It was a running gag some years ago. I work from home and frequently get deliveries throughout the day. But whenever it was a UPS delivery, the driver would run out of his truck, stick a “receiver not at home” sticker on my door, then drive away…. never having knocked. This happened so often that I started to log its frequency on social media. (more…)
TAGGED POSTS / special
12Jul
2023
How Much Do I Hate UPS?
02Jul
2023
Kooks Who Write Books
On April 1st of this year, my physician spouse and I took our toddler to the local public library for the first time in his life. It was very exciting. I was so energized to be there with my son that, in a fit of fatherly intensity, I decided to check out the parenting section.
There, proudly displayed at the top of the heap was a book called “Conscious Parenting: A Holistic Guide to Raising and Nourishing Healthy, Happy Children.” Who doesn’t want their child to be healthy and happy, I thought. So I took a peruse. (more…)
21Jun
2023
The Weaponization of Debate
Ten years ago, while still a relatively fresh academic, I was invited onto the Joe Rogan podcast to debate Peter Duesberg, a biologist who was infamously claiming that the HIV virus is not the cause of AIDS. I declined the invitation for several reasons, not least of which was that I was not comfortable granting credibility to a fringe and dangerous theory. (more…)
20Jun
2023
What Is This Thing Called ‘Evidence’
Back in 2013, I received a humbling email. I was being invited to be a guest on “The Joe Rogan Experience”. Unlike other guests who are brought on for a free-wheeling three hour conversation, however, I was being invited to engage in a specific task: to debate a man named Dr. Peter Duesberg, who was famous for refusing to accept the causal link between infection with the HIV virus and contracting the disease AIDS.
At the time, I was a fan of Rogan’s show. I appreciated his open format, his conversation style, his selection of guests, his open-mindedness, and his intellectual humility. I was also a fan of Rogan the comedian, martial arts commentator, the marijuana liberalization activist, and Rogan the navigator of various self-development strategies about which I would otherwise not know.
Fast forward 10 years and Rogan is now a media behemoth, his podcast attracting more listeners and viewers than does CNN. In the era of COVID, the show seems to have embraced and championed some troubling anti-science positions, has platformed some truly rancid characters, seems to revel in amplifying some tiresome talking points from a particular political ideology, and Rogan himself has made some public statements that make me uncomfortable. (more…)
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