On Tuesday I met up with Michael Shermer down at the Google campus in Mountain View. We sat down and talked for about half an hour about his new book “The Mind of the Market” and various subjects related to it. Skepticism - both the generic and the brand name varieties - keeps getting more sophistocated, and we at the Polyschizmatic Reprobates Hour are attempting to keep you abreast of the developments in our own peculiar, schizmatic, and surrealistic way.

The show is coming soon. This one’s gonna be a keeper.

-Dan the Demented

Well, we’ve been quiet here for the last little while.  We ran to the end of shows we had in the can just as things were getting crazy with the holiday season and various other end-of-the-year activities.  But we’ll be back soon, with episodes featuring Michael Shermer, Richard Carrier, and yes, even the long-awaited two-parter featuring John McCarthy.  Hope you all watch your feeds starting Feb 1.  There’ll be some great stuff coming your way!

-Dan the Demented

 

 S2 E7: The Value of Horror with Robert Price [87:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5512)

Dr. Robert M. Price returns to discuss his other, more secret career as an H.P. Lovecraft scholar and his lifelong love affair with horror and fantasy fiction. We talk about the spiritual and aesthetic value of the macabre and the fantastic, and the movies, books, and TV shows that tickle the cockles of our geeky hearts.

Hera Flea is back with a special terror edition of the Reprobates news, not to be missed. Special music for the Reprobates News provided by Jonathan Coulton. His songs “Re: Your Brains” and “Furry Old Lobster” help her tell the story of zombie activists and self-posessed calamari. Not to be missed!

 

 S2 E6: The Return of Sigler [34:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7325)

Scott Sigler returns to answer listener questions, talk about his new book Nocturnal, and talk about podcast marketing.  A must listen for anyone interested in writing, podcasting, and new media.   Check out Scott’s new novel here.

We’re recording an interview with Scott Sigler tomorrow about his new book Nocturnal. Any of you who have questions for Scott, post them here and I’ll work them into the interview.

Should be a fun show!

 

 Fixed or real: Zach Moore [66:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3308)

Okay, I admit it. I suck. I didn’t QC the reencode, and missed the fact that LAME won’t directly read a FLAC. So, here it is for real, properly QC’d and everything. I’ve replaced all the links in the feed so you’ll get this no matter what. Thanks for bearing with me, guys.

 

 S2 E5: Zach Moore on Cancer: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3308)

On this week’s Reprobates Hour, Zach Moore of Evolution 101 and Apologia comes into the studio to discuss Cancer - What it is, how it works, what causes it, how research into cures work, and what treatments are currently available and are coming down the pipe.

This week’s Reprobates also features HeraFlea reading the Reprobates News, and promos for or mentions of the following podcasts:

Evolution 101

Apologia

The Reason Driven Podcast

Scott Sigler’s “Nocturnal”

The Reprobates are attempting to raise a little money to cover server expenses. You can help by filling out this survey to help us catch a couple low-key advertisers.

 

 The History of the End of the World [68:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (90)

This week, his geekiness Dr. Robert M. Price, star of stage, screen, television, publishing companies, and webcasts joins us to discuss his new book “The Paperback Apocalypse” and to examine the history and psychology of apocalyptic thinking. A great show, ranging all over the place. Deviant Deb and HeraFlea are on board as usual. Enjoy!

Richard Carrier, who will be coming back later this year/early next year for one or two episodes, has posted a glowing review of the Reprobates Hour in his longer essay recapping his various media appearances. Excerpted here:

The best net radio show I ever recorded, definitely my personal favorite, was a lengthy in-studio interview for the Polyschizmatic Reprobates Hour, which was recorded quite a while ago, though it aired much later. You can listen to this online here (it’s free): Episode 4 (Season 1). This is a great example of why I like in-studio recordings and absolutely loathe phone-in shows. Not only is the quality and editing far superior, and not only was it more comfortable to record, but with face-to-face interaction the show is more lively and entertaining. Likewise, because I was right there with him it was much easier to understand and react to my interviewer (rather than misunderstanding each other, getting confused or unclear, talking past each other or over each other, or exchanging a monotonous series of canned questions and lengthy monologues). The difference shows here.

I also love this episode because Dan the Demented is an awesome interviewer. His questions and comments, and his particular interests, took the show in very interesting directions that allowed me to actually expand on my philosophy in ways that go well beyond everything I’ve published. You will understand my worldview, and many elements of my take on philosophy, far better from listening to this show. The ostensive topic was how my naturalism differs as a worldview from that of other naturalist philosophers, and in answering that I go through all five Aristotelian divisions of philosophy, but I don’t just summarize my book (thanks mostly to Dan). I got to talk a lot more about aesthetic philosophy, for example, something too few seem interested in (a curious fact that also comes up in the interview). I am usually asked to talk about the same boring old topics, like the resurrection or historicity of Jesus, or summarizing Sense and Goodness without God over and over again. This show was a lot more fun.

Dan’s philosophy is to get atheist authors to talk about things they aren’t usually asked to discuss, but which they know quite a lot about, which makes his show more interesting than most. I’m certain my fans will love my interview with him. Even my enemies might enjoy it. It’s only an hour, and we recorded another hour’s worth, but Dan hasn’t figured out how to edit that other material yet. We might record a bit more to fill it out and generate another show (as promised at the end of episode 4). We’re also going to do a show next year on, ironically, Rodney Stark’s awful treatment of ancient science. I’ll blog about these when they air.

Be sure to check out soon-to-be Dr. Carrier’s articles on infidels.org and his blog at richardcarrier.blogspot.com

Thanks for the blurb, Richard!