Serious Inquiries Only

Jamie and I watched the debate and we have lots of thoughts! Including on some of the pre-debate topics, like the Warren-Sanders stuff, Booker dropping out, and more. Download Here

Jamie and I are back at it to talk about the big events in the news! Some are bigger and more life threatening than others... Here's the article I referenced. Download Here

Recently, Boris Johnson's party won a significant majority in what seems to be the final nail in the Brexit Coffin. Many a liberal around the world are shocked and saddened by this, and many a columnist in the US has a hot take on what this portends for US politics. Here to give us more info than we can feasibly fit into 60 minutes is Dr. Kristi Winters, who has been studying British political elections for around 10 years. Download Here

It was a much more productive debate, given that there were only 5 candidates plus some billionaire who bought a ticket to be onstage. Jamie and I talk through some of the arguments and issues! Download Here

The most corrupt president in history has been impeached, and Jamie and I are here with the rapid response! Download Here

Jamie and I talk about Kamala Harris dropping out, a powerful #metoo account, and then the latest meme about asking people if they're in the headspace to receive harmful information. Download Here

...and other tales from the nth Democratic Debate. We've got the breakdown and some various and sundry rants and opinions! Download Here

It's time for a listener question episode! First we start with a discussion on the "Ok Boomer" meme, and social media more generally. Then we've got questions about Warren's debate answers, abortion being safe legal and rare, Tulsi Gabbard, and more! Download Here

Recent polling done by the New York Times has many liberals very worried about the 2020 election. Despite being so unpopular, Trump is polling well against the major Democratic rivals in 6 key states that the NYT polled. Jamie and I discuss the polling and why we should or should not be freaked out, and the implications this has on running more to the center or to the left. Download Here

Representative Katie Hill's story contains the intersection of so many issues - revenge porn, sexism, double standards, consent, #metoo, sexual and relationship ethics, and more. Jamie and I give the breakdown and give our opinions on whether or not she should have resigned. Download Here

Jamie and I embark on a Tulsi Gabbard deep dive! We've struggled trying to figure out what her deal is, and then the Hillary Clinton story blew up, so we figured it would be a great time to do a deep dive and try to answer the question of.... WTF. Is she an asset for Russia? Is she a secret Republican? Is she a progressive? Find out what we dug up! Here are some key sources. I read a lot for this but many sources were redundant. The main two would be Jacobin and Daily Kos. Download Here

Jamie and I watched the latest Democratic Primary Debate so that you don't have to. Unless you want to. We've got opinions! Come listen and let us know what you think! Download Here

Jamie and I watched Joker, so you don't have to! Unless you still want to, that's fine. The movie has generated a lot of buzz and think pieces, with people worried that it would inspire white terrorism. On the other end, though, some people think it is an absolutely brilliant movie. So where do we come down? Listen and find out! Download Here

It's a great time to stay on top of some listener mail! But first, a new segment, "Feminist Yells at News!" Jamie talks about Brett Kavanaugh's latest victim complex, and Hillary Clinton opening up in recent interviews. After that, it's listener questions! Topics include: supporting local news organizations vs. national news organizations; comedians feeling like they can't do comedy because of the PC left; is it useful to have conservatives like Ross Douthat in the NYT opinion section; are we strawmanning the Yang UBI arguments? After that, we've got an excellent bonus 30 minutes for patrons! We talk about needing meaning in life, Jamie answers criticism on her Biden comments, and then we talk about which are our favorite musicals! (and not so favorite...)

Former President of American Atheists, David Silverman, has been on an attempted comeback tour. He has done some interviews, including with noted sexual harasser of British PMs, Carl Benjamin. It's one thing if Silverman wanted to try to seek forgiveness and start over, but he seems to be completely re-writing history and is also adopting MRA talking points in the process. Jamie and I are here to set the record straight as to what he was accused of, and argue that his victim-narrative is quite bogus. Sources: American Atheists Statement; BuzzFeed Article; WaPo Article. Download Here

I'm here with an old fashioned solo-pod, since there are so many more good listener questions to answer! Topics are: more non-binary folks respond to ContraPoints, racism, cancel culture, the real dark web, bubbles, and atheists still associating with certain problematic atheists. Hope you enjoy the bonus episode! Download Here

