On Freethought Radio, we hear about the FFRF geting a mention on ESPN basketball coverage, a North Carolina nativity scene victory, and the first winter solstice sign in Puerto Rico. Then Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker celebrate the New Year with a light-hearted performance of Phil Appleman’s “Noah,” and Jim Malcom’s Scottish rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.” Their guest is Tom Cara, director of FFRF’s Metropolitan Chicago chapter, talking about 11 Out of the Closet billboards and other freethought seasonal displays. After Freethought Radio, we hear about “ionithermie” on the Skeptoid podcast: a new alternative weight-loss treatment becoming popular in spas and on cruise ships. Does it work and is it safe? Then, two talks from this past summer’s The Amazing Meeting, or TAM, in Las Vegas. First, Dr. Paul Offit, Professor of Vaccinology and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania describes a measles outbreak in Philadelphia in 1990-91, made worse because of parents who attended a church that taught it was wrong to vaccinate. Could it happen again and should we be worried? Yes, says Offit in a talk entitled “Lessons from the Past.” Finally, we get a window into the world of a clinical neurologist in talk entitled “How to be a Skeptical Neurologist” by Steve Novella, M.D. Both patients and doctors complicate the process of diagnosing and treating illness due to several common cognitive errors. Novella is a clinical neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine, the executive editor of the Science-Based Medicine blog, president and co-founder of the New England Skeptical Society, author of the Neurologica blog, and host and producer of the weekly science podcast, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe.
Dr. Paul Offit, the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Skeptical Sunday 