Archive for category Skeptics in the Pub
Skeptics in the Pub: John Walliss
Posted by Marsh in Skeptics in the Pub on September 4, 2011
It’s (Not) the End of the World As We Know It
by John Walliss
When: Thursday, October 20th, 2011 8.00 – 11.00 PM
Where: The Head of Steam, 7 Lime Street, Liverpool
On 21st May 2011 the end of the world should have begun. This prophecy, from evangelical Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping, however, did not come to pass. Christians all over the world were not raptured, the Tribulation period did not begin, and Camping, who has subsequently suffered a stroke, and his followers are having to come to terms with the apparent failure, or at least delay, of the prophesied events to occur.
Camping however, is not unique in religious history. Numerous other prophets and religious leaders have made claims that the world will end on a specific date with events subsequently proving them wrong.
John will examine the phenomenon of prophetic failure, drawing on the wealth of literature that we have developed in the social sciences over the last 60 or so years. In doing so he will hope to answer such questions as what happens when prophecy fails and does prophecy ever really fail?
John Walliss is the senior lecturer in the sociology of religion and Director of the Centre for Millennialism Studies within the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Liverpool Hope University..
Skeptics in the Pub: Stuart Ritchie
Posted by Marsh in Skeptics in the Pub on September 4, 2011
The Science of Pornography and Anti-Porn Campaigners: A Skeptical Look At The Debate
by Stuart Ritchie
When: Thursday, September 15th, 2011 8.00 – 11.00 PM
Where: The Head of Steam, 7 Lime Street, Liverpool
Is pornography turning us all into sex offenders? What effect does it have on societal attitudes towards women? Is porn taking over the internet? If certain recent books – such as ‘Pornland’ by Professor Gail Dines – are to be believed, pornography is having all these effects and more, and is a hugely detrimental force in our society.
But what does the best scientific evidence say? Stuart Ritchie, a PhD Psychology student at The University of Edinburgh, takes a skeptical look at the arguments for and against pornography.
NOTE: This is a replacement talk for “How to be a Psychic Con-man” by Ash Pryce, which has been postponed until further notice.
Skeptics in the Pub: Richard Peppiatt
Posted by Marsh in Skeptics in the Pub on July 27, 2011
The Street Of Shame: Tales of Fleet Street
by Richard Peppiatt
When: Thursday, August 18th, 2011 8.00 – 11.00 PM
Where: The Head of Steam, 7 Lime Street, Liverpool
Rich Peppiatt is a former tabloid reporter who earlier this year quit the Daily Star in a sensational open letter to proprietor Richard Desmond.
His talk will lift the lid on what life is really like behind the doors of Britain’s red tops, what drives the journalists who work for them, and just what needs to be done to reform an industry which for too long has behaved with impunity.
In what promises to be a night packed with anecdotes from the jaw-dropping to the hilarious, Rich will take you on a tour through the pitfalls of Fleet Street.
Skeptics in the Pub: Deborah Hyde
Posted by Mike in Skeptics in the Pub on July 1, 2011
Unnatural Predators
by Deborah Hyde
When: Thursday, July 21st, 2011 8.00 – 11.00 PM
Where: The Head of Steam, 7 Lime Street, Liverpool
Deborah Hyde will tell us about cultural aspects of the religious and superstitious experience. This evening we will discuss and answer such questions as:
- Why do the dead chew in their graves?
- Why do vampires strike in autumn?
- Why do ghosts live in electric clocks?
A gory talk full of the unexpected, it’s a round-up of the folklore of the macabre.
About Deborah
Deborah has been writing about the supernatural for nearly two decades. She blogs on ‘Superstition, Religion and Being Human’ as ‘Jourdemayne’ but often suffers from mission creep.
She’s also one of the organisers of Westminster Skeptics and is Editor-in-Chief of the Skeptic Magazine. Her daytime, grown-up job is a makeup effects coordinator in the film industry – more vampires and zombies, then.
Skeptics in the Pub: Brian Deer
Posted by Mike in Skeptics in the Pub on May 27, 2011
MMR and Autism: An Elaborate Fraud
How the Case Against the Vaccine Was Built
by Brian Deer
When: Thursday, June 16, 2011 8.00 – 11.00 PM
Where: The Head of Steam, 7 Lime Street, Liverpool
As the Wirral becomes the latest area of the UK to suffer a measles outbreak in an unvaccinated population, investigative journalist Brian Deer visits Liverpool to speak about how he uncovered the “elaborate fraud” behind the MMR scare.
In February 1998, the Lancet medical journal triggered a global alarm with research proposing a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism. The researchers’ leader, Andrew Wakefield called for the vaccine to be “suspended”. But all was not as it appeared to be. Following investigations over a period of 7 years for The Sunday Times, the British Medical Journal in January denounced Wakefield’s research as “an elaborate fraud”.
The story raced round the world. A Harris poll in the United States found that 47% of Americans had heard Deer’s story. The New York Times said his work was “extraordinary.” Now, on 16th June, he comes to Merseyside Skeptics Society to talk about how Wakefield rigged the research linking MMR with autism, how he did it, who paid him for it, how much money he expected to make out of it, and the years-long investigation which finally nailed him. This is one of the big science stories of today.
Skeptics in the Pub: Alan Henness
Posted by Mike in Skeptics in the Pub on May 1, 2011
The Nightingale Collaboration
by Alan Henness
When: Thursday, May 19, 2011 8.00 – 11.00 PM
Where: The Head of Steam, 7 Lime Street, Liverpool
In 2009, Alan Henness heard about the British Chiropractic Association’s libel case against Simon Singh for the article he wrote for the Guardian about bogus therapies. He started to look at chiropractors’ websites and was appalled by the claims being made – he decided to do something about it. Alan submitted complaints about 524 chiropractors to their statutory regulator in June 2009; nearly two years later, many of those complaints have yet to be decided.
Simon Singh’s case encouraged many skeptics to see what they could do to challenge misleading claims. However, many were unsure how best to make complaints and also saw the need to have larger, coordinated campaigns if they were going to make a real impact. The Nightingale Collaboration was set up to enable sharing of knowledge and experience in challenging misleading claims in healthcare advertising, and to encourage anyone who is concerned at protecting the public from misinformation in healthcare promotion to join them in challenging it. The Nightingale Collaboration aims to improve the protection of the public by getting misleading claims withdrawn and those responsible held to account.
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