The Biskeptical Podcast

Today we’re going to take a break from Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and the rest of all the horrible stuff happening right now, and instead talking about Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement of Tennessee Democratic candidates Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper. Will T. Swift help usher the blue wave next month? Do celebrity endorsements in general help elections? Let’s find out! Links: The Long, Frustrating Road To Taylor Swift’s Political Endgame:...

Today on the show, we talk about the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and the shitshow that was Thursday’s hearing. We’ll also have a conversation about #WhyIDidntReport, false allegations, and why this kind of behavior shouldn’t be considered standard male behavior. Needless to say this episode needs all the trigger warnings! Links: #WhyIDidntReport: Survivors of Sexual Assault Share Their Stories After Trump Tweet:...

Today on the show, we spend another hour about the latest crazy shit surrounding the Trump administration. This time, it’s all about Michael Cohen’s plea bargain, all the people close to Trump that have been granted immunity in the investigation, and whether or not any of this will have any effect on Trump’s presidency. We also talk about the recent passing of Sen. John McCain, but it’s less about his legacy and more about how Trump’s beef with him continues even after death. Seriously, with...

Today on the show, we talk about the latest drama involving Omarosa and Trump. We talk about the tapes, the tweets, and how this is the new normal. We also talk about the recent Pennsylvania report about the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal because holy shit, there’s a lot to unpack here! Links: •Omarosa has jumped back into the middle of Trump White House drama:...

Today on the show, we talk about some of the news stories from this past week, including the recent announcement of the Religious Liberty Task Force, the Paul Manafort trial, the most recent Facebook scandal involving election meddlers, and whether or not collusion is a crime. Needless to say, since it’s been a while since our last episode, we have a lot to say! Links: •Sessions announces 'religious liberty task force':...

Morgan was unavailable for this episode, so today we have Nick Little from CFI joining us to take a look at Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s latest nominee for Supreme Court Justice. We’re going to take a look at his case history, and what that might mean for church-state separation, Roe v. Wade, and LGBTQ rights. Spoiler alert: It's not a pretty picture! Links: •Donald Trump Releases List of Possible Supreme Court Picks:...

On today's episode, we’ll talk about everything going on with the border crisis. We’ll go over the facts about zero tolerance, how the Trump administration justifies it with religion, and, yes, the jacket. Links: •The facts about Trump’s policy of separating families at the border: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/06/19/the-facts-about-trumps-policy-of-separating-families-at-the-border/?utm_term=.e93f8c75916d •Flores agreement: Trump’s executive order to end family...

Today on the show, we talk about last week’s SCOTUS ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, find out what exactly happened, and what it might mean for future civil rights cases. We also talk about the North Korea summit, all the wackiness that went down, and whether or not any progress will be made. Links: •In Narrow Decision, Supreme Court Decides In Favor Of Baker Over Same-Sex Couple:...

Today’s episode is a news roundup episode featuring stories that can be best described as hot messes. We’ll talk about Elon Musk’s war against the media, Roseanne Bar’s racist tweets, and why Starbucks’ racial sensitivity training might not work. Links: •ABC cancels ‘Roseanne’ after its star, Roseanne Barr, went on a vitriolic and racist Twitter rant:...

Today on the show, we’ll talk about the US recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the violence in Gaza this past Monday. We’ll talk about why the US’ decision is so controversial, what the international response has been to the bloodshed, and if there are any solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Links: •The controversial US Jerusalem embassy opening, explained: https://www.vox.com/2018/5/14/17340798/jerusalem-embassy-israel-palestinians-us-trump •Everything You Need...

Today on the show, we’ll first take a look at the Comey Memos and find out what kind of tea they spill, and whether or not it’ll have any effect on the Trump administration. Then we’ll discuss a recent Vox article called “9 essential lessons from psychology to understand the Trump era” in order to figure out how exactly we got into this mess. Links: •Four Things the Comey Memos Reveal: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/what-we-learned-from-the-comey-memos/558518/ •9...

