of the show, Perry, who passed away after the second year of the show's production from a chronic illness. This was a terrible tragedy and he is still remembered to this day.
The podcast is "dedicated to promoting critical thinking, reason, and the public understanding of science." Each week, the caster's discuss recent news items, answer listeners' questions and interview a guest. Past interviewees include President Gerald Ford, Matt Stone from Southpark, and a plethora of highly intelligent scientists and critical thinkers.
The show has tens of thousands of listeners each week, and has expanded to holding live events around the world. Listeners flock from all over the globe to meet and speak with the crew.
Without further ado, the links to their website is here:
You can also find it easily on iTunes, where it has a solid 5 star rating and great reviews.
I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I have over the years. I would not be posting about it if it wasn't so important to me.
PS- I encourage you to listen to the "Science or Fiction" segment of the show at the end of each episode, where the cast is asked to pick which fact out of three is fiction. It is a lot of fun!
What a coincidence, I just discovered this the other day and I can't stop listening. I just downloaded everything they had and I'm starting at the beginning. Worth listening to.
Does anyone have 1-5 specific podcasts that they think are the most important/significant from these guys? Don't have time to listen to 255+ podcasts so it would help a lot
I loved skepticism when I was a teenager. Now I love credulousness and earnestness :O
On April 16 2011 01:40 Nagano wrote: Does anyone have 1-5 specific podcasts that they think are the most important/significant from these guys? Don't have time to listen to 255+ podcasts so it would help a lot
On April 16 2011 01:40 Nagano wrote: Does anyone have 1-5 specific podcasts that they think are the most important/significant from these guys? Don't have time to listen to 255+ podcasts so it would help a lot
I suggest you find one about any topic that you like. Just read the information and choose one. Also, the old ones are a bit more broad and general than the more recent ones that are more specific b/c they have already discussed the topics in the past.
But if you definitely want one recommended to you, I thought that one of the more recent ones where they brought a nuclear physicist on the show to discuss the Fukushima power plant disaster in Japan was informative about an important current event. It's nice hearing an expert talk about these things instead of most of the junk on the internet and mainstream news stations.
Do you NEED itunes listen to those? I don't have that. All I can find in their page is a youtube link and an itunes link. Is there any other way to see a list of all podcasts and download them?
On April 16 2011 02:43 VIB wrote: Do you NEED itunes listen to those? I don't have that. All I can find in their page is a youtube link and an itunes link. Is there any other way to see a list of all podcasts and download them?
edit: nvm found it
If anyone else wants it: feed://www.theskepticsguide.org/feed/rss.aspx?feed=SGU
lol if anyone is still looking for a good example of what they do, take a look at this youtube video, it's awesome. It's just a small piece (5min) of their podcast adapted into a video with random pictures put on top of it. It's hilarious:
The show looks pretty cool so far, only listened to the one podcast about japan that someone had recommended here. And saw the youtube vids. Gonna listen some more later. I recommend it. Thanks for letting us know about this!
I'm never going to understand how "skepticism" can be mass marketed, it makes me think of all the kids who dress in the same "nonconformist" from how I look at it it sort of goes against the whole principal but to each their own I guess.
Sorry to bring back kinda old post, but I really wanted to thank the OP for linking this, I started listening since he posted and can confirm it is awesome.
I listen to it all the time, while driving, working, drinking and playing sc2, it is indeed an escape to reallity in the sea of sensationlistic and dumb media and dumb people who buy into it, highly recommended!
Oh thanks for bumping this not like it was that old. Fan of these kind of discussions so I'm sure I'll enjoy this given it's done in conjunction with James Randi's group. Been looking for more podcasts type shows I can listen to as well.
I'm 100% in the same boat as Jankisa. I heard about SGU because of this post and now I listen to it all the time, been kinda addicted to it. Thanks a lot to the OP for sharing this.
BlackMagister, if you want other podcasts like this you can try Neil Tyson's podcast that I found out about just the other day: - http://startalkradio.net/ - his podcast - http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/ - his official webpage with videos and articles
The SGU forums and IRC are also incredibly active and diverse. If you're interested: - http://sguforums.com/ - sgu forums (click in Chat for the IRC)
EPT![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Skepticsguideweb.gif)
