CFI Blasphemy Conference (2:04) by James O’Malley & Liz Lutgendorff
(ft Andrew Copson, Austin Dacey and Maryam Namazie)
Welfare Reform (15:17) by Steven Sumpter
UniLad (25:44) by Dean Burnett
Deaths in Custody (34:52) by Georgia Gale Grant
Nuclear Theatre (41:27) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Nicholas Kent)
The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy & Brian Two

• The Future of Blasphemy by Austin Dacey
• Rally to defend free expression
• Listen to podcasts from the CFI Blasphemy Conference here
• Deaths in custody stats
• The Tricycle goes nuclear
• Liz’s full interview with Nicholas Kent:
  

It was organised and introduced by Dr Stephen Law of Heythrop College, University of London and Editor of Think (Royal Institute Philosophy) Provost of Centre for Inquiry UK.

We have three of the talks available here. We hope to add the other two – pending permission from the speakers.

Andrew Copson – Blasphemy laws by the back door

Andrew Copson has been chief executive of the British Humanist Association since 2010 before which he spent five years coordinating the association’s campaigns work including on blasphemy and free speech issues.

After decades of campaigning the criminal offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel have been abolished but censorship of blasphemous content and even threatened prosecution of blaspheme’s continues in the UK. Andrew explores how corporate interests, opaque advertising regulations and new criminal laws continue to stifle free expression, free criticism and mockery of gods and religions.

Austin Dacey – The Future of Blasphemy

Austin Dacey, Ph.D., is a representative to the United Nations for the International Humanist and Ethical Union and the author of The Future of Blasphemy:

If blasphemy is an affront to values that are held sacred, then it is too important to be left to the traditionally religious. In the public contestation of the sacred, each of us—secular and religious alike—has equal right and authority to speak on its behalf and equal claim to redress for its violation. Laws against blasphemy and “religious hatred” are inherently discriminatory because they give traditional faith communities a legal remedy that is not available to religious minorities and secularists when their sense of the sacred is violated.

Maryam Namazie – Blasphemy, Offence, and Islamophobia limiting Citizen Rights

Maryam will be speaking on how accusations of blasphemy, offensive speech and ‘Islamophobia’ censor and restrict free speech, limit citizen rights, and aid and abet Islamism. Maryam Namazie is Spokesperson of the One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran. She is also National Secular Society Honorary Associate and the NSS’ 2005 Secularist of the Year award winner and was selected one of the top 45 women of the year 2007 by Elle magazine Quebec.

New Douglas Adams Audio (1:51) by Jon Treadway (ft Stephen Fry, Mark Carwardine and Douglas Adams)
Julian Huppert on LibDem Science Policy (11:56) by James O’Malley & Liz Lutgendorff
Jesus & Mo at the LSE (23:45) by James O’Malley (ft Chris Moos)
Adam Rutherford Interview (31:26) by Liz Lutgendorff
Technological Progress (40:58) by Drew Rae
My Little Brony (50:00) by Salim Fadhley (ft Coder Brony)
The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy and Brian Two

Follow-Up Links

Douglas Adams Links:

• Douglas Adams: The Party at Hammersmith Apollo
• Save The Rhino
• Douglas Adams Animation Competition
• Listen to our Douglas Adams tribute documentary here

Other Links:

• Preparing the Ground: The new LibDem digital policy
• To contribute to Julian Huppert’s LibDem science policy, e-mail: libdemsciencepolicy@gmail.com
• BHA Darwin Day lecture with Adam Rutherford
• Brony Herd Census

In this 5th podcast, Simon Frantz discussed the 1987 film Robocop with roboticist Dr Peter Bentley from the Department of Computer Science, University College London, and a contributing editor to Wired UK. In March Peter is releasing a book called Digitized: The science of computers and how it shapes our world and you can already pre-order it!

CineSci6 is organised by James Robson and Paolo Viscardi, and facilitated by Kate Coventry. The discussion is led by Simon Frantz.

In this edition Simon Frantz speaks to Justin Hancock, trainer and consultant at Bish Training, a sex and relationships website for teenagers, about the 1985 film Weird Science.

Justin has blogged about the event and put up some related notes (including a picture of the infamous masculinity donut here).

CineSci6 is organised by James Robson and Paolo Viscardi, and facilitated by Kate Coventry. The discussion is led by Simon Frantz.

SOPA Blackout (2:05) by Georgia Gale Grant
Behind the scenes at the Wikipedia blackout (9:33) by Tom Morris
Figshare (17:58) by Jon Treadway (ft Mark Hahnel)
Teletubbies Scandal (27:36) by Salim Fadhley (ft Dave Thompson)
The Sex Party (39:33) by Chris Huang-Lever
Scotland and Tory England (45:17) by Keir Liddle
A Bugs’ Life (50:16) by Adam Jacobs (ft Matt Shardlow)
Videogames and Morality (60:16) by Trent Burton
The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy and Brian Two

Donate & Support the Pod Delusion

• Make a donation to the Pod Delusion
• Subscribe £5/month to help the Pod Delusion (or subscribe £10/month here)

Follow-Up Links:

• Figshare
• The Sex Life of a Comedian by Dave Thompson
• Dave Thompson’s website
• Chris’s full interview with Fiona Patten:
  
  

Georgia’s SOPA Links:

• Pirates at Sony and Fox
• Khan Academy Explains SOPA
• Reddit’s technical examination of SOPA
• CDT on SOPA
• A day without PZ Myers
• xkcd on SOPA

Adam’s neonicotinoids links:

• Adam’s Interview in full:
  
• The PLoS One paper on neonicotinoids
• The review of neonicotinoids by Kindemba, commissioned by Buglife in 2009
• Cresswell 2010
• Interaction between Nosema infection and neonicotinoids in bees
• Bug Life

Even though your intrepid editor and myself are still feeling quite under the weather, we gathered what strength we had and figured if we died laughing, it would be the best way to go.

