So anyway. A few of us have decided that Sydney is skeptical enough to manage two skeptical social meetups. This being the case, we've got our heads together and we're starting a new social night under the banner "Sydney Drinking Skeptically".
To be honest it's something I've been thinking about for ages. There's already a very good Skeptics In The Pub on the first Thursday of each month at the City Hotel, with a speaker, and an agenda and all that Skeptics In The Pub goodness. It's run by the guys who produce the Skeptic Zone (on which I occasionally appear - plug) and it really is a very good night out. But there are people who can't make it on that night and there are people who don't want to come into the city on a Thursday and there are people, like me, who already go to that and want another completely informal night where we can drink a few beers and let our hair down in skeptical surroundings.
This being the case, Sydney Drinking Skeptically will premiere on the 16th November at the Town Hall Hotel in Newtown (upstairs). It's close enough to TAMOZ that we can justifiably slot it in as a Fringe Event, the time is ripe, and let's face it if I'm not going to do it now, when will I get around to it?
I'm also working on (or at least experimenting with) the Little Known Skeptics podcast/vodcast, which will surface soon at http://www.littleknownskeptics.com/.
What? Another fucking skeptical podcast? Yawn.
Ah, but this isn't quite like the others.
My intention is to produce a bipolar format - that is, half consisting of me blabbering on about the skeptical issues of the now, the other half being an interview or discussion with a not-so-prominent skeptic. Yes, a grassroots skeptical podcast, featuring ordinary skeptics like you and me and that bloke at SiTP who you only know slightly but who spends his hours hammering nutcases on facebook without asking for any credit.
You won't find an interview with a DJ Grothe or a James Randi or a George Hrab or a Steven Novella* on this - although I might try and chat to them at TAMOZ for other publishing - what you'll find is skeptics from the trenches, ordinary people who aren't necessarily celebrity skeptics, getting shit done.
The "me blabbering" segment will be recorded either on my morning commute, if I can get the sound issues rounded out, which usually runs at between 15 and 20 minutes, or at Zombie-Proof Studios where I can get the sound issues rounded out. Then I'll run an interview (or not) and close out the show. It's likely to be a vodcast where I can catch people in person and a podcast when I can't.
So here's the casting call. Are you a little known skeptic? Are you getting shit done? Would you like to talk about it either in person on video or over Skype? Let me know and let's chat. It won't be hard, it won't be complex and it won't take all day. If you're at TAMOZ, let's meet up and chat for a few minutes on video. If you're not at TAMOZ but you're in Sydney, let's do the same at a Fringe event. If you're overseas or interstate, let's Skype it or organise some way of meeting up. But let's chat.
* awesome as they are, they don't qualify
posted @ Tuesday, October 19, 2010 3:08 PM