Aella — From a Christian Upbringing to Sex Work

During a two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson, Darryl Cooper made sensational claims about the Holocaust and World War II, with Carlson calling him "the best and most honest popular historian in the United States." In this solo episode, Michael Shermer takes a critical look at the pseudohistory and historical revisionism presented by Cooper on Carlson's show.

6 Syys 202425min

In Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species, Will Gervais explores the interconnected nature of religious belief and atheism in human psychology. Gervais proposes that understanding religion requires solving two evolutionary puzzles: the Puzzle of Faith, examining how Homo sapiens became uniquely religious, and the Puzzle of Atheism, investigating how disbelief exists within this religious species. This approach yields a comprehensive theory explaining both faith and atheism, shedding light on humanity’s religious evolution and the current trend of abandoning belief. Gervais draws on cognitive science, cultural evolution, and evolutionary psychology to challenge existing theories of religion. Will Gervais, PhD, is a prominent cultural evolutionary psychologist specializing in the scientific study of atheism. His research, featured in major media outlets, bridges cultural evolution, evolutionary psychology, and cognitive science. Gervais’s interdisciplinary work has earned him recognition as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science and garnered awards from the American Psychological Association and the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology. In Disbelief, Gervais employs accessible prose and compelling examples to explain humanity’s religious origins, the shift away from faith, and strategies for navigating religious divides in our culturally evolved landscape. Shermer and Gervais explore the nature of religion, various belief systems, and atheism’s prevalence and perception. They delve into the cognitive foundations of faith, evolutionary perspectives on religion, and its historical and societal roles. The discussion covers the adaptive nature of belief, religious diversity, and the impact of religion on personal and social well-being. They also consider the future of belief systems and potential alternatives to traditional religion.

3 Syys 20241h 41min

Dr. Ben Goertzel is a multidisciplinary scientist, entrepreneur, and author, originally from Brazil. He currently resides on an island near Seattle after living in Hong Kong. He leads prominent AI organizations like the SingularityNET Foundation, OpenCog Foundation, and the AGI Society, which hosts an annual Artificial General Intelligence conference. Goertzel is also deeply involved in AI development through organizations like Rejuve, Mindplex, and Cogito, and serves as a musician in Jam Galaxy Band, the first-ever band led by a humanoid robot. Additionally, he played a key role in the creation of the Sophia robot at Hanson Robotics and now works on the development of Grace, Sophia’s sister, at Awakening Health. Goertzel's research spans fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive science, natural language processing, and theoretical physics, resulting in over 25 scientific books and 150 technical papers. He frequently lectures at global conferences and has an extensive background in academia, having earned a PhD in mathematics from Temple University and serving on university faculties in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. His most recent book, The Consciousness Explosion, explores the intersection of human consciousness and the technological singularity. Shermer and Goertzel explore various topics related to AI, including the nature of intelligence, AGI, the alignment problem, consciousness, and sentience. They consider AI dystopia, utopia, and protopia, along with ethical and legal issues, such as AI values and universal basic income (UBI). Other discussions involve mind uploading, self-driving cars, robots like Sophia, and whether AI can solve political and economic problems or even achieve consciousness.

1 Syys 20242h 25min

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. It’s no different when it comes to UFO frenzy. There is a need to separate fact from fiction in UAP claims. In this episode, Shermer delves into the growing interest in UAPs (formerly UFOs), especially in light of UFOlogist Lue Elizondo’s book Imminent. Elizondo claims the U.S. government has long been aware of extraterrestrial intelligence, backed by reports of unidentified craft surveilling military sites. The episode explores these bold assertions and the tension between believers and skeptics, including scientists like Avi Loeb and institutions like the Department of Defense, which have disputed such claims. Listeners interested in extraterrestrial intelligence, UFOs, and government secrecy will find this discussion compelling. Shermer reflects on historical UFO figures like Bob Lazar and Travis Walton, questioning their credibility while exploring the widespread belief in imminent “disclosure” of alien contact. Through interviews with experts and analysis of various UAP phenomena, the episode challenges listeners to discern fact from fiction, offering an intriguing examination of what could be humanity’s most profound discovery.