We hadn’t seen any of the previous FOSTN shows down at the New Red Lion Theatre so we didn’ t know entirely what to expect – though having seen both Helen Arney and Matt Parker perform, we knew that we would be in for some clever and entertaining comedy.   We were not disappointed.

There is something genuinely lovely about being in an audience who know must be nerdy by the fact they are going to a comedy celebration of nerdiness.  The three on stage are also just such nice people that it does feel like a festive atmosphere.  As well, for us, the Bloomsbury Theatre is the home of Robin Ince’s 9 Lessons and Carols so it’s a comfortable and familiar venue.

There was a lot packed into the show and most of it was entirely new material for us  - which is rare as we generally see a lot of the science/comedy scene in London.   Even the bits that we had seen before like Andrea Sella (@SellaTheChemist) setting stuff on fire with bright blue lights and recognizable ‘barks’ will never get old.  Andrea was one of the special guests alongside Kent Valentine (@KentValentine) who had an excellent, just ridiculous story about his 15 year old self and a friend making napalm while his mother was out.   I don’t know if the routine is floating about  YouTube or not but I would encourage seeing him based on that bit alone.  Who knows, maybe he’ll show up at some of the other FOSTN big shows (more on that later) as well.

One of the most intriguing bits of the show, which I am fascinated by, were the solids of constant width.  3D objects that have the same width no matter which way they face/lie.  To prove this, Steve Mould had many of these wonderful shapes made and then proceeded to try and float across the stage on them.  It was an excellent demonstration of mathematical concepts and comedy (replete with dressing up as his tiny lego man counterpart for the previous section demonstrating shapes of constant width to the audience).   This sketch really sums up for me the true brilliance of the show: on one hand I was absolutely fascinated by this abstract concept and Steve’s obsession with the shapes of constant width but he then makes it hilarious. I am now going to remember that concept for a very long time (I just wish there was a nerdy enough pub quiz for it to be used in!)  In true nerdy fashion, Steve and Matt are going to have many of the shapes of constant width made where you will be able to purchase one – they’ll at least have one sale as I am going to get one when available.

The three seem to work effortlessly at banter and performing together on stage.  Helen Arney’s songs are always amusing (Keep your trousers on Archimedes was probably my favourite); Matt Parker can make any graph interesting; and Steve Mould’s experiments are brilliant.   The only thing that tended to break up the flow (for me) was that they asked the audience if they had any questions after the various sketches.  I imagine it would work in a smaller venue but for the larger one, it slowed down the pace of the show a bit.  Nonetheless, some of the questions and answers given were equally amusing as the sketches.

Overall, it was a wonderfully indulgent night of geekery.   If anyone has made a new  years resolution about getting out to see more shows, there are two more Festival of the Spoken Nerd MASSSIVE shows coming up in the next several months.  There is a second date at the Bloomsbury Theatre on the 22nd of May but sooner than that and also MORE MASSIVE is the Theatre Royal Haymarket gig  next month on February 2nd.  Support nerd comedy goodness so we can have more!  What can be better than filling the theatres and venues with smart, sophisticated, clever comedy that tickles every nerdy bone in your body?

Liz Lutgendorff, Deputy Editor

Jesus, Mo and UCL (2:13) by James O’Malley (ft Dave, the guy behind Jesus & Mo!)
Spartacus Report (9:36) by Steven Sumpter
Obscenity Trial (21:10) by David Allen Green (ft Myles Jackman and Michael Peacock)
Wind Farms (24:22) by Pete Hague
The LHC is valuable (33:40) by Kash Farooq, Peter Silk & George Hrab
Death Penalty & Assisted Dying (40:44) by Sean Ellis
Christian Nightmares (47:16) by Salim Fadhley (ft Christian Nightmares guy)

Follow-Up Links:

• Jesus and Mo
• Jesus and Mo books
• The Spartacus Report
• Civitas Windfarms Report
• Pete’s Civitas Blog
• Merrill Womach
• “20 minutes to go”

Daily Mail Justice (1:58) by Martin Robbins
Hungary for Constitutional Change (7:45) by Dave Landon Cole
Open Primaries (14:08) by Cory Hazlehurst
Pro-Assisted Dying (22:16) by Jennie Kermode (performed by Melinda Burton)
Anti-Assisted Dying (33:21) by William Lee
The Cost of Physics (40:38) by Adam Jacobs
Apocalypse Soon? (50:06) by Leila Johnston
Just World (60:29) by Dean Burnett
Blogger of the Year (67:02) by David Allen Green

Follow-Up Links:

• William Lee’s Assisted Dying Survey of Doctors
• Review of similar surveys
• Survey of medical students
• Falconer Report
• 2005 House of Lords Report

Congratulations to Tim Ireland as Bloggerheads is our blog of the year 2011!

Obit (0:49) by Dave Cole
Hitch and religion (8:40) by Cory Hazlehurst
Hitch the Historian (15:46) by Rich Godbehere 6:36
Post-9/11 Hitch (23:42) by Mohammed Fahad (read by Alex Foster) 5:36
Regime change? (30:03) by David Eastman 4:14
Twitter Censorship? (35:40) by Dave Cross 6:12
Tweet inserts are by Sean Ellis
Music by Milton Mermikidies