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Show 524: The Good Death: Exploring how People Die in America

The Good Death: Exploring how People Die in America w/ Ann Neumann

This week Barry Seidman will be speaking with Ann Neumann about her journey of discovery concerning death in America. No matter what happens to our society, to our species, over the next few decades…death isn’t going anywhere (well, unless the Transhumanists are right, of course).  How we die may or may not reflect how we’ve lived, but it does reflect our culture and the state of our society.  A merger of religion, politics, biology and existential angst tell the stories of people from all walks of life as they face and finally succumb to death.  And for naturalists, recognizing that death is not a transition to a heaven or alternate universe, it’s important we do this right.

Is there such a thing as a “good death?”  If so, how many Americans will experience it? What stands in their way, and is there anything we can do to make things less devastating? We will be asking these questions and more as we discuss Ann’s debut book, The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America.

Audio can be found here!

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Show 523: Michael Shermer: Skeptic

Michael Shermer: Skeptic

From a 10-step “Baloney Detection” guide to investigations into alien abductions, 9/11 conspiracy theories,  Creationism, therapeutic magnetism, and Bigfoot, Dr. Michael Shermer has made it his life’s work to think critically about — well — everything! His new book, Skeptic, presents readers with the tools necessary to do the same concerning a variety of innocent but misguided assumptions, baloney, bunkum, balderdash, and bullsh*t.

Host Matthew LaClair interviews Dr. Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, founder of the Skeptics Society, and author of over 15 books including Why Darwin Matters, The Believing Brain, The Moral Arc, and the subject of our discussion, Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye.

In addition to Dr. Shermer’s books and magazine, he is also a monthly columnist for Scientific American, a regular contributor to Time.com and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University.

Audio can be found here!

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Show 521: Identity and Mental Health in a Sociopathic Society

‘Identity and Mental Health in a Sociopathic Society’ w/ Charles Derber and Paul Verhaeghe

The social sciences have taught us that, as the 1960s saying goes, the personal IS political (and, of course, vice versa). One of the themes of my own interviews has been to connect the dots between the psychological health of individuals in society with the sociological health of the communities we live in.

We’ve talked with evolutionary biologists, evolutionary anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, political theorists and even neuroscientists about what sort of creatures human be ings are, how we behave when we have our basic and developmental needs, and how we can understand the clearly unhealthy societies we find planet-wide, including here in the United States.

Today we will continue the exploration of where humanity is today, socially, and where we might like to see it change…and how. Our special guests this time around will be with sociologist Charles Derber and psychoanalyst Paul Verhaeghe.

Audio can be found here!

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Show 519: An extended ETFF “X-Mas” Special

An extended ETFF “X-Mas” Special!

Audio Here!

Arnell Dowret will host our annual X-Mas Special, this year from 2pm-6pm, featuring loads of classic content including two our exclusive interviews with Santa Claus and our special Christmas meditation.  There will also be a bunch of brand new stuff like our recent interview with space scientist Carolyn Porco, who – as she did last year -will give us the highlights of human activity in space during 2015.

We will also be taking listener calls throughout the afternoon to hear how you are making it through the epic day.  And we’ll be playing lots of great Christmas parody songs both old and new.

So whether you are with friends, family or going solo – your Naturalistic Christmas afternoon of fun awaits!

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Show 518: Naturalistic Support Workshop

Naturalistic Support Workshop w/ Arnell Dowret

Audio here!

On Saturday December 5th at 2pm, ETFF’s NS is back and our topic will be Resilience. We’ll be taking your calls to hear how you deal with difficult events that change your life.

Regardless of the challenge whether it’s the loss of a close relationship – losing a job – or facing illness, why do some of us seem able to roll with the punches while others struggle?

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Show 517: Thomas Levenson on “The Hunt for Vulcan”

Thomas Levenson on “The Hunt for Vulcan”

Audio here!

It was believed for decades that our Solar System had an extra planet, closer to the Sun than Mercury: the planet Vulcan. The planet doesn’t exist, of course, but it took quite a while to figure that out. Why is that? What does this episode say about science and how it works? Is this a laughable mistake or a blunder in the history of science, or was science doing its job?

Today we’ll be speaking with Thomas Levenson, whose new book, ‘The Hunt for Vulcan: . . . And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe‘, addresses these questions while telling the compelling story of the “discovery” of a false planet.

Thomas Levenson is a professor at MIT and head of its science writing program. He is the author of several books, including ‘Einstein in Berlin’ and ‘Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World’s Greatest Scientist.’ He has also made ten feature-length documentaries (including a two-hour Nova program on Einstein) for which he has won numerous awards.

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Show’s 515/516: Whiteness, Racism, and The Economics of Cruelty

Whiteness, Racism, and The Economics of Cruelty

Audio Show 1 here!

Audio Show 2 here!

America is a racialized country. Built in part on chattel slavery predicated on a decidedly European model, the hegemonic power exists under the social construct known as Whiteness. If you are of that hegemony – or dominant group – you have access to many of the privileges this society has to offer. Of course there are other hegemonies in place: Male over Female, Straight or Cisgendered folks over LBGT folks, the Upper Class over the so-called Middle Classes – and both of those over the Working Classes and the Poor – Christians over other religious groups, and indeed religious groups over atheist and agnostic ones, and so on.

Over the course of US history, the tensions between those who dominate and are considered the “norm,” and those who are subordinated, has helped shape the culture and subcultures we now see. And this built in, often considered virtuous, hierarchical nature of our society determines the ways which resources are distributed and lives are lived.

In short, wealth leads to power and power leads to more wealth. We currently live in one of the most economically unequal society on the planet, which some argue is just what we should expect from late-stage Capitalism.

Today we will be speaking about what capitalism has wrought, as concerns the majority of the American population, and how being a highly racialized society is a big part of how we got to our current tragic circumstances. We will be speaking with a longtime friend of Equal Time, Tim Wise, and with someone I only recently discovered, Robin DiAngelo. Robin is the author of What Does it Mean to Be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy. Tim’s new book is Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America.

Part two includes excerpts from Dr. Joseph Graves, author of The Race Myth, Peggy McIntosh, and a special segment on ISIS with excerpts from Noam Chomsky.

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Shows 513/514: ETFF’s Membership-Drive Special: Merchants of Doubt!

ETFF’s Membership-Drive Special: Merchants of Doubt!

Audio show 1 here!

Audio show 2 here!

“Merchants of Doubt was one of the most talked-about climate change books of recent years, for reasons easy to understand: It tells the controversial story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades. The same individuals who claim the science of global warming is “not settled” have also denied the truth about studies linking smoking to lung cancer, coal smoke to acid rain, and CFCs to the ozone hole. “Doubt is our product,” wrote one tobacco executive. These “experts” supplied it.”

On this program we will be discussing both this book and the new Merchants of Doubt DVD, and play excerpts from the film as well as from our 2012 interview with one of the book’s author Naomi Oreskes. If you appreciate this kind of programming, please support WBAI this Autumn! If you enjoy Equal Time for Freethought – the only Secular Humanist/Atheist broadcast possibly anywhere in the nation!