263 episodes
Rationally Speaking Podcast New York City Skeptics
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- Society & Culture
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4.6 • 87 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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Is cash the best way to help the poor? (Michael Faye)
The idea of giving poor people cash, no strings attached, is "very unappealing" for most donors, admits economist Michael Faye -- but it's still one of the best ways to help the poor. Michael and Julia discuss the philosophy behind his organization (GiveDirectly), the evidence we have so far about cash transfers as an anti-poverty intervention, and the various concerns people have about it: How long-lasting are the effects? Does it make recipients less likely to work? Does it cause inflation?
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Humanity on the precipice (Toby Ord)
Humanity could thrive for millions of years -- unless our future is cut short by an existential catastrophe. Oxford philosopher Toby Ord explains the possible existential risks we face, including climate change, pandemics, and artificial intelligence. Toby and Julia discuss what led him to take existential risk more seriously, which risks he considers underrated vs. overrated, and how to estimate the probability of existential risk.
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Dangerous biological research - is it worth it? (Kevin Esvelt)
Kevin Esvelt, a scientist at MIT, argues that research intended to prevent pandemics is actually putting us in a lot more danger. Also discussed: Kevin's own research on engineering wild animal species. Are the risks worth the benefits?
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Why we're polarized (Ezra Klein)
Ezra Klein explains how Republican and Democrats in the US became so different from each other, ideologically and demographically, and why that trend + our institutions = political gridlock. Questions covered include: Is polarization necessarily bad? Has the left polarized more than the right? And what should we make of polls that seem to show Republicans and Democrats used to agree on immigration policy?
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The genetic lottery (Kathryn Paige Harden)
Kathryn Paige Harden, author of “The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality” explains what scientists have learned about how our genes affect our educational success. Why is this research so controversial? And is it worth doing anyway?
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How to reason about COVID, and other hard things (Kelsey Piper)
Journalist Kelsey Piper (Future Perfect / Vox) discusses lessons learned from covering COVID: What has she been wrong about, and why? How much can we trust the CDC's advice? What does the evidence look like for different drugs like Fluvoxamine and Ivermectin? And should regular people really try to evaluate the evidence themselves instead of deferring to experts?
Customer Reviews
Expands my mind every time I listen
Julia Galef is a fantastic guide through all things reason and rationality. She brings on terrific guests and gives each topic a thorough working over.
Difficult to listen to…
Edited: Just listened to the episode with Ezra Klein and there was a lot less interrupting, so hopefully this will continue!
I’m a huge fan of podcasts like Mindscape and Making Sense, and what they have in common is pin-drop silence while the guest is speaking. Julia seems to always be queuing up her rebuttal or interjecting a question, not letting her guests finish their trains of thought. I would recommend Julia mute her mic while the guest is speaking, as it’s really annoying to try to listen to what she or he has to say while Julia is making “I’m about to interrupt you” noises. Furthermore, I found her wholesale dismissal of panpsychism to be really strange, especially when she wasn’t even aware of it to begin with; after all, it’s taken seriously by many academics, such as Annaka Harris and definitely worthy of consideration.
Spellbinding
Julia Galef is obviously an intellectual powerhouse. Her thinking is sound and her logic profound. But what distinguishes her (and this podcast) is an ability to convey complex notions in clear, accessible terms that even simpletons like me can grapple with. She quenches complexity and convinces softly, elegantly. To add to all this, I find her voice quite delicious. It’s easy, calm, yet authoritative. Her wisdom comes wrapped in a smile - something that we can always delight in.
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