The last episode of the year 2010! This is a pre-recorded interview with Jean-Michel Abrassart, who is the:

“National winner 2010' in the European Podcast Awards (Category France / Personality – a podcast made by an individual – with the support of a professional organization or not).

Jean-Michel holds a degree in psychology and in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium). He is also a member of the "Comité Para", the Belgian French-speaking skeptic organization. He did his short thesis in psychology about the sociopsychological approach of the UFO phenomena. His site is found at Scepticisme Scientifique.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com.

As a present to my listeners - this is about a five-minute segment of a twenty-year old interview that is done by Maynard of http://www.maynard.com.au.

How come this audio is available? Well, firstly, I met Maynard in Sydney, earlier in the year, and mentioned that I kept on one of my audio tapes this very interview. The full story of how I became a keen listener of Maynard's show back in the 1980-1990s features on the Token Skeptic website, under the show notes for Episode #47.

From Wikipedia: Douglas Adams (1952 – 2001) was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television series, several stage plays, comics, a computer game, and in 2005, a feature film.

Maynard's interview is with the author Douglas Adams and this is only a part of it has to feature - I'm certain that Maynard will feature the whole thing on his show very soon. He's already put a few teasers online via Twitter, and you can find his account at MaynardComAu. Please listen to his show and send him your support, as you do my show. Many, many thanks to him, the very best to all of you for the season, and thanks for being an important part of my skeptial-activities this year.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com.

First and foremost and absolutely before anything – thanks to Jane and Beaufort Street Books in Mt Lawley, Warren Bonett and Peter Cartledge.

We had a live-Skype crossover Q&A with Warren in front of a packed bookstore to talk about The Australian Book of Atheism.

This episode features how the book started, the contributors and how it was pulled together; what the history of atheism in Australia tells us about the growth and development of rationalism in this country is like; the favorable response by the media; the need for an Australian book of atheism and the hopes for future editions and what they might include. Lots of great questions from the audience, everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. I even got to read out Tim Minchin’s ‘Storm’, from the book! Thanks again to everyone who helped and took part - The Australian Book of Atheism is available from good bookstores near you, like Beaufort St Books and Embiggen Books!

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com.

The following is taken from one of the Dragon*Con panels:

Women: Myths, Feminism And Skepticism – Puzzled by feminine mystique? Still searching for your 'inner Velma'? Attend this panel by a range of experienced investigators on the topics of gender, pop-culture and what science REALLY tells us! Desiree Schell, Barbara Drescher, Donna Mugavero, K.O. Myers, Brian Gregory, Melissa Kaercher and Kylie Sturgess.

Once again, really big thanks to Derek Colanduno and his team at the SkepTrack at Dragon*Con. Additional thanks to David Price for taking a photo of us all on the panel!

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I'd love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com.

This is a short essay that was submitted to the new podcast 'Strange Quarks' - and I strongly recommend that other podcasters consider sending in their own short essays! This is a short overview on the contribution of science education to challenging paranormal and pseudoscientific beliefs in females.

The influence of mainstream education in the face of numerous factors that encourages anomalistic beliefs naturally diminishes, although a good science education can definitely play a part in improving the lives of young people. Especially when the sciences are so important to the future progress of every country. Even the skeptically-minded themselves should be critically evaluating how they challenge predominant attitudes towards homeopathy, alternative medicine and the like in young women - and whether making a difference requires different approaches that are more sensitive to the influences on their lives.

Strange Quarks is a podcast on science, pseudoscience, skepticism and evidence-based policy. It is made by Michael Marshall and Martin Robbins for the Pulse Project. http://strangequarks.net/. Many thanks to Jean-Michel Abrassart of http://scepticismescientifique.blogspot.com, who always encourages me to keep doing essays.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, of www.miltonmermikides.com.

Welcome to episode forty-three! TAMOz, TAM Australia, whatever you want to call it - have an hour of what it's like to be me in Sydney, losing my delusions about what Australian Skeptics are and what it could be.

