Serious Inquiries Only

Join Thomas for some critical thinking on questions of science, philosophy, skepticism and politics. These serious topics are discussed with some serious guests, but in an entertaining and engaging way! This is not your typical interview podcast; it’s a friendly dialogue, conducted thoughtfully and with plenty of humor. It's Serious Inquiries Only; but like, not boring or anything.

Progressive Religion Politics News News Commentary

Update frequency: every 3 days
Average duration: 53 minutes
Episodes: 804
Years Active: 2014 - 2025

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SIO429: Artists Punished More Than Scientists for Same Misconduct

This was a really fun one! Dr. Joe Siev and Dr. Jake Teeny join to walk us through their findings from a series of studies in their recent article, which explored the differences in how artists and …

00:53:55 | Mon 26 Feb 2024

SIO428: Regret After Gender-Affirming Surgery Is Virtually Nonexistent

Dr. Harry Barbee out of Johns Hopkins University recently co-authored a meta-analysis in JAMA Surgery, examining postoperative regret for those people seeking gender-affirming care. We talk about h…

00:47:24 | Thu 22 Feb 2024

SIO427: Rescuing Science, with Dr. Paul Sutter

We speak with cosmologist and science communicator Dr. Paul Sutter about his upcoming book, Rescuing Science. Dr. Sutter thinks (Capital S) Science has made some significant errors, and that people d…

00:55:46 | Tue 13 Feb 2024

SIO426: In Defense of Virtue Signaling

First off... I'M BACK ON OPENING ARGUMENTS!!! Good court thingies! Please please please go check it out! patreon.com/law! OK after that announcement, I wanted to talk about something that has bee…

00:33:26 | Fri 09 Feb 2024

SIO425: Can Science Be Spiritual?

Dr. Jesse Preston, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Warwick, joins to discuss a recent paper she published regarding whether or not science may serve as a spiritual experience…

00:43:17 | Tue 06 Feb 2024

SIO424: Semen Caught Violating Newton's 3rd Law? (the one about cum)

Astrophysicist Dr. Bryan Gillis is back! And here's here to talk about... sperm? Well, when a science headline claims that sperm is violating Newton's 3rd Law, that's when the science police have to …

00:48:41 | Thu 01 Feb 2024

SIO423: Bill Maher Gets Owned By Peter Griffin On COVID Nonsense

For the Bonus this month, Dr. Rick Sullivan, SIO's resident synthetic biologist, joined me to comment on the recent "debate" between Bill Maher and Seth MacFarlane on the COVID vaccine. The right say…

00:40:47 | Wed 31 Jan 2024

SIO422: Tucker Carlson, Space Genius

On a recent episode of Tucker Carlson's show, fossil fuel shill Dr. Willie Soon came on to discuss ... friggen... dinosaurs on Saturn's moon. I mean, not quite but close. It's nonsense. Too bad for T…

01:03:33 | Tue 30 Jan 2024

SIO421: More Technological Anti-Solutions

he 2nd half of my conversation with Alejandro Ruiz! We get deeper into examples of technological anti-solutions. If you work for a self-driving car company, should you quit? Also why are people buryi…

00:41:45 | Fri 26 Jan 2024

SIO420: Technological Anti-Solutions

We have a guest expert today! Alejandro Ruiz, a graduate of MIT, joins us to discuss a topic that he refers to as "technology anti-solutions." It's a really useful and fascinating framework that expl…

00:46:31 | Thu 25 Jan 2024

SIO419: Men Are From App and Women Are From Browser

Lydia Smith of Where There's Woke joins us to break down a fascinating online dating study that featured an experiment in which men and women viewed online dating profiles on either a mobile device o…

00:43:05 | Thu 18 Jan 2024

SIO418: The Polarization Express

Joe Magestro is back! First we get an update with what's going on in Wisconsin, and then we pick up where we left off in SIO405 to walk through why polarization happens, and what, if anything, we can…

00:56:33 | Mon 15 Jan 2024

SIO417: Does Our Evolutionary History Doom Us To Failure?

When it comes to climate change, for example, it can certainly feel that way. Dr. Timothy Waring from The University of Maine has written a paper exploring these ideas. He's an expert in Cultural Evo…

00:52:05 | Thu 11 Jan 2024

SIO416: What Is A Living Wage?

And how does that differ from the minimum wage? Or, for that matter, the federal poverty line?California has mandated a $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers starting April 1st. As far as I'm concer…

01:03:12 | Mon 08 Jan 2024

SIO415: We Don't Live In A Simulation

THE SIMULATION SERIES FINALE! After much philosophy and physics reading, and after the excellent breakdown of the physics and computing aspects by Dr. Bryan Gillis, here is an episode on why I do…

00:49:37 | Tue 02 Jan 2024

SIO414: So You Want To Simulate The Universe...

Ok, so we've done a bunch of philosophizing about whether or not we live in a simulation, but what about the physics and computing involved? Dr. Bryan Gillis takes us through what it might actually t…

01:08:29 | Mon 01 Jan 2024

SIO413: The Search for the Man-Hating Feminist Continues

The elusive man-hating feminist avoided scientific detection in the previous episode, but the chase continues! The game is the foot!

Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply h…

00:37:47 | Sun 31 Dec 2023

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