Birmingham Skeptics

I chat with the marvellous Becs O’Neill of the Dublin Skeptics about science, skepticism and religion in Ireland. You can hear more of her at www.skeprechauns.com. Enjoy.

I'm joined by Tom and Cecil of the Cognitive Dissonance Podcast (http://dissonancepod.com/) to discuss skepticism, communication and whatever comes up. They're irreverent, they're a bit sweary and they're a lot of fun.

If you think all science communicators have a Mancunian accent and grin madly at the stars think again. Patrick chats with the wonderful Lucy Harper, Communications Officer for SfAM,to see what it’s all about and why it’s so important. The discussion is sandwiched between some post-talk (post beers) interviews from the fantastic first ever Coventry SitP.

We start with the remarkable Kate Cooper who kicked off the New Optimists by asking scientists "What are you optimistic about?" and has gone on to so much more. We then chat with the brilliant Narendra Nayak, President of the Federation of Indian Rationalists when he came to visit Birmingham.

This week’s podcast starts with a quick chat with Andrew West of the British Humanist Association about their upcoming event Questival. A chance for fresh air, fun and discussion and debate in a beautiful setting. The main interview is with the excellent Steve Goldfarb, one of the physicists working on the Atlas Project in the Large Hadron Collider at Cern. We chat about lots stuff that’s happening over there, the search for the Higgs, dark matter, softball and blues music.

We kick off with Ash Pryce of the Edinburgh Skeptics. Sorry about my slight warble but Ash is as lucid as ever. Find out about their phenomenal plans at www.skepticsonthefringe.co.uk. In the main interview Patrick talks to the authors of the fantastic book Sleights of Mind on the neuroscience of magic. Rounding off is a great chat with Robin Ince at the Laughing Sole Comedy Club in Birmingham, where Robin makes us Brum Skeptics a promise. It’s recorded so I think that's legally binding.

We start with a quick word with Nick Pope after his SitP talk on The Royal Society meeting on extra terrestrial life. In the main interview Patrick talks to the author of the popular, satirical Internet cartoon strip Jesus and Mo of www.jesusandmo.net. Finally there is the post Skeptics in the Pub interview with Rich Peppiatt, the Daily Star reporter who spectacularly resigned and has set out to reform the Street of Shame.

Patrick interviews Amy Davis Roth and Rebecca Watson about the Mad Art Lab. Where science and art meet! http://madartlab.com

Patrick interviews Ray Jayawardhana. Ray Jayawardhana is an astronomer at the University of Toronto, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics, and an award-winning science writer. His primary research areas include the formation and early evolution of stars, brown dwarfs and planets.

Patrick interviews Mark Stevenson author of An Optimists Tour of the Future. You can buy his book at http://anoptimiststourofthefuture.com/?page_id=65

Patrick interviews Dr Martin Austwick who is one of the presenters on the Answer Me This podcast, he is a physicist and has an album out called Songs from the Scientific Cabaret. Check out the blog at http://brumskeptics.blogspot.com/2011/03/songs-from-scientific-cabaret.html for more!

Patrick headed off to QED recently, and conducted 11 Interviews! Yes 11! Its a new record! Included are such names as Eugenie Scott, Kate Akingbade, Steve Novella, Kylie Sturgess, George Hrab, Matt Parker, and Hayley Stevens! This is a classic Podcast release, and not to be missed.

Patrick checked out Cheltenham Skeptics in the Pub this week and caught up with a few people there. Our main interview this week is with Ben Pugh from The Falstaff Factor, a new search for the next great psychic!

Patrick Interviews Mark Crislip - Mark Crislip, MD has been a practicing Infectious Disease specialist in Portland, Oregon, since 1990. He is responsible for the Quackcast, a skeptical review of supplements and complementary and alternative medicine

The Birmingham Skeptics in the Pub Podcast is back, we took an extended vacation over Christmas, but we are back, and wow do we have a bit of a special for you. Instead of the usual interviews, we thought we would bring you an entire SitP talk by the excellent and controversial Professor Steve Fuller! Here is the full blurb: "Professor Steve Fuller has never shied away from tackling controversial subjects. He is the author of many books that challenge the accepted interpretations and conventions of science and testified on behalf of the “Intelligent Design” protagonists in the Kitzmiller vs Dover Area School District trial in 2005. In his book “Science, the Art of Living”, Fuller argues that science is undergoing its own version of secularization. It is not that people are coming to lose their faith in science per se but rather they are losing the compulsion to conform to a specific orthodoxy that is upheld by a specially anointed class of 'science priests'." Steve's challenging the skeptics folk

Patrick interviews Christopher Ryan the writer of new controversial book Sex at Dawn

Patrick interviews Hamish MacPherson from www.humanistheritage.org.uk. Also Patrick recently turned up unexpectedly at Notts SitP, and spoke to a few people, one of which is a particular favourite of this podcast, find out what Patrick had to say!

This time Patrick interviews Prof. Stanley Krippner about his new book "Debating Psychic Experience: Human Potential or Human Illusion?" Which you can pre-order at http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0313392617?ie=UTF8&tag=jonscelebworl-21

Patrick interviews Alice Sheppard Also a brand new Cardiff SitP event is starting soon, more details at http://cardiff.skepticsinthepub.org

Patrick catches up with Tracy King after her talk at the Birmingham Skeptics in the Pub meeting on 8th of September 2010. Also features comments by some of the visitors to the event