Bay Area Skeptics

Global Skeptics in the Pub is LIVE RIGHT NOW (running 24 hours all Friday, Pacific Time). Come for a few minutes or for hours!
More information: www.skepticalcon.com/global-sitp-...

A regular performer at our conference, the amazing @joeyfabianonbass.bsky.social plays selections from The Skeptic's Jukebox through the lunch hour this Saturday at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, Aug. 23 in Oakland.
Tickets and more information: skepticalcon.com

Join "Big Picture Science" hosts Seth Shostak & Molly Bentley for a workshop on critical analysis of extraordinary science claims. The 2025 SkeptiCal Conference is Saturday, Aug. 23, in Oakland. Please join us for a full day that will expand your mind!
Tickets and more information: skepticalcon.com

One week from today is our 2nd GLOBAL #Skeptics in the Pub. This is a 24-hour free event on Zoom with attendees from more than 50 groups around the world. Join for 10 minutes or all 24 hours. It runs all day Friday Aug. 22 Pacific Time.

More info at: www.skepticalcon.com/global-sitp-...
#SitP

The always entertaining and enlightening Ross Blocher @rossblocher.bsky.social (the "Ross" in the popular "Oh No, Ross and Carrie" podcast) discusses his presentation of skepticism to a spiritual crowd, a lesson in discussing rationalism to the irrational.
Tickets & info at: skepticalcon.com

"Enhance!", commands Blade Runner's Deckard as the computer zooms into a photograph revealing unseen clarity. Data Skeptic Kyle Polich references sci-fi and the Roswell incident at the 2025 #SkeptiCal Conference, live in Oakland on Aug. 23.
Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com

For 25 years, the Center for Inquiry Investigations Group has offered $500k to anyone proving paranormal powers under controlled conditions. Get the tools to do it yourself at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, live in Oakland on Aug. 23.

Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com

Environmental scientist Dana Nuccitelli examines the actions that we can take given the current state of climate change in "Doom, Gloom, & Energy Boom", one talk in a day full of critical thinking live in Oakland on Saturday Aug. 23.

Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com

The world is a vast sea of information. How can we navigate information overload, and how do those decisions shape knowledge and beliefs?

Expand your mind with Dr. Celeste Kidd and the rest of our amazing speakers at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference. Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com.

Our own Dr. Eugenie Scott takes the stage at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference to discuss "Scopes at 100".

See Dr. Scott and many other amazing speakers in a live, one-day conference on Aug. 23. Tickets and more information are available at skepticalcon.com

SkeptiCal Conference SkeptiCal is the scientific skepticism conference brought to you by Northern California Skeptics.

Reminder: Ticket prices increase tomorrow for the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, LIVE in Oakland on August 23.

Tickets and more information at: skepticalcon.com

Ticket prices increase on Friday for the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, LIVE in Oakland on August 23.

Tickets and more information at: skepticalcon.com

Confessions of a Former Conspiracy Theorist The list of individuals who have managed to escape the rabbit hole of conspiracism is short, but there is an even shorter list of individuals who have then gone on to become popular skeptical podcasters. Former conspiracy enthusiast Coleman Watts discusses why people fall for cults and cons, and how he managed to climb out of the rabbit hole. What’s the best way to talk to a conspiracy theorist to dissuade – and persuade – them from their views? Is misinformation taking over, and if so, why? Coleman Watts will talk about all of this and more in an engaging talk about his experiences debunking the views he used to embrace. About the Speaker: Coleman Watts is the host of Think This Through on YouTube. He debunks cons, cults, and conspiracies with a humorous flair. 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5008091638136832

TONIGHT (Thursday July 10) is our monthly SkepTalk. Coleman Watts discusses his "Confessions of a Former Conspiracy Theorist" at 6:30PM Pacific.

