Serious Inquiries Only

Stormy Decisis AKA Dr. Alan Smerbeck is back! With multiple stories in the news of AI Chatbots potentially driving people to delusion or psychosis, Stormy wanted to explain to us what's going on and what the actual differences are between psychosis, delusions, schizophrenia, and more. Visit Stormy's amazing project, sharebannedbooks.com !

***This is a two-parter. Listen to part 1! Previously, the leading theory was that kids with autism and/or ADHD had mental health struggles due to emotional regulation issues or other direct elements of their neurodivergence. But what if it's actually that they have to deal with more stressors than the other kids? Dr. Jenessa Seymour, fellow haver of ADHD, is here to break it down for us!

Previously, the leading theory was that kids with autism and/or ADHD had mental health struggles due to emotional regulation issues or other direct elements of their neurodivergence. But what if it's actually that they have to deal with more stressors than the other kids? Dr. Jenessa Seymour, fellow haver of ADHD, is here to break it down for us! This is a 2-parter! Get part 2 on patreon.com/serio...

Part 2 of my thoughts and observations based on all the info I could gather on Tyler Robinson. I think there's an aspect to him that isn't being emphasized enough that might help explain why he did what he did.

The public has gone through several phases of evolution on what the shooter's motive was. At first, it was assumed he was a leftwing terrorist. Then it seemed clear he was on the right. Or maybe nihilist. Then, the charging documents were released. These contained some selected texts with Robinson's transgender roommate who he seems to have been in a romantic relationship with. They are... weird....

Dr. Bryan Gillis is back after far too long! But instead of space, he's here to talk about the problems in academia that lead to women and minority groups being underrepresented at astonishing and depressing levels.

Dr. Jenessa Seymour joins to discuss why TikTok's move here is aligned with what we know about eating disorders from the literature, and what happens when the internet doesn't draw a line like this. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here ! Please support the show on patreon ! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

Lydia and I invite one of our good friends, Holly, to share her recent viral story of harassment at a public park in Glendale, California. We discuss what happened that day, the spread and impact of the video, as well as the broader issue at hand and how it has shifted with a new Trump administration coming into office. After the main show, Holly sticks around for a special discussion for patrons...

We had like, a mini war over Iran's nuclear situation and it is barely even a memory in today's news cycle. But what happened there? Did Iran have nuclear weapons? What does it take for them to make some? Was Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal good? And what happened after it was no longer in place? What might happen now? Joining is Evan McDonell, a former nuclear engineer with the US Naval nuclear program...

... what? Yep that's right. They say there is no college affordability crisis. And I guess then, presumably no student debt crisis as well? You can read for yourself here , and/or you can sit back and let Dr. Jenessa Seymore break down why this article is so... incorrect.  

Part 2: The Data Dr. Jenessa Seymour continues her breakdown of the supposed voting discrepancies that a New York organization has "discovered". Her expertise in statistics gets the spotlight in this episode! Be sure to check out the graphs ! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here ! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment,...

Part 1: The Legal Stuff Dr. Jenessa Seymour is here to break down something that even our moms are spreading on social media: a group in New York claims to have uncovered discrepancies in the vote count for the 2024 election, and they're suing over it! Dr. Seymour hits ALL of the expert boxes for this one - statistics, voting rights, the law, and New York. Want part 2 early? Head to Patreon.com/se...

We're going to take a look at Jordan Peterson's debate techniques and his arguments for God and have some fun along the way!

We're going to take a look at Jordan Peterson's debate techniques and his arguments for God and have some fun along the way!  

Was that whole thing legitimate? Was it BS? Or something in between? Dr. Eric Jaffe is the perfect expert to give us the objective facts on this and help us understand everything going on!

Inspired by an Opening Arguments episode during the heartbeat bills, Dr. Nathan Thompson and soon-to-be-Dr. Rachel Feltman embarked on research where they collated "facts" from abortion legislation across the country and examined its medical/anatomical accuracy and misleadingness. Their work was published ( read it here! ) in the February 2025 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Healt...

Gary Chapman's model of five love languages has been well-embraced by people as they navigate dating, marriage, and other relationship moments. Dr. Sharon Flicker joins the show to discuss what exactly they are, how Chapman came up with them, and her research in evaluating whether your partner's ability to "speak" your love language actually results in a happier relationship. Are you an expert in...

It's part 2 with Alejandro and Julia from theluddite.org ! We get the worst AI "research" of all, we talk big picture, and then Alejandro and Julia give us some tools for spotting bad AI research and coverage on our own! Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show?  Apply here ! Please support the show on patreon ! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! Th...

Alejandro and Julia of theluddite.org  join us to debunk some terrible AI research, and the bad reporting compounding the problems on top of that. Also, what is AI? Can it ever think for itself? Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here ! Please support the show on patreon ! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content! This content is CAN credentia...

This is a part 2! Make sure to catch the previous episode in the feed. If you're on the left and at all active on the internet, you have probably seen this shared. It's called " Trump Lost. Vote Suppression Won ." Here's the first bit: "Trump lost. That is, if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylv...

If you're on the left and at all active on the internet, you have probably seen this shared. It's called " Trump Lost. Vote Suppression Won ." Here's the first bit: "Trump lost. That is, if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presi...

Katherine Stewart joins us again ( she was on episode 439 ) to talk about her new book, Money, Lies, and God ! Katherine's books have been vital to understanding the Right. This book tackles different factions - the billionaires, Christian Nationlists, and the New Right, among others - and their strange alliances that have successfully taken over our country. Are you an expert in something and wan...

And the unending moral cowardice of Republican politicians means he gets to do what he wants. It's a Thomas needs to say things one again, sorry.

The absolute man-babies who make up the anti-woke movement are always crying about some very minor thing that makes other people's lives better and is no actual burden to them, but is different than the past. This week, that thing happens to be... ASL interpreters at press conferences and such? It's hard to imagine how sensitive you'd have to be to have a problem with this, but their victimhood co...

SIO471 - I just can't anymore with this. It's so fucking pathetic that mainstream media and a whole bunch of pundits, even on the left, have to do this thing where they play dumb and pretend people like Elon have any sort of credibility. There is no plausible deniability on this and to pretend otherwise isn't good journalism or skepticism. It's... bad... those. Are you an expert in something and w...