In my reply to the “Atheism Abandoned” piece in the IDS, I mentioned that new media like podcasts and blogs are the place to go for the real discussions on science and atheism. So in case anyone finds themselves directed here, I’ve prepared a few links to some of my favorites.
These resources are also a great way to keep in touch with other atheists and like-minded people while visiting family over break.
If you have suggestions of your own, please do make use of the comments!
Podcasts
When I bought my mp3 player, I figured I would use it primarily for music, but it turns out that nine times out of ten it’s full of science and audio-magazine style podcasts from NPR affiliates, the BBC, and independent podcast producers. Below are a few of my favorites that you might relate to.
The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe: From the New England Skeptical Society, this popular podcast presents an often humorous look at pseudoscience and the paranormal in addition to legitimate science news. If that sounds at all interesting to you, I recommend you try it even if you’ve never listened to a single podcast in your life. The group also produces the shorter, family-friendly Skeptic’s Guide 5×5.
Point of Inquiry: A product of Center for Inquiry, with which SAIU is affiliated. Hosted by D. J. Grothe, the program features interviews with scientists, philosophers, and others on current issues where science, religion, and politics overlap. D. J. brings in guests of all different positions and, I think, does a great job interviewing even people he disagrees with. Search the archives for one of your favorite skeptics/atheists to get started.
Here are three weekly science podcasts that try to make things fun and entertaining as well as educational. This Week in Science, out of UC Davis, hosted by Kirsten Sanford and Justin Jackson. The Naked Scientists, brought to you by the BBC and Cambridge. Talk of the Nation: Science Friday, Ira Flatow’s classic radio show in podcast form. I highly recommend all three for anyone who can’t get enough science.
Two more skeptic pocasts: Skepticality, the official podcast of Skeptic Magazine hosted by Derek Colanduno and Swoopy. The “Where do we go from here?”, “What’s the Harm?”, and “This One Time at Skepticamp” episodes are great places to start. Skeptoid is a skeptical podcast designed to be used in the classroom for critical thinking.
On the religion front there’s Apologia, where theists of various stripes and atheists come together to discuss issues without all the shouting or name-calling. The themes and panels vary from show to show, keeping it fresh each time. Choose a topic that interests you and take a listen. Reasonable Doubts is a slightly more one-sided and humorous podcast hosted by Jeremy Beahan, Luke Galen, and David Fletcher. And don’t forget The Infidel Guy Show, a podcast from before there were pods, when Real Audio represented the height of human achievement, and mislabeled Weird Al mp3s took two hours each to download.
Or just search iTunes for your favorite keywords. You might be surprised.
Blogs
You’ll probably want a good RSS reader to keep up with these. If you use Firefox, I recommend the latest version of Sage. (Mileage may vary.) If you use IE, I have no idea. If you use anything else, you’re probably thinking about wonderful Iceweasel, Lynx or Opera are right now and not actually reading this anyway.
If there’s one thing every member of SAIU should regularly read it’s xkcd. If there are two things, Pharyngula is the other one. You might recognize the author, PZ Myers, as one of the evil atheist masterminds interviewed in Expelled. PZ also writes for The Panda’s Thumb, a group blog on evolutionary biology that frequently debunks creationism.
PZ’s blog is hosted by ScienceBlogs, which is owned by Seed Magazine. Both are great sources for up-to-date science and technology discussions. ScienceBlogs has a number of subject-area feeds for you to subscribe to. Two of my favorite individual blogs are Adventures in Ethics and Science and Good Math, Bad Math.
Daylight Atheism, at its best, can be absolutely inspiring and a great example of positive atheism. Greta Christina’s Blog, on the other hand, is more about sex-positive atheism but is somehow nearly as popular.
I’d also point atheists toward The Secular Outpost, Rationally Speaking, or Atheist Ethicist.
People who were Christian in a past life might enjoy Debunking Christianity, a blog of counter-apologetics featuring our former guest John W Loftus. Or your thing might be ExChristian.Net, a blog of personal experiences in deconversion.
Language Log follows linguistic issues like the grammar police, language in politics, and startling developments in English language usage. The occasional posts on the horrors of pop psychology are particularly great.
Skepchick: A group blog about science, skepticism, feminism, and drinking games. The blog also has a brand spankin’ new spin-off podcast. If you want more feminism (with an occasional rant on religion) try: Pandagon, Feministing, Feministe, or Broadsheet.
Skeptic’s Guide host Steven Novella also writes the blog Neurologica about skepticism and science with a particular interest in medicine and the brain sciences. Bad Astronomy is a popular skepticism and astronomy blog by Phil Plait, author of Death from the Skies and current president of the James Randi Educational Foundation.
FemaleScienceProfessor is a great look at academic life from the point of view of, well, a female science professor. Expect gruesome details on dissertation nightmares, working with sexist faculty, and physics department fashion.
And that’s enough from me. If you feel like emptying your feed folder onto my screen in return, feel free to do so below!