This is a free talk with live Q&A on YouTube.
bit.ly/BASwatt

The biology class you WISHED You Could Have Taken “The biology class you wished you could have taken”: Kitzmiller v. Dover, 20 years later 2025 is 100 years after the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, and 20 years after the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover court case, in which I participated while working at the National Center for Science Education. The Kitzmiller case included extensive expert testimony on the science of evolution, and the historical development of “intelligent design” and related antievolution efforts. While the case made in 2005 holds up very well, there have been interesting developments in both areas that I will review. These include work on the evolutionary origins of the bacterial flagellum done in a phylogenetic context, and work applying phylogenetic methods to trace the copying history of antievolutionist legislation. I will also reflect on lessons we learned during the case and how they remain relevant today. About the Speaker: Nick Matzke is a Senior Lecturer and Rutherford Discovery Fellow at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand. From 2004-2007 he was a Public Information Project Director at the National Center for Science Education, and was heavily involved in the 2004-2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover trial in Pennsylvania about the constitutionality of teaching “intelligent design” creationism in public school biology classes. See less 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5008091638136832

Reminder that TONIGHT (Thursday, June 12) is our monthly SkepTalk.

Tonight, Nick Matzke discusses "The biology class you wished you could have taken: Kitzmiller v. Dover, 20 years later".
This is free talk on YouTube brought to you by Bay Area Skeptics.

bit.ly/BASmatz

Tuesday night May 13, we're back with LIVE, In-Person Skeptics in the Pub.
Please join us!

Fiddlers Green, 333 El Camino Real, Millbrae
7-9PM

How Intelligent Design Nearly Won Intelligent Design Theory (ID) is scorned by nearly all professional life scientists. Nevertheless, local and state boards of education throughout the United States have tried to mandate instruction in this “alternative” theory of evolution. Professor Nelson will discuss how ID succeeded politically even as it continues to fail scientifically. The secret to ID’s success draws from its advocates’ “recruitment” of consensus values like freedom and fairness, overshadowing the theory’s scientific shortcomings. Professor Nelson will focus on the communication strategies of ID advocates and opponents and will draw parallels between the ID battle and current controversies over climate change and vaccine resistance. About the Speaker Thomas E. Nelson is Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He received his PhD in social psychology from the University of Michigan in 1992. He is the head of the political psychology PhD program at Ohio State that examines how theories and research methods from psychology help us understand politics, and how the study of politics broadens psychological theory. He is the author of Political Persuasion: The Use of Values in Communication (Oxford University Press, 2024) that explores how political advocates leverage the power of social values to increase support for their causes. The book includes an extensive case study of the ID movement and its opponents, and Prof. Nelson will draw from this material for his presentation.

Reminder that TONIGHT (May 8) at 7:30 PM Pacific is our monthly SkepTalk. Thomas Nelson discusses "How Intelligent Design Nearly Won".

This year marks 20 years since the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial and 100 years since the Scopes trial and challenges to teaching evolution continue!

bit.ly/BASnels

Apes, Men, and Morons: Eugenics, Evolution, and the Scopes Centennial The “Monkey Trial” Centennial provides an opportunity to examine the widespread misunderstanding about how ideas of evolution and eugenics were implicated in the famous Scopes controversy. George William Hunter’s textbook Civic Biology was the focus of the case. It endorsed evolution, a theory “that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible” ---content prohibited by a 1925 Tennessee law. The Hunter text also contained a brief discussion of eugenics. In recent years an elaborate mythology has arisen suggesting that the case, and William Jennings Bryan’s advocacy at trial, represented a challenge to eugenics. That claim is not accurate. The teaching of eugenics in its many forms was supported not only by educators, but also by members of the clergy and politicians all across the United States. That support was evident before the Scopes case and continued for decades afterwards, persisting even in full awareness of the Nazi government program that sterilized almost ½ million Germans. This talk will explain that while William Jennings Bryan rejected the monkey- to-man account of evolution and the cruelties he associated with Darwinian “natural selection,” he made no blanket condemnation of eugenics. To the contrary, Bryan and his wife readily allied themselves with several famous eugenicists and supported eugenic ideology when it coincided with the social policies they favored. About the Speaker Paul A. Lombardo is an American legal historian known for his work on the legacy of eugenics and sterilization in the United States. Lombardo’s foundational research corrected the historical record of the 1927 U.S. Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell. He found Carrie Buck’s school grades[1] and the grades of her child Vivian.[2] He was the last person to interview her, and he discovered the pictures of all three generations of the Buck family.[3] In 2002, he sponsored and paid for a memorial plaque that was installed in Buck’s hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Reminder that TONIGHT is our monthly Skeptalk, with Paul Lombardo discussing "Apes, Men, and Morons: Eugenics, Evolution, and the Scopes Centennial". 6:30PM Pacific

