Conversations with Peter Boghossian

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Peter Boghossian & Kathleen Stock: Lesbians Don't Have Penises Aug 06, 2023

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Special thanks to Birch Gold Group for sponsoring today's episode. Text "PETER" to 989898 for your FREE info kit on gold. Kathleen Stock is a British philosopher, author, and gender critical feminist who recently left mainstream academia. She resigned her professorship at Sussex University at the end of 2021 due to ideological censorship and death threats from trans activists. Like Peter Boghossian, Kathleen is a Founding Faculty Fellow at the University of Austin, Texas (UATX). Peter and Kathleen were both participating faculty in UATX's Forbidden Courses program this summer and met for a conversation. Kathleen talks about the strange new world LGBTQ+ activists have created for gay men and lesbians, particularly defining gay identity as "same gender attracted." Kathleen, herself a lesbian, is concerned about the confusing messages young lesbians receive from gender ideologues—like the notion that "lesbians can have penises." Peter and Kathleen also discuss preferred pronouns, cultish qualities in trans activism, the new Virgin Mary (any pregnant trans man), the callow misuse of philosophy, the effect of morally fashionable beliefs on philosophers, ruined academic disciplines, Wittgenstein, women's competitive nature, the Substitution Hypothesis, the ethics of gender transition, backward reasoning, and hope for the next generation. Kathleen Stock's latest book is "Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism." She is a columnist for UnHerd and recently launched The Lesbian Project with Julie Bindel. Follow Kathleen's work: The Lesbian Project Unheard Twitter Watch this episode on YouTube.

Counter-Revolution: Abolishing DEI, CRT, & Other Woke Menaces | Peter Boghossian & Christopher Rufo Aug 05, 2023

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Filmmaker and writer Christopher Rufo is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Chris has produced documentaries for PBS, Netflix, and international television. He's also a contributing editor at "City Journal," where his articles address critical race theory, gender ideology, homelessness, addiction, crime, and the decline of American cities. Chris just published his first book, "America's Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything," an instant New York Times bestseller. Find more of Chris's work:

Trust Science, Not Scientists | Peter Boghossian & Brian Keating Aug 04, 2023

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Cosmologist Dr. Brian Keating a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego and the Associate Director of the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination. He is the author of "Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor" and "Into the Impossible: Thinking Like a Nobel Prize Winner." Keating hosts the "Into the Impossible" podcast. "Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor" by Brian Keating "Into the Impossible: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner" by Brian Keating YouTube Podcast "Into the Impossible" Center for Human Imagination Website Twitter Watch this episode on YouTube.

The Poetry of Reality | Peter Boghossian & Richard Dawkins Jul 31, 2023

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Peter Boghossian has been inspired by the work of preeminent evolutionary biologist, author, and atheist Richard Dawkins for years. In this conversation, they discuss various impingements of delusional thinking on rationality. Richard is unsettled by the substitution hypothesis—the proposal that as one religion fades, another will take its place. Yet, he recognizes the transfer of religious structures into Woke dogma, including the replacements of white privilege for Biblical original sin and trans ideology for Catholic transubstantiation. Richard says he's wasted his life if humans are destined to embrace a default level of delusional thinking from one source or another. Peter and Richard consider whether some delusions are more benign than others and if the lesser of the evils should be accepted. Richard proposes that scientific thinking and evidence-based belief could replace irrationality, saying the wonders of science provide a "nearly spiritual experience." Also discussed: Fermi's paradox, natural selection, extraterrestrial genetics, skeletal gender, Lamarck vs Darwin, the ideological capture of science journals, tribal belief, and two mysteries unanswered by science. Richard Dawkins is a bestselling author and award-winning evolutionary biologist. He is an advocate for scientific literacy and an outspoken critic of creationism. His most notable books are The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene, both selling millions of copies internationally. Richard's latest book is Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution. Richard hosts The Poetry of Reality podcast and is on the board of the Center for Inquiry. Website: https://richarddawkins.com/links Watch this episode on YouTube.

