Edinburgh Skeptics Presents...

After delivering the first talk of our fantastic Edinburgh International Science Festival 2016 lineup, we sat down with Dr. Sarah Clement to talk some more about GMOs and her own journey into skepticism.

Sarah has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Environmental Science. After discovering she was less interested in understanding ""the environment"" as a separate entity, independent from society, her career has focused on examining the space where social and ecological systems overlap. She has worked as a researcher examining the biophysical, social and policy dimensions of environmental problems since 2002. Sarah was born and raised in the US, where she awkwardly grew up in a small Midwestern town as an atheist and a natural skeptic. It wasn't until she moved to Australia, however, that she discovered there was not only a term for her constant questioning, but an entire movement. She became active with the Perth Skeptics as one of its organisers. She now resides in the UK; and after her lifetime tour of the colonies, she likes to think she's returned to the motherland.

https://about.me/saraheclement If you want to look at Sarah's GoodReads list, you can find that here

Genetically modified crops have been hailed as both a saviour and villain. The media has put a spotlight on the two extreme ends of this polarised debate, with agricultural corporations on one side and internet celebrities like Food Babe on the other. This talk focuses on that neglected grey area in-between, including what we know about the environmental impacts and how we might translate scientific data and societal values into pragmatic public policy.

Sarah has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Environmental Science. After discovering she was less interested in understanding "the environment" as a separate entity, independent from society, her career has focused on examining the space where social and ecological systems overlap. She has worked as a researcher examining the biophysical, social and policy dimensions of environmental problems since 2002.

Sarah was born and raised in the US, where she awkwardly grew up in a small Midwestern town as an atheist and a natural skeptic. It wasn't until she moved to Australia, however, that she discovered there was not only a term for her constant questioning, but an entire movement. She became active with the Perth Skeptics as one of its organisers. She now resides in the UK; and after her lifetime tour of the colonies, she likes to think she's returned to the motherland.

https://about.me/saraheclement If you want to look at Sarah's GoodReads list, you can find that here

Join our very own David Frank as he quizzes Dr. Eric Stoddart from the University of St. Andrews on surveillance, his thoughts about theology and Big Brother, and the name of his first pet. He's totally not going to break into his email. Honestly...

Eric Stoddard grew up in Aberdeen where he also went to university - both for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Moving into academic positions later in life he's been at the University of St Andrews for the past ten years. Since about 2008 he has been researching surveillance and publishing largely on the ethics of this everyday phenomenon. With a colleague from Sweden he is currently developing an international research network to focus specifically on issues of surveillance and religion.

https://ericstoddart.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk https://twitter.com/es61andrews

Our next Science Festival 2016 talk addresses the subject of Big Brother. It's easy to be alarmist about the spread of surveillance technologies into many areas of everyday life. Orwell's 'Big Brother' is a popular image but it doesn't really get us too far in taking a sober critical stance towards surveillance in its multi-faceted guises. There's a lot of value in drawing on privacy rights as a way of challenging extensive technological systems that treat us as objects from which data is scraped and on which basis we are then categorised and acted upon. However, Dr. Eric Stoddart is suggesting that thinking about our (in)visibility - the skill we have in managing our visibility in relation to people and institutions - gives us an additional dimension to addressing significant concerns about cultures of surveillance. Considering (in)visibility also takes us quickly into questions of social justice where surveillance is disproportionately targeted at already marginalised groups of people. This means we start thinking about the negative (and possibly positive) effects of surveillance upon the Common Good. Surveillance isn't all bad so we need a critical approach that doesn't spiral into alarmist panics. He will explore what just such a response might need to look like.

Eric Stoddart grew up in Aberdeen where he also went to university - both for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Moving into academic positions later in life he's been at the University of St Andrews for the past ten years. Since about 2008 he has been researching surveillance and publishing largely on the ethics of this everyday phenomenon. With a colleague from Sweden he is currently developing an international research network to focus specifically on issues of surveillance and religion.

https://ericstoddart.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk https://twitter.com/es61andrews

With massive apologies for not having anything for you this week, Mark rambled on for about four minutes about the podcast and Edinburgh Skeptics in general, along with gratuitous begging and a story about bin bags.

We'll be back next week. Promise.

