The Rational View podcast with Dr. Al Scott
Al Scott
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An evidence based rational viewpoint and discussion on science and society, focusing on important current issues. I hope to provide a clear voice for the quiet moderate majority on highly polarized issues such as climate change, social inequity, and the growth of anti-science sentiment. #therationalview #science #tok #evidencebased #climatechange
Available episodes
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21 hours ago
Dr. Joel Fuhrman says we can eat our way to better health
In this episode I am continuing my investigations into the evidence linking nutrition and health. What does the science say? My previous guest, Dr. Valter Longo discussed the data on intermittent fasting and cellular regeneration. I’ve also spoken with Dr. Traci Mann regarding the observation that fad diets don’t work. Today I’m going to be interviewing another dietary guru who believes that his diet can extend lifespan and reverse the course of diseases.
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is a board-certified family physician, seven-time New York Times best-selling author and internationally recognized expert on nutrition and natural healing. He specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional methods. Dr Fuhrman is the President of the Nutritional Research Foundation and on the faculty of Northern Arizona University, Health Sciences division. He coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe a nutrient-dense eating style, designed to prevent cancer, slow aging, and extend lifespan. For over 30 years, Dr. Fuhrman has shown that it is possible to achieve sustainable weight loss and reverse heart disease, diabetes and many other illnesses using smart nutrition. In his medical practice, and through his books and television specials, he continues to bring this life-saving message to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
Dr. Fuhrman also operates the Eat To Live Retreat in San Diego. At this residential facility, people from all over the world come to stay for 1-3 months weeks to recover from conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to autoimmune disease, food addiction and more. They also gain the skills and knowledge to make these changes permanent when they leave the retreat.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #nutritarian #diet #health #nutrition #disease #diabetes #food
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May 27, 2023
Dr. Valter Longo Advocates Intermittent Fasting to Live Longer
In this episode I’m continuing my investigations into the science of nutrition and health. Today I’m looking at the effect that diet has on longevity. We know that eating poorly can kill you in any number of ways, but is there a fountain of youth out there? Can we extend lifespan merely by choosing the right foods? My guest today will have something to say on this topic.
Dr. Valter Longo has thirty years of experience in the field of longevity and healthy eating. He is the Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California – Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles, and the Director of the Longevity and Cancer Program at the The Italian Foundation for Cancer Research Institute of Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy. He is the author of the best seller “The Longevity Diet” and the 2 Italian books “Alla tavola della longevità” (“At the Table of Longevity”), and “La longevità inizia da bambini” (“Longevity Begins in Childhood”). Professor Longo is also the scientific director of the Create Cures Foundation and the Valter Longo Foundation. In 2018, TIME Magazine named Professor Longo as one of the 50 most influential people in health care for his research on fasting-mimicking diets as a way to improve health and prevent diseases.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #fasting #health #longevity #ProLon
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May 20, 2023
Science Communication in a Crisis with Dr. Christopher Reddy
In this episode I am returning to a core topic to The Rational View, the communication of science. My guest has experience communicating science to the public during environmental crises, and has shared his experience and advice for other scientists in a newly published book. What are the mistakes that scientists make in outreach, and how can we do a better job without endangering our careers?
Christopher Reddy is a leader in the study of marine pollution and the development of environmentally friendly industrial chemicals. A senior scientist in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution and faculty member of the MIT/WHOI joint program in oceanography, Reddy has led numerous field operations along coastlines, in the open ocean, and at the bottom of the sea to conduct transformative research that crosses disciplines and guides policy decisions worldwide. As an author, Dr. Reddy has recently published ‘Science Communication in a Crisis’
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#TheRationalView #podcast #science #communication #crisis #outreach #evidence #politics
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May 13, 2023
Dr. Antonio Cabrales on the AI revolution and UBI
I have been recently exploring the impacts of what I call the AI revolution we are currently experiencing surrounding the release of ChatGPT and its rapidly expanding progeny. Today I want to explore the economic impacts of ChatGPT gobbling up white collar jobs the same way that robotics has devastated blue collar jobs and salaries. I originally discussed this issue in one of my first podcasts on "Income Inequality: We botched it", where I point out that blue collar workers are no longer able to afford the same lifestyle of previous generations due to robotics taking over their jobs and the proceeds being gobbled up by business owners. We are on track for another crash unless we smarten up and fix the system. To explore the impacts of this revolution I have a distinguished economist who has recently published in Nature, a paper called Robots, Labor Markets and Universal Basic Income.
Antonio Cabrales has a Ph.D. in Economics from University of California, San Diego, and is a professor at Universidad Carlos III. He has been a professor at University College London, and at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is Executive Vice President of the European Economic Association, fellow of the Econometric Society, former President of the Spanish Economic Association and recipient of the King Rei Jaume I prize in Economics 2021. He has worked in a wide range of topics: game theory, the economics of networks, mechanism design, economics of education, experimental and behavioral economics. He is associate editor of the Journal of Economic Theory and has edited and published in several economic journals and Physical Review Letters.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #AI #artificialintelligence #UBI #universalbasicincome #jobs #economics
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May 6, 2023
Can we afford [not] to have Universal Basic Income? (re-release)
I think this episode is very pertinent and deserves to be re-released now that we are starting to experience what seems to be a revolution in artificial intelligence. The job market is about to be shaken up considerably. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
The global economy is in a shambles due to CoVid-19 and millions of workers are suffering with no safety net. The last time the economy tanked like this in 2008 it was due to unregulated greed run amok in the mortgage financing industry. That time, Investment Bankers got a juicy handout to the tune of several trillion dollars approved within hours of the crash. Unemployed Canadian workers have received $2,000 per month since March. In the US today, however, desperate folks who have lost their jobs and health care have received a one-time cheque of $1,200. This leaves many people calling for a re-assessment of Universal Basic Income. Can our modern economy afford to provide a minimum standard of living to the poor? Will it disincentivize labour? What are the pros and cons?
On this episode I interview Mr. Floyd Marinescu to ask tough questions about Universal Basic Income. Mr. Marinescu is CEO and co-founder of C4Media which provides software development news and learning events serving 1.2M online on InfoQ.com, and 8000 attendees annually via QCon conferences in SF, NY, London, Beijing, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo. Floyd is an angel investor in over a dozen startups, and has built teams and businesses in the US, Canada, China, Brazil, Europe. Floyd is also a CEO activist for universal basic income. He is the founder of CEOs for Basic Income and UBI Works. Go to https://UBIWorks.ca for more info.
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#therationalview #newpodcast #universalbasicincome #basicincome #ubi #automation #covid #socialism #capitalism #economy #income #evidencebased
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Apr 22, 2023
The alcohol controversy
In this episode I demonstrate my research process by focusing on some controversy that came to light following my interview of Dr. Peter Butt, chairman of the group responsible for Canada's new tightened guidelines on healthy drinking.
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) has just published a stinging critique of the newly released Canadian guidance on Alcohol and Health. In the critique, Forum chair R. Curtis Ellison stated: “I am appalled by the conclusions of the authors of this paper. They present a pseudo-scientific amalgamation of selected studies of low scientific validity that fit their preconceived notions and ignore many high-quality studies whose results may not support their own views”. This was widely publicized in the National Post in an article by Chris Selley entitled “A scorching new critique of Canada’s alcohol guidelines’. I want to believe them, so I need to be careful about my confirmation bias.
What’s the truth and how do we find out?
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#TheRationalView #podcast #alcohol #health #science #controversy #J-curve #heart #cancer
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Apr 15, 2023
How should we tackle magical thinking?
This episode follows up with my thoughts on my last interview with mens' coach Kevin Scott, “Can we Manifest our Future? Similar to many life coaches these days, Kevin believes that if we can put our minds into the proper emotional state that the universe will bend to your wishes. Here on The Rational View we understand that extreme claims require extreme evidence. After our discussion, it was clear that it would be very difficult to scientifically test the claims of manifestation gurus, because they explain away any failures as being the fault of the manifester in not having properly arranged their emotional state. The belief in manifestation seems harmless at first blush, but I want to dig into this magical thinking a bit and question the impacts on society. This is a job for The Rational View.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #magicalthinking #manifestation #attraction #debunking #echinacea #science
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Apr 8, 2023
Can we ’manifest’ our future? with Kevin Scott
Today I’m going to tackle a topic you may have heard about in popular society these days, if you’ve ever listened to a motivational speaker or a life coach. They call it manifestation. What is it? What does it mean? What does science have to say about it? To get to the bottom of this, I’m interviewing Kevin Scott, personal coach and leader of the Effortless Alpha mens’ program. I will provide a skeptical scientific viewpoint on the topic.
When Kevin Bruce Scott speaks, his messages connect people to their hearts as well as the minds. He has lived many different lives – as an artist, businessman, salesman, even a farmer! - and that helps him relate to all kinds of people. Kevin strives to give his dedicated clients a feeling of potential possibility in their life, something one tends to forget they have hidden all along. He is a leader of leaders, a leader of men, and works hard to be an example for men of all walks of life. The motto for the Effortless Alpha brotherhood he created is “To inspire, and create space for, men to access their own potential through the bond of brotherhood where no man feels alone.” His life-transforming work with men in groups and one-on-one has sparked the Masculine Expansion, creating a space for men to lead themselves and their communities with power, honour, discipline, and respect.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #manifesting #quantum #quantummechanics #observer #consciousness
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Apr 1, 2023
Are we about to lose control of AI?
It seems we are fated to live in interesting times. We stand balanced on the precipice of a new revolution in society. Advanced artificial intelligence systems have crossed a threshold that many thought impossible. What are the implications?
The Future of Life institute just released an open letter signed by over 1,000 thought leaders including Elon Musk, and Steve Wosniak, calling on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. Why are they asking for this now? Can the genie be put back into the bottle? In this episode I will review what is going on and why it is important.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #artificialintelligence #chatgpt #AGI #singularity
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Mar 25, 2023
Cosmology, art and outreach with Dr. Paul Sutter
This is another cool science episode. Today I'm interviewing successful science outreach personality, cosmologist, and podcaster Dr. Paul Sutter.
