This is another archival repost from the old blog — this time from March 2009. The past few weeks seem to have seen laments for the decline of journalism and obituaries for old media reaching a critical mass. BoraZ has kindly collected a few dozen so that I don’t have […]
This is another archival repost originally written for my old blog a few years ago. I caught the last couple of minutes of Extreme Pilgrim (BBC 2, Friday 9pm) and was intrigued, so fired up the iPlayer to watch the whole thing. It’s Vicar of Dibley meets Ray Mears’ Extreme […]
This is another archival repost originally written for the old blog in april 2008. I listened to a sermon[1] by Ken Ham, creationist head of Answers in Genesis, the other day. I was erm … researching a role? Anyway, it was great fun. My knowledge of church services is limited […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog — this one from December 2008. So, BBC TWO’s Oceans: marine ecology’s answer to Time Team. I get as excited by marine biology as the next nerd, and you don’t have to remind me of the importance of conservation. Somehow, the […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog — this time from april 2009. I found on the iPlayer the latest in BBC2’s series of Darwin documentaries, Did Darwin Kill God? This is theologian Conor Cunningham’s attempt reconcile science and religion, and show that their differences are all just […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog — this one from March 2008. Wow, a slow news day, eh? The BBC, shunning predictable Chinese military aggression, another turn of the tides in Iraq, and yet more boring news about the economy, lead with “Brown criticised over embryo bill“. […]
Another in the ongoing project to archive posts from an old blog – this one from february 2009. Not in the television programme — well, I don’t know, I haven’t seen it yet due to pesky tennis fans capturing the remote control — but in the Simon Mayo interview (page […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog, first published way back in March 2008. I’ve been following CBC’s How To Think About Science series, and caught the Evelyn Fox Keller episode the other day. It was interesting, but there were a couple of issues that I just can’t […]
This is another archival repost of something posted on the old blog in 2007. What is it with Channel 4 and the examination of excretions? During How Toxic Are Your Kids (C4, Thurs 8pm) I had to check the television guide to make sure that Armando Iannucci (The Day Today, […]
This is another repost from the old blog, for archival purposes. I’m watching Peter Owen Jones’ Around The World In Eighty Faiths. You might recall Owen Jones as the public school hippy ex-ad man anglican vicar from Extreme Pilgrimage. This time ’round, Owen Jones is on a world tour, looking […]
(This is another archival repost of something written on the old blog a few years ago.) I’ve been catching up with about a month of blogosphere this weekend, after travelling, and other distractions. I managed to catch a discarded copy of G2 with Ben Goldacre’s homeopathy article, so I was […]
A quick review of this week’s Law In Action on Radio 4, which looked at photography and the law — particularly jobsworth office managers who think it’s their job to harass people, and other police initiatives that lack any credible evidence-base. Read it at cotch dot net.
This is an archival re-post of something written last summer on the old blog. Any Questions, one half of BBC Radio 4’s weekly foray into the realm of mindless US-style talk radio bigotry, this week invited a panel of historians, novelists, and journalists to share their poorly considered thoughts on […]
Christina Odone reviewed Bill Maher’s film Religulous on Radio 4’s Front Row (start: 9m). “He gets some very good replies from some terribly soft targets.” She’s thinking particularly of creationist-sympathising US Senator Mark Pryor (D-AK). She goes on, “… but the most revealing moment is when Maher faces down a […]
I want to take a short diversion from normal service to add to the occasional series “arguments so bad my jaw literally drops.” I have forgotten exactly what radio programme I heard it on, but it was probably one of those vacuous pseudo-intellectual radio four programmes staffed by Daily Mail […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog, this time from jan 2009. Catching up on the week’s feeds, and the CiF piece from Edinburgh climate scientist Thomas Crowley caught my eye. Perhaps it’s the headline editor’s fault, but really — “Science can’t explain the big bang – there […]
This is another archival repost, originally written for the old blog in september 2008. There are differing opinions in the blogosphere over the merits of calling out bullshit. Does one feed the troll? Is it ever acceptable to sink to ad hominin attacks? I try to stay civil, and I […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog, originally from september 2008. It’s a right good science fest on Radio 4 at the moment. If you missed it, you must listen to Physics Rocks (available until 17/9). It’s Brian Cox talking to comedians about their enthusiasm for science. It’s […]
This is another archive repost from the old blog, written in aug 2008. The psychologist Oliver James was on The Late Edition a couple of weeks ago.[1] His argument was unconvincing and his behaviour unimpressive. So I took a quick look at his website. He offers for download a Radio […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog — this time from July 2008. So, the following video was brought to my attention, and I was so impressed that I had to share. Admittedly, it took me some time to getting around to the sharing bit: it’s difficult to […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog — this one from feb 2008. Somebody in the Nature Podcast editorial team is clearly not a fan of “new atheists”. The “guest rant” spot, or whatever it is they call it — podium, I think — has been given to […]
This is another archival repost from the old blog, this time from jan 2008 Tina Beattie was on Start The Week this morning, talking about the New AtheismTM. I only caught little bits of it, but I’ve managed to find the time to flick through the podcast. You can guess […]
This is another archival repost, from jan 2008 Many people in Britain have been campaigning for a repeal of the blasphemy laws, which have had a bit of bad PR since they were used in an attempt to censor Jerry Springer: The Opera a few years ago, and since we […]
This is another archival repost originally written for the old site in 2007. My initial intention was to write a quick Brain Fart post with random thoughts on a dozen or so topics that aren’t ready for a full post, but I got a bit carried away with a couple […]
This is another archival repost, originally written in september 2007. There is a new fashion emerging from the internet, newspapers and now even books. It is fashionable to consider Richard Dawkins to be your enemy, and to believe that everything he says is personally aimed at you. I don’t wish […]