May 13th was a busy Friday the 13th for me. I made television appearances on NBCNewsNow show Morning News Now and on the Newsy channel. There is no tape of the Newsy appearance, but you can watch the NBCNewsNow clip in the tweet below.

My appearance on KNX News Radio in Los Angeles can be heard here. The conversation was lots of fun and somewhat raucous.

This week I appeared on the Michael Shermer Show to discuss my new book The Uses of Delusion: Why It’s Not Always Rational to Be Rational. I have known Michael for a while, and our discussion was very wide-ranging and fun. You can watch the YouTube version of it here.

Undoubtedly as a result of my appearance on Michael Shermer’s show, my book rose to #1 on the Amazon list of New Releases in Psychology on May 17, which was quite a thrill. It has bounced around a bit since then, but it was at #4 on May 18 and #2 on May 19. I don’t really know what all this means, but I like the interpretation offered in a tweet by my colleague Chris French below:

Thank you, Chris! I will follow your suggestion.

That’s it for now!

SV

A quick message to let you know about two events later this week.

On Thursday, May 12 at 7:00 pm ET, I will return to Skeptical inquirer Presents to talk about my new book, The Uses of Delusion: Why It’s Not Always Rational to Be Rational. You can register for this zoom event here. As a teaser, I will let you know that the talk will include mention of both Patty Hearst and the recent TV show Severance.

This Friday, May 13th, the Freethought Society is sponsoring their first “Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center’s International Educational Seminar via Zoom,” and I will be the keynote speaker. The festivities begin at 6:45 PM ET with standup comedian Ian Harris. There are a number of other speakers, and my keynote will be at 8:00 PM ET. The direct link to the zoom event can be found here. No registration is required. Should be fun.

That’s it for now.

SV

This week my newest book The Uses of Delusion: Why It’s Not Always Rational to Be Rational was officially released in hardcover, audio, and kindle. It’s very exciting to have it finally out in the world. The book was a great pleasure to write, and I hope that readers will enjoy it, too.

Psychologist Matthew Brodhead from Michigan State University won the First Sighting in the Wild award by spotting the book at Hooked in Lansing, Michigan, which is described as a bookstore, coffee shop, and wine bar. It sounds like a place that specializes in all my favorite things. Thanks to Matt for the photo and to Hooked for carrying my book. I look forward to visiting when I am next in Lansing.

To learn a little about the new book, you can listen to my recent appearance on the Association for Psychological Science’s “Under the Cortex” podcast with Charles Blue. This was my second time on Under the Cortex, and I was very fortunate that my first interview about The Uses of Delusion was on this pod. Charles is an excellent interlocutor, and the podcast is very professionally done. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity.

Finally, despite all this book-related activity, I managed to write my column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. My latest article, “Is Autism Really a Spectrum?” challenges the current system used to diagnose autism-related disorders. The column includes comments from Amy Lutz, a parent of a young man with severe autism and vice president of the National Council on Severe Autism.

That’s all for now.

SV