Paul M. Sutter is a theoretical cosmologist at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Stony Brook University and a guest researcher at the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Flatiron Institute in NYC.
He is an award-winning science communicator, having authored two books, Your Place in the Universe and How to Die in Space, and hosting several TV shows, including How the Universe Works, Space Out, and The Edge of Knowledge. He also writes and hosts his own Ask a Spaceman podcast, which has been downloaded over 7 million times.
Lastly, Paul is a globally-recognized leader in the intersection of art and science. His latest collaboration is a production with Syren Modern Dance that explores the nature of time, which he recently performed as a United States Cultural Ambassador at the World Expo in Dubai.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #cosmology #outreach #art #moderndance #askaspaceman
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Mar 18, 2023
Dr. Robert Gale talks about treating Chernobyl victims
In this episode I am returning to explore the truth about the Chernobyl disaster. I have the great fortune to interview one of the doctors who treated the exposed workers in Moscow following the explosion. Let’s see what he thinks of the health risks of nuclear power.
Robert Peter Gale was born in New York in 1945. He received his MD from the State University of New York at Buffalo and PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After that Gale was on the faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine, and served as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, and later chaired the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Advanced Studies in Leukemia. He was President of the Armand Hammer Center for Advanced Studies in Nuclear Energy and Health.
Gale is currently Visiting Professor of Haematology at Sun Yat-sen Cancer Centre, Guangzhou, China and Honorary Professor of Hematology at the Institute of Hematology at Peking Union Medical College. He is the Editor-in-Chief of LEUKEMIA, Associate Editor of CLINICAL TRANSPLANTATION, Executive Editor of BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION and a reviewer for many scientific journals in hematology, oncology, immunology, transplantation, radiation biology and internal medicine.
Prof. Gale is also an expert on the medical response to nuclear and radiation accidents. From 2007-2019 he was executive director of clinical research and development at Celgene Corp and an honorary member of the Russian and Chinese Academies of Medical Science. He is the recipient of several distinguished awards and honorary degrees including the Presidential Award, and an Emmy award.
Gale has published over 1,350 scientific articles and 25 books on medical topics, nuclear energy and weapons and politics of US-Russian relations and received an Emmy award. His latest book is “Radiation: What it is, What you need to Know”.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #chernobyl #nuclearenergy #radiation #health
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Mar 11, 2023
Dr. Traci Mann explains why your diet didn’t work
In this episode I continue my exploration of the science of nutrition and food by exploring one of the most controversial money-making phenomena to exist. Diets. Body image is a central problem to a large fraction of the population, and people are willing to spend a lot of money trying to get thin and be more attractive. In this episode I interview a leading expert on the science of dieting to cut through the flab and get to the firm core of this issue.
Traci Mann is Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. She received her PhD in 1995 from Stanford University, spent ten years on the faculty at UCLA, then moved to the University of Minnesota and started the Health and Eating Lab. She is interested in basic science questions about cognitive mechanisms of self-control, in applying social psychology research to promoting healthy behavior, and in busting commonly accepted myths about eating. Her research has been funded by NIH, NASA, and the USDA. Her book, Secrets from the…
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Mar 4, 2023
Dr. Peter Butt defends tightened alcohol guidelines
In this episode I want to dig into the impacts of alcohol on health. Many of us have heard news stories saying that a glass of red wine every day can help you live longer. This was used to explain why people with a Mediterranean diet seem to live longer than people on a North American diet, for example. The Resveratrol in the red wine is an anti-oxidant that supposedly helps to prevent cell damage. One can search the literature to find examples of studies that show people who drink a moderate amount of alcohol have longer lives. Until recently, Canadian health guidelines have suggested that one or two alcoholic beverages a day are not dangerous. New advice now suggests one or two drinks a week should be the goal. My guest today has been directly involved with the evolving health guidelines associated with alcohol consumption.
Dr. Peter Butt is a Certificant and Fellow with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, with Special Competency in Addiction Medicine. He is a Clinical Assoc…
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Feb 25, 2023
Dr. Edzard Ernst debunks detox diets
In this episode I continue my investigation into the science of nutrition and food. Today I’m interviewing a physician who has been focusing on a critical evaluation of so-called alternative medicine or SCAM. I want to investigate with him the science behind various detox diets and claims made by nutrition specialists. I expect to receive a very skeptical viewpoint based on his many blog posts suggesting that claims of detoxing are a scam.
Edzard Ernst studied psychology and medicine at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. In 1977, he qualified as a physician and completed his MD and PhD theses. He was Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at Hannover Medical School and Head of the PMR Department at the University of Vienna (Austria). He established the world’s first Chair in complementary medicine at Exeter University in 1993. Since 2012, he is Emeritus Professor at the University of Exeter and now lives in Cambridge, UK as well as in Brittany, France.…
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Feb 18, 2023
Professor Matthew Neidell says the precautionary principle is poor public policy
In this episode I’d like to explore the impacts of the precautionary principle in public policy. Many people think that the precautionary principle is the safest way forward. We shouldn’t use a tool until we’re sure that it won’t harm us. This just makes sense, doesn’t it? The application of the precautionary principle in European energy policy, for example, has lead to the shut down of Germany’s nuclear fleet, strong labelling laws for GMO products, and many other decisions of which I am not yet aware. Today I’ll be interviewing an economist who has a unique interdisciplinary perspective on the environment, health, and labor economics to get an expert opinion on this topic. I came across his insightful work as references in a Freakonomics podcast episode titled, “nuclear energy isn't perfect. Is it good enough?’.
Matthew Neidell is an economics professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. He…
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Feb 11, 2023
The politics of food with Dr. Marion Nestle
In this episode I’m starting my series of interviews on the science of nutrition at the top with an interview with a leading authority on the politics of food and nutrition, Dr. Marion Nestle. In 2011 author Michael Pollan ranked her as the #2 most powerful foodie in America (after Michelle Obama), and American food journalist Mark Bittman ranked her #1 in his list of foodies to be thankful for.
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University. She is also Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. Previous faculty positions were at Brandeis University and the UCSF School of Medicine. She was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and editor of the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. Her research and writing examin…
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Feb 4, 2023
Intro to the science behind nutrition
In this episode I’m hoping to start a new investigation into the science behind nutrition and food science. Many of us have heard the messages from our doctors that we need to cut back on our high sodium diets and we need to avoid fat and red meat to prevent heart disease. We’ve been told that sugar is bad for us. Processed foods are bad for us. Alcohol is bad for us. We need to eat more fruit and vegetables. We need to eat more fiber.
Western society is now in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Are we getting good nutritional advice? What does the science say?
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#TheRationalView #podcast #nutrition #science #evidencebased
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Jan 28, 2023
A psychedelic trip into the mind with Dr. Anil Seth
In this episode I return to the hard problem of consciousness with a distinguished neuroscientist, Dr. Anil Seth. In the finest traditions of science, Dr. Seth is willing to test his ground-breaking theories of mind on himself by exploring the impacts of psychedelic drugs on the conscious experience.
Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and public speaker who has pioneered research into the brain basis of consciousness for more than twenty years. His mission is to advance the science of consciousness, and to use its insights for the benefits of society, technology, and medicine. He is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program on Brain, Mind and Consciousness, and Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Neuroscience of Consciousness. His two TED talks have been viewed more than thirteen million times, he has appeared in several films, and he is lead scientist on the Dreamachin…
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Jan 21, 2023
Is nuclear energy good for the climate?
In this episode I talk about how nuclear energy is being framed in Germany, the environmental laggard currently mining lignite coal for heat. I review some of the blatant anti-nuclear rhetoric being broadcast internationally and expose the flaws in the arguments.
On social media I have been heavily critical of Germany’s Energiewende. This is their national program to shut down their clean nuclear fleet and attempt to replace it with hundreds of billions of euros worth of variable wind and solar generating equipment. As a result of this ideologically driven strategy the country has been unable to keep the lights on without burning vast amounts of heavily polluting lignite coal, and bankrolling Putin's invasion of the Ukraine by buying up all available Russian natural gas. The death toll associated with anti-nuclear ideology is the true danger society should be talking about.
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Jan 14, 2023
Why we need a Rational View
In this episode I am bringing you my 2022 Rational View year in review, followed by a cool Pecha Kucha presentation that I made last year to a group of football alumni, put on by my public school friend Andy Vasily host of the Run Your Life podcast. The presentation is called ‘Why we need a Rational View’, and it defines much of what I have learned about communicating science, and the need for a rational discussion in a polarized world. Pecha Kucha is, I believe, a Japanese term meaning chit-chat. The format is unique as it includes a timed slide presentation that you need to present alongside with a strict 20 second clock on each slide. So if you like it, I urge you to watch The Rational View Youtube channel for this presentation.
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Jan 7, 2023
Alexander Wong on the new AI ChatGPT
Dr. Alexander Wong rejoins the Rational View to review the new and exciting advance in Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is a variant of GPT-3 (Generative Pretrained Transformer 3) that is specifically designed to be used in chat applications. It is a large language model that has been trained on a huge amount of text data in order to generate human-like responses to various types of inputs. Some key features of ChatGPT include its ability to generate responses in a conversational style, understand context, and continue a conversation based on previous exchanges. It is commonly used in chatbots, virtual assistants, and other applications where it is important to generate human-like responses in real time.
Professor Wong is currently the Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Medical Imaging, Member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, Director of the Vision and Image Processing Research Group, and a Professor in the Department of Systems Design Enginee…
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Dec 17, 2022
Consuming rationally with Dr. Marko Kovic
In this episode I’m continuing to provide a free public service to educate the world about cognitive bias. You’re welcome. Today we’ll be exploring how the multi-billion dollar global marketing industry is implicitly given moral licence to exploit our cognitive biases, and how to prevent falling victim to this ethically questionable practice.
Marko Kovic, PhD, has a background in political science and communication science. He's a lecturer, researcher, author and activist in the areas of decision-making, cyberpsychology, misinformation and conspiracy theories.
