After a segment of The Lotzi Tapes, Adam welcomes comedian Tim Minchin to the show. The guys talk about Tim’s career as a musical comedian, and how much fun it is to use his musical skills for stupidity. Adam hears about his journey, and asks him if he has any desires to eventually go on Broadway. The guys then discuss their favorite musicals, and talk about how Tim grew his American audience thanks to YouTube.
In anticipation of the coming debate between Christopher Hitchens and Tony Blair on the value of religion, we gathered a selection of thinkers on the subject to discuss the topic.
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From The Emily Rooney Show:
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A Godless Clergy: Faith in God—and holding fast to it despite your fears and doubts—is a central tenet of nearly every religion. But what if the head of your church doesn’t believe? Tufts University professor Daniel Dennet joins us to talk about the growing number of priests and clergy who no longer believe in God. Why do they continue to preach? And what does that mean for the people they serve?(via RichardDawkins.net)
Celebrated and controversial biologist, Richard Dawkins comfortably wears the mantle “Revolutionary Evolutionist”. Dawkins became a worldwide phenomenon with the publication of The Selfish Gene(Thanks GoodW0lf), which popularised a gene-centred view of evolution.
With The Blind Watchmaker, a searing criticism of creationism and intelligent design, and The God Delusion
, Dawkins’ audience continued to grow. The God Delusion has now sold more than 1.5 million copies in English and has been translated into 31 languages.
With his new book, The Greatest Show on Earth, Dawkins returns to evolutionary biology, as he takes on those who question evolution through natural selection.
Professor Richard Dawkins defends science's importance in society and says he's not the angry man he's portrayed as by his critics.(via RichardDawkins.net)
Posted July 27, 2010 on Scientific American
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A panel discussion on arguing with non-skeptics at the recent Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism in New York City featured James Randi, George Hrab, D. J. Grothe and podcast host Steve Mirsky. Julia Galef moderated.
Belief in the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth and belief in the virtue of his teachings are not at all the same thing. Writing to John Adams in 1813, having taken his razor blade to the books of the New Testament and removed all “the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests,” Thomas Jefferson said the 46-page residue contained “the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.” Ernest Renan, in his pathbreaking “Life of Jesus” in 1863, also repudiated the idea that Jesus was the son of God while affirming the beauty of his teachings. In rather striking contrast, C. S. Lewis maintained in his classic statement “Mere Christianity”: “That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse.”
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Christopher Hitchens traces his atheism back to a nature walk in boarding school. That's when, at age ten, his scripture teacher told the class that it is God who makes the trees so green, because green is the color "most restful to our eyes." No one objected, and he says knew from that moment that religion was "rubbish." His new memoir lets us in on his long road to anti-theism, touching on his hidden Jewish heritage, famous friendships, and why he doesn't mind being disliked.(via Daily Hitchens)
June 2, 2010 on The Brian Lehrer Show
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Massimo Pigliucci, professor at Lehman College and author of Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk(Thanks Rich), talks about the ambiguity surrounding science and why people believe "bunk" and pseudoscientific practices. He also blogs at RationallySpeaking.org and has a podcast also called Rationally Speaking.
Science and logic are often held up as the only way to answer the modern world's big questions. But is there a role for instinct, inherited wisdom, or even God?
Chaired by Simon Jenkins, with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, AC Grayling, Martin Rees, Richard Harries and Maggi Dawn
May 27, 2010 on ABC Late Night Live
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All his life, Christopher Hitchens has written about war and conflict and politics, topics relevant to both his private and public life. In his new memoir, Hitch 22(via Daily Hitchens), he outlines how his obsessions shaped him as a writer and as a public intellectual.
April 18, 2010 on ABC Radio:
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We report from the 2010 Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne. Is atheism truly on the rise, and if so, what kind of atheism is it? While we've heard a great deal from so-called celebrity atheists like Richard Dawkins, their scientific, evidence-based approach to understanding the world undervalues not only theology, but philosophy itself.(via Pharyngula)
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March 27, 2010 on ABC Radio
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Do science and religion represent fundamentally different mind-sets? Physicist Richard Feynman said, 'Science is what we do to keep us from lying to ourselves'. From the Global Atheist Convention held in Australia this month, philosopher Peter Singer, biologist and popular science blogger PZ Myers, and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins weigh in on matters of minds and faith. Next week, renowned philosopher A.C Grayling.(via RichardDawkins.net)
March 4, 2010 on ABC Radio Brisbane:
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Scientist, Darwinian and atheist Richard Dawkins has written many books. They very quickly hit the bestseller list, thanks to his ability to translate complex scientific ideas into language the general reader can understand, without doing any violence to the science itself.(Thanks Keith)
His latest book The Greatest Show on Earth is his presentation of the evidence of evolution, from palaentology and embryology to genetics and geography.
February 13, 2010 on ForGoodReason.org
Richard Dawkins talks about Darwin Day and communicating with the public about Darwinism, and which should be the highest priority: evolution education or widespread skepticism about the supernatural, including theism. He denies that he is strident. He explores concerns over immorality that may fuel opposition to Darwinsim. He explains how creationists are like Holocaust deniers. He describes the benefits of accepting the theory of evolution. And he details lines of evidence for evolution, such as those coming from molecular biology.(via RichardDawkins.net)
