This week I go on a rant about animal ethics while Nigel tries to keep up. This is a topic that I will revisit soon, I have something big in mind. Jeff was off this week while still doing something odd in a desert.

Sorry for the extreme lateness of this podcast. It's been a week.

This week Jeff and Nigel were both off, but I was joined by Bryan Hineser and Ian Brazee-Cannon of the Amateur Skeptics. We discussed our talk at the recent Skepticamp, provided a breakdown of that same event, and discussed the Amateur Skeptics podcast.

Audio and possibly video of the talk we gave should be available soon and will be inserted into the podcast feed.

Tonight we pick Jeff's brain and discuss all things TAM. TAM is The Amazing Meeting, the annual conference of science and skepticism put on by The James Randi Educational Foundation. We were joined this week by Heidi Anderson of the Parenting Beyond Belief podcast to get the opinion of someone who has attended and will be speaking at TAM 8. Nigel and I, barring a benefactor, will not be attending this year, but Jeff has no choice. He works there. Bastard. Ah, well, next year.

More information about TAM, including registration info can be found here:

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/tam-8-registration.html

Parenting Beyond Belief can be found here:

http://www.parentingbeyondbelief.com/

Special note: Though he didn't actually say anything for the entire episode, Nigel was actually present for this recording. No, I don't know what he was doing either.

This week we had old friend Stuart Robbins on to discuss the upcoming Skepticamp and the looming threat of the 2012 apocalypse. Apparently some jackass decided that the "end" of the Mayan calendar means that the end of the world will come for the hundredth or so time on December 21, 2012. Stuart handily destroys this myth.

More about Stuart Robbins can be found on his website:

http://about.sjrdesign.net/

more about all Skepticamps can be found here:

http://skepticamp.org/wiki/Main_Page

Sorry about the lateness this week....

This week we were joined by Brandon K. Thorpe and Penn Bullock to discuss George Alan Rekers. Rekers is a psychologist and minister who is a founding member of the Family Research Council. He is dedicated to the concept that homosexuality can be cured. Of course he was caught with a hired male prostitute. Brandon and Penn broke the story and joined us to discuss Rekers and gay conversion.

This week we were joined by Paul A. Toth, a volunteer Public Relations Coordinator for SMART Recovery. SMART Recovers is a secular, science based approach to addiction management. In contrast to Alcoholics Anonymous, SMART Recovery is not faith based, inclusive, and intended not to be a lifelong process. Paul joined us to discuss addiction, how to know when one has a problem and the SMART approach to recovery.

More information about SMART Recovery can be found at: http://www.smartrecovery.org/

Jeff Wagg was away this week so we were joined by special co-host Travis Roy of the Granite State Skeptics. This weeks show started off as a leisurely look at recent events but turned into a robust tech conversation. Everything you've been wondering about online privacy, Apple and jailbreaking your iPhone will be found within.

Find out more about Skeptics At GraniteCon, featuring our own Jeff Wagg here.

So, last Monday Jeff, Nigel and I got together and recorded a really great episode. Trust me, it was fantastic. Windows, however, didn't like at all. And it is now gone forever. Sorry. As a consolation, here'a a picture that I'll let stand on it's own.

This week we continue our conversation with Dana Commandatore of RethinkingAutism. This week we discuss what Autism really is, and how it is seen by the public.

More can be found about Dana and her work at www.rethinkingautism.com and her articles can also be found at BigHollywood.

More resources:

www.autisticadvocacy.org

www.autreat.com