Calling all heathens, it’s the Yardie Skeptics Season Finale this Sunday, April 14th at 12:30pm (11:30am Jamaica time)! For the first time we are having the trifecta of Caribbean social media secular podcasts all in one studio - Yardie Skeptics (Jamaica), Freethinking Island (Barbados), and Haitian Freethinkers - to talk about the current status of Caribbean secularism. Do social media platforms make any real impact on secular movements in Caribbean societies? What are the next steps for fostering a more secular and inclusive philosophy grounded in Caribbean traditions and customs? Tune in this Sunday and tell us what you think!

The awful, dreaded, monstrous “big C” - cancer - will be the focus on the next episode of Yardie Skeptics radio this Sunday, April 7th at 12:30pm DST (11:30am Jamaica time). What are some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding the disease? What do we mean when we say we are in a “fight” against cancer? Can we cure cancer with powerful green juices and prayer? We all know someone who has been affected by the disease, so we all have a personal story. Tune in this Sunday and feel free to tell us yours!

Joining us live on air will be:

Jamie Palmer, RN with experience in the oncology unit in Boward County, Florida

Danae Peart, Lead Administrator at Emery Keelesdale Nurse Practioner - LED Clinic, Toronto

Tehuti Maat, lifestyle transformation consultant and medical nutritionist from Jamaica

Carol Levy, cancer survivor from Jamaica

Pauline Ameir, Healthcare professional and cancer survivor

What is it like to be Muslim in Jamaica? What is it like to navigate Christian hegemony at every turn while at the same time wanting your religion to be acknowledged and given the same space for expression as the dominant religion? How do Muslims in Jamaica promote their religion as one of peace even as Islam has become synonymous with terrorism in our modern world? Is there conflict between one’s identity as Jamaican, and one’s identity as Muslim?

Tune in this Sunday, March 31st at 12:30pm DST (11:30am Jamaica time) as the Yardie Skeptics tackle these questions live on air. Joining us live will be Taariq Abdul-Majeed, the Media Liaison Coordinator of the Islamic Council of Jamaica. Joining him will be Sheik Musa Tijani and Kareema Muncey - also members of the Islamic Council of Jamaica.

It's a wrap, folks! The Yardie Skeptics are leaving the building after yet another riveting season batting for reason and skepticism over the past few months. Thank you for your support!  Needless to say, we're going out guns blazing!

 We turn our attention to that impenetrable wall between church and state. In the case of some states, like Jamaica, this wall is more like a sieve, where the distinction between the two is blurred. Does it have to be like this? Can the state operate in a context without being influenced, derailed, or hijacked by the actions of the church? Or must we in Jamaica get used to parliament being a part time revival tent? 

Join us in this discussion along with featured guest Dr. Latoya Lazarus of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies UWI, Cave Hill, who published an article entitled; "Religion and rights: Is there still room for Christianity at the table?"

If that wasn't enough, we'll also be joined by veteran Jamaican journalist and champion Christian apologist Ian Boyne, whose recent article in the Gleaner, "Sin, Sex, and the Church" warned the church that it needs to "wake up!" 

But hold the press! We still have more... a general in the #TambourineArmy will be with us none other than the firebrand Stella Gibson, who has been hurling brimstone boulders at the Moravian church in Jamaica after the sex scandal dropped earlier this year. Will her advocacy finally be the catalyst to change the rape culture in Jamaica's churches, or will her fiery social media persona ultimately raze the movement before it even gets off the ground?

The Yardie Skeptics are back this Sunday, January 22 at 12:30pm EST to conclude our discussion on the church and rape culture. The social media outrage surrounding the Moravian church sex scandal is still scorching hot even as the story has lost some traction in traditional media. Is there a risk of this being a nine-day wonder or will Jamaicans finally seize the moment for a revolutionary change in attitudes towards sexual violence?

 

Joining us live on air will be Jamaican academic Nicole Cameron, PhD candidate in health communication at the Washington State University. She and her coauthors recently wrote a paper in which they argue that exposure to sexualized images of women in the media desensitizes bystanders from intervening in acts of sexual agression towards women. We've always suspected this to be the case, now we have the data to support it! Don't miss this episode! as we turn our attention to possible solutions!

DISGRACE!! After the bombshell news that 62-year-old pastor at Nazareth Moravian Church in Jamaica, Rupert Clarke, was caught in a sexually compromising position with a minor in the community, the entire island has been split down the middle with those who are calling for a total overhaul of the way the church operates and those who want compassion for the accused rapist. The fallout from the incident continues to deepen as evidence of a cover-up by church leadership has emerged as well as suggestions that the Rev. Clarke has had sexual relations with other girls in the SAME family while they were minors!!

Tek di wheel!!

