The Michael Shermer Show
The Michael Shermer Show is a series of long-form conversations between Dr. Michael Shermer and leading scientists, philosophers, historians, scholars, writers and thinkers about the most important issues of our time.
- Update frequency
- every 4 days
- Average duration
- 90 minutes
- Episodes
- 550
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
29. Colin McGinn — Mysterianism, Consciousness, Free Will, and God
This podcast was initiated after McGinn commented publicly, and critically, on Shermer’s latest Scientific American column on the mysteries of consciousness, free will, and God.
The philosopher Just…
AMA-1. Dr. Michael Shermer — Ask Me Anything!
In this first Ask Me Anything (AMA) Dr. Shermer attempts to answer as many questions as possible in a reasonable time among the hundreds submitted by readers. There were so many good ones, in fact, t…
28. Edward J. Larson — On Faith and Science
Throughout history, scientific discovery has clashed with religious dogma, creating conflict, controversy, and sometimes violent dispute. In this enlightening and accessible volume, distinguished his…
27. Charles S. Cockell — The Equations of Life: How Physics Shapes Evolution
We are all familiar with the popular idea of strange alien life wildly different from life on earth inhabiting other planets. Maybe it’s made of silicon! Maybe it has wheels! Or maybe it doesn’t. In …
26. Dr. Stephen T. Asma — Why We Need Religion
In this dialogue Dr. Michael Shermer talks with philosopher Stephen T. Asma, a Professor of Philosophy and Founding Fellow of the Research Group in Mind, Science, and Culture at Columbia College, Chi…
25. Richard Rhodes — Energy: A Human History
This is one of the best dialogues Dr. Shermer has ever had in his quarter century of talking to the leading scientists and scholars of our time. Listen in as he and Pulitzer Prize- and National Book …
24. Dr. Alan Stern and Dr. David Grinspoon — Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto
Listen in on this remarkable conversation with mission leader Dr. Alan Stern and co-author of the spell-binding new book Chasing New Horizons, Dr. David Grinspoon, as they recount the story of the me…
23. Dr. Kenneth R. Miller — The Human Instinct: How We Evolved to Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will
Ken Miller is well known for his work in debunking Intelligent Design Creationism, most notably for his testimony in the Dover Pennsylvania trial that demolished the legal strategies of the movement …
22. Dr. Gregory Berns — What It’s Like to Be a Dog…and Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience
In this wide-ranging dialogue (recorded on September 1, 2017) on the nature of consciousness Dr. Michael Shermer talks with Dr. Gregory Berns, Distinguished Professor of Neuroeconomics and Director o…
21. Dr. Leonard Mlodinow — Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change
Out of the exploratory instincts that allowed our ancestors to prosper hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans developed a cognitive style that Mlodinow terms elastic thinking, a collection of tra…
20. Dr. Michael Shermer — Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia
In his most ambitious work yet—a scientific exploration into humanity’s obsession with the afterlife and quest for immortality—bestselling author and skeptic, Michael Shermer, sets out to discover wh…
19. Bill Nye the Science Guy Saves the World on Netflix
Michael Shermer interviews Bill Nye the Science Guy about his new Netflix series “Bill Nye Saves the World,” which aired Friday, April 21, 2017.
The conversation took place on December 18, 2016 at th…
18. Dr. Bart Ehrman — How a Forbidden Religion (Christianity) Swept the World
In this remote Science Salon (recorded on February 19, 2018), Dr. Shermer converses with the great bible scholar and historian Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, the Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at …
17. Dr. Kip Thorne — Gravitational Waves, Black Holes, Time Travel, and Hollywood
Join us for what promises to be one of the deepest and most profound conversations we’ve had in our Science Salon series as Dr. Thorne reflects on his life and career in theoretical physics, his purs…
16. Dr. Robert Trivers — Evolutionary Theory & Human Nature
Dr. Robert Trivers and Dr. Michael Shermer have a lively conversation on everything from evolutionary theory and human nature to how to win a knife fight and Trivers’ membership in the Black Panthers…
15. Donald Prothero & Timothy Callahan — UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says
UFOs. Aliens. Strange crop circles. Giant figures scratched in the desert surface along the coast of Peru. The amazing alignment of the pyramids. Strange lines of clouds in the sky. The paranormal is…
14. Dr. Nancy Segal — Twin Mythconceptions: False Beliefs, Fables, and Facts about Twins
Dr. Nancy Segal, the world’s leading expert on twins, has a new book that sheds light on over 70 commonly held ideas and beliefs about the origins and development of identical and fraternal twins. Us…
13. Dr. Walter Scheidel — The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the 21st Century
Are mass violence and catastrophes the only forces that can seriously decrease economic inequality? To judge by thousands of years of history, the answer is yes. Tracing the global history of inequal…
12. Derren Brown — Magic, Happiness, and Skepticism
In this remote Science Salon, Michael Shermer talks with Derren Brown, a British magician and writer.
His TV show Derren Brown: Mind Control received immediate success after airing in 2000. His speci…
11. Dr. Andrew Shtulman — Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories About the World Are So Often Wrong
Why do we catch colds? What causes seasons to change? And if you fire a bullet from a gun and drop one from your hand, which bullet hits the ground first? In a pinch we almost always get these questi…