Mike Powell

Presented is a conversation between Iranian activist Azar Majedi and the Worker-Communist Review on banning religious symbols, Islamic courts, civil freedoms, minority rights, and racism. This is an excerpt from a roundtable discussion between Hamid Taqvaie, Ai Javadi, and Azar Majedi. Worker-Communist review: The debate surrounding the banning of conspicuous religious symbols in schools and government workplaces …

There was something about Joe Schwarcz that I couldn’t quite put my finger on as I watched his presentation today, in which he recounted some highlights from his career as a science communicator, spanning four decades. I have only a passing familiarity with his work, and I’ve never even seen him give a talk before, …

I’m missing the final day of CSICon activity, because I must return to my home planet of Maine in the Nova Anglia system. And those are very long rides, what with the limits of physics and whatnot. But now I have a chance to reflect on the conference. Coming into CSICon 2017, there was a …

Kavin Senapathy came to talk about fear. First of all, she made sure we knew that Kavin is pronounced like “coven,” as in a coven of witches, so, more fear. But Senapathy is less concerned with being afraid of mispronouncing her name than with the fear that enriches food-purity zealots like “Food Babe” Vani Hari. “Fear …

It’s genuinely upsetting when one is reminded of the cruelty visited upon gays and lesbians who are forced or coerced into conversion therapy. Experimental psychology professor Sheldon Helms came to CSICon to educate us about this gruesome phenomenon, and remarkably was able to do so with remarkably good humor, but without dismissing the gravity of …

Alison Bernstein in Science Moms The attendees of CSICon 2017 had the privilege of being the first audience for Science Moms, a new documentary that illustrates the challenge for mothers who want to do what’s best for their kids, but are beset by pseudoscience and paranoia about things like “chemicals” and GMOs. Through interviews with five such …

Teresa Giménez Barbat of Barcelona is a member of the European Parliament, and before the attendees of CSICon 2017, she positioned herself squarely as an ally and advocate for skepticism and secularism. Her job, she said, is “to make skepticism and secularism heard in the heart of Europe.” While the issues she works on would …

You might have heard that it’s pretty hard to change people’s minds. I bet no one knows this better than skeptics who have the unenviable task of trying to dissuade society from buying into false and harmful beliefs that are nonetheless appealing and entrenched. Photo by Brian Engler A true favorite of the skeptic universe, …

So, my help was suddenly needed at the CSICon AV station for the presentation by Rob Brotherton, author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories, so I didn’t take notes about his talk, and instead pressed a button to switch camera angles for the video recording. Luckily, it was a really compelling talk that I …

James Randi couldn’t be at CSICon as planned because of a small stroke, and of course it’s disappointing. But to sate the skeptic appetite for amazingness, Massimo Polidoro recounted some of Randi’s greatest feats from generations ago. It’d be pointless for me to recount them for you here, especially since I can’t write in a …