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#TheRationalView #podcast #consuming #bias #cognitivebias #marketing #haloeffect #advice
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Dec 10, 2022
Rationality requires managing your cognitive biases
In this episode I describe several cognitive biases that we commonly fall victim to. Can you identify any of these from your own experiences?
If you have been following the controversy over social media you are aware of the problems with confirmation bias that leads us to believe dodgy sources when they agree with our preconceived opinions, but to hold other opinions to a much higher standard of evidence. In this episode I’m going to explore a few lesser-known types of cognitive bias that could be impacting your judgement. If you had a chance to listen to my interview with Nobel Laureate Dr. Daniel Kahneman you would understand that our brains do not naturally follow the formal laws of logic and inference. We use several shortcuts that work well for us in everyday life. In a more recent interview, happiness guru Valerie Alexander pointed out that we need to shine a light on these biases to recognize their impacts on our mental processes and to address them. Here is my crash course o…
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Dec 3, 2022
Valerie Alexander on how to outsmart our unconscious biases
In this episode I’m continuing my investigation of cognitive bias by interviewing an expert who has thought about this topic a lot.
Committed to expanding happiness and inclusion in all communities, Valerie Alexander is a globally-recognized speaker on the topics of happiness in the workplace, the advancement of women, and unconscious bias. Her TED Talk, “How to Outsmart Your Own Unconscious Bias” has been viewed over half a million times and is used in boardrooms and classrooms around the world to enlighten leaders and future leaders about the brain science behind bias and how we can work together to create more equitable outcomes for everyone.
Valerie’s books include: Happiness as a Second Language, Success as a Second Language, and How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace (Despite Having “Female Brains”) Valerie has had a varied and successful career as a corporate securities lawyer, investment banker and Internet executive in the Silicon Valley, and more recently as a H…
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Nov 26, 2022
Dr. Daniel Kahneman on how we think
In this episode I have the honour to interview a Nobel Laureate who has devoted his life to understanding the way we think. His work has interesting links, not only to my new research topic of cognitive biases, but also on humanity’s continuing self examination of consciousness and the mysteries of the mind.
Berkely-trained psychologist Daniel Kahneman was corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002 for his integration of psychological research into economic science. His pioneering work examined human judgment and decision making under uncertainty.
He was a lecturer (1961–70) and a professor (1970–78) of psychology at the Hebrew University, University of British Columbia, University of California Berkeley, and Princeton University where he was the Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and a professor of public affairs at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Kahneman’s groundbreaking nobel research showed that people’s inference…
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Nov 19, 2022
Dr. Andrew Budson has a new theory of consciousness
In this episode I am interviewing the lead author of a recent paper describing a new theory of how consciousness works. It is based on evolutionary principles, and it posits that we mostly go about our lives unconsciously acting and reacting with no free will in the present moment. Their theory is that the conscious mind has evolved to enable reasoning and goal-driven behaviour through manipulation of memories. In this theory, we have no direct control over our actions in the present, as our observations are always a few milliseconds behind. This idea has interesting things to say about free will and first person experiences.
Educated at Haverford College and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Andrew Budson is Chief of Cognitive Behavioral Neurology at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Associate Director of the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, and Lecturer in Neurology at Harvard Medical Scho…
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Nov 12, 2022
Will fusion save us? A summary
I’ve had several good interviews on the topics of hot and cold fusion. Omar Hurricane and Alex Zylstra from NIF in the US, Fulvio Millitelo of MAST-U in the UK, Edmund Storms LANL and Lutz Jaitner on cold fusion & LENR.
What have we learned? Cold Fusion has not yet been reliably harnessed despite decades of study, but I don’t think we should shame them for this—hot fusion has been working for much longer and they haven’t commercialized yet either. Fusion is not coming to our rescue in the next decade, and maybe not the one after that. The largest government fusion progams in the world are the US NIF facility based on over one hundred high power lasers, and the planned International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) based on confining ionized plasma in a toroidal Tokamak with huge electromagnets. But this isn’t the whole story, because there are also billions of dollars being invested in commercial ventures.
If you are interested, and want to look into these companie…
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Nov 5, 2022
We need a rational assessment of nuclear energy
In this episode I want to address what I’ve come to realize is an asymmetry in society’s approach to energy technologies, and most specifically nuclear energy, after decades of mostly unopposed anti-nuclear lobbying.
Nuclear energy must struggle on an uneven playing field with other energy technologies. This asymmetry is one of the leading reasons that new nuclear reactors have struggled to be built in regions that have been dominated by anti-nuclear ideologies for the past several decades and it is this situation that has catalyzed the climate crisis.
Nuclear is the only energy source to which humanity applies the precautionary principle. Other power sources are allowed to operate with a certain level of known risk that in some cases translates into a rather significant body count. But since we are used to it, and the effects are typically distributed over large areas and not concentrated in one area, the asymmetry with nuclear policy is lost on the general public. Of all these…
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Oct 29, 2022
Dr. Mark Winfield discusses hydrogen, carbon and sustainable energy
In this episode I am interviewing someone deeply involved with advising Canadian institutions on the energy policy, especially sustainable energy transitions. As this has also been a focus of the podcast, I’m looking forward to discussing the best approaches for the country.
Mark Winfield is a Professor of Environmental and Urban Change at York University. He is also Co-Chair of the Faculty's Sustainable Energy Initiative, and Coordinator of the Joint Master of Environmental Studies/Juris Doctor program offered in conjunction with Osgoode Hall Law School. He has published articles, book chapters and reports on a wide range of climate change, environment and energy law and policy topics. Professor Winfield has acted as an advisor to the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario and federal Commissioner for Environment and Development. From 2017-2020 he served as a member of the Conseil d'administration (board of directors) of Transitions energetique Quebec, a Crown corporation establishe…
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Oct 22, 2022
D.J. LeClear-The Rad Guy discusses nuclear radiation
This episode is the digitally enhanced re-release of 'Nuclear Power-is it rational to worry?' episodes 21 and 22 from October 2020 where I interviewed D.J. LeClear, 'The Rad Guy', before he started his successful YouTube channel dealing out short educational videos on nuclear radiation, and before he grew that magnificent handlebar moustache. If you've been with me since 2020, please enjoy this blast from the past. If you are new to The Rational View, you will love this coherent and incisive discussion about the myths surrounding nuclear radiation, initially released in two parts.
D.J. has been in nuclear power and radiation health physics since his enlistment in the Naval Nuclear Program where he did radiochemistry and radiation protection aboard the USS Harry S. Truman. Currently, he works in health emergency preparedness as a technical expert for radiation hazards. He has a bachelor of science in Nuclear Engineering Technology and he is enrolled in the Health Physics Master's progr…
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Oct 15, 2022
Stéphane Germain on GHGSat methane leak discoveries
In this episode I am interviewing a new-space entrepreneur who is using optical remote sensing to provide important data on localized greenhouse gas emissions. The NordStream fossil gas pipelines ruptured a few days before this podcast was taped. My guest’s company has the hardware in place to measure these emissions from space and determine the impacts of this apparent sabotage on the climate.
Stéphane Germain is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GHGSat whose technology provides actionable greenhouse gas emissions data and insights to various industries. Stéphane founded GHGSat in 2011 to answer a market need for consistent, high-quality measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from industrial facilities worldwide. Mr. Germain has been passionate about applying space technology for the good of the Earth for over 30 years.
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Oct 8, 2022
Dr. Fulvio Militello discusses the MAST-U fusion program
In this episode I am continuing my exploration of the state of nuclear fusion research. I will be interviewing a leader in the MAST fusion experiment. MAST is an acronym for Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak. A Tokamak is a device that typically uses extremely strong magnetic fields to confine an energetic plasma and ram hydrogen nuclei together at high energies, essentially trying to replicate the processes occurring at the core of the sun, to create fusion energy. This process takes tremendous energy inputs and has been explored in the lab for decades without successfully transitioning to commercial power. Experiments are getting larger and larger, and researchers have been making incremental progress towards the goal of break-even. Join me as I explore the high pressure science of fusion energy.
Fulvio Militello is a fusion scientist with twenty years of experience. Following a career as a theoretical plasma physicist and science manager, he is currently the Director of Tokamak Science…
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Oct 1, 2022
Online convenience vs. customer service
Over the past couple weeks the COVID virus has gone through my household, and I’ve been too busy to put together a well researched podcast. But I wanted to share a story with you that I think some of you might be able to relate to. It is a story about where all of our time has gone. In the modern era we’ve traded customer service for convenience. This is my saga.
We think that we're saving time by online shopping, but sometimes that turns out to be the opposite of the truth. Join me while I take you through my personal saga in which I discovered that in the modern era we may have mistakenly traded good customer service for "convenience."
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Sep 24, 2022
Lutz Jaitner proposes a scientific basis for Cold Fusion
In this episode I am continuing my investigation into cold fusion, looking into potential scientific explanations of the excess heat and fusion products hinted at by Dr. Edmund Storms in my last podcast.
There seems to be a dedicated research group that is working on these theories and I am eager to find out whether or not their hypothesis about condensed plasmoids can stand up to skepticism.
Lutz Jaitner from Hamburg Germany is the father of three adult daughters. He holds a Master of Science degree in physics from the University of Hamburg.
Lutz started his career as a designer and developer of multiprocessor hardware. After which he worked as a consulting engineer. Lutz is the programmer and operator of a public cloud service for neighborly help groups: Obelio eLETS Service
Around 2006 Lutz started to evaluate the available literature about LENR research. By 2015 he found an explanation, how the reaction is facilitated by an ultra-dense plasmoid state of matter. It took him unti…
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Sep 17, 2022
A review of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (Cold Fusion) with Dr. Edmund Storms
In this episode I start my investigation into the Cold Fusion controversy. In 1989 Pons & Fleischmann announced in a hastily convened press conference, the discovery of a new clean energy source that would revolutionize power grids and save humanity from climate change. They had measured the production of excess heat and neutrons in a room temperature electrolytic reaction using heavy water and a palladium cathode. It shortly became evident that their claims were not entirely correct. After many attempts it was discovered that their experiment could not be replicated and mainstream science dismissed Cold Fusion as a pathological science. Despite this lack of acceptance, many have continued to try to replicate their work and strike it rich. Now after more than 30 years, a pattern of unexplained anomalous results has emerged from the rubble. Is there something to the newly renamed Low Energy Nuclear Reactions field? I’m interviewing an expert who has been involved in reviewing the work…
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Sep 10, 2022
Is Cold Fusion pathological science?
