255 episodes
Rationally Speaking Podcast New York City Skeptics
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- Philosophy
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4.6 • 69 Ratings
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Rationally Speaking is the bi-weekly podcast of New York City Skeptics. Join host Julia Galef and guests as they explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense, likely from unlikely, and science from pseudoscience. Any topic is fair game as long as we can bring reason to bear upon it, with both a skeptical eye and a good dose of humor!
We agree with the Marquis de Condorcet, who said that in an open society we ought to devote ourselves to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them."Rationally Speaking was co-created with Massimo Pigliucci, is produced by Benny Pollak, and is recorded in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village.
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Are Uber and Lyft drivers being exploited?
How much do Uber and Lyft drivers really earn? Are they getting a raw deal by being classified as independent contractors? I explore the contentious debate over these questions with three guests: Louis Hyman, Veena Dubal, and Harry Campbell.
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Unfair laws / Why judges should be originalists (William Baude)
Law professor William Baude explains how widely-hated laws like qualified immunity came to be and why they're so hard to change. Also, Baude makes the case that judges should base their rulings on the original meaning of the Constitution.
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Intellectual honesty, cryptocurrency, & more (Vitalik Buterin)
Julia and Vitalik Buterin (creator of Ethereum) discuss Vitalik's intellectually honest approach to leadership, why prediction markets appear to be biased in favor of Trump, whether it was rational to invest in Bitcoin ten years ago, and more.
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Understanding moral disagreements (Jonathan Haidt)
Julia and Jonathan Haidt (The Righteous Mind) discuss his moral foundations theory, and argue about whether liberals should “expand their moral horizons” by learning to think like conservatives.
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The case for one billion Americans, & more (Matt Yglesias)
Matt Yglesias talks about One Billion Americans, his book arguing that the U.S. should dramatically increase its population. Also: Matt and Julia reflect on why they made the mistake of supporting the Iraq War in 2003.
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What’s wrong with tech companies banning people? (Julian Sanchez)
Companies like Twitter and Facebook are increasingly willing to ban users -- and even if you agree with their decisions, is it worrying that a few companies have so much power? Julia discusses with Julian Sanchez, expert on tech and civil liberties.
Customer Reviews
Great interview podcast with interesting guests
Julia is a very insightful questioner and explores new angles on typical and unusual topics.
Glad I gave this one a chance. :)
I first found Julia through her YouTube channel (which she hasn’t posted to lately unfortunately) and wanted to see if she had any other content. I found this podcast and haven’t been disappointed.
Updated my priors.
Informative and fun
Massimo and Julia are interesting without trying.