This is a free talk with live Q&A on YouTube brought to you by Bay Area Skeptics.
bit.ly/BASlomb

Going on right now in Lodi:
The "Be Reasonable" Skepticamp

Be Reason-Able!

Date: Apr 5 • 10:30 am

Location: 201 West Locust Street, Lodi, CA 95240

www.eventbrite.com/e/be-reason-...

Deliberation Corrects: The Case of Conspiracy Theories Motivated reasoning – confirmation bias, disconfirmation bias, and related concepts – can get in the way of making well-reasoned decisions. And people certai...

Don't miss our free monthly SkepTalk, Thursday March 13 at 6pm Pacific. Dr. Gordon Pennycook will be discussing methods altering motivated reasoning. His work using AI to sway conspiracy theorists is novel, surprising, and the cutting edge of influence.

Reminder that in ONE WEEK we'll be meeting LIVE in Mountain View for our very first SkeptiCamp. This is an informal free meeting with speakers on diverse topics throughout the day.

PLEASE JOIN US (and bring a friend).

More information below: https://buff.ly/3CHICwg

The Skeptical State of Artificial Intelligence An interview with Kyle Polich, an expert in modern data science, covering the state of artificial intelligence through the skeptical lens: What’s real, what’...

We're rolling out content from the 2024 SkeptiCal Conference.

This week: Kyle Polich on "The Skeptical State of Artificial Intelligence". We discuss the state of #AI through the skeptical lens: What’s real, what’s hype, and where it’s going.

2024 Skepardy! Skepardy! is our skeptically-themed version of the popular game show “Jeopardy!”.Host: Bill PattersonThe previous Skepardy! was so spectacular, we had to ha...

We're rolling out content from the 2024 SkeptiCal Conference, starting with Skepardy!, the skeptically-themed Jeopardy! game show with contestants Noah Lugeons, Michael Marshal, and Steven Novella.
https://bit.ly/024SCCskep

Test your skeptical knowledge... we think you'll enjoy this.

Call for Presenters!
Bay Area Skeptics are holding our first SkeptiCamp in Mountain View on Feb 9. Why don’t you give a talk? Write baskeptics@gmail.com and see https://buff.ly/3DMhkFs for more info.

Have you wanted to share some ideas about science or scientific #skepticism?

Give a talk at BAS SkeptiCamp Feb. 9/2025 in Mountain View!

Write baskeptics@gmail.com and see https://buff.ly/3DMhkFs for more info.

Lone Survivors: Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Us In the past decade, new studies of ancient DNA from fossils have shown that, until as recently as 40,000 years ago, our ancestors shared the planet with two ...

TONIGHT Tuesday Jan. 9, 2025 at 6:30pm Pacific is our monthly SkepTalk.

Ann Gibbons presents "Lone Survivor", discussing new research that has changed the perception of our ancestors.

This is a free talk on YouTube. Please join us! https://bit.ly/BASgibb
#Skeptic #science #evolution

We're doing a LIVE SkeptiCamp in Mountain View on Feb. 9 from 9am-6pm. A SkeptiCamp is a free, informal conference in which anyone, usually amateur skeptics, present on a subject in science and/or scientific skepticism. More details coming soon! https://buff.ly/4092CzJ

The intersection of science and folklore is a fantastic playground for #skepticism.

This very seasonal podcast examines the northern lights from all those angles... and more.
https://buff.ly/4iTgWFa

Hello reasonable people. We hope you're all staying skeptical...