Serious Inquiries Only

Where does the Babe.net article on Aziz Ansari land on the spectrum of #metoo moments? Are the old-school feminists correct when they say women ought to say no and call a cab? Today's episode is a discussion between two people who come out on different ends of some of these questions. It's an attempt to find some common ground and understanding on a very important issue. Note: This episode contains strong language and discussion of sexual activity. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]

***For $30 off your first week of HelloFresh, visit HelloFresh.com and enter seriouspod30! Today's episode begins with some thoughts on what can be a moral blindspot when it comes to fat shaming and looks shaming Trump. Is there a way to hit all the criticism we want to while not unnecessarily insulting and offending innocent bystanders? I think so, and I outline my case. Then I go through several listener voicemails! They cover a range of recent topics from reparations to Sam Harris. Athletes with Trump's Weight and Height; The Case for Reparations Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]

Andrew Torrez joins me from world-famous podcast Opening Arguments to break down the James Damore lawsuit against Google! Is it the most important lawsuit in modern history as some have called it? You'll have to listen to find out! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected] Direct Download

*I mention Eiynah as the one who sent me the video. I just want to emphasize she had the full context and I didn't mean to imply she was spreading the fake news version without thinking. She has a great thread on it here. Recently, an edited video circulated and caused an uproar among liberals. It features Steven Pinker seeming to praise the intelligence of the alt-right and asserting that there are certain "truths" to be found there. Is there more to the story? Always. But it doesn't mean he isn't still wrong about stuff. I talk about that video and a few others of his that I've analyzed, including an incredibly frustrating one called "Why Do Progressives Hate Progress?" (this video features absolutely zero examples of progressives hating progress.) Full Redpill Video; Free Speech Video; Progressives Hate Progress Video; PZ Myers Post; Quora Article on Larry Summers; Pinker's Self Confessed Political Leanings; Shaun King on Why US Isn't the Best; US Life Expectancy Down; How Liberal Are Professors; BREW CITY BENEFIT!! Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected] Direct Download

Is Twitter real life? Tom from Cognitive Dissonance is here with me to talk about his philosophy on dealing with criticism and unpleasant people online. It's very zen and interesting, but is it something you and I would be able to adopt? Then we move on to the broader topic of the morphing of analog and digital lives and how the world is changing. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]

What in the hell is the atheism world coming to when atheist horse-person Sam Harris would agree with a religious conservative on a matter of Church-State Separation over the Freedom from Religion Foundation? I talk about the details of this strange and depressing convergence, as well as some of the other broader implications of the Eric Weinstein, Ben Shapiro, Sam Harris conversation, and Weinstein's so-called Intellectual Dark Web. Sources: Harris Podcast; FFRF View on Masterpiece Cake Case; Ben Shapiro Lying About the Case; Eric Weinstein Tinfoil Hat Tweet; Contra Video Taken Down; German Law. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]

Back for another great conversation is Alix Jules! This was originally going to be a follow up commentary but in speaking with Alix, it became clear that having him on would make for a much better episode! We discuss a Coates critique Twitter thread that got a lot of traction with the anti-feminist, anti-BLM factions but that I find quite off-base. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]

... and another great round of your voicemails! A website called thewrap.com unearthed some old blog posts by Cenk Uygur in which he wrote some alarmingly sexist things. He has since apologized and emphasized that he doesn't believe those things anymore. Here is their article and here's the biased Gateway Pundit Article. How ought we to evaluate something like this in the wake of the #metoo moment? I have a lot to say about that, and about the cynical, bad-faith attempts on the right to both claim #metoo is a witch hunt, but also to use it when it pleases them. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]

Dr. Topher Stephenson joins me today to talk about traumatic brain injuries. He educates us a bit on the basics, and then we talk about how he, as a parent, evaluates the decision of letting his kids play sports. Which ones are safe? Should youth soccer require headgear? And much more. Check out his organization here. Also the CDC page on TBI is a good resource. Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]

Ok so maybe the left is eating its own... After brushing by a couple points on the tax bill, I talk about a few instances of people on the left being unfairly demonized and harassed by other people on the left. It sucks. ContraPoints on YouTube seemed to me to be very affected by harassment over her decision to attend an event with Blaire White and Theryn Meyer. I talk briefly about that but then I move onto a bigger example that I discuss in depth, and that is Cornel West's hit-piece on Ta-Nehisi Coates. It's very straw-manny and disturbing to me. Here are some links: West's Piece; Weird Coates Atheism Piece; Slate Breakdown; Vox Breakdown Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support the show at seriouspod.com/support! Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email [email protected]