Jamie and I start off with a bit of a '#metoo in the news' update. There were new allegations against Kavanaugh that were revealed in a truly bizarre way by the New York Times, and there was also a devastation episode of the NYT Daily Podcast that talked about Gloria Allred and her daughter Lisa Bloom, and the work Lisa did to defend Harvey Weinstein and discredit his accusers. After that, we've got some voicemail and email on Yang and UBI. Finally, we discuss an email about white guilt and dealing with relative privilege in our society. Download Here

Jamie is here to talk Democratic Debate, and we've got a fun one for you! We've got lots of opinions on the nature of the debate itself, the highlights the low-lights, which candidates shined and which were Joe Biden. Plus, and EXTRA segment for patrons! Hop onto patreon and get a bonus 25 minutes!

What could turn a left-tube favorite into the IDW's poster child overnight? Just ask ContraPoints. Well actually you can't, because she deleted her Twitter after a run-in with some folks who have accused her of saying things that are offensive to non-binary people. To get more info, Tris Mamone has a good explainer here that I would recommend. I'd also recommend this video by another non-binary YouTuber, and this video by trans YouTuber Kat Blaque. So Jamie and I are here, not to adjudicate the trans questions involved but to talk about so-called "cancel culture." Was ContraPoints canceled? What does that mean exactly? Is it true that the left is a circle firing squad cancel machine? How ought we deal with tough criticism online? And since Jamie is a smart philosopher person, what insights does philosophy offer us on these questions? I think this was a really valuable discussion that will help put a lot of these issues into the proper perspective. If you are a smart philosopher person like Jamie, here is some reading she recommends: Rachel McKinnon: Allies Behaving Badly; Talia Mae Bettcher: Trapped in the Wrong Theory; Robin Dembroff: Beyond the Binary; Katie Dotson: Tracking Epistemic Violence. Download Here

It's time for a philosophy lesson with Jamie! She's here to teach us about one of her faves, Albert Camus. We touch on absurdism, existentialism, nihilism, and more. Camus lived and wrote during the time of literal Nazis, so his work has a lot to tell us about our current time of arguably literal Nazis. Content note: there's a brief discussion of hypothetical suicide. Here's the essay that Jamie recommends reading if you want to get a taste of Camus's writing. After that, patrons get a bonus segment about a statement Elizabeth Warren made that people are saying is victim blaming Hillary for Trump's bad behavior. Make sure you're a patron so you can hear it!

I've got good news and better news. First, Jamie and I are back for a bonus early SIO to tackle more amazing listeners questions and voicemail! We start off with a very deep and thoughtful #metoo related email from a male listener about his potential bad behavior in the past. From there we've got more on #metoo and responses to our Al Franken episode including a voicemail that asks "what about the Minnesota voters, shouldn't they have gotten a say in Franken's case?" The even better news is: we stayed on to tackle some bonus questions and we talked so long that there's ANOTHER entire bonus episode for patrons! Please hop on patreon.com/seriouspod and give it a listen! We end up disagreeing on some things and we chart a course for some more episodes in the future based on that. Download Here

Jamie Lombardi is back to talk about the curious case of Andrew Yang! We explore why there seems to be so much support for him among the alt-right, 4chan, and IDW type people. We also discuss his flagship policy - the UBI. Hop on to patreon.com/seriouspod to enjoy a bonus QnA segment!

In catching up on some of your many amazing questions, emails, and voicemails, I stumbled into a Glenn Greenwald vortex that I cannot help but sound off on. There is a contingent of the far left (if indeed they are that) that believes liberals fabricated the bulk of the Russia story in order to deflect from Democratic shortcomings. I explore this, and also take a look at what I believe to be the blatant hypocrisy of some of Greenwald's stances on this. Then, I answer another few questions and two bonus questions in a much needed patron only segment!