Civilizational Decline Through Self-Contempt | Peter Boghossian & Benedict Beckeld Jul 31, 2023

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Dr. Benedict Beckeld is a philosopher and author. He explores the denigration of social customs, history, and values in his latest book, "Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia in the Decline of Civilizations." Beckeld's writing can be found in Quillette, City Journal, The American Conservative, and the Salisbury Review, among other publications. "Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia in the Decline of Civilizations" by Benedict Beckeld https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501763180 Website http://www.benedictbeckeld.com/ YouTube: / @benedictbeckeld Twitter https://twitter.com/BenedictBeckeld Watch this episode on YouTube.

The Reality of Gender Affirming Care | Peter Boghossian & Stephanie Winn Jul 27, 2023

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Stephanie Winn is the host of the You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist Podcast. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Portland, Oregon. She also appears in the upcoming documentary film, "No Way Back: The Reality of Gender Affirming Care". Watch this episode on YouTube.

Woke Subjectivism: Feelings Over Facts | Peter Boghossian & Mark Goldblatt Jul 27, 2023

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Mark Goldblatt is an author, essayist, and theologian. In his recent book "I Feel, Therefore I Am: The Triumph of Woke Subjectivism," Goldblatt examines the tension between subjective belief and the inescapable demands of reality. Goldblatt is an education professor at SUNY's Fashion Institute of Technology. His other books include "Might as Well Be Dead," the "Twerp" series, and "Bumper Sticker Liberalism." Goldblatt's essays can be found in The New York Times, Newsday, The New York Post, USA Today, Reason Magazine, and many other publications. Watch the episode on YouTube.

Gender Affirming Care In Oregon | Peter Boghossian & Oregon State Representative Ed Diehl Jul 25, 2023

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Ed Diehl is an Oregon State Congressman. He has debated the chair of Behavioral Health over the bill HB 2002. This episode can also be watched on YouTube.

The American Cultural Revolution | Peter Boghossian & James Lindsay Jul 19, 2023

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James Lindsay is a bestselling author, mathematician, and a leading expert on the ensuing culture war. He is the founder of "New Discourses," a website and podcast analyzing the theory behind, effects of, and solutions to "Woke Marxism". James speaks widely on language, education, and Social Justice ideology. In May, he spoke to the European Union Parliament about this evolved form of Marxism in Western culture. James' books include "Cynical Theories," which he wrote with Helen Pluckrose, "How to Have Impossible Conversations," which he wrote with yours truly, "Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis", and also his most recent book, "The Marxification of Education: Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education." Watch this episode on YouTube.

UFOs (and more): Examining the Evidence | Skeptic Michael Shermer & Peter Boghossian Jul 18, 2023

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The world's leading skeptic, author Michael Shermer, explains what it would take for him to believe claims of extraterrestrial visitation. Michael follows Pierre-Simon Laplace's principle, popularized by Carl Sagan: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Michael has bet $1,000 that irrefutable evidence of human contact with aliens will not materialize by the end of next year. So far, he has no takers. Peter and Michael discuss the brain as "an engine of belief" and how the human desire for transcendence and moralization leads people to extend their confidence beyond the warrant of the evidence. Education is one antidote to this cognitive malady, and Michael promotes teaching children statistics, probability, and how to "think like scientists". Peter and Michael also discuss organizational splintering (including in the skeptic and atheist movement), fashionable beliefs, why believers in alien visitations aren't interested in SETI, Bayesian reasoning, the deep state, true conspiracies, Dr. Paul Hotez vs. RFK Jr., childhood gender transition, and Michael's forthcoming book, Truth. Dr. Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. Michael wrote a monthly column for Scientific American for 18 years. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain. His latest book is Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational.

Twitter: @michaelshermer You can watch this conversation on YouTube!

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