Skeptic Generation

Eric and Vi are back from Kentucky and ready for another week of calls!

Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy merch: https://tiny.cc/SGmerch
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To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com

Now that we're getting settled in, it's time to start making improvements to the studio, lets see if we can get through this next episode without any tech issues! (Spoiler: We didn't.)

Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy merch: https://tiny.cc/SGmerch
Help with our studio: https://tiny.cc/SGwishlist

To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com
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SHOW NOTES:

00:00 - Intro - Come See Us At The Ark Encounter!
9:50 - Lily (she/they) - CA - Eric and Vi Disagree on Existence
27:07 - Mark (he/him) - NC - Should We Call Ourselves Anti-theists?
44:11 - Robin (he/him) - DC - Vi Versus A Presup
1:09:03 - Nick (he/him) - TN - Eric Gets Excited About Math
1:15:54 - Dean (he/him) - NC - Transgender vs Transracial
1:23:07 - Outro - Eric Flummoxes the Ending Catchphrase

00:00
We’ve been doing this show for almost two months, can you believe it? And to celebrate, a couple of fun announcements! First, it’s Eric’s birthday week. If you’re interested in buying him a little present, check out our Amazon studio wish list at tiny.cc/SGwishlist or make a one-time donation at tiny.cc/tipSG.

Second, we’re going to be visiting the Ark Encounter on July 10th to take part in the Tri-state Freethinkers’ annual protest. Find out more by visiting https://www.facebook.com/events/1038430813356540/?ti=ls

9:50
Lily calls back to continue their conversation about whether or not math exists, but the conversation very quickly dissolves into an argument between Vi and Eric about whether or not qualia exists, what subjective experience is, whether they define existence in the same way…. It gets heated.

P.S. They are infinitely sorry to Lily, who they completely stomped all over in this call. It will not happen again.

27:07
[content warning: sensitive topics] After finding multiple mass graves of Indigenous children under Catholic residential schools throughout Canada, Mark is wondering if we should switch from using the term “atheist” to “anti-theist” to more strongly condemn these kinds of horrific actions. Vi suggests getting more specific, while Eric suggests the term “anti-theismist.”

To learn more about what is going on in Canada, check out these reports:
- https://abcnews.go.com/International/recently-discovered-unmarked-indigenous-graves-canada-nears-1000/story?id=78472829
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57325653

44:11
Are Eric and Vi strong atheists or weak atheists? This presup wants to know, but comes up against some difficulty when the hosts don’t play along with the script. Eric wants better definitions, and Vi cuts to the chase with some good old neuroscience. Will Robin call back to talk about his “revelatory epistemology” next week?

1:09:03
What can math tell us about how we label things? Are apples numbered or are numbers appled? If a wire mesh exists, what can we say about platonic ideals? Is any of this making sense?

During this call, Nick suggests that numbers are nouns that we can add adjectives to. Eric argues that numbers are just another set of adjectives to describe things that exist.

1:15:54
How would you explain to a conservative Christian the difference between being transgender and identifying as transracial? “You wouldn’t,” Vi says, pointing out that a nuanced conversation of this caliber shouldn’t be overly simplified to people with a 4th grade-level understanding of biology and sociology. They suggest watching T1J’s video on the subject (linked below) to get a better and more qualified explanation of the topic.

Check out T1J’s video here: https://youtu.be/7HD5jHSkmN8

1:23:07
Eric had one job. Just one. And what did we get? The worst outro in Skeptic Generation history… and that’s a tough record to hold. Please shame him in the comments.

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The time has come! Join #LaMurph as they do their FIRST episode from their new home together!

Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy merch: https://tiny.cc/SGmerch
Help with our studio: https://tiny.cc/SGwishlist

To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com

After a week of painting, repairs, and moving house, Eric and Vi are back in the saddle again! Due to the repairs, we decided to do this last episode in the old studio, so say goodbye to the mics and setup and get ready for a change of scenery.

Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy merch: https://tiny.cc/SGmerch
Help with our studio: https://tiny.cc/SGwishlist

To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com

Greetings to all you skeptics out there! Welcome to Eric and Vi’s new show, Skeptic Generation! The hosts are dying to talk, so sit down, get comfortable, and enjoy this week's episode of Skeptic Generation!

Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy merch: https://tiny.cc/SGmerch
Help with our studio: https://tiny.cc/SGwishlist

To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com

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Intro
Cockroaches! Renovations! Technical difficulties! Lucky us, we’ve got it all this week. But thankfully we have something to look forward to. Not only do we have awesome callers to talk with, we also have super chats!

Andy - TX
We wrap up our conversation about veganism with repeat caller Andy. Eric and Vi agree that factory farming is immoral, and get deeper into the nuances of harm reduction by discussing the availability of ethically sourced products, slave labor in cashew farming, and monkeys in chains.

NOTE: We have plans to dedicate a few weeks at a future date to vegan atheist activism, but in the meantime will be moving towards other topics in upcoming episodes. If you have requests for vegan atheist guests, leave them in the comments.

Unethical cashew production practices:
https://www.slowfood.com/cashew-nuts-...
https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/04/women-...

Monkeys harvesting coconuts:
https://www.peta.org/features/chaokoh...
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/an...

Sam - UK
Does using philosophical terms in conversation help you communicate, or do you just sound a bit pretentious? Sam Chaos (they/them) calls in to discuss. Eric points out that if you understand the terms, you can communicate well without having to resort to obscure terminology.

Chris - CT
Chris calls in to vent about being forced to play into his employer’s religion at the risk of not being allowed to get his PhD. Vi and Eric suggest taking notes, documenting this abuse of power, and reporting it after he’s graduated.

