Show 559: Anthony Magnabosco on ‘Street Epistemology’

Street Epistemology is a dialectical approach intent on helping people reflect on the reliability of the methods used to arrive at deeply-held beliefs. We will be speaking with one of the founders of the movement, Anthony Magnabosco.

Anthony has been learning, studying, conducting, and promoting Street Epistemology for nearly five years, and is considered one of the leading practitioners of the method. He has preformed nearly one thousand interactions on camera and has uploaded hundreds of examples to his YouTube Channel where more then 20,000 subscribers are able to learn by observation.

Anthony has appeared on numerous podcasts, shows and blogs including The Atheist Experience, The Thinking Atheist podcast, Cognitive Dissonance, The Friendly Atheist podcast and blog and the David Pakman Show to discuss and share Street Epistemology with others.

Audio can be found here!

Show 488: Naturalistic XMas Special!

Naturalistic XMas Special!

Audio here!

This Xmas, Arnell Dowret will host our annual program taking a humanistic, naturalistic view on the Christian holiday! The two-hour special will feature all the usual goodies including the Xmas meditation, our historic interview with Santa, and more…

This Xmas, we also had the pleasure of speaking with two members of the Freethought community! Dr. Dian Killian is a Certified Trainer with the international Center for Nonviolent Communication. We often hear that this is the season of goodwill towards all men/women — a noble humanistic ideal which should extend the entire year — and that in times of trouble, this sentiment takes on even more profound meaning. In the “Immediate and Personal” segment of this special program, we will speak with Dian about her work and how it can be useful when dealing with the recent and intense conflicts between the Police and the public.

Later on, in the “Vast and Futuristic” segment, we will speak with astronomer Carolyn Porco who is the leader of the imaging science team on the Cassini mission presently in orbit around Saturn, a veteran imaging scientist of the Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s, and one of the  imaging scientists on the New Horizons mission on its way to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Here we will take a look at the cosmic view of a holiday — built on the scientific and intuitive awareness of the winter solstice — where even its religious endeavors are an attempt – albeit a weak one – to understand the universe.

So join us for this 2-Hour Xmas Special, and then come  back on Saturday for a special repeated program on the origins and continued existence of our policed society in America, with Kristian Williams!

Show 424: Robert Jensen on Arguing for Our Lives

Robert Jensen on Arguing for Our Lives

Audio here!

Why is being neutral – as regards politics and religion – not acceptable in a democracy? How can we engage in meaningful public or personal dialogue about politics and religion in a deeply polarized society? How do we engage people who can’t (or won’t) discern facts and evidence from opinions and beliefs? And what can we do toward creating a more educated, more intellectual, and more empathic society?

We will address these vital questions and more as we discuss with Robert Jensen his new book: Arguing for Our Lives: A User’s Guide to Constructive Dialog.

Show 245: Humanism and the Psychology of Communication

Audio here!

On two recent programs, ETFF co-host Arnell Dowret examined how we communicate with each other and what humanistic naturalism can offer by way of our better understanding each other in public discourse. Focusing on nebulous terms bandied about in popular American culture – by religionists and secularists alike – Arnell suggested we loose polarizing and pain-inducing terms like sin, shame, guilt, vice and bad and instead offer the more precise language of social science.Human beings behave according to both their biology and environment, and in our judgmental, often punitive, uber-competitive and commoditized society, we have developed a language – promoted by religionists and secularists alike – which has led to a culture of punishment and reward, praise and blame, guilt, shame, anger and fear.

Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, a religious humanist, would suggest these terms are part of a ‘violence-based communication.’ In response he founded The Center for Nonviolent Communication. Carrying on his work in the New York City area is Dr. Dian Killian, co-author of Connecting across Differences: A Guide to Compassionate, Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Dr. Killian was on ETFF to discuss her work for Brooklyn NVC. We offered several special gifts for those who become members or renew their membership that you are still able to obtain by clicking here or here!

As co-host Michael O’Neil likes to say, we put the human back in humanism as we investigate a way of thinking and communicating in both our personal relationships and in the political arena… Imagine all the People, Living Life in Peace…