Tuesday, January 26, 2010

For Good Reason

One of my favorite podcasts lately has been Point of Inquiry. DJ Grothe has great guests and he does a great job of showing multiple different approaches to rational thinking. So it was with mixed emotions that I heard the news that DJ would now be President of the James Randi Education Foundation. I suspected that this would mean fewer episodes of Point of Inquiry.
Well I was pleasantly surprised to see DJ is hosting a new podcast for the JREF called For Good Reason. Check it out. I just finished listening to it and I enjoyed it. This episode had an interview with James Randi about the future of his organization as well as some information about some scams that have hit the news lately. I don’t know if DJ will be able to continue to be able to host both podcasts but I look forward to future episodes.
One small disappointment: In the intro to the podcast there is a segment by Jamie Ian Swiss. It’s brilliant but has a few not safe for work words. I loved the podcast but would have loved it more if I could have been able to recommend to my kids and family members without having to give this caveat. I think many podcasts in this genre disqualify themselves from a large audience, school children, by not exercising a little restraint when it comes to their language.

3 comments:

  1. You should email them your concerns. SGU created the 5x5 for that very reason. If enough people tell them they want an edited version, I'm sure it'll happen.

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  2. In fairness it was only two or three words in the intro segment. But that would be just enough to get some people who are curious about skepticism but don't want to be subjected to "immoral atheists" to turn the program off.

    I was active on the SGU forums and feel like I played a part, albeit small, in creating the 5x5.

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  3. I've read enjoyed browsing your rationality oriented blog. I have heard this speaker, but agree with you about gratuitously (it would seem) throwing in some irrelevant words that alienate potential listeners. Profanity should only be used sparingly and with a specific purpose in mind.

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