If you are witnessing religious overreach, please consider notifying the Freedom from Religion Foundation (https://ffrf.org/legal/report) or American Atheists (https://www.atheists.org/legal/report...).

Dakota - WI
As Americans, should we be skeptical of capitalism? Dakota wants to use the same kind of critical thinking we apply to religion to our economic model. Eric has questions about what exactly we should be skeptical of. Vi points out an often overlooked period in American history: when businessmen bankrolled religious pundits in an effort to push back against FDR’s New Deal.

The book suggestion from this clip is Kevin M. Kruse’s “One Nation Under God”: https://history.princeton.edu/about/p...

NOTE: Upon review, this caller seems to have thrown doubt on the existence (or severity) of the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang, China. We didn’t fully realize this during the course of the actual call, but Skeptic Generation does not endorse this view. If you want to learn more, please visit the shared links below. Good argument for or against any issue should never involve the dismissal of atrocities or violations of human rights.

Council on Foreign Relations: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chin...

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/e...

Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/new...

Elliot - WA
Vi and Eric have lots of feelings about this call. Elliot (they/them) wants to know our thoughts about progressive, affirming versions of Christianity that try to reconcile LGBTQIA+ rights with Scripture. Vi sets up a steelman of the position, and Eric tears it TF down.

Bottom line: It’s great if you can be an affirming, progressive Christian. But that doesn’t absolve Christianity of the atrocities it has inspired against marginalized groups.
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Copyright © 2021 Skeptic Generation. All rights reserved.

Greetings to all you skeptics out there! Welcome to episode three of Eric and Vi’s new show, Skeptic Generation! The hosts are dying to talk, so sit down, get comfortable, and enjoy this week's episode of Skeptic Generation!
First caller today is Malachi and he is asking how to skeptically navigate issues like gun ownership. A tool isn’t inherently immoral. Protecting your ranch, hunting, or going to a gun range is no big deal. You come into issues like deregulation, states trying to let anyone carry a gun regardless of training or background checks.
Puck asks our hosts about the importance of learning philosophy when discussing atheism. Eric was challenged about philosophy and learned tons about fallacies, it gives you more tools to challenge what people believe on more levels. Math comes from philosophy. There is a professor that attempts to prove god using philosophy and one that doesn’t know their stuff, might fall for it.
Dave was a skeptic but found Jesus’ face in some pancakes, now he believes. Just joking, this is Dave MFing Warnock. We appreciate your words of encouragement! We love you Dave!
Andy in TX wants to address Eric’s hangup of “we are god's stewards of land and animals”. He continues the talk on veganism saying eating meat isn't mandated but god made us stewards over land and animals. Childhood indoctrination can be hard to shake. We go more into talk about commandments, levitical law, and animal sacrifice which are no longer moral. Lots to unpack here, please call back.
Mark in NC ran into christians talking about what makes a true christian. To flip that, he asks if there is a “true atheist”. An atheist is simply someone that doesn’t believe in god/s, if you meet that criteria, you are an atheist. Whereas christianity is a subset of theism.
Bree in IA was introduced to the no kink at pride argument and wonders what they mean by kink. Typically they mean “anything queer we don’t like or makes us uncomfortable”. If one is uncomfortable, like ace folk, that is a conversation we can have. Stay away from twitter trolls!
Meta-4 in PA wants to discuss deepity, a term that sounds profound but doesn’t really mean anything. The issue is people feeding just a deepity with nothing else, usually used as a non-answer.
Final caller today, Will in TX. Will asks how one can reconcile eating meat and being against animal cruelty. When we think of animal cruelty, we think more of animals use under our care. We do end the life of our suffering pets though. Sorry we don’t have more time to dive into this.
Thank you all so much for watching! It was fantastic to have you all here. Until we see you next time, keep being skeptical.

Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy merch: https://tiny.cc/SGmerch
Help with our studio: https://tiny.cc/SGwishlist

To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com

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RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

What we do not allow in our live chat:

Spamming
Personal attacks
Evangelizing

Our mods will mute or remove you from the live chat if you break these rules of engagement after a warning. Please respect this community and think before you hit “send.”

Copyright © 2021 Skeptic Generation. All rights reserved.

Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy merch: https://tiny.cc/SGmerch
Help with our studio: https://tiny.cc/SGwishlist

To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com

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00:00 Intro And Announcements
07:21 Rudy - OH Any Advice As A New Host Of A Call-in Show
13:34 Jon - CA
24:32 Dean - NC
46:42 Justin - AL Morality Of Meat Mastication
1:10:20 Fran - CO Inherently Circular Arguments
1:21:05 Outro

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THIS IS SKEPTIC GENERATION, AND WE NEED TO TALK

A new live call-in show for an expanding community of diverse and compassionate skeptics. Join Eric Murphy and Vi La Bianca every Sunday morning.

This is our second episode, and our goal is to be live for the full 90 minutes this time. We figured out the technical quirk from last week and are ready to jump back in and talk with some callers! We may even have one or two more special guests on the line. Tune in or call in to catch us live.

Copyright © 2021 Skeptic Generation. All rights reserved.

This is our inaugural episode, and we are so excited to be here! We had a bunch of tech issues which meant we could only run for an hour, but we got to hear from some amazing people including Genetically Modified Skeptic, Holy Koolaid, and a bunch of people who share a birthday with SG! We also got a return call from Brenda, who is still very wrong about philosophy and also desperately condescending. Oh well.

Special thanks to our amazing crew that helped behind the scenes, and to you, our viewers, who stuck with us and are getting a front-row seat for this new baby show's first steps! We love and appreciate you all. See you next week :)