On today’s episode, we’re going to first talk about the recent debate between Sam Harris and Vox writer Ezra Klein about Harris’ interview with Charles Murray, co-author of the infamous book The Bell Curve. We’ll talk about what both Harris and Murray got wrong, and go a little bit into the science behind intelligence and genetics. For the second half of the show, we’ll talk about how stress from all the atheist movement drama led me to a suicidal episode last week, and whether or not being...

Today on the show we take a break from the dumpster fire we’re all living in, and instead share our experiences attending NaNoCon a few weeks ago. We talk about our favorite sessions, all the cool people we met, and why you shouldn’t give me special Colorado chocolate. Links: •The Trans Podcaster Visibility Initiative: https://www.facebook.com/transvisiblepodcaster/ •A Lost State of Mind: http://aloststateofmind.bandcamp.com •The Biskeptical Podcast on Facebook:...

Today on the show we first play catch up on the latest drama involving President Trump’s alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels and how the White House is trying to shut her up. Then during the second half we discuss the recent firing of Rex Tillerson, who Trump wants to replace him with, and what this might mean for foreign policy. Links: •Stormy Daniels' Explosive Full Interview on Donald Trump Affair: "I Can Describe His Junk Perfectly" (EXCLUSIVE):...

Today on the show, we talk about the recent Buzzfeed article about Lawrence Krauss’ history of sexual misconduct, and how even the atheist movement sucks at addressing these issues. We also take a look at what the fine folks at MythCon have in store for this year (spoiler alert: it doesn’t look good). Links: •The Buzzfeed article about Lawrence Krauss: https://www.buzzfeed.com/peteraldhous/lawrence-krauss-sexual-harassment-allegations?utm_term=.mdk8jm91N#.dhGJ5V4wk •MythCon V speaker...

Today on the show, we take a look at the Trump administration’s proposed budget (spoiler alert, we’re fucked), as well their new plan to cut the food stamp program and a bill that will roll back disability rights. Plus, we talk about the recent shooting in Florida, and why it represents all that is bad about America. Links: •Trump’s Budget: What Gets Cut and Why: https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/23/politics/trump-budget-cuts-programs/index.html •Trump Wants to Cut Back on Food Stamps for the...

Keeping with our mission to promote skepticism and critical thinking in the news, today we see what the fact-checkers have to say about President Trump’s first State of the Union address. Later this hour, we discuss whether or not the Nunes memo is anything to worry about, and what happened when Gwyneth Paltrow’s arch nemesis went to the GOOP Health event. Links: •PolitiFact - Fact-checking Donald Trump's 2018 State of the Union speech:...

Today we do another news round-up episode, with the majority focused on Trump proving once again he’s a racist scumbag. We also talk about the “Fire and Fury” book, Oprah and Goop peddling more pseudoscientific woo, and why the ever living fuck skeptics are now rushing to Jerry Sandusky’s defense. Links: •Trump derides protections for immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries:...

Today we do an AMA episode where we answer questions submitted by our listeners. We only got a handful of questions from our listeners, so it's a shorter episode, but we hope you still enjoy it. Links: •The Trans Podcaster Visibility Initiative: https://www.facebook.com/transvisiblepodcaster/ •A Lost State of Mind: http://aloststateofmind.bandcamp.com •The Biskeptical Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biskepticalpodcast/ •The Biskeptical Podcast on Twitter:...

Today’s episode is our annual Festivus Airing of Grievances episode. We start by airing our own grievances, and then we read grievances submitted by our listeners. Get ready because we got a lot of problems with you people, and now you’re gonna hear about it! Links: •The Trans Podcaster Visibility Initiative: https://www.facebook.com/transvisiblepodcaster/ •A Lost State of Mind: http://aloststateofmind.bandcamp.com •The Biskeptical Podcast on Facebook:...