Interviews include: Nicholas and Alex Southhall - Warren Bonett and the Booksellers for Embiggen Books - Simon Singh - Jack Scanlan of the Young Australian Skeptics - Madge Carew-Hopkins the winner of the TAMOz student scholarship - Thom Perry, one of the webdesigners and branding experts for the TAMOz convention - Paul Willis - Simon Taylor - Julian Morrow - Loretta Marron - Peter Ellerton - James Randi - Dr Rob Morrison.

We talk about education, the Bent Spoon nomination for ACARA, science communication, popularity, effectiveness, outreach, activism, coffee mornings, not enough sleep, magic, psychology, the best books ever and why blogging does matter. Many thanks to the organisers, everyone who was kind enough to talk to me and to the likes of Brian Dunning  for only standing still long enough around me for one photo. Ah well. Maybe next year I'll be famous enough... :p

My sympathies and best wishes to Derek K Miller and his family. This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P and P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, at www.miltonmermikides.com.

A short mixture of interviews and opinions from the 'Blogger's Breakfast', a gathering of early-morning breakfasting skeptics in the shade of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Includes the 'Placebo Bands', Dave the Happy Singer (of www.davethehappysinger.com) the Australian Book of Atheism, Homologous Legs blog, Victorian Skeptics website and 'Bastard Sheep'.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, at www.miltonmermikides.com.

Welcome to a catch-up episode of the Token Skeptic! Many apologies for the delays on the last episode and many thanks to Michael Marshall and all thepeople of QEDCon for their patience!

This episode was recorded at Dragon*Con and it is thanks again to Derek and Swoopy of SkepTrack and Skepticality podcast.

Naturally Skeptical? The Psychology Behind Being A Skeptic. It's a round-table discussion on the factors that do (and don’t!) contribute to becoming a questioner of the paranormal and pseudoscientific. The panel featured Prof. Barbara Drescher, Matt Lowry, Jamy Ian Swiss, Dr Scott Lilienfeld, myself Kylie Sturgess and was moderated by DJ Grothe.

Don't forget that TAM Australia starts this weekend, and I'll be there. Check out the schedule at http://www.tamaustralia.org and most importantly, visit the Embiggen Books display that will be featured. Enjoy this episode and if you're at the Amazing Meeting Australia, say hello to me at the Friday night at Maloney's hotel and on the stage with the Skeptic Zone podcast!

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, at www.miltonmermikides.com.

Question. Explore. Discover.

QED Conference is a two-day science and skepticism conference taking place in the Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester on the 5th-6th February 2011. QED is organised by North West Skeptical Events Ltd for the Greater Manchester Skeptics Society and the Merseyside Skeptics Society. All proceeds from QED will be donated to the National Autistic Society and Sense About Science.

You can still get tickets to the event, via the QED website at www.qedcon.org. This interview features Michael Marshall, the co-founder of Merseyside Skeptics Society and Presenter of Skeptics with a K and Righteous Indignation podcasts. Thanks to him, you're going to hear all about this conference! I'll be attending and presenting at a panel on 'Reaching Out Reasonably'.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, at www.miltonmermikides.com.

Welcome to a special release for the Token Skeptic podcast! RE-RELEASE to improve sound!

JREF now has a Director of Educational Programs - what else is being done out there and how can skeptics help educate the next generation? This is the audio of the panel recorded at Dragon*Con 2010, featuring moderator DJ Grothe and panelists Barbara Drescher, Michael Blanford, Daniel Loxton, Pamela Gay, Matt Lowry and myself, Kylie Sturgess. It's a great honor to be included with these people and I look forward to working with them in the future!

Very big thanks to Mark Distler of Abrupt Media and his audio team and (as always) very, VERY big thanks to the SkepTrack at Dragon*Con, and the director Derek Colanduno. None of this would have been possible without them.

This show is available on Zune, mp3 via Libsyn or iTunes. Visit www.tokenskeptic.org – and I’d love to hear your feedback at tokenskeptic@gmail.com. Theme songs are 'P&P' by Derek K Miller of www.penmachine.com and '365' by Milton Mermikides, at www.miltonmermikides.com.