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.
http://rationallyspeakingpodcast.org
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 9 days 7 hours 38 minutes
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episode 257: "Price gouging" in emergencies
Two economists -- Raymond Niles and Amihai Glazer -- defend “price gouging” in emergencies (when sellers raise prices on important goods, like masks and hand sanitizer during COVID). Julia raises potential counterarguments.
episode 256: How to be a data detective (Tim Harford)
You shouldn't blindly accept every statistic you read -- but neither should you dismiss everything you disagree with. Tim Harford, author of The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics, talks about the heuristics he follows.
episode 255: 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.
episode 254: 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.
episode 253: 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.
episode 252: 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.
episode 251: 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.
episode 250: 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.
episode 249: The case for racial colorblindness (Coleman Hughes)
Coleman Hughes explains why he favors a "colorblind" ideal and why the "race-conscious" camp disagrees with him. Coleman and Julia also discuss whether reparations are just, and what counts as racism.