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Show 488: Naturalistic XMas Special!

Naturalistic XMas Special!

Audio here!

This Xmas, Arnell Dowret will host our annual program taking a humanistic, naturalistic view on the Christian holiday! The two-hour special will feature all the usual goodies including the Xmas meditation, our historic interview with Santa, and more…

This Xmas, we also had the pleasure of speaking with two members of the Freethought community! Dr. Dian Killian is a Certified Trainer with the international Center for Nonviolent Communication. We often hear that this is the season of goodwill towards all men/women — a noble humanistic ideal which should extend the entire year — and that in times of trouble, this sentiment takes on even more profound meaning. In the “Immediate and Personal” segment of this special program, we will speak with Dian about her work and how it can be useful when dealing with the recent and intense conflicts between the Police and the public.

Later on, in the “Vast and Futuristic” segment, we will speak with astronomer Carolyn Porco who is the leader of the imaging science team on the Cassini mission presently in orbit around Saturn, a veteran imaging scientist of the Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s, and one of the  imaging scientists on the New Horizons mission on its way to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Here we will take a look at the cosmic view of a holiday — built on the scientific and intuitive awareness of the winter solstice — where even its religious endeavors are an attempt – albeit a weak one – to understand the universe.

So join us for this 2-Hour Xmas Special, and then come  back on Saturday for a special repeated program on the origins and continued existence of our policed society in America, with Kristian Williams!

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Show 394: Lawrence Krauss on “Why there is Something rather than Nothing?”

Lawrence Krauss on “Why there is Something rather than Nothing?”

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A question often asked of non-theists is “why is there something rather than nothing?” The question is not so much a religious or philosophical question, but rather a question about the natural world. Finding a satisfying answer is difficult, but is becoming easier to reach as exciting scientific advances have provided new insight into this cosmological question. Presenting such complex information in a relatively simple way is a challenge, one that physicist Lawrence Krauss takes on in his book A Universe From Nothing, providing thoughtful arguments along with wry humor.

Lawrence Krauss is a theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. He is the author of several bestselling books, including Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science, The Physics of Star Trek, and, the focus of this show, A Universe from Nothing.