In this episode I’m reviewing the fine line between science, pathological science, and pseudo-science. In most cases the line is not fine at all. There are, of course, many pseudo-scientific practices that are clearly not based on the principles of honest scientific investigations including things like Creationism, Homeopathy, Astrology, and Flat-Earthism. Some of these pretend to be scientific, but it is pretty clear in all cases that they exist not because of evidence, but instead are based on faith, profit, or other motives. There are several beliefs or ideas, however, that are not so clear-cut, and actually have some non-biased scientific support, although they are verboten for members of the scientific community. I have looked at electromagnetic hypersensitivity, for example, in a past episode. I came away unconvinced that EM is causing the health problems of sufferers, but there is something unexplained going on. In this episode I want to explore the scientific community’s re…
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Sep 3, 2022
Laser Fusion Ignition with Drs. Hurricane and Zylstra
In this episode I’m starting to explore another interesting scientific topic that has recently made a big media splash—nuclear fusion. For decades the promise of nuclear fusion has been held out as the ultimate in clean energy sources—the same energy as the sun, with no transuranic radioactive waste stream. Just fusing hydrogen together to make helium and boundless energy. The problem is that it is very difficult to simulate the sun. Even in the core of the sun where temperatures are measured in millions of degrees, and the pressure is higher than anywhere in the solar system, fusion is not a fast or efficient process. I guess that’s good for us. If it were the sun would rapidly burn out in a huge supernova. As it is, the sun will happily burn hydrogen for about 10 billion years before it starts running short. A proton in the core of the sun can bounce around freely for billions of years without ever getting fused to another proton. It is this challenge that researchers on eart…
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Aug 27, 2022
Dr. Larry Katz on why we are too competitive
I’ve recently begun to suspect that we, as a society, favour competition over cooperation to our detriment. As children we are trained to compete. We play competitive board games like Sorry, and Monopoly where you win by sabotaging the other players. We fetishize competitive sports, spending 100’s of billions of dollars watching athletes violently punish each other. It would seem that these attitudes carry over into the political arena. States and religions and corporations all compete for power, leaving a trail of bloody conflict in their wake. And yet it can be argued that competition brings out the best in people. The dominant capitalist economic system is based on the concept of a group of self-interested players who collectively and competitively comprise the market where the success of the top players advances by exploiting those less successful. Some of our most significant scientific and engineering advances came as a result of intense development work motivated by man’s…
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Aug 20, 2022
Dr. Marc Wortman discusses Admiral Rickover of the nuclear navy
In this episode I’m exploring the story of the father of atomic power, Admiral Hyman Rickover. This was based on a suggestion from a listener. Thanks Loki! Rickover is best known for his role in developing the US nuclear submarine program in the 1950’s. His ground-breaking work demonstrates that Small Modular Reactors are a safe and effective method of generating clean carbon-free energy. Today I will be interviewing an author who has recently published a biography of Rickover.
Marc Wortman received a doctorate in Comparative Literature from Princeton University. Dr. Wortman is an independent historian and freelance journalist living in New Haven. He is the author of four book on American military and social history, most recently Admiral Hyman Rickover: Engineer of Power (Yale University Press, 2022). As an award-winning freelance journalist, Marc has written for many publications, including Vanity Fair, Smithsonian, Time, Air & Space, and The Daily Beast. He has spoken to audien…
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Aug 13, 2022
Andy Vasily with deep thoughts on life and podcasting
This is a fun joint podcast with co-host Andy Vasily of the successful ‘Run your life’ podcast. Andy is a friend from way back. We went to public school together. Andy helped me set up my podcast a couple years ago and get started with a few helpful hints. His Run Your Life podcast is focused on physical fitness and self realization.
In this episode we reminisce a bit and share the wisdom we have gathered over the forty or so years since our last meeting. We chat about how we both ended up in podcasting, and how we each are on a quest to find meaning in our lives. Andy's podcast can be found at www.runyourlifepodcast.com
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Aug 6, 2022
Dr. Ellen deLara discusses bullying
In this episode I book-end my two episode investigation on the impacts of bullying with someone who has interviewed victims of bullying to attempt to characterize the impacts. I recently did a podcast that reviewed my experiences with bullying as a child and how it seemed to have impacted my personality and my life. From a high level, Dr. deLara’s results resonated with me. It felt good to identify an external reason for why I found it hard to interact with others. But let’s be careful and question our assumptions. Life is difficult and challenging for everyone. Can victims blame their entire life experience on bullying? No. We need to be careful about confirmation bias. It is difficult to guess how life altering these events really were. Perhaps I would have turned out shy and socially awkward anyways. Any good science includes a control group to contrast. Let’s find out what the evidence says.
Dr. Ellen Walser deLara is an associate professor emerita in the School of Social Wo…
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Jul 30, 2022
Escaping my bully
In this episode I want to share something personal about my life. This episode is about bullying and its lifelong effects. My bully made me who I am today. I hope if you are experiencing bullying that you take the time to listen.
I learned a lot in school, and most of it in the schoolyard. I learned to run fast, and dodge. I learned that there is no justice in the world. I learned the world is a harsh place and the good guys lose. I learned to be self sufficient. I learned to escape into fantasy.
My life was shaped by a series of bullies. I’m only now learning to stick up for myself. To value myself. To not run from conflict when it is necessary. To speak up for my rights. Do I have regrets? Sure. Today I like who I’ve become and I wouldn’t change a thing now that I have worked through the pain.
Do we need adversity to make good strong people willing to stand up and take a risk for others?
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Jul 23, 2022
What I’ve learned about the hard problem of consciousness
In this episode I summarize my investigation of consciousness. I’ve been interviewing several experts and there is a huge diversity of thought on the topic of thought. It is called ‘the hard problem of consciousness’ to explain why we have a subjective experience of existence.
What have I learned? The problem is hard because people don’t agree on an objective set of criteria about what consciousness entails. If there is no clear definition, it is no surprise it is hard to explain. Philosophers fall back on the word ‘Qualia’ meaning those set of 1st person experiences which evade any objective definition.
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Jul 16, 2022
Angelica Oung says the world needs more CANDU reactors
In this episode I am interviewing a fellow supporter of nuclear energy who, although not a Canadian, she posted an article on Canada Day singing the praises of the CANDU reactor. I think CANDU is an underappreciated technological wonder, similar to the Avro Arrow. It is also at risk of going down that same path unless Canadians rise up and tell their MPs and MPPs that we need more of them.
Angelica Oung is a journalist specializing in Asia and energy matters living in Taipei, Taiwan. In her spare time she is a nuclear energy enthusiast and advocate known as the Manic Nuclear Scheme Girl on her substack https://elementalenergy.substack.com/
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Jul 9, 2022
Dr. Bernardo Kastrup on the Universal Mind
In this episode I return to my investigation of the physical and philosophical bases of consciousness. Today I will be taking on a new perspective from a leading expert in both philosophy and artificial intelligence.
Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy and another Ph.D. in computer engineering specializing in artificial intelligence. As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories.
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Jul 2, 2022
Dr. Gerfried Jungmeier discusses electric vehicles
In this episode I am returning to one of my favourite topics—the clean energy transition. Today I wanted to explore the life cycle greenhouse gas footprint of the shift to electric vehicles. Many governments are using a transition to electrified transportation as the foundation of their GHG emissions reduction programs. Today I’m going to an expert to find out how effective this transition will be on our society’s GHG emissions profile.
Dr. Gerfried Jungmeier holds a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering and received a PhD studying the Greenhouse Gas Balance of Bioenergy Systems. He is an future energy systems researcher at Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH. He lectures at Vienna University of Technology, Danube University Krems, and University of Applied Science Kapfenberg. He is an expert in the life cycle assessment of energy and mobility systems.
My podcast is hosted at https://therationalview.podbean.com
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Jun 25, 2022
Communicating science through fiction with Eric Choi
On my episode today I will be exploring a fun topic—science fiction, with a friend an colleague who is also an up and coming science fiction author. We will discuss themes of communicating science and our shared love of science fiction.
Eric Choi is a writer, editor, and aerospace engineer in Toronto. He has twice won the Prix Aurora Award – Canada’s national prize for excellence in science fiction and fantasy – for his short story “Crimson Sky” and for the anthology The Dragon and the Stars, and he was the first recipient of the Isaac Asimov Award (now the Dell Magazines Award) for his novelette “Dedication”. His short fiction has appeared in more than two dozen publications in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Japan. He holds a B.A.Sc in engineering science and an M.A.Sc in aerospace engineering, both from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from York University. In 2009, he was one of the Top 40 finalists (out of 5,351 applicants) in the…
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Jun 18, 2022
Dr. Scott Aaronson on sentience, AI and quantum computing
In this episode I am continuing my investigation into the so-called hard problem of consciousness. I’ve spoken to several people who believe that consciousness arose in single celled organisms and is somehow integrated at higher levels through electrical synchronization or intercellular molecular transport into a unified experience. Hindus and Buddhists believe that there is a Universal consciousness of which we all partake. This is similar in some ways to Sir Roger Penrose’ theory of consciousness called Orchestrated Objective Reduction, where microtubule organelles in the brain’s neurons have evolved to concentrate the diffuse universal consciousness present in the collapse of quantum superpositions. Some of these folks believe that the randomness at the heart of quantum mechanics is necessary for free will and volition. Others like Bertrand Russel believe that we act in accordance with our will even if our actions have past causes and the future is pre-determined. Today I’m…
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Jun 11, 2022
Dr. Michael Levin on cellular cooperation and cognition
In this episode I continue my exploration into the nature of consciousness and awareness. I’ve learned a lot in my exploration to date. I’ve learned about Hindu and Buddhist ideas on awareness, and I’ve delved into the underlying quantum mechanical nature of reality. I’ve discussed ideas of quantum computing and biological links to the mysteries of quantum mechanics. My guest today is an expert on the cellular basis of memory and cognition.
