This episode Derek talks with #209 - Watching Bad Science - Interview: Michael Kruse, the current Chair of 'Bad Science Watch', consumer advocacy group based out of Canada which focuses mainly on educating the public about important issues surrounding bad claims dealing with health and medical issues. Michael and his group have been in recent struggles with anti Wi-Fi panic caused by a misinformed public, frustrating governmental restrictions on scientists communicating their findings, and 'nosodes' a form of homeopathy claiming to be an effective vaccine for preventable disease, which has been contributing to a low vaccination rate in several areas across Canada.

This week on Skepticality, Derek spends some time talking to Dr. Michael Webber, an alternative energy expert and advocate, based out of Austin Texas. Webber describes some of the current issues he sees related to power generation and consumption. In a time when everyone seems interested in better ways to gather and produce energy for an increasingly power-hungry world, it is good to assess all potential energy solutions—weighing their pros and cons—in the search of the silver bullet that will keep the lights on in the future.

Scientific laws, concepts, and theories can be difficult to understand. Thanks to the duo at ASAP Science, you can watch short, bite-sized videos on YouTube and learn some pretty cool facts. This week on Skepticality, Derek talks with Mitchell Moffit, one of the co-creators and producers of ASAP Science.

This week on Skepticality, Derek chats with James Daily and Ryan Davidson, the creators of the popular legal blog, Law and The Multiverse  and the newly released book based on the site, The Law of Superheroes. If there’s one thing that many science and reality-minded people tend to do quite a bit, it’s over analyze every little detail in the movies, TV shows, books, etc., that they find entertaining. James and Ryan, being lawyers, decided to take that same mindset and explore what might happen, legally, if some of the fantastic things depicted in comic books and superhero entertainment actually happened in real life.

This week Derek presents double Dino-related goodness! First off he has a discussion with Tyler Keillor, a Fossil Laboratory Fossil preparator and Paleoartist. Then Daniel Loxton, of Jr. Skeptic, joins in to talk about his newest book, "Pterosaur Trouble", the next installment in the 'Kids Can Press' line of "Tales of Prehistoric Life" books.

This week Derek has a discussion with Loren Collins, the author of the book 'Bullspotting: Finding Facts in the Age of Misinformation'. The book is a guide for people to distinguish real conspiracies from conspiracy theories, and real science from pseudoscience. Loren set out to provide a way to use the tools of critical thinking to spot real evidence from information which has been manipulated to create false impressions of the truth.

This week on Skepticality, Derek interviews geomorphologist and Professor of Earth and Space Sciences (University of Washington) David R. Montgomery about how his work led him to write his latest book The Rocks Don't Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah's Flood. The book is thoughtful and readable, and attempts to respect both young Earth creationist views and the world of evidence-based geological science. According to the books publisher, with an explorers eye and a refreshing approach to both faith and science, Montgomery takes readers on a journey across landscapes and cultures. In the process we discover the illusive nature of truth, whether viewed through the lens of science or religion, and how it changed through history and continues changing, even today.

This week Derek sits down with Nicholas Eftimiades, Chinese Intelligence expert who was the Chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency Space Division for a period of time. He recently penned a new book which is a science fiction novel set 200 years in the future where a few androids decide to communicate with the Almighty.

This week on Skepticality, Derek interviews Massimo Pigliucci about his latest book, Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to A More Meaningful Life, discussing what lead him to write the book, and getting his personal take on the modern skeptical movement.

In this, the 200th episode, Derek sits down with Swoopy for a long while to ramble about the past (and future) of the podcast (and a bit about what Swoopy’s been up to while absent from the show). Derek then talks with Dr. Michael Shermer about the recent news surrounding Lance Armstrong and the reality of doping in athletics. They also discuss Michael’s recent articles about the Sandy Hook mass shooting, and the new conspiracy thinking which has cropped up in the few days since that tragic event.