30 Elo 202431min

The stated goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are often reasonable, if not noble—to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for all. Yet, as more and more people are discovering, DEI as commonly practiced isn’t a natural extension of past civil rights movements or an ethical framework for opposing discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, etc. Rather, it is inextricably connected with an illiberal and authoritarian ideology—Critical Social Justice—that demands adherence to its tenets and punishes any dissent from its dogma. Even the mildest questions about Critical Social Justice claims—that all white people are racists, that all underrepresented minorities are oppressed, that sex and gender differences have no biological basis, that censorship is a necessary good—are regularly met by DEI trainers and HR officers with pat commands: “Educate yourself,” “Do the work,” “Listen and learn.” At work, raises, promotions, and future employment often depend on our nodding approval of such claims. At school, grades, nominations, and awards are often contingent upon our active agreement with these beliefs. In our daily lives, Critical Social Justice ideology poses a genuine threat not only to our fundamental rights but also to the future of our democratic systems, but if we suggest this, we risk being canceled or shunned by community members. When facing a choice between silent submission and risky if ethical opposition, what is a person to do? While a growing number of groups concerned about the nature of Critical Social Justice have begun to attack it from the top down through legal, financial, and political means, The Counterweight Handbook takes a decidedly different and novel approach. It works from the bottom up and is written to empower individuals who wish to combat Critical Social Justice in their personal and professional lives. Based on the author’s years of experience studying, exposing, and fighting Critical Social Justice ideology and advising individuals and organizations struggling with it, The Counterweight Handbook is designed to help people address Critical Social Justice problems in the most ethical and effective way possible. It not only offers principled responses to the main claims of Critical Social Justice but also teaches individuals what to do when they are asked to affirm beliefs they do not hold, undergo training in an ideology they cannot support, or submit to antiscientific testing and retraining of their “unconscious” minds. In short, it is for all of us who believe in freedom of speech and conscience, who wish to push back against the hostile work and educational environments Critical Social Justice has created, and who want to stand up for our individual liberties and universal rights. Helen Pluckrose is a liberal political and cultural writer and was one of the founders of Counterweight. A participant in the Grievance Studies Affair probe that highlighted problems in Critical Social Justice scholarship, she is the coauthor of Cynical Theories and Social (In)justice. She lives in England and can be found on X @HPluckrose Shermer and Pluckrose discuss: origin of the problem • DEI and CRT • what it means to “Educate yourself,” “Do the work,” “Listen and learn.” • top-down vs. bottom-up counter measures • race reckoning • antiracism • gender ideology • decolonizing and dismantling • fragility • intersectionality • normativity • positionality • privilege • wokeness.

27 Elo 20241h 17min

Charles Fort, a maverick writer, fascinated by bizarre occurrences like flying saucers, Bigfoot, and frogs raining from the sky, scanned newspapers and magazines for reports of anomalies, advancing a philosophy that saw science as a small part of a larger system where truth and falsehood constantly transformed. His work found a following of skeptics who questioned not only science but also the press, medicine, and politics, led by the adman and writer Tiffany Thayer, who founded the Fortean Society. Joshua Blu Buhs argues in Think to New Worlds that the Fortean movement provided tools to expand the imagination, explore the social order, and demonstrate power dynamics, inspiring science fiction writers, avant-garde modernists, and post-World War II flying saucer enthusiasts to uncover the hidden structures of reality in an ever-expanding universe filled with unexplained occurrences and visionary possibilities. Joshua Blu Buhs is a scholar of the overlap of politics, biology, and ecology in twentieth-century America and has written articles that have appeared in Isis, Environmental History, The World of Genetics, and Journal of the History of Biology. His PhD is in the history of science from Penn State. He is the author of Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend and The Fire Ant Wars: Nature, Science, and Public Policy in Twentieth-Century America, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His new book is Think to New Worlds: The Cultural History of Charles Fort and His Followers. Shermer and Buhs discuss his research and writing on weird phenomena like Bigfoot, Charles Fort, Fortean followers, anomaly hunting, science fiction, UFOs, skeptics, and the cultural impact of Fortean ideas that blurred the boundaries between truth and falsehood, undermining expert authority and fueling conspiracies.

25 Elo 20241h 17min

As if 2024 couldn't get any weirder, tensions in the Middle East have escalated with the United States sending one of our nuclear submarines to the Mediterranean as a deterrent signal to Iran that they better think twice about attacking Israel. That sub, the Ohio-class USS Georgia, carries non-nuclear cruise missiles. But 14 of our 18 Ohio-class submarines have nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles—each sub has in its belly the nuclear equivalent of all the bombs dropped in World War II. Multiply that by 14 and let your imagination be properly staggered. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have pushed into Russian territory and Putin is outraged at the invasion. How far can Ukraine go before Putin uses his battlefield tactical nukes in response? In this solo episode, Michael Shermer discusses the threat of nuclear annihilation and explores the evolutionary origins of our moral emotions and logic of deterrence based on game theory. Focus of the analysis: the need to reduce nuclear stockpiles and shifting the taboo from using to owning nuclear weapons.

23 Elo 202443min

In his book Of Boys and Men and through his work at the American Institute for Boys and Men, Richard V. Reeves addresses the growing crisis facing boys and men in modern society. He argues that economic and social changes have left many males struggling in education, work, and family life, while institutions and laws have failed to adapt. Reeves criticizes both conservative and progressive politicians for their inability to provide effective solutions. He emphasizes that addressing these issues doesn’t undermine gender equality; rather, it’s possible to support both men and women simultaneously. Reeves highlights that while women still face disadvantages in areas like pay and leadership, men—especially those from minority or low-income backgrounds—are falling behind in other aspects of life. His approach aims to provide innovative solutions to these complex challenges without compromising the goal of gender equality. Richard Reeves is the founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Before this, he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, focusing on economic inequality, racial justice, social mobility, and issues affecting boys and men. He authored several books, including Of Boys and Men and Dream Hoarders. Reeves founded AIBM in 2023 to address challenges facing boys and men. Recently, Melinda French Gates announced a $20 million donation to AIBM as part of her $1 billion pledge to support women’s rights. Shermer and Reeves discuss the gender gap in higher education, which has reversed since 1972, with men now earning only 42 percent of degrees. They explore boys lagging in English, higher male suicide rates, and premature deaths. They note lower employment rates for Black men and societal preferences for daughters. The conversation covers conflicting messages about masculinity and critiques of “boy culture.” They examine how these issues intersect with various ideologies and societal problems, affecting boys’ development and challenging traditional views on gender roles and expectations.

20 Elo 20241h 31min