Michael Levin received dual B.S. degrees (computer science and biology), followed by a Ph.D. (Harvard University). After post-doc training (Harvard Medical School), he started his independent lab at Forsyth Institute focusing on the biophysics of cell:cell communication during embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer. In 2009 he moved his group to Tufts, where they use biophysical and computational approaches to study decision-making and basal cognition in cells, tissues, and synthetic living machines. Levin holds the Vannevar Bush chair, an…
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Jun 4, 2022
A Buddhist perspective on awareness with Dr. John Dunne
In this episode I continue my exploration of consciousness, exploring a field of enquiry that has focused almost exclusively on consciousness and awareness for hundreds of years. Although it is not science, Buddhism has a uniquely close relation with physics and physicists being oft quoted. 'The Tao of Physics' comes to mind, as well as ‘The Dancing Wu Li Masters’ as examples. I hope you enjoy this foray into the Buddhist mind.
Dr. John Dunne serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the Center for Healthy Minds. He is also distinguished professor in the Department of Asian Languages & Cultures, where he currently serves as department Chair.
Dr. Dunne's work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialog with Cognitive Science and Psychology. His publications appear in venues ranging across both the Humanities and the Sciences, and they include works on Buddh…
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May 28, 2022
Lemmel and Hofmann experiment with reality
Quantum Mechanics is a strange theory. Richard Feynman said “I think it is safe to say nobody understands quantum mechanics”. So why is it so popular if nobody understands it? How is this the basis for all of our physical knowledge of particles and their interactions?
A recent innovative experiment fires neutrons through a double slit and proves that each neutron goes through both slits at the same time.
Prof. Holger Hofmann, studied physics in his hometown of Stuttgart, Germany, then went to Tokyo University for a post-doctoral fellowship in 1999. Now at Hiroshima University, his research is focused on the way quantum theory describes observable phenomena. He believes that the key to a proper understanding of quantum mechanics can be found by exploring the practical means that we need to employ to achieve optimal control over a physical system.
Dr. Hartmut Lemmel studied physics in his hometown Vienna and graduated at the Vienna University of Technology in the group of Helmut R…
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May 21, 2022
Shorting the Grid with Meredith Angwin
In this episode I am lucky to be able to talk to an expert in the lifeblood of modern civilization, our electrical grid. The grid is the pulse that sustains civilization. It provides us with the energy to run our labour-saving appliances, it provides us with lights, it empowers our computers, it heats our homes, it refrigerates our food. Without it we would be tossed back to 19th century living conditions. It powers all of modern technology and allows us to communicate around the globe. The grid is also a curse. It is an industrial behemoth that emits dangerous pollution into the atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels kills millions of people around the world every year from particulate pollution, and is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas accumulation that is forcing the climate into a state it hasn’t been in since homo sapiens evolved half a million years ago. My guest will tell us about the hidden fragility of our electrical grid.
As a working chemist, Meredith Angwin h…
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May 14, 2022
Dr. Ruth Kastner and the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics
In this episode I am looking forward to exploring more about alternate interpretations of Quantum Mechanics. In previous episodes exploring consciousness, I’ve encountered several people who believe that Quantum Mechanics is at the root of consciousness. My current thinking is that it replaces one mystery with another one without really providing an explanation for consciousness. We are still stuck with the options of consciousness being a pre-existing property of the universe or some aspect of it, vs. it being an emergent feature of a processing network. Either way, quantum mechanics is an often misunderstood brilliant theory at the root of physics. It tells us that basic particles don’t exist at a specific position and momentum—they are, however, represented very accurately as a smooth wavefunction that can be used to calculate the distribution of a set of measurements on identical particles. The process of observation seems to cause the wavefunction to randomly collapse to a l…
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May 7, 2022
Dr. Sangeetha Menon with a Hindu perspective on consciousness
In this, my 100th episode, I continue to explore consciousness, but I’m stepping out of my comfort zone a little and seeing what I can learn from the religious viewpoint on consciousness. The idea of an eternal soul is central to many religions, and the Hindus especially believe in reincarnation. I want to learn what they think the soul entails, and what are the parallels between religious thought, philosophy, and the findings of neuro-biology.
Dr. Sangeetha Menon is Professor and Head of the Consciousness Studies Programme, and the Dean of the School of Humanities at National Institute of Advanced Studies, in Bangalore. There she developed the NIAS Consciousness Studies Programme along with BV Sreekantan to study consciousness with an interdisciplinary and a multidisciplinary mandate. Her major area of research is philosophy of psychology. She holds degrees in biology and philosophy. One of her primary contributions in consciousness studies is in presenting and engaging with the co…
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Apr 30, 2022
Professor Jack Tuszynski probes proposed quantum processing proteins
This episode continues my series on consciousness—are we just biological robots? Following on from my exciting interview last week with quantum biophysicist Dr. Luca Turin, I dig further into competing quantum theories of consciousness. The famous Sir Roger Penrose and his partner Stuart Hameroff have proposed the Orchestrated OR theory. This theory posits a modification of the incomplete theory of quantum mechanics that underlies half of physics. They argue that consciousness arises from moments of wavefunction collapse that are objectively linked to certain aspects of quantum superpositions. They further argue that biology has evolved a mechanism to orchestrate these wavefunction collapses in tiny subcellular structures called microtubules. My guest today has been doing experiments in the lab to determine if physical processes in microtubules respond to anesthetics.
Professor Jack Tuszyński obtained his Ph.D. in condensed matter physics in 1983 from the University of Calgary. Fro…
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Apr 23, 2022
Dr. Luca Turin detects quantum clues to consciousness
This episode continues my series on consciousness—are we biological robots? Today I’m getting into some real science talking to a biophysicist who brings the esoteric world of quantum mechanics to bear on the topic. His groundbreaking work in the lab provides us with some real measurements that provide tantalizing hints at the previously unknown quantum processes tied to consciousness.
Dr. Luca Turin was born in 1953 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Italian-Argentinian parents and was brought up in France, Italy and Switzerland. He studied Physiology and Biophysics at University College London, PhD in 1978. Dr. Turin worked at the CNRS 1982-92, then became a lecturer in Biophysics at UCL 1992-2000. He is best known for his work on olfaction, in which he proposed a quantum mechanism for odorant recognition by receptors. For 8 years he was CTO of a venture company designing odorants for fragrance and flavors with a success rate 100 times the industry average. After returning to full time rese…
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Apr 16, 2022
Dr. Andy Norman on how to immunize your mind
This episode continues my series on the Rational art of war on social media. Following on from my great interview a few weeks back with Dr Lee McIntyre, author of Talking to Science Deniers, he suggested I interview his colleague Dr. Andrew Norman who is actively working to inoculate the world against anti-science thinking.
Dr. Andy Norman is the award-winning author of Mental Immunity: Infection Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. His work has appeared in Scientific American, Psychology Today, Psychiatric Times, Skeptic, Free Inquiry, and The Humanist. He has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, NPR, the BBC’s Naked Scientist, and now the pinnacle—The Rational View. His research illuminates the evolutionary origins of human reasoning, the norms that make dialogue fruitful, and the workings of the mind’s immune system. He champions the emerging science of mental immunity as the antidote to disinformation, propaganda, hate, and division. He is the fo…
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Apr 9, 2022
Transhumanist David Pearce discusses consciousness
In this episode I continue my investigation into consciousness interviewing an advocate for artificial intelligence. He advocates for a form of physicalistic idealism that is both highly speculative and incredible, by his own words. He supports the equations of physics as a complete description of reality, and posits that minds arise in quantum superpositions of neurons. A quantum superposition is a non-intuitive situation that arises in the equations of physics where a system can seemingly exist in two different physical states at the same time as long as it is isolated from observation. This was highlighted in the famous Schrodinger’s Cat thought experiment where the cat was in a superposition of being both alive and dead as long as the box it was in was not opened.
David Pearce is author of the Hedonistic Imperative (1995), which advocates the use of biotechnology to abolish suffering throughout the living world. In 1998, he co-founded the World Transhumanist Association (H+) wit…
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Apr 2, 2022
Dr. Arthur Reber claims cells are sentient
In this episode I begin my investigation into the topic of consciousness with an interview. The field of consciousness research is broad and interdisciplinary, with active researchers in philosophy, psychology, physics, neuro-biology, computer science, and even theology. My first interview is a psychologist who wrote a book claiming that bacteria are sentient.
Dr. Arthur Reber is an American cognitive psychologist, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association for Psychological Science (APS), a Fulbright Fellow, and an avid curling fan. Known for introducing the concept of implicit learning and for using basic principles of evolutionary biology to show how implicit or unconscious cognitive functions differ in fundamental ways from those carried out consciously. His most recent work has been on the "Cellular Basis of Consciousness" theory that maintains that all life is sentient, including unicellular organisms.
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Mar 26, 2022
Consciousness: Are we more than bio computers?
This episode delves into the topic of consciousness and why it is seen as a problem by some philosophers. We briefly touched on this in our series on AI, but it also touches the topic of science and religion. This is an issue that is dealt with in science fiction. Star Trek, especially TNG has several episodes that bear directly on this issue of what it means to be sentient with the character ‘Data’ striving to be more human, and being treated as an object rather than a sentient being due mainly to human chauvinism. This is also explored by AI researcher David Kelley in his mediated artificial superintelligence, Uplift. One’s opinion of the answers to these questions have significant impacts on what one expects from the field of AI, and how one might treat and interact with a potentially sentient AI system. It begs the question of what moral footing underlies our approach to these systems, or even to non-human species in some cases. It bears on the topic of free will, and could i…
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Mar 19, 2022
Nuclear Reactors in a Warzone
This podcast covers a very topical concern as Russia is now embarked on the conquest of the Ukraine, and there is much concern globally about the risk of nuclear power plants coming under fire. Should we be afraid of nuclear reactors in a war zone? (First Published March 19, 2022)
I review the risks of nuclear war for a new generation, and I contrast it with the risks of nuclear reactors in a war zone. The conclusions may surprise you. Reactors in a war zone are not a significant health risk. Lack of reactors would be a bigger problem.
