Last week marked a milestone for those of us engaged in online skeptical outