Serious Inquiries Only

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**Serious Inquiries Only**

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.

Latest Episodes:

SIO29: No Longer Available Apr 03, 2017

Show notes

The guest from this episode has requested that I take it down and I'm respecting that request.

SIO28: The Discussion With Dave Rubin That Never Was (and more bad news....) Mar 30, 2017

Show notes

Yeah, that excitement didn't last too long. I was scheduled to speak to Dave Rubin at Mythinformation in Milwaukee in September, but despite everything having been agreed to and announced, Dave dropped out due to a previously overlooked scheduling conflict. In light of that, I share some thoughts on what happened, what I tried to do in response, and what the result was. I also looked back through Dave's guest history at his alleged "liberals" he has interviewed to see whether I haven't given him enough credit for hearing opposing views. The answer may, or may not, shock you. After that it's more bad news... I researched the senate races in 2018 and the results are... problematic. Find out just how problematic, and whether there is any hope to hold onto in terms of finally getting some accountability in the Trump presidency. Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com

SIO27: What Grounds Our Morals? With Aaron Rabi Mar 27, 2017

Show notes

Joining me for the second time is philosopher and now podcaster, Aaron Rabi! Aaron specializes in ethics, and I have questions. I'm fairly certain that our morality ultimately boils down to consequences, for reasons I explain, but not all philosophers see it that way. Aaron and I have a very interesting discussion on what exactly grounds our morals, given that there are problems to be found in every moral system. Does consequentialism ultimately win out, as I have previously opined? Find out! Find Aaron's podcast here! Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com Direct Download

SIO26: The Trump Administration and Russia - An Incredible Amount of Smoke Mar 23, 2017

Show notes

With a heavy news week full of depositions, testimony, odd press conferences and more, today I take a look at some of the evidence of Russia-Trump collusion and what it all means. Ok, what it MIGHT mean... while trying not to descend into full on conspiracy theorist mode. It's not exactly easy. After that, I go into the details of a case Gorsuch decided that perfectly illustrates why the originalist/literalist method of jurisprudence leaves this podcaster cold. Some sources used: Politico Trump Timeline Nicholas Kristof on Trump-Russia Paul Manafort AP Exclusive Greenwald Russia Article Gorsuch Truck Driver Case Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com

SIO25: Lawrence Krauss - The Greatest Story Ever Told Mar 20, 2017

Show notes

I'm so excited to have Lawrence Krauss on the show today! Professor Krauss is a theoretical physicist and cosmologist who blew all of our minds with his lecture and previous book, A Universe from Nothing. His new book, The Greatest Story Ever Told, takes us back through the history of how exactly we know what we do about our universe. I highly recommend it, and I hope you enjoy the interview even half as much as I did! Check out the new book here! Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com Direct Download

SIO24: Can We Rely on the CBO's Projections? Mar 16, 2017

Show notes

Given the preemptive bashing of the CBO by Republicans and the subsequent release of a pretty damning score on the AHCA bill, I wanted to take a look at how the CBO did at predicting the effects of Obamacare. Is the Trump administration on solid ground when it says that the CBO is wildly inaccurate and partisan? After that I discuss four very thought provoking questions I received in the voicemail segment! Sources: CBO Basic History Fact Check on CBO Predictions More Critical Look at CBO Predictions CBO Predictions for AHCA Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com

SIO23: Is It Morally Acceptable to Have Children? with Travis Rieder Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

Joining us today is Travis Rieder! Travis is a philosopher at Johns Hopkins who deals with Population Ethics and related questions. Find his academic page here. Given the uncertainty of outcomes of our potential children, and given the many problems humanity faces due to overpopulation, is it morally acceptable to have children? Travis and I discuss that question and many related ones in a fascinating philosophy edition of SIO! Here are Travis's main works on these questions, for further reading: 1. Adoption and Procreation 2. Population Engineering 3. Small Family Ethic (book) Highest-impact Media Pieces: 4. NPR Profile 5. Response to Critics Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com

SIO22: From Obamacare to Trumpcare Mar 09, 2017

Show notes

In today's episode I want to discuss one of the most significant battles that will be fought in the new administration: that is the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. While looking into a lot of the claims made by Sean Spicer and other Trump apologists, I was struck by how fascinating the story of Obamacare really is. So, the first 15 minutes or so of today's episode is on the history of Obamacare, and what implications it has for the future of Trumpcare. Good Obamacare Timeline, Another Good Timeline, CNN's Piss-Poor Timeline NYT Article on Trumpcare, Demographics That Will Suffer Most Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com

SIO21: Be Reasonable, with Michael Marshall Mar 06, 2017

Show notes

Joining me today is Michael Marshall, host of the podcast Be Reasonable. On his show, Marsh speaks with people who have incredibly fringe views. Whether it's a ghost hunter or flat Earther, Be Reasonable allows a place for these folks to speak at length on their views. Marsh messaged me after my interview with Trump supporter Dr. Price because of the similarity in that recording to what Marsh is doing on his show. In this interview, Marsh and I have a dialogue about what tactics he uses when speaking to people of vastly different views, and I pick his brain on a number of issues involved. There's a lot to learn here about how I want to conduct interviews in the future when I'm dealing with someone of vastly different views. Check out Marsh's charity goodthinkingsociety.org Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com

SIO20: Can We Change Minds? Mar 02, 2017

Show notes

In today's episode, after a few thoughts on the Trump address to Congress and his BS spending plan, the topic is "How to change people's minds." Haeley and I set about to do some research on a: how possible it is to change minds, and b: if so, what are the best methods? I take a look at and describe a number of studies that shed light on this issue, and the goal is to apply it to both the Dr. Price debate and any future debates! Have a listen and see what conclusions we reached! After that I've got an extra long voicemail and response segment, since I didn't do one last week. I had a ton of voicemail and I picked out some good ones to react to. Here are the links to the articles/studies we referenced: Paradoxical Thinking study ChangeMyView study Why Facts Don't Change Our Minds Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com

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