My latest article for Skeptical Inquirer, “The COVID-19 Free Market Experiment,” was inspired by an appearance I made on a Chicago-area conservative talk radio program. The hosts were blaming the economic downturn in their area on the coronavirus restrictions imposed by the Chicago mayor and Illinois governor (both Democrats). The evidence does not support that view.

Over the last few weeks I gave a psychology colloquium presentation (over Zoom) at the University of Connecticut entitled “The Latest in Autism Claptrap and Why Science is Losing” and an online class for the Institute for Challenging Disorganization called “How to Control Spending: Practical & Creative Ideas.” Both were fun experiences, but unfortunately neither is available online at the moment.

Finally, we received some very sad news last week. Emory University psychology professor Scott Lilienfeld succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 59. Scott was a towering figure in the effort to make psychology a rigorous science and a leader in the skepticism movement. I had the privilege of spending some time with him at a CSICon conference a few years ago, and more recently he was one of several co-authors on a short academic article critical of facilitated communication. He was incredibly productive, authoring over 350 articles and thirteen books, and he won many awards. Perhaps most importantly, Scott was a generous and good person. Many remembrances have been posted in recent days, but this press release on the Emory University website is particularly evocative. I wrote an obituary for Scott that will appear in the January/February print edition of Skeptical Inquirer. He will be sorely missed.

That’s all for now.

SV