Speaking Rationally

It's Friday, which typically means a great day to skip blogging and finally spend an evening with my girlfriend, but I get to be still at the university still listening to and providing endless questions for a practice talk, so we're multitasking.

Recommendation Friday! This time I'm recommending Julia Galef. I first came across her describing Bayesian reasoning on YouTube, and was very impressed. There are two things I love about this, coming across a new area of knowledge I've never even considered, and people who tackle a common problem in a way I've never heard before that make me feel silly for missing it. What problem was the video about? I couldn't possibly remember, and I won't claim I've become a great Bayesian since then (just Google it for now). It still drew me in.

There are a few paths to accessing Julia's work. She has a pretty famous Ted Talk, but I mostly know her from her podcast Rationally Speaking, the official podcast of the New York City skeptics. It's not highly produced or intensely engaging, but of course skeptics are known for being great guests at dinner parties. They are very informative, however, and my favourite part is that she always asks the question that's bugging me. They typically start with a firm and interesting hypothesis that someone very intelligent is putting forward, and then she really digs in without being controversial. Plus, she just seems like a lovely human being working really hard to make the world better.

Recommendations: Episode 224, Rick Nevin on "The long-term effects of lead on crime"

Episode 232: Tyler Cowen ('nough said, he's always good, but this was extra good)