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Mar 12, 2022
Professor Lee McIntyre on Talking with Science Deniers
In this episode I talk to a philosopher and best selling author who may be the world’s expert on bridging the gap to talk to science deniers. This is the second podcast in series on how to change minds and influence people using the Rational Art of War to spread The Rational View.
Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. Formerly Executive Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, McIntyre is the bestselling author of POST-TRUTH (MIT Press, 2018) -- along with thirteen other works of fiction and nonfiction, including DARK AGES (2006), and THE SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE (2019).
McIntyre has made appearances on CNN, PBS, NPR and the BBC -- and has spoken at the United Nations, the Aspen Institute, and the Vatican. He starred in the docu-series INFODEMIC: Global Conversations on Science and Misinformation. In November, 2018, McIntyre went undercover at the Flat Earth International Confer…
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Mar 5, 2022
The Rational Art of War for Social Media Warriors
The next couple podcasts are meant to be a battle manual for the everyday person who wants to join the fight for what they believe in, but doesn’t have the resources of Google or Facebook to identify thousands of folks who might be swayed to your viewpoint.
We know that on any sufficiently polarized political issue there is likely to be funded propaganda attempting to influence public opinion. Audit applications that track inactive and fake accounts show that a significant fraction of politicians’ followers are not real people.
Why would anyone listen to me? I don’t have a lot of followers. I’m not swaying thousands of people by data mining your social media footprint. Persuasion starts with a one on one conversation. This is how we persuade others of the virtues of our arguments.
I started my podcast to train a Fellowship of like-minded rational warriors to fight the relentless hordes of influence bots that otherwise tend to dominate social media discussions.
I want this p…
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Feb 26, 2022
Summary of Evolution and Creationism
This episode wraps up my podcast series on Evolution and Creationism. I summarize the insightful interviews I've had with many great guests including Dr. Niles Eldredge, the co-creator of Punctuated Equilibrium. Topics range from theology to biology and everything in between.
For my upcoming podcasts I’m looking at a couple directions to explore with you. I want to discuss communicating science, and I also want to expand on some of my previous themes—Artificial Intelligence and Science/Religion cross over in the discussion of consciousness. Can a computer be self-aware? Are we just biological computers? Stay tuned for more insights.
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Feb 19, 2022
Controversial questions in genetics with Razib Khan
This episode was meant to continue my series on Evolution and Creationism but it went another surprising direction. I hope you enjoy exploring the questions raised as my guest strides fearlessly into controversial moral territory.
Genetic libertarian Razib Khan writes extensively on evidence surrounding human migrations and genetics. He has written for The New York Times, India Today and Quillette, and runs two weblogs, Gene Expression and Brown Pundits. His newsletter is Razib Khan's Unsupervised Learning.
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Feb 12, 2022
Teaching the Controversy with Professor Lynne Honey
In this episode I interview a psychologist who teaches critical thinking, using Creationism as an example for her students. She also analyzes behaviour from an evolutionary perspective.
Prof. Lynne Honey received a BA in Psychology from Algoma University, and then a PhD at McMaster University, specializing in learning and behaviour from a physiological and evolutionary perspective. She tended bar, drove a taxi, and cleaned apartment buildings to pay for her expensive education habits. She has been at MacEwan University since 2003, where she is a Professor in the Department of Psychology. She is an award-winning educator who teaches a variety of courses related to learning and behaviour, including Evolutionary Approaches to Human Behaviour. Her published research includes work in animal learning and behaviour, human mate choice and competition, and postsecondary education. Her family says that she is annoyingly good at board games.
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Feb 5, 2022
Professor Niles Eldredge on Evolution
Continuing in my series on evolution and creationism. In this episode you’re in for a treat. I’ve managed to score an interview with a special guest—a celebrity in the field of evolutionary biology. Sit back and enjoy!
Dr. Niles Eldredge has been a paleontologist on the curatorial staff of the American Museum of Natural History since 1969. His early work focused on the evolution of trilobites—a group of extinct arthropods that lived between 535 and 245 million years ago. Eldredge is the Curator responsible for the content of the major exhibition Darwin, which opened in New York, London, Rome and Lisbon in time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth in February 2009. His book Darwin. Discovering the Tree of Life (2005) accompanied the exhibition.
Eldredge’s main professional passion has always been evolution. Throughout his career, he has used repeated patterns in the history of life to refine ideas on how the evolutionary process actually works. The theory o…
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Jan 29, 2022
Paleovirology and Evolution with Dr. Welkin Johnson
This episode continues my series on creationism and evolution. I’m excited to talk to a virologist to get the inside scoop on how viruses mingle with our DNA at the molecular level. This is one of the evidences for evolution and common descent that I referenced in the series opening podcast.
Welkin Johnson, Ph.D. is a virologist with a particular interest in paleovirology. Dr. Johnson’s research team works on molecular level virus-host interactions, and the impact of these interactions on the evolution of both the viruses and their hosts.
A Michigander by birth, he attended UC Berkeley, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Microbiology & Immunology. After working for a year as a lab tech at UC San Francisco, Welkin moved to Boston, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology & Microbiology from Tufts University School of Medicine. He was a postdoctoral fellow and later faculty in the Dept. of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School. In 2011, he jo…
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Jan 22, 2022
Dr. S. Joshua Swamidass on Genesis and Evolution
This episode continues my series on science and religion. In previous episodes I’ve interviewed the director of the Vatican Observatory, and a nuclear engineer. On this episode I delve more deeply into one of the leading firestorms in that debate. Creationism vs. Evolution.
Dr. Swamidass was raised in a religious evangelical family of young earth creationists. After learning the scientific evidence behind evolution he realized he was being lied to. Now he works within the religious community to challenge the theological basis of anti-science beliefs such as this.
S. Joshua Swamidass MD PhD, a physician and a scientist, is an Associate Professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine at Washington University in St Louis. His group uses artificial intelligence to advance science at the intersection of biology, chemistry, and medicine. He is the author of The Genealogical Adam and Eve and the founder of Peaceful Science (https://peacefulscience.org/).
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Jan 15, 2022
Evolution and Genetics
This episode is an introduction to a series on Evolution and Creationism. The Theory of Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biological science, providing a cohesive framework that explains how the diversity of life that we observe today came about. It has been borne out again and again through the discovery of previously unknown fossils with traits intermediate between extant varieties.
Genetic science has exploded in recent years due to the advances from the human genome project. Scientists now have the ability to sequence entire genomes and run statistical analyses to test theories of common descent.
In this episode I provide some of the interesting discoveries and highlights that I hope to explore in coming weeks with the help of experts in the field. Stay tuned for more!
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Jan 8, 2022
Dr. Jessica Lovering is changing public perception of nuclear energy
In this episode I interview Dr. Jessica Lovering and analyze her essay with Suzanne Baker, 'Can Nuclear go Local?'. In this work they discuss ways that nuclear advocates and nuclear industry can address some of the main concerns of environmental opponents.
Dr. Jessica Lovering is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Good Energy Collective, a new organization working on progressive nuclear policy. She completed her PhD in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a Fellow with the Energy for Growth Hub and the Fastest Path to Zero Initiative at University of Michigan. She was formerly the Director of the Energy Program at the Breakthrough Institute.
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#therationalview #podcast #nuclearenergy #greenenergy #netzeroneedsnuclear #justtransition #nuclearwaste #atomicenergy #nuclearreactor #cleanenergy
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Dec 18, 2021
What about the waste?
In this episode we dig into the science and politics associated with spent nuclear fuel.
The public policy debate around the energy transition is one of the most polarized and critical to the future of our society.
The IPCC reports provide an ongoing review of the status of the science on this topic. IPCC pathways to net zero all include significant nuclear power, yet the public policy debate has not yet caught up. The European Union Joint Research Council has researched green energy sources and has confirmed the scientific consensus—nuclear causes no more environmental harm than any other power source.
In my previous episode I answered the question 'What about Fukushima'. 'What about the waste' is the second most common 'gotcha' response that people are conditioned to ask in response to the possibility of expanding nuclear energy.
Listen as I summarize my discussions with several experts on nuclear waste management. You may be surprised at what you hear.
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Dec 11, 2021
What about Fukushima?
Nuclear energy has now been recognized by a UN expert committee as the lowest carbon intensity of any major energy source. Anyone who has been involved in climate advocacy will have heard the common refrain ‘what about Chernobyl and Fukushima?’ We all know about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It caused roughly 100 deaths and thousands of cases of preventable thyroid cancer. But what about Fukushima Daiichi?
In this episode I will summarize my interviews with several nuclear and radiation health experts on the subject.
Dr Philip Thomas is a professor of risk management at University of Bristol. Dr. Thomas has extensive experience in the chemical and nuclear industries and is co-author of the NREFS study which developed an objective method of risk assessment in nuclear accidents.
Dr. Gerry Thomas is Professor of Molecular Pathology at Imperial College London, and an expert on the molecular biology of thyroid cancer. She established the Chernobyl tissue bank in 1998, and is an aut…
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Dec 4, 2021
Dr. Jan Blomgren on God and science
In this episode I'm continuing my exploration of the intersection of science and religion. These represent two seemingly incompatible paths to truth, one of which values skepticism, the other which values faith. I interview a professor of applied nuclear physics who believes that quantum mechanics is not inconsistent with the influence of the supernatural in the universe.
Jan Blomgren is CEO and founder of INBEx (Institute of Nuclear Business Excellence), focused on nuclear power leadership. He is also CEO of KraftAkademin, a centre of excellence on nuclear power technology. He has previously been a professor of applied nuclear physics at Uppsala University, nuclear competence strategist at Vattenfall, and Director of the Swedish Nuclear Technology Centre.
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Nov 27, 2021
Science and Religion with Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ
In this episode I interview the head of the Vatican Observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, PhD to discuss the intersection of science and religion. I ask him if he sees a conflict between faith and skepticism. You might be surprised at the answer.
Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ, is a Jesuit brother, Director of the Vatican Observatory and the President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation whose research studies meteorites and asteroids. He is a native of Detroit, Michigan, received SB and SM degrees from MIT, and earned his PhD in Planetary Sciences from the University of Arizona in 1978. Along with more than 200 scientific publications, he is the author of six popular astronomy books. In 2014 he received the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences for excellence in public communication in planetary sciences
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Nov 20, 2021
Summary of the linear-no-threshold controversy
In this episode I summarize my research on the linear-no-threshold model of radiation health effects, replaying key excerpts from my past interviews with leading experts on the topic.
These include thyroid cancer expert Professor Geraldine Thomas of Imperial College London, Dr. Edwin Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, radiation dosimetry expert Dr. Blake Walters of Canada's National Research Council, and nuclear accident expert Dr. Philip Thomas, Professor of Risk Management at University of Bristol.
I hope you learn as much as I have!
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#TheRationalView #podcast #science #radiation #health #nuclearpower #fukushima #chernobyl #ALARA #Linearnothreshold
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Nov 13, 2021
Dr. Blake Walters on cancer radiotherapy
In this episode we’re going to learn about cancer radiotherapy, the use of radiation to treat cancer. So many people are afraid that nuclear radiation causes cancer, and yes this is possible if you receive a sudden megadose of radiation, but it is very difficult to get enough just enough radiation to increase the risk of cancer while not getting too much dose and dying from acute radiation sickness. In the real world, radiation is used to kill cancer cells and save lives. I’m going to interview one of the world experts in this field of medicine.
Dr. Blake Walters received an M.Sc. in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto in 1992. He joined the Ionizing Radiation Standards Group at the National Research Council of Canada in 1994. He received a PhD in Medical Physics from Maastricht University, The Netherlands, in 2017.
With the NRC, Blake helped to develop new computational techniques to greatly improve the accuracy of cancer radiotherapy. This work helps to spare health…
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Nov 6, 2021
A Brief History of CANDU Reactors with Chris Adlam and Tom Hess
Nuclear power is a polarizing issue and there is a lot of misinformation that we can debunk through familiarization. A significant fraction of the public, for example, think Nuclear power adds to carbon dioxide pollution. Many more feel that nuclear waste storage is a uniquely dangerous problem. Many more don’t understand that Ontario’s electrical grid is one of the cleanest in the world thanks to nuclear power which produces 60% of our electricity. I wanted to go to the source and understand a bit about the history of CANDU reactors and nuclear power in Ontario.
In this episode I am interviewing two key figures from Canadians for Nuclear Energy who bring a wealth of experience on the electrical grid and nuclear energy.
Tom Hess is a retired Independent System Operator with 31 years of experience at Ontario Hydro and its successor company, the Independent Market Operator, which is now the Independent Electric System Operator (IESO).
Chris Adlam is an electricity system and power…
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Oct 30, 2021
Farzad Khosravi and Cicero--a rational social media option
On this episode I’m interviewing an entrepreneur who is also trying to spread a Rational View by supplanting the AI-driven social media echo chamber with a new idea. I hope you like it.
Farzad Khosravi is the co-founder and CEO at Cicero. Farzad is an entrepreneur looking to build humane, civic-oriented technology that improves our world. He believes that we need to reverse the trend of misinformation and hate we see online if we are to save our society. A scientist at heart and immigrant who grew up in Kentucky, Farzad learned early on the value of skeptical inquiry.
Discover podcasts, articles, videos and more from world-leading thinkers at Cicero.ly
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Oct 23, 2021
Professor Don Gurnett on the Voyager Missions
In this episode I’m continuing in a bit of a ‘space science’ theme to interview Professor Emeritus Don Gurnett, the Primary Investigator on the plasma wave instruments onboard both Voyager spacecraft. These amazing nuclear-powered spacecraft were launched in 1977 and are now the most distant manmade objects known, having recently left the solar system on their way into interstellar space.
Prof. Gurnett started his science career by working on spacecraft electronics design as a student employee in The University of Iowa Physics Department in 1959. After completing his B.S. in electrical engineering at Iowa in 1962, he transferred to physics, where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1963 and 1965. He was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa in 1965 with subsequent promotions to Associate Professor and to Full Professor in 1968 and 1972. Prof. Gurnett is considered by many to be the founder of the field of space plasma wave physics and has participated…
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Oct 16, 2021
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on The Rational View (2/2)
This episode wraps up my exciting two-part interview with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium. We discuss climate change mitigation, public perceptions and misperceptions of nuclear power and society's progress towards decarbonizing the economy. We chat about the imminent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and justifications for funding of big space astronomy projects.
I hope you enjoy it!
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#therationalview #podcast #science #evidencebased #climatechange #netzeroneedsnuclear #greenenergy #cleanenergy #space #astronomy #neildegrassetyson #nuclearenergy
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Oct 9, 2021
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on The Rational View (1/2)
The Rational View is proud to present an interview with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. This is the first in a two-part series.
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, and witty director of the Hayden Planetarium, is joining Dr. Scott. Selected as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world by Time magazine in 2007, Dr. Tyson was awarded the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in 2017. In this interview we discuss communicating complex scientific issues with a polarized public. Dr. Tyson addresses his non-judgemental approach to spreading rational evidence-based perspectives to inform public policy.
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#therationalview #podcast #neildegrassetyson #science #TOK #evidencebased #outreach #rational #skepticism
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Oct 2, 2021
Scientific Responsibility and Outreach
This episode includes a talk I gave to the Canadian Association of Physicists at their annual conference, in a special session focused on industrial physicists. It discusses the responsibility of scientists to communicate their work to the public and engage with society. Society sees scientists as disconnected elites who are isolated in academic ivory towers. We need to counter this opinion and show that we are also people who fight similar issues. We also need child care. We also worry about how to put food on the table. To communicate effectively and get society to a 'Star Trek' future we all need to listen and empathize and step out of our social media echo chambers.
Also, please stay tuned for an upcoming episode where I will be interviewing the famous Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson!
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Sep 25, 2021
Cool Stuff: The James Webb Space Telescope with Prof. René Doyon
This episode is full of Cool Science. The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s next flagship observatory, is now scheduled for launch on December 18th of 2021. This infrared observatory with a 6.5 metre segmented deployable primary telescope will rocket off to a distant Lagrange point where it will deploy a tennis-court-sized multi-layer foil sunshield to allow it to cool to -223 degrees Celsius. The mission cost over $10 Billion to put together.
René Doyon obtained his PhD in astrophysics from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medecine in 1990. He is a full professor at the physics Department of the Université de Montréal, Director of the Institute for Research on Exoplanets and the Mont-Mégantic Observatory. His research activities focus on the search and study of exoplanets, young stars and the development of state-of-the-art astronomical instruments for ground- and spaced-based observatories.
He is principal investigator of the Canadian-built instrument onboard…
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Sep 18, 2021
The inexorable advance of Security Theater
In this episode Dr. Scott discusses society's apparent need to spend wads of money performing security theater.
Security theater is an insidious phenomenon whereby people are pressured into pointless and irrational acts of theater in the name of security. This inevitably happens as a result of a seemingly preventable tragedy, followed by a politician or security official who feels pressured to act. Society spends billions of dollars on out-of-proportion security theater every year. The entire US TSA is one example of a security theater that makes people feel safe to fly. Another common example is the driving need to cycle through arcane passwords that nobody can remember every couple months. How about the hygiene theater of scrubbing down everything with disinfectant to supposedly prevent the spread of COVID-19?
How does one fight security theater when it is so easy to cast opponents as monsters who don't care about the safety of children? The answer is that we all need to ask our el…
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Sep 11, 2021
Inequity and the Pandemic with Edgardo Sepulveda
The Rational View welcomes Edgardo Sepulveda back to discuss the interactions between social inequality and COVID-19. Edgardo has co-authored a paper on the topic providing evidence that societies with higher inequity also suffer higher COVID-19 mortality rates.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321001798?dgcid=rss_sd_all
It is not immediately clear why this might be the case, and it is difficult to tease out a correlation amidst all of the other confounding factors. This discussion is an interesting exploration of the application of statistics and the scientific method.
Edgardo Sepulveda has been a telecommunications economist for 25 years, the last 15 with his consulting firm in Toronto, Canada. He was born in Chile and has an MA in Economics. As part of his civic policy-related engagement, he also writes about electricity, inequality, COVID-19 and other issues, including at the Progressive Economics Forum, where he wrote the blog that we’ll be discussing…
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Sep 4, 2021
‘What about the waste?‘ with Sheila Whytock
As part of my series leading up to the Stand Up for Nuclear events coming up in September I'm interviewing another Canadian organizer and a nuclear industry professional. We discuss the controversy over Canada's Deep Geological Repository. One of the leading options for long-term mitigation of nuclear waste hazards.
Sheila Whytock is a nuclear operator at Bruce Power, in Ontario Canada. Sheila got her BA at Laurentian University, her Bachelor of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University, and completed a power operator apprenticeship while working for Bruce Power. She was raised on a beef farm in Orillia, and now resides in Teeswater, one of the potential host sites for Canada’s deep geological repository.
Sheila is co-founder of “Willing to Listen”, a grassroots group interested in pursuing the facts and benefits associated with potentially hosting a DGR in their community. Along with this, she is also host of the podcast “Willing to Listen”, board member of Canadians for Nuc…
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Aug 28, 2021
Electrification and Climate with Edgardo Sepulveda
In this episode I am excited to interview an economist to investigate the market dynamics associated with energy transitions and provide insights on what is needed to electrify our economy and get us to net zero carbon.
Edgardo Sepulveda has been a telecommunications economist for 25 years, the last 15 with his consulting firm in Toronto, Canada. He was born in Chile and has an MA in Economics. As part of his civic policy-related engagement, he also writes about electricity, inequality, COVID-19 and other issues, including at the Progressive Economics Forum, where he wrote the blog that we discuss on this episode (https://t.co/oLW4gBeD7Y?amp=1). Edgardo has been the guest on a number of other energy-related podcasts; his Twitter handle is @E_R_Sepulveda.
