This episode only has a ~12-minute main segment and then a short Q&A. You can stop at the 11 min 45 sec. point if that’s all you’re interested in. It’s the Feedback section that I spent around 8 minutes on, going into some detail on feedback from Episode 32 (Billy Meier UFO case), Episode 31 (Moon Hoax photos), and some general feedback for the show. The puzzler starts at about 22 minutes.
I’m not entirely sure what the next episode will be. I have a presentation to give at the local coin club Thursday, Skepticamp Denver all day Saturday (and still need to write that talk). And I have a lot of baking to do for that, too :). So, next episode will either be a recording of my Skepticamp talk, or it will be about pyramids and Orion’s belt.
Exposing PseudoAstronomy 
Hi Stuart,
If your listeners are interested in more information on the Flat Earth Conspiracy movement, there is a great book called “Flat Earth” by Christine Garwood published in the US by St. Martin’s Press.
It includes a history of the movement. It actually started in the mid 1800’s by a man called Parallax. Most of the arguments originate with him and have been the same ever since. It’s actually a very good primer for ALL conspiracy theories. There are a very few people who still think the Earth is flat, but the origins of at least the Canadian branch of the Flat Earth Society was started somewhat as a joke among friends.
I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Conspiracy theories in general and the Flat Earth Society in specific.
Comment by Belgarath — May 5, 2012 @ 10:38 am |
It seems the flat Earth conspiracy is making a big comeback in the Youtube tinfoilhat community. Depressing.
Depressing.
Comment by Trebor — August 30, 2015 @ 12:04 pm |
I’ve been hearing it a lot on paranormal shows I listen to, too, lately. I’m planning a 2-part follow-up series.
Comment by Stuart Robbins — August 31, 2015 @ 12:13 pm |
It’s astounding how few ideas by pseudoscientists are truly original. Tends to make me think there aren’t that many out there who’re willing to come up with something new. A holographic moon is about the latest new idea that comes to mind, but it’s still a subset of the ancient astronauts idea that’s been around for decades.
I did find it amusing that there seemed to be a competition to see who could claim artificial structures on Pluto/Charon first, but that didn’t seem to stop those who were a little late in the running but had a ready-made audience to sell their story to. Maybe they’re really just speculative fiction writers posing as conspiracy theorists? No, that takes me back to a certain magician who claimed to be psychic, whom James Randi helped debunk. Not going to name names here…
But yes, please do revisit this. By the time you get it wrapped up, we’ll have another bogus prediction about the alignment of the planets will signal the coming of a new age, or we’ll hear about Mars being close enough to look like it’s the size of the full Moon, or kilometers-wide buildings found on Eris, or how all the other planets and moons in the Solar System are actually holograms, or…
Comment by Rick K. — August 31, 2015 @ 2:55 pm
Stuart,
You might be interested to know that Skeptoid has done a follow up episode to the original Flat Earth Theory episode. This time looking at the conspiracy laden version that re-emerged in 2014. At its base level it’s not that much different from the claims made about the color of Mars.
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4521
Comment by Graham — June 1, 2016 @ 5:52 am |
Saw, but haven’t listened yet. On my list.
Comment by Stuart Robbins — June 1, 2016 @ 8:38 am |