The Shape of Dialogue Michael Goldwater

Helen Joyce is a journalist and was a staff writer for The Economist between 2005 and 2022. Helen held various leading positions at The Economist, including education editor, Brazil correspondent, International editor, Finance editor and Britain editor.
Helen's first book, "Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality," was published by OneWorld in July 2021. It was reissued in 2023 under the new title "Trans: Gender Identity and the New Battle for Women's Rights."
"Trans" was an immediate bestseller and was named by the Times, Spectator and Observer as one of their books of 2021.
Helen now campaigns for women's rights and works with the start-up human-rights organisation Sex Matters, which campaigns for clarity about the two sexes, male and female, in law and in life.
https://www.thehelenjoyce.com/
https://www.thehelenjoyce.com/trans-news-and-reviews/
https://www.amazon.com.au/TRANS-When-Ideology-Meets-Reality/dp/0861540492
https://sex-matters.org/
Music - Bach Mass in B Minor conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
https://open.spotify.com/album/3HdmIB3Wzcd7bFDdsgaIbp?si=dRMNyRieTLCTHMJfSBZ7mA

Richard Dawkins - https://richarddawkins.com/
In February 2023, Richard Dawkins asked me to host his New Zealand speaking tour. Today's podcast is the Auckland event, in which Richard discusses the scientific method, his recent book Flights of Fancy, and the debate surrounding the inclusion of non-scientific Māori mythological concepts in the New Zealand school science curriculum.
Richard needs no introduction, but if anyone has been hiding under a rock for the last 50 years, here's a brief description of his contribution to the world.
Richard Dawkins is a world-famous Oxford University evolutionary biologist. He has led an illustrious career as an influential scientist, author, public intellectual and, importantly, an ardent advocate for science. It's no exaggeration to say Richard is one of the greatest minds of our time, and through his many books and public engagement, has positively changed millions of lives.
Richard is a prolific and highly influential author and one of the greatest writers of his generation. He has written 20 books, including The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, and the magic of reality.
Throughout his career, Richard has been a strong critic of religion and views the existence of God as a falsifiable hypothesis. In The Blind Watchmaker, he debunks creationist claims that life is far too complicated not to have had an omniscient designer.

About Nick Matzke - https://profiles.auckland.ac.nz/n-matzke
Background
In July 2021, seven University of Auckland professors published a letter to the editor in the New Zealand Listener, titled In Defence of Science.

The professors' were responding to a Government education report (see link below), recommending parity for Mātauranga Māori in the secondary school curriculum, and in particular, in the science classroom.

The report states:

”Our goal is to ensure parity for mātauranga Māori with the other bodies of knowledge credentialed by NCEA (particularly Western/Pākehā epistemologies)."

The report also states:

"Philosophy and History of Science is a unique strand in Pūtaiao [Māori word for Science], with no equivalent in the New Zealand Curriculum. It promotes discussion and analysis of the ways in which science has been used to support the dominance of Eurocentric views (among which, its use as a rationale for colonisation of Māori and the suppression of Māori knowledge); and the notion that science is a Western European invention and itself evidence of European dominance over Māori and other indigenous peoples. Pūtaiao allows opportunities to incorporate Māori perspectives and knowledge about the natural world into the classroom. In this regard, it decentres Western epistemologies and methodologies."

The professors' letter arose from their concern for "the disturbing misunderstandings of science emerging at all levels of education and in science funding", which they state is encourages a mistrust of science. Their concern is in the context of the decline in maths and science achievements in New Zealand schools, particularly by Māori and Pacific Island students.

Their letter stated that:

"Indigenous knowledge is critical for the preservation and perpetuation of culture and local practices, and plays key roles in management and policy. However, in the discovery of empirical, universal truths, it falls far short of what we can define as science itself. To accept it as the equivalent of science is to patronise and fail indigenous populations; better to ensure that everyone participates in the world's scientific enterprises. Indigenous knowledge may indeed help advance scientific knowledge in some ways, but it is not science".

The reaction to the "In Defence of Science" by the University of Auckland, the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi, the Tertiary Education Union, and the New Zealand Association of Scientists was not positive and can be viewed in the following articles…

NZ Herald - Scientists rubbish Auckland University professors' letter claiming Māori knowledge is not science

https://tinyurl.com/2p8v2h9s

RNZ - University academics' claim mātauranga Māori 'not science' sparks controversy

https://tinyurl.com/2ybvk3ja

Research Professional News - Public letter from academics sparks Māori science row

https://tinyurl.com/3juc66yc

An open letter in response to the professors' letter by professors Hendy and Wiles, "An open response to In defence of science" was co-signed by 2000 people.

https://tinyurl.com/2p8m65xn

Links…

NCEA Education - What is Science about?

https://ncea.education.govt.nz/science/science?view=learning

The Government education report

https://tinyurl.com/3yfry76h

https://medium.com/@shapeofdialogue ..... for.....

“In Defence of Science” - Letter to the editor published in the New Zealand Listener, July 2021

“More In Defence of Science” - Supplementary Note to In Defence of Science letter to the editor published in the New Zealand Listener, July...

Save Our Schools Report
https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/reports/save-our-schools-solutions-for-new-zealands-education-crisis/document/797
Dr Michael Johnston is a Senior Fellow at the New Zealand Initiative. He leads the workstream on education.
Prior to his time at the Initiative, Dr Johnston held academic positions at Victoria University of Wellington from 2011-2022. From 2020 until 2022 he was the Associate Dean (Academic) in the University’s Faculty of Education.
Prior to his time at Victoria, Dr Johnston was the Senior Statistician at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, a position he held for 6 years. Before that, he was a lecturer in psychology at the University Melbourne and a Research Fellow at Latrobe University.
Dr Johnston holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Melbourne.
https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/about-us/our-people/dr-michael-johnston/

Jewher Ilham
https://www.allstaticandnoise.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/jewherilham

Jewher Ilham: A Uyghur's Fight to Free Her Father (Broken Silence)

https://www.amazon.com/Jewher-Ilham-Uyghurs-Father-Silence/dp/1608011054

Ilham Tohti : http://www.ilhamtohti.com/

Uyghur Forced Labor Checker

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/uyghur-forced-labor-check/ejodaepockllkcloibcchpjnfoopincp

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA

China: UN experts deeply concerned by alleged detention, forced labour of Uyghurs

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/03/china-un-experts-deeply-concerned-alleged-detention-forced-labour-uyghurs

China: 83 major brands implicated in report on forced labour 

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/china-83-major-brands-implicated-in-report-on-forced-labour-of-ethnic-minorities-from-xinjiang-assigned-to-factories-across-provinces-includes-company-responses/

Director David Novack talks about All Static & Noise, his documentary on the Uyghur genocide in western China.
www.allstaticandnoise.com
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088787521406
https://www.instagram.com/allstaticandnoise/
https://twitter.com/allstatic_noise
https://www.odessafilms.com/our-films.html
https://www.odessafilms.com/david-novack.html
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/03/china-un-experts-deeply-concerned-alleged-detention-forced-labour-uyghurs
https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA
https://www.workersrights.org/
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/china-83-major-brands-implicated-in-report-on-forced-labour-of-ethnic-minorities-from-xinjiang-assigned-to-factories-across-provinces-includes-company-responses/