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Aug 21, 2021
Stand Up For Nuclear with Paris Ortiz Wines
On this episode I’m interviewing Paris Ortiz Wines: Global Director of Stand Up For Nuclear As the Global Director of Stand Up, Paris oversees all of the organization’s outreach and engagement efforts. She has spearheaded in-person demonstrations and social media campaigns around the world, growing Stand Up from a single event to 67 events across 28 countries.
`Paris began her career at Environmental Progress, an environmental non-profit organization that fights to protect nuclear plants around the world from premature closure. In 2 years she went from being an Executive Assistant to a Junior Analyst, revising energy analysis reports, leading research groups, and organizing international conferences. It was during her time at EP that she fell in love with nuclear and committed herself to fight for the development of sustainable energy. Wanting to concentrate on growing a grassroots movement for nuclear power, she left EP and transitioned into her role at Stand Up for Nuclear. Pari…
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Aug 14, 2021
The Rational View podcast retrospective
Welcome to summer vacation 2021! This podcast is a short retrospective on the last year and a bit of my foray into podcasting. I hope you have enjoyed it, and thank you for listening!
Remember to come out this September to support your local Stand Up for Nuclear event. I'll be helping to organize one in Ottawa on Parliament Hill on Saturday September 25th from 2-4pm. Come on out and show your support for Canada's nuclear heroes!
Also please support the Tax the Gas and Save Pickering petition. Let's make sure Ontario doesn't regress in 2024. Check it out at taxthegas.org.
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#therationalview #podcast #NetZeroNeedsNuclear #nuclearenergy #atomicenergy #greenenergy #cleanenergy #energytransition
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Aug 7, 2021
Tax the Gas and Save Pickering with Dr. Chris Keefer
One of our most important issues in society today is the transition from fossil fuels to zero carbon emission sources. One of the keys of this transformation is to significantly increase the fraction of nuclear energy in our energy portfolio.
Dr. Chris Keefer is an emergency physician, medical simulation educator, nuclear energy advocate and a popular podcaster. He is the President of Canadians for Nuclear Energy and the Director of Doctors for Nuclear Energy and the host of the Decouple Podcast. He also has another honour –the first repeat guest on The Rational View!
Since our first interview I’ve gotten to know Chris a lot better through Canadians for Nuclear Energy and he constantly amazes me with his energy and focus on nuclear advocacy. In this episode we discuss a new advocacy campaign called 'Tax the Gas'. Go to https://taxthegas.org to join this movement and ask the government to reverse the carbon tax exemptions for fossil fuel natural gas, and also to refurbish the Pick…
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Jul 31, 2021
Gender equity in STEM fields with Dr. Merryn McKinnon
This podcast continues my focus on communication of science and gender issues in STEM. In the previous podcast on this topic I surveyed women going into the field of science, and a professional female engineer to get their opinions. In this episode I interview a researcher who is studying these issues.
Dr Merryn McKinnon's original degree was in marine science where, after the novelty of moving intertidal snails with a paint scraper wore off, she discovered that talking about her research to other people brought her far closer to her conservation goals than her actual project ever could.
This led her to the field of science communication where she has stayed ever since, working in a range of roles and countries. Merryn enjoys the diverse issues science communication allows her to explore, applying her innovative thinking and problem solving skills.
Merryn has worked and conducted qualitative and quantitative research nationally and internationally, in both non-academic and academic…
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Jul 24, 2021
Dr. Charles Hall on sustainable energy sources
Energy Return on Investment (EROI) is an important figure of merit for energy sources that tells us whether we get out more energy than we put in, and if so, how much effort it takes to run a vibrant society. I ask 'the father of EROI', Professor Charlie Hall, whether renewable energy is actually a sustainable resource able to power society's transition from fossil energy. In this interview, Prof. Hall describes how renewable energy sources are only sustainable when they form a small fraction of our electrical grid.
World-renowned Professor Emeritus Charles Hall has been a research scientist since 1970, and started teaching in 1972. His work has focused mainly on energy sources. As cheap high return energy sources start to decline his analysis of the impacts of energy return on investment on society have gained prominence. He is interested in understanding the effects of peak oil and declining EROI on economic growth and possibilities, and how that might play out in the developing wor…
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Jul 17, 2021
The physics of UFOs with Robert Powell
The Pentagon has recently declassified footage of UFO observations, and provided a summary report including an expert assessment of the data. Is the truth out there? Are we being visited by little green men from another planet? I provided a review in an earlier podcast UFOs & Aliens. It’s now time for the Rational View to have another look.
Robert Powell has a BS in Chemistry. He has 28 years experience in engineering management in the semiconductor industry. He is a founding Board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU). He was the Director of Research at the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) from 2007-2017 and created MUFON's Science Review Board in 2012. Robert is a co-author of a book published in July 2012: UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry and is an author of a book designed for children published in Nov. 2020 entitled, The Truth About UFOs: A Scientific Perspective.
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Jul 10, 2021
Environmental Advocacy with Dr. Ben Heard
In this episode I chat with Dr. Ben Heard about environmental advocacy and communicating science-based viewpoints in a polarised debate. Dr. Heard provides his assessment on the rationality of the anti-nuclear lobby.
Dr. Ben Heard is recognised as a leading voice for the use of nuclear technologies to address our most pressing global challenges.
It certainly didn’t start that way.
Back in the day he was a member of environmental NGOs and shared their basic objection to nuclear technologies. After completing a Masters in Sustainability he started working in major projects in climate change. But there was just no solution on offer to match the scale of the problems at hand. So instead of continuing his objection to nuclear technology he shut his damn mouth about it for a couple of years and did some learning. That was the start of pathway of writing, presenting, advocating and ever more learning about how we can reinvent the future using all our knowledge and ingenuity.
Ben was awa…
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Jul 3, 2021
Gender Issues in STEM with Clare Scott and Sarah Kerns
Gender bias in STEM fields is an important issue in society. Women are statistically underrepresented in STEM fields and although gains have been made, the problem remains. This is a timely issue to discuss now: due to the pandemic, many more women than men have left the workforce to care for children. We need to be aware that many of the gains that have been made have recently eroded.
Many will claim that women are not as interested in STEM fields, perhaps they are biologically different than men. I think this attitude is a cop-out and is dangerous to society. I believe that one reason that anti-science sentiment has had an easy time taking hold in society is that many women expect to encounter discrimination and barriers in these fields. Anyone with this expectation is likely to seek answers elsewhere. By maintaining these barriers, even unconsciously, men in STEM fields alienate potential allies. We need to work actively to identify and mitigate cultural barriers and attitudes that…
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Jun 26, 2021
A Roadmap to Nowhere with Mike Conley and Tim Maloney
The scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change is clear. The IPCC has given humanity an aggressive timeline to mitigate the worst damage. The question about what to do in response to the crisis is a contentious issue. To achieve net zero CO2 emissions requires that we aggressively pursue our most potent sources of clean energy. The IPCC pathways to net zero recognize the need for a significant nuclear contribution, however a plucky group of renewable energy NGOs led by Stanford professor Mark Jacobson have put forth a daring roadmap to not only eliminate fossil fuels, but to do it with one hand tied behind our backs. They propose a complex and daring venture to eliminate both fossil fuels and nuclear power.
My guests are co-authors of “Roadmap to Nowhere” a detailed dissection of infamous Stanford professor Mark Jacobson’s “50-state roadmap to 2050” wherein he argues that fossil fuels can be completely replaced by 'renewable' energy sources.
Mike Conley is a write…
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Jun 19, 2021
Recycling Nuclear Waste with Tom Dolan and Steve Curtis
Research into recycling of nuclear fuel was shut down by Jimmy Carter’s administration in the anti-nuclear movement of the ‘70’s. The work has largely remained sidelined due to the fact that Uranium is abundant and cheap and the spent fuel is easy to store safely on-site. Opponents of nuclear power, however, have latched on to the long lifetime of hazardous radioactive waste as a reason to oppose new nuclear developments. In light of this situation, and the amount of Uranium we will need in coming years to displace fossil fuels, it makes sense to revisit recycling.
Mr. Thomas Dolan has an aviation degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is a FAA Commercially instrument rated pilot. Mr. Dolan joined Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) in 1986 and accumulated over 25 years experience in law enforcement. Mr. Dolan formed and was the CEO of Homeland Security Aviation & Maritime Services, Inc. (HSA) in 2002 wtih a group of technical experts, addressing idenfitication…
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Jun 12, 2021
Kirsty Gogan and Eric Ingersoll on Nuclear Hydrogen
In this episode I welcome the co-founders of TerraPraxis, Kirsty Gogan and Eric Ingersoll. TerraPraxis is a non-profit organisation focused on action for climate and prosperity. They have come up with a new idea that could revolutionize the battle against fossil fuels and carbon emissions. Using the heat and electricity from advanced nuclear reactors allows one to create hydrogen more efficiently than by non-thermal electrolysis. This carbon-free hydrogen can be used to create synthetic fuels and could contribute to reversing the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Kirsty Gogan has more than 15 years’ experience as a senior advisor to Government on climate and energy policy. Kirsty is managing partner of LucidCatalyst, an international consultancy focused on multiplying and accelerating zero carbon technology options available for large-scale, affordable, market-based decarbonization of the global economy. Kirsty chairs the UK Government’s Nuclear Innovation Research…
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Jun 5, 2021
A rational shade of green with Dr. Amita Kuttner
I’ve often found myself wanting to vote Green, knowing the environmental crisis we are facing, however, I've never been able to get past their anti-nuclear policies. In this episode I interview an influential green party member who is willing to consider the evidence for nuclear power. In fact, they were a candidate for the Canadian Green Party leadership.
Dr. Amita Kuttner is co-founder of the Moonlight Institute, a non-profit organization that seeks to create frameworks for an equitable and just future, taking into account the realities of the climate emergency, as well as technology, and decolonization. Amita holds a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz; their research focused on black holes, wormholes, quantum effects, and the early universe. Amita ran for Canadian Parliament in 2019 and served as Critic for Science and Innovation for the Green Party of Canada from September 2018 to February 2020, bringing forward policy on artificial i…
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