EdSkeptics regular and podcast co-host Kitty Johnstone sits down with Charles Paxton to talk all things Bigfoot and cryptozoology in general in this interview recorded during our 2015 Fringe run.

Charles Paxton is an aquatic biologist with an interest in the hard science behind reports of sea monsters. He has published papers on amongst other things whales, guppies, catfishes, penguins, Antarctic seals and British freshwater fishes.

• www.sea-monster.info

Gordon Rutter is a writer, lecturer, photographer, organiser of the Edinburgh Fortean Society and friend to Edinburgh Skeptics.

• gordonrutter.com
• edinburghforteansociety.org.uk

We're delighted to welcome back Skeptics on the Fringe regular Charles Paxton for this week's podcast episode who has talked to us previously about his research into sightings of Nessie and Gordon Rutter who co-ordinates the Edinburgh Fortean Society. Only Gordon wasn't there due to an unfortunate wedding-related mix up (not his own, don't worry).

This year they ask can we distinguish between truth and lies in accounts of cryptozoological entities? They went to Edinburgh's Botanical Gardens to find out...

There's also an interview with Charles available alongside this podcast, courtesy of EdSkeptics regular and podcast co-host Kitty Johnstone.

Charles Paxton is an aquatic biologist with an interest in the hard science behind reports of sea monsters. He has published papers on amongst other things whales, guppies, catfishes, penguins, Antarctic seals and British freshwater fishes.

• www.sea-monster.info

Gordon Rutter is a writer, lecturer, photographer, organiser of the Edinburgh Fortean Society and friend to Edinburgh Skeptics.

• gordonrutter.com
• edinburghforteansociety.org.uk

After wowing us with what can only be described as a performance/talk, we sat down with Alan McClure during the 2015 Fringe run to talk to him some more about his work.

Alan McClure is a singer-songwriter from Galloway, south-west Scotland, whose lyrical depth has been noted by journalists and fellow musicians alike.

A published poet and author, he brings humour and insight to his songs while keeping one ear on the need for a strong melody. Most often seen performing with his band The Razorbills, who were described by Roots magazine as "refreshingly individualistic … quirky and brassy", he has also recorded and released five solo albums, the most recent of which, according to R2 magazine, "…confirms his status as a profoundly interesting writer."

http://www.alanmcclure.co.uk

A poet should be prepared to have his head in the clouds, but he has the right to choose whether those clouds are the abode of angelic choirs, or are columns of perfectly sculpted water vapour refracting the light of a mid-sized star.

Join a critically acclaimed poet and songwriter as he discusses the inspirational side of science and seeks beauty and grandeur in a deity-free universe. It's not often we get to have music at our events, but when we do we make sure it's good.

The same cannot be said, unfortunately, for the quality of it in this podcast, as Alan's booming voice and aggressive chords clipped like a mofo. Sorry about that. Also I had to record my intro on a phone. Only the best here at EdSkeptics Towers! We interviewed Alan as well, and thankfully that came out clip fine. You can get it along with this podcast.

Alan McClure is a singer-songwriter from Galloway, south-west Scotland, whose lyrical depth has been noted by journalists and fellow musicians alike.

A published poet and author, he brings humour and insight to his songs while keeping one ear on the need for a strong melody. Most often seen performing with his band The Razorbills, who were described by Roots magazine as "refreshingly individualistic … quirky and brassy", he has also recorded and released five solo albums, the most recent of which, according to R2 magazine, "…confirms his status as a profoundly interesting writer."

http://www.alanmcclure.co.uk

After an excellent talk as part of our 2015 Fringe run, Claudia Schaffner sat down with Myles Power to talk about the bonkers world of AIDS denialism.

Myles Power runs the educational YouTube channel powerm1985. He's originally from Middlesbrough in the North East of England, but has spent a large potion of his adult life living in Manchester. He is a chemist who has over 8 years of experience working in a research lab, which has given him the skills he needs to research and debunk virus psuedoscience theories. He has discussed some of the theories on his YouTube channel including AIDS denialists, 911 truthers, the anti-vaccination movement and homeopathy to name a few. He is also one of the founding members of the podcast The League of Nerds which he co-hosts with James from The History of Infection.

Twitter: @powerm1985 Web: https://mylespower.co.uk