If there’s one thing Point of Inquiry is concerned about, it’s ensuring a rational, sensible conversation in politics, in public life. And you simply can’t have such a conversation if the culture is awash in political, and politicized, misinformation. What do we mean by “misinformation”? The denial of global warming. Claims about “death panels.” Assertions …
A common goal of freethinkers, humanists, skeptics, and atheists is to preserve Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation” between church and state. But we haven’t always been successful in this area—help from the courts notwithstanding—or at beating back the steady advances of the religious right. How can we do better? Our guest this week has a …
One of the costs of being conscious is that, once in a while, we are forced to contemplate the fact that we are mortal. Ironically, a close brush with the grim reaper leaves many people more convinced than ever that our minds are not tethered to our bodies, and therefore can survive physical death. What …
Our guest this week is Michael Mann, the prominent climatologist and, above all, leading defender of his field—and himself—against political attacks. Mann is out with a new book this month, which details his ten year battle against political attacks and misrepresentations. It’s called The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches From the Front Lines. …
So who’s right, factually, about politics and science? Who speaks truth, and who’s just spinning? It’s kind of the million dollar question. If we could actually answer it, we’d have turned political debate itself into a… well, a science. And is such an answer possible? What does the scientific evidence suggest? In this episode of …
We had Lawrence Krauss on Point of Inquiry less than a year ago, to discuss his recent book on the scientific works of Richard Feynman. But in order to keep up with him, we had to have him on again. Already. You see, Krauss has a new book out that’s causing quite a stir right …
Earlier this month, Point of Inquiry host Chris Mooney attended Science Online, the premiere science blogging conference, in the research triangle area. There were many science aficionados, communicators, and wonks present, but Chris found himself hanging out a lot with Brian Malow—aka, the Science Comedian. And get this—Malow lived up to his name. He was pretty …
Eugenie Scott is no stranger to Point of Inquiry, or to the secular community. Her endless travails to defend the teaching of evolution have won her immense respect. And that’s why, when Scott and her National Center for Science Education take on a new initiative, everybody listens. So for this Point of Inquiry episode, we …
It’s the beginning of a new year here at Point of Inquiry, and we’ve got a pretty good guest to kick it off. He needs no introduction. He’s Brian Greene—celebrity physicist, bestselling author, television star and all around science communication maestro. Officially: Greene is co-founder and director of Columbia University’s Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and …
Dr. Stuart Robbins is a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His work focuses on planetary geophysics, and he’s currently researching craters on Mars, and on the moon. Stuart received his PhD in Astrophysics through the Geophysics program from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Stuart has a special interest in astronomy education, especially correcting myths …