You don't want to miss this Sunday's episode as the Yardie Skeptics return for just a few more episodes to close out Season 4. Join us on Sunday, January 15th at 12:30pm EST and share your views and on what has been an ongoing attempt to directly and indirectly maintain the culture of sexual abuse inside the church. 

Joining us live on air will be Dr. Michael Abrahams, OBGYN and convenor of the Save our Children campaign and Taitu Heron, women's advocate and gender researcher.

#lifeinleggings: Caribbean Women & Sexual Violence

Not since the critically acclaimed Yardie Skeptics' sister network Air Me Now dealt with the topic of violence against women, have the Cool Dude and Fire Breather shone the light on the culture of sexual violence which affects and impacts Caribbean women from the cradle to the grave. Why are we, in 2016, still not fully ready to acknowledge and combat the spectre of sexual violence which terrorizes our Caribbean women and girls? 

This Sunday, Dec. 4th at 12:30pm EST the Yardie Skeptics addresses #lifeinleggings which has been taking social media by storm over the past week and a half. Two brave women in Barbados decided to start the movement and create a space for Caribbean women of all ages and walks of life to share their stories of navigating and surviging the crushing culture of sexual violence pervasive throughout the Caribbean, and social media hasn't been the same since! You don't want to miss this episode folks - this is our final episode before our season break and it promises to be one for the records! Come out and share with us what it's like to live a #lifeinleggings. 

Our special guests include: Risée Chaderton-Charles,Juliette Maughn, Mandy Cummins, Ronelle King, Arte Maria Clarke (Allyson Benn), Taitu Heron, and former Air Me Now panelist - Sharon Smith

UPDATE: We will have an opening segment on Cuba after Castro featuring Donna Forde, Charge D'Affaires of the Barbado

What's the deal with men and intimacy? Why are men's ideas about intimacy so divergent from the ideas that women possess? And, is intimacy really what we think it is? 

Come get intimate with the Yardie Skeptics this Sunday, November 27th at 12:30pm EST as we pull on those masculine heart strings and get the low down on what's up with masculine ideas of intimacy. We already made two trips to the bedroom earlier this month, so perhaps what we need this time around is a little discourse, before the intercourse!

Joining us live in studio will be:

Dr. Peter Weller - clinical psychologist and founder of CARIMAN

Owen "Blakka" Ellis - humourist, actor, and gender researcher

Klyde Brooks - poet 

To listen to any episode live, or catch the archived version afterwards, simply click the link below. Feel free to call in and share your views live on air or interact with other listeners in the live chatroom. 

For a full list of ways to contact the Yardie Skeptics, click this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EEyUtd44w3hT5dvu6sxuFYkKxZjlijbLdx04C2cfa6w/edit?usp=sharing

"The home of the ackee of rationality and the saltfish of skepticism"?

It's starting to settle in now - Trump is indeed the next president. We're not dreaming, but it's no less of a nightmare. Last week we opened the flood gates of discussion with a packed studio when we allowed our guests to voice their opinions on the results of the recent US elections and the implications for the social climate moving forward in the USA. We return this Sunday, November 20th at 12:00noon EST (half hour earlier just this Sunday) to conclude our "group therapy" session, and as usual we want to hear from you!

Our special guest will be Ambassador Richard Bernal who was unable to connect with us last week due to technical difficulties. He will discuss with us the options open to the Caribbean to be incorporated construcively in US foreign policy.

Tensions are at fever pitch all across the USA as racists slowly start to crawl out of the woodworks now that they realize they have a man in the castle. But with Trump already backpedalling on some of his campaign rhetoric, might there be a glimmer of hope? 

To listen to any episode live, or catch the archived version afterwards, simply click the link below. Feel free to call in and share your views live on air or interact with other listeners in the live chatroom. 

For a full list of ways to contact the Yardie Skeptics, click this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EEyUtd44w3hT5dvu6sxuFYkKxZjlijbLdx04C2cfa6w/edit?usp=sharing

Kiss mi neck! The unimaginable has actually occured! What started out as a side show distraction to the US presidential campaign has now turned into a living nightmare for millions in the USA and the world over. Did it really happen? Will Americans have to sit by and watch as 8 years of the Obama presidency become undone? How have Caribbean folk abroad been dealing with the bombshell election results? Where do we go from here?

Well this Sunday Nov. 13th at 12:30pm EST the Yardie Skeptic are inviting you to come and sit on our couch and tell us what's on your mind. That's right folks, we are open for group therapy on our next episode as we seek to unpack, analyze, and indeed recover from the shock of an impending Trump presidency! 

To listen to any episode live, or catch the archived version afterwards, simply click the link below. Feel free to call in and share your views live on air or interact with other listeners in the live chatroom. 

For a full list of ways to contact the Yardie Skeptics, click this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EEyUtd44w3hT5dvu6sxuFYkKxZjlijbLdx04C2cfa6w/edit?usp=sharing

Be sure to like our new Facebook page "Yardie Skeptics Network!"