Recently, a New Yorker article made a case for Al Franken and why he didn't get the due process he deserved. It points to some inconsistencies in Franken's first accuser's story, and explains some misconceptions about the USO tour and the skits that he wrote. But does the evidence justify the central claim - that he was railroaded and shouldn't have had to resign? Joining me to discuss this question, as well as the wider #metoo implications, is Jamie Lombardi! Jamie also introduces herself and gives some of her background and we talk about a 'free speech in academia' talk that she is giving in the fall. Download Here

Hey folks, I'm back with a rapid response on night 1 of the... TIME, thank you Thomas. But I didn't get to explain what the.. TIME thank you Thomas. Moving on. But I... ok you have 3.2 more seconds. That's it? Ok it'sanepisodeaboutthedebates TIME! Download Here

... is they get no credit for any good they do, and they get infinite sh*t for anything bad a masked person does, anywhere in the country ever. Today, the occupant of the White House tweeted that "ANTIFA" should be declared "an Organization of Terror." Well, this sounds like a good time for me to deliver to you an episode I spent hours developing back when Andy Ngo was attacked by someone, but hadn't ever recorded. So, here it is. Today's episode is about antifa and how we ought to be thinking about them, how we ought to put them into context, and why no one should give a sh*t about Andy Ngo. Links: Ngo Claims Brain Hemorrhage; Attack Video; Other Report's Account; Disturbing Texts Between Oregon Police and Far-Right Group; Right-Wing Extremism Responsible for Every 2018 Extremist Murder; Right Falls for Its Own Fake Antifa Accounts; Disturbing Rape Case; My FB Post Where Medical Professionals Commented; Atlantic Article Epidemic of Disbelief; Police Shootings Database Download Here

.... according to Republicans. Hey folks, sorry for the long hiatus. At the end of the episode, I talk about why I haven't been recording this show. But before that, I had a conversation with a family member that really made me think about Republicans and how they think about race. I sort of had an epiphany that I wanted to share. Here are a couple links I mention in the show: Sam Harris black friend audio; Philosophy Tube video. Download Here

This one wasn't as good. Why does hollywood keep pumping out crap sequels. However, Kamala Harris dismantling Biden was maybe worth it. Harris was far and away the winner, in my book. Her poise is something to behold. Buttigieg is a very effective communicator. As weird as it is, I think he has an outside shot. Then there are a bunch of mediocre white men who I can't keep straight. Plus, I'm definitely ageist. I admit it. All this and more! Download Here

Warren was great, Castro might be a rising star, why don't people like Cory Booker, and who the hell is Delaney? I watched the debate, and I took copious notes, a couple of which will be utilized. I've got lots of preamble, lots of thoughts, and even a ranking of these 10 at the end. Let me know what your ranking is! Download Here

This week my guest is Colleen Dietz, who is the host of the Mormon Happy Hour podcast. On her show, Colleen does a great job discussing important and sometimes heavy topics while still maintaining laughter and good spirits. She'll need that skill today because unfortunately we're here to discuss a traumatic assault that happened years ago when she was a new student at BYU, and the woefully inadequate response by the school and the church. We don't into too much gory detail, but if you want the full weight of her awful experience she has written more about it here. BYU's victim blaming response was in her opinion almost worse than the assault itself. It took her a long time to come to terms with what happened and why her Mormon faith was not just wrong but how their unhealthy and repressive relationship to sex actually made her more vulnerable to her attacker. However, she's in a much better place now, and she's doing amazing work trying to reform the church from without, and helping others reform it from within. Download Here

When Eli Bosnick asks to come on your show and give his lava hot milkshake take you say YES. So that's what I've done. If you've wondered how liberals ought to respond to things like the milkshaking or Nazi punching controversies, listen to this episode and wonder no more! Download Here

