The Family Skeptical

We start out by discussing an octopus mishap, and then Moms has some advice for religions who want to gain members. (We're looking at you Mormons.) We finish up by trying to create a modern definition of masculinity, and it definitely includes nail polish. And now for the links: Seth Andrews is wonderful both on his podcast, The Thinking Atheist , and Instagram .  Somehow, last week we totally fai...

We start out discussing our recent trip to visit family and Go being extra brave. Then we talk about things we've read that have changed our view of the world and helped shape our morality (that did not come from the Bible). And we finish up just scraping the surface of the current discussion of masculinity by trying to come up with healthy examples of modern masculinity. More on this soon.  And n...

I mean, what really did we talk about? I feel like almost every one of our conversations went a bit off the rails this episode, but we started talking about our lax attitude to Reader and Go's YouTube consumption, then we somehow got to our ghost/alien sightings (because we're skeptics), and end up discussing whether children owe their parents anything and whether that changes as they get older…an...

We begin the episode talking about Moms' disappointments with the books she's been reading with Reader and Go. Then we discuss parenting in the Bible and have some serious notes for the authors. And we finish up with Heaven, which might not be all it's cracked up to be.   And now for the links: Here are the Amulet graphic novels.  And here is So Sorry For Your Loss by Dina Gachman.  The Family Ske...

We open the episode solving the mystery of "flippin" and introducing some weird audio that we can't explain. But we swear no one was actually sharpening knives during the intro. That would be a weird vibe, even for us. Then we discuss Moms' realization that we may be reading more into the Bible than we even realized. And we finish exploring the concept of innocence.   And now for the links: Here i...

We open the episode with Moms justifying her misunderstood superstitions. Then we discuss Reader and Go swearing. And we finish up talking about sex in media, which devolves into a confused discussion of Witness and Bladerunner, that won't make nearly enough sense if you aren't familiar with Witness. In short, Harrison Ford is a cop who has to hide out with the Amish and falls in love with the Ami...

We talk with the kids about Easter. Go has some choice words about it. (And yes, we allow the kids to swear - just never at school or with people who would be offended.) Then Moms gets all conspiracy theory-esque about actresses playing moms. And we finish up discussing how we feel about violent media.   And for once, there aren't really any links. Just go watch Atlanta. The Family Skeptical: We'r...

It's a short one this time around. We discuss one topic: "Would you want only atheist coaches for your kid if that was somehow an option?" And now for all the links: I think this is the episode of Pardon the Mess that our question comes from, but honestly, I'm not 100% sure.  And this is the podcast For Crying Out Loud that mom references.  The Family Skeptical: We're a married atheist couple rais...

It's lucky Episode 13, and honestly, getting this one finished before our Spring Break trip turned into a bit of a fever dream. In our first segment we discuss the comic book trope of refusing to sacrifice your child to save the universe. And then we discuss a Tik Tok about blasphemy. And our final segment will remain a mystery for the ages.  As promised, if you want to skip the first segment, you...

In our first segment we discuss…shoot. We can't remember any more. But then we go on to explore which fictional family we would have wanted to grow up in, and finish out discussing how much teachers should share with parents - and end up talking about how to make a home where kids feel comfortable opening up to their parents in the first place. Moms is going to bring this up in the next episode, b...

We're back! In this episode we recount our Christmas trip, introduce a new segment and discuss when it's appropriate to give unsolicited parenting advice, and finish out on the anecdotal fallacy.  Take a listen to Mom and Dad are Fighting to see if you agree with our read on their episode, Can I Tell Someone They're Parenting Wrong?   The Family Skeptical: We're a married atheist couple raising tw...

We're working on a few interesting things for the new year. This is a bit of recording I did with Reader and Go about our holidays. (And just to be clear, their motorcycle ride was very slow and on a private road with no other traffic.)  We'll be back soon with a full episode. The Family Skeptical: We're a married atheist couple raising two wonderful, strange children. We ask big questions, dissec...

It's the final episode in our series on education and of 2022. Though we weren't kidding when we said we were a bit loopy. Moms did an inadvertent jump into the past and we had to cut a whole section because she kept referring to the year as 2020. Though maybe that's appropriate for an episode about history. We mention a few things in this episode that we definitely recommend you checking out: Her...

We're taking a little break from talking about education to discuss a logical fallacy: The Appeal to Authority.  And this goes a few places we weren't expecting. In this episode we reference a whole lot of stuff, some of it that we've certainly forgotten, but you can find several links here: Here's a classic Skeptic Generation call with Xeno.   Here's the Atheist Experience call about atoms not re...

We talk evolution! Why is it so scary to teach? Why are kids books about it so limited? Why does popular media get it sooo wrong? In this episode we reference Forrest Valkai .  And Seth Andrews, The Thinking Atheist , just recently had him on and introduced him as a Biologist, so maybe Moms was right about that?  The Family Skeptical: We're a married atheist couple raising two wonderful, strange c...

Happy Halloween! Go has decided he wants to celebrate Halloween all month again - so welcome to our Frankensode. We talk about the possibility of teaching formal logic in schools - in two parts - sewn together poorly. You can find the two videos that we reference here: Teach Formal Logic: TRICK OR TRUTH Game! Trolly Problem Memes   The Family Skeptical: We're a married atheist couple raising two w...

We introduce a new series we're going to be starting about education and hear a little from Reader and Go. You can find the three episodes of Raising Freethinkers that we reference here: When Science Goes South - Part 1 The Word - Part 2 (This is the one we talk about the most) The Conflict Avoiders - Part 3 The Family Skeptical: We're a married atheist couple raising two wonderful, strange childr...

It's our last episode discussing Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion When You're Not Religious by Wendy Thomas Russell, and we spend the whole time on it. (Spoiler Alert - Moms is going to explain in the next episode that she totally disagrees with one of the points she made in this one. Can you guess which comment she's thought about more?) The Family Skeptical:...

Trigger Warning! We start very briefly discussing the case of the 10-year-old in Ohio who needed an abortion and the prevalence of child sexual abuse (if want to skip this discussion, feel free to skip to 03:20), then talk about the New York Times' article " How to Raise Kids Who Are Good at Getting Angry ," and finish out dissecting another chapter of Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to...

We talk about the recent Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court (if you've had enough of podcasts about Dobbs at this point, feel free to skip to 21:40) and continue discussing the book Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion When You're Not Religious by Wendy Thomas Russell. You can find The Atheist Experience call we referenced here .  The Family Skeptical: We're a mar...

We talk about why we call ourselves atheists, and discuss the book Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to Your Kids About Religion When You're Not Religious by Wendy Thomas Russell.  The Family Skeptical: We're a married atheist couple raising two wonderful, strange children. We ask big questions, dissect weird parenting moments, and examine how society ignores or misrepresents families like...

It's our first episode! We discuss why we're doing this podcast, and our TikTok Triumph seems like a very positive Christian response to doubt… but is there more under the surface? You can see the full TikTok here . (Also - we make mention of next week's show. That was our slip. Initially we'll be releasing every 2-3 weeks, so it might be a good idea to subscribe if you don't want to miss it.) The...