Skeptical Thinker Podcast

This week Leah and Jamie discuss a newsletter link that Jamie's representative sent him. This link took us to the conservative publication: The Federalist. The article alleges that colleges are selling student data to the Get Out The Vote groups for nefarious leftist - leaning voter registration drives. See the sources below for a link to the article and a couple of other places we were looking to verify the information!

Give us a like! We also have an email address now! Send us a message! Let us know if there is anything you want us to research and discuss on future episodes!

Reach us at: [email protected]

Check out our Facebook Page Too!

Hope you like the cozy picture of Leah's cat Ciel!

Sources:

1. ALL IN Challenge - about. (2025, March 5). ALL IN Challenge. https://allinchallenge.org/about/
2. Fleetwood, S. (2023, April 4). Texas Bill models how to stop DEMs’ exploitation of colleges for partisan Get-Out-The-Vote OPs. The Federalist. https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/04/texas-bill-models-how-to-stop-dems-exploitation-of-colleges-for-partisan-get-out-the-vote-ops/
3. Fleetwood, S. (2025, March 21). Legal complaint asks Education Department to probe alleged Left-Wing GOTV scheme at colleges. The Federalist. https://thefederalist.com/2025/03/21/legal-complaint-asks-education-department-to-probe-alleged-left-wing-gotv-scheme-at-colleges/
4. Influence Watch. (2024, May 17). ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) - InfluenceWatch. InfluenceWatch. https://www.influencewatch.org/organization/all-in-campus-democracy-challenge-all-in/
5. Kittle, M. (2024, March 4). Wisconsin complaint exposes Leftist-Led vote drives on college campuses. The Federalist. https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/05/wisconsin-complaint-exposes-leftist-led-vote-drives-on-college-campuses/
6. Oconnell, L. (2025, January 15). Universities sharing student records: What you need to know. ShunStudent. https://shunstudent.com/article/are-student-records-shared-between-universities

Hi there! In this episode, we talk about an article (and some other sources) that links how we eat with mental health. I have linked all the sources below. Take good care of yourself!

Sources:

1. Colino, S. (2025, March 14). Scientists are uncovering surprising connections between diet and mental health. Health. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/health/article/diet-mental-health-foods?rid=18C5F3C8000430FA93B55AE508ED0886&loggedin=true&rnd=1742336980879
2. Lane, M. M., Gamage, E., Du, S., Ashtree, D. N., McGuinness, A. J., Gauci, S., Baker, P., Lawrence, M., Rebholz, C. M., Srour, B., Touvier, M., Jacka, F. N., O’Neil, A., Segasby, T., & Marx, W. (2024). Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. BMJ, e077310. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-077310
3. McKeever, A. (2024, October 10). 9 simple ways to boost your mental health, according to science. Premium. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/mental-health-boost-science-tips
4. Professional, C. C. M. (2024a, May 1). Aerobic exercise. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/7050-aerobic-exercise
5. Professional, C. C. M. (2024b, December 19). Serotonin. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22572-serotonin

Ignorance, what more do I have to say? This episode, Leah and Jamie try to understand the myriad of ways ignorance wreaks havoc in our world.

We had some technical difficulties with the recording of this episode, which required some new technical skills stitching two audio files together - We think it worked out, but you may hear some slight background noises while listening. Sorry for the inconvenience.

In this episode, Leah and Jamie are just trying to keep up with the speed of change happening in the United States. We spend some time looking at the things we can control and the things we can't.

Welcome to our third season of The Skeptical Thinker Podcast! Leah and Jamie are excited to share our thoughts and discuss things we are thinking about and reading about.

In this episode, we discuss our feelings shortly after the inauguration - and try to sort out our feelings while we discuss ways to move forward. I can say that this is not our happiest episode, but it is an important way that many people are processing and and trying to forge a path into the future!

In today's episode, Leah and Jamie discuss Artificial Intelligence. An interesting topic where they wrestle with the idea that AI as we know it today may not be as "intelligent" as it has been billed as. Hopefully you will come to your own conclusions about A.I., and we encourage you to do that! We've even offered some great links here in the show notes!

Japanese bread recognition

10 reasons why A.I. may be overrated

A.I. Uses SO MUCH energy!

Why A.I. is making your energy worse

Oh, and FYI, Jamie and Leah are going to take a little break for the month of January. We will be back with season three (we can't believe we've come this far!) in February. Hope you and your loved ones have had a wonderful holiday season!

Hi there...

Today, Leah and I discuss a book called "Here I Am." A book by Dr. Leonard Felder. The extended title for his book is, "Using Jewish Spiritual Wisdom to Become More Present, Centered, and Available For Life."

While we do spend a lot of our time discussing some of the parts of the book, our discussion ranges from strategies found in Felder's book to discussions of how to navigate the current world's climate.

Leah and I are in the process of completing our first season together, and we have enjoyed working on this podcast. Our next season starts in 2025, and we hope to have some more deep and thoughtful conversations in the new year! Join us!

Also, look for us on Blue Sky. I will give more details when I get the account set up, but we should be able to share details on this in a few weeks!

And...Great News! I've just started a Facebook Page too! Check us out!

So...I know we promised to talk about our favorite quotes on this episode, and we fully planned on it, but sometimes things happen that take us down a different road.

Today, Leah and Jamie spend a bit of quality time trying to dispel the way body image plays such a negative role in our everyday lives. Jamie spends some time relaying a situation at work where the current event of the day was the "Obesity Epidemic," and pandemonium broke out between the adults in the room.

While there is some credibility to the science of unhealthy weight, there are so many little strands of complexity to the issue of weight and body image, and some of it hearkens back to our episode about Food Insecurity and Racial Justice.

With so many people struggling with body image - not just fat shaming - a new way to approach humans should be with more kindness and support! Hope you enjoy!

This episode took place about a week after the election. We were a little raw, but were able to keep ourselves somewhat on topic.

We looked at the book: Warming Up , How climate change is changing sport, by Madeleine Orr. Dr. Orr is a sports ecologist who has spent years studying the effects of climate change on a large portion of the sporting world. She doesn't just cover winter sports, but also discusses how sport will change, or need to adjust everything from locations, to how training takes place to adapt to the real threat of climate change.

What is refreshing about this book is the different approach that she takes to find a way to reach even some people who may be skeptical of human-caused climate change, but may love sports. The threats to the whole world of humans is real, and maybe, if we could just get a few more people on board.....

Leah and I recorded this podcast about a week before the election. We had some cautious optimism, but alas things were not to be. So many people voted the man back into office, and he has made so many problematic claims and promises, that I thought that no one was that delusional to vote him into office. But the polls showed that he was popular and the thing happened. This strikes me as troubling because critical thinking is so important in our world, and many people lack that ability. I guess that we just need to put our heads down and keep plowing forward. Keep working in our own ways to create a safer and more sane world for all people. What is sad is that so many people think that we need to make America great again, and that we need to take America back, and that we need to save America. But what they don't realize is that we are losing our identity because of the ideology of the MAGA movement. We're creating a less perfect union that only has room for those who think, look, act, pray, live like them.

I hope you enjoy this episode of our podcast. When we recorded it, we felt a little more positive about our futures, we hope that we can feel better as we move forward over the next few years.