Here in New England, spring has finally arrived with sunny skies and warm temperatures. The political world is a nightmare, but good weather helps. It has been a while since I bothered you with a report of my latest activities, so here are just a few items.
I have published two articles for Skeptical Inquirer in recent months. The first was entitled “Worse Than Murder on Fifth Avenue,” which is a reference to the president’s famous statement that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any supporters. I discuss his use of various lies and bullshit and argue they have done far more harm than a single fatality in New York City.
My most recent article is an interview with an old hero of mine. C. Eugene Emery was a longtime reporter for the Providence Journal newspaper back in the heyday of that august publication, often covering the science and pseudoscience beat. He has also worked for Reuters news agency and, more recently, PolitiFact. In addition to all that, in the 1990s, he wrote a “Media Watch” column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, critiquing various alien abduction cable news shows and other paranormal content. As life would have it, in the 1970s and 80s, I lived in Providence and was a subscriber to the ProJo. Long before I knew what skepticism was, I was a fan of Gene’s work, but I had never met him. This interview gave me a chance to make contact and get to know Gene a bit. He is a great guy who has made important contributions to the fight for science and against misinformation, superstition, and fraud.
Finally, I had the pleasure of appearing on Brian Kerby’s public access television show, 502 Conversations, to talk about the wildly popular podcast, The Telepathy Tapes, which purports to show evidence that nonspeaking people with autism have psychic abilities. Brian’s show is very well produced with clips from the Telepathy Tapes interspersed to make the conversation more understandable. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
That’s it for now. I hope you get a chance to get outside and enjoy the springtime.