Eiynah returns to the show for the first time in probably way too long! She is a Pakistani-Canadian podcaster/illustrator/blogger who also has dealt with a lot of the same Rational(tm) Intellectual Dark Web types that I have talked about on this show a lot. We talk about that, delusional centrism, unexamined white identity and false objectivity, before venturing on in the second half to talk about Islam. As an ex-Muslim, Eiynah has unique insight into the balancing act of criticizing the bad ideas of Islam without feeding into disgusting anti-Muslim bigotry. As promised, here is a list of some people/events we referenced with links: Intellectual Dark Web and NYT Photo Shoot; James Lindsay, JV IDW, past guest on the show, former friend but current warrior against the Humanities for.. not good reasons; Michael Shermer - past guest on the show, never will be again, very credibly accused of being a creep; Carl Benjamin - the douchebag I debated who calls himself Sargon, running for MP and can't stop getting hit with stuff; Sam Harris interview we referenced; Claire Lehmann head of Quillette; Steven Pinker - guy who is super smart in his field but feels the need to venture into lots of other fields and do them badly; Jerry Coyne - minor new atheist who has an angry old man yelling at clouds blog, turned down half a dozen respectful requests WAY back in the day to have conversations on social justice despite claiming to be all about debate; Rashida Tlaib NYT Daily Interview; Secular Jihadist Ali Rizvi Armin discussion. Download Here

Andrew Torrez joins me to discuss the Democratic Primary -- Buttigieg, Warren, and whether or not we should be trying to determine who can best beat Trump. As Opening Arguments listeners well know, Andrew always brings insight, history, legal brilliance, and plain charm! Download Here

With the birth of our second child, Arlo, I was faced with a decision that many parents have to make... and I fundamentally changed my mind from where I was several years ago. That, plus other voicemail! Old AS episode on the subject; good Vice article.

Are women "creating an unequal dating environment for men?" Quillette recently published an article that made alarming claims about the dating economy on the basis of some online dating studies. Dr. Kristi Winters is here to bring some social science understanding to it and help us separate fact from fiction! Here's the NYT article I mention.

This episode was delayed due to a new baby in the Smith house! However, it worked out great, since the redacted Mueller report was released on Thursday. Of course, check out Opening Arguments for some in-depth legal analysis, but I've been brewing a ton of thoughts about the report and what Democrats should do in response. I talk about what an insult Barr is to the position of AG, why we don't need to listen to Republicans anymore, and why we should impeach Trump. I think a lot of the arguments against impeachment are worth considering, but ultimately I argue they are based on outdated political conceptions and misused analogy.

Listeners had so many great voicemail messages this month, it demanded a second episode! Also I am a talker, so it could be that. Lots of a great discussion here, starting with a very appropriate callout of a mistake I made on a previous show. After that, I discuss the right wing attacks on Congresswoman Omar and the fact that we never have to listen to Republicans ever again. Then, I clarify some thoughts on the 2020 Democratic candidates thus far, and the difference between token representation, and fighting systemic bias in what kinds of candidates we value.

It's time for a listener voicemail episode! We've got some really good topics/questions/critiques, so much so that I had to split this into a couple episodes. Topics include changing minds on things like anti-vax and white fragility, and how to be an atheist critical of Islam white not contributing to problematic anti-Muslim bigotry, and voting rights! Here's a good article on what changes anti-vaxxers' minds.

Longtime friend of the show Jake Farr-Wharton is here to take us through the unpleasant story of Cardinal Pell. He is yet another Catholic priest in a long list who have been accused (and now found guilty) of serious sexual misconduct with minors. This story has a few wrinkles, though, as many high profile, powerful people supported Pell with character references. As it turns out, when Jake was in high school, he was asked to be a character witness for his priest, who was a very valued friend and mentor. Jake takes us through all this and we talk about the ethics involved.

After a horrendous, disgusting, racist massacre in New Zealand, the killer left a trollish manifesto. While it's clear some amount of it is pure sh*tposting, there is also a reason he targeted who he did. The internet has been on fire with who to blame, who not to blame, and as usual I've got some thoughts.

... like good old fashioned pedophilia? I've some miscellany and voicemails! The theme of today's show is centered around people (usually white men) complaining about what they are losing when standards change. For example, us evil progressives have taken away this immensely popular picture of a sexual assault. And, for some reason, Eric Weinstein thinks the Simpsons taking down their Michael Jackson episode is bad? I also talk about lowering the voting age (and raising it.)

It's been a year since Stephon Clark was gunned down in his grandmother's backyard while holding a cell phone. Last weekend it was announced that the two officers would face no charges. I talk about the news, why it's outrageous, and why something needs to change.

