I write you from frozen February in New England. I hope you are cozy and warm wherever you are.

In my latest column for Skeptical Inquirer, “Will Narrative Defeat Reason?” I discuss the appeal of heroic stories and argue that democracy does not provide for participation in a heroic narrative. Almost all of human existence is a long history of emperors and kings, but self-government has had a much shorter and more fragile history.

I also wrote a short news item for Skeptical Inquirer, “RFK Jr. Puts Facilitated Communication Users on the HHS Autism Panel,” about the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ latest anti-science move. RFK Jr. recently announced the appointment of 19 new members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), and two of them are non-speaking young adults with severe autism who have been subjected to a version of the discredited communication technique, facilitated communication. We probably shouldn’t be surprised. RFK Jr.’s appetite for pseudoscience appears insatiable.

Finally, in late May, I will be in Fresno, California, to speak at LiliCon, which is the annual conference of the Lilienfeld Alliance, a group of college professors who teach critical thinking. This is a great organization named after one of my professional role models, Scott Lilienfeld. My talk is entitled, “Changing Beliefs by Not Changing Beliefs.” If you teach critical thinking and are free May 26-28, consider coming to the conference. There are some great speakers on tap.

That’s it for now. Stay warm!

SV