If you've been an atheist any time in the last 15 years, it's highly likely you've enjoyed the contributions of Russell Glasser on The Atheist Experience. Over the years, he's answered countless calls from theists and atheists of all kinds. But in the last year or so, he has taken a firm step back from atheism and hasn't appeared on TAE. He's agreed to come on to talk about why, and about many related issues.

Jussie Smollett told the world he was the victim of a hate crime. What happened next, according to the right, is a bunch of insectional libtards believed his obviously false story because of the oppression olympics, or something. For example, check out this SJW's reaction to the news. In the midst of my research on this story, Smollett has been officially charged with making a false statement. It was initially reported that a grand jury indicted him so that's what I said in the episode, but that was corrected to say he was charged by the prosecutor. There is a lot to talk about regarding the reaction to this. I want to argue that the message to believe victims is perfectly compatible with believing someone like Dr. Ford and not believing Smollett.

After a brief wade into the (I think mistaken) uproar over tax refunds not being as high as last year, I go on to tackle the story of an old white actor telling about the time he was George Zimmerman and then expecting it to be totally cool. And furthermore, how on Earth could ANYONE not accept his semi-pology? We must be living in the Salem Witch Trials era! In all seriousness though, I want to explore the issue and where I think people are going right, wrong, and possibly missing good points. I reference the excellent book White Fragility by Robin DeAngelo, which I highly recommend. Here is the Vox article I mention. Here's Trevor Noah's take. Liam Neeson's second interview.

Returning to the show is everyone's favorite scholar of global catastrophic risks, Phil Torres! In the first half of the show, we discuss how global risk has changed and evolved in the years since Trump was elected. I also ask Phil if climate change has gotten so dire that it overshadows other existential risks. In the second half, we discuss the recent article Phil wrote for Salon, in which he was very critical of some of Steven Pinker's scholarship in his book Enlightenment Now. Pinker responded in a roundabout way on Jerry Coyne's blog. I also highly recommend you check out this thread by Mangy Jay on Twitter in which she breaks down some other problems with Pinker's book. Check out Phil's latest book!

Today's show starts with an observation about how we talk about the primary candidates and how we tell the history of 2016. Then I've got lots of voicemail! Topics include: Trump being a Russian mole, technology improving quality of life while taking jobs from us, a few on whether Kristi and I unfairly lumped Sam Harris in with Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin in our episode on Louis CK, further insight into the IRB process, and finally how exactly do we define the term 'racism'? Lots of great stuff, thank you so much for the messages and keep them coming for next month!

Lots of people have asked me for an episode about this, and it turns out I was working on one anyway! Happy coincidence. Lots and lots to talk about here, and since it's me, I have to start by getting all meta on you. Very curious to hear the response on this one, make sure to leave a voicemail for next week's show!

There has been another chapter in the ongoing saga of classical liberal types seeking to prove that entire fields of academia are bogus. They allegedly do so by publishing a handful of fake studies and papers in a few different academic journals, mostly in the field of gender studies. Due to the fact that these hoaxes have utilized fake data, wasted tons of innocent people's time, and possibly constituted human experimentation, Peter Boghossian has come under a totally reasonable investigation. This hasn't stopped the usual IDW types from reacting as though Boghossian is awaiting public execution. Eli, who broke down the original hoax expertly in SIO44, is back to provide an informed and hilarious breakdown of the whole thing! Twitter thread on datasets; letter from PSU faculty; excellent Slate article. Here are Eli's notes and links that I am publishing in a clear violation of his copyright: Singal article; hey wait don’t I remember that Jesse Signal Guy from somewhere; Turning points USA is terrifying; here’s their professor watchlist; Go down the rabbit hole of highly funded crazy; They are coming for Peter’s Vital Fluids Video Source; Digilante; hey speaking of crazy shit boghossian has said; Hey look more people with brains

Andrew Torrez, of the hit legal pod Opening Arguments, was kind enough to hop onto the ol' SIO to break down the recent Michigan FGM law court decision. This is one of those times the law wasn't covered very well by some media outlets. It's great to have a genius lawyer we can trust to tell us what is actually going on! Along the way we get to learn about plenary powers, the commerce clause, and all kinds of other legal goodies! Here's the NYT coverage (which was more or less correct, but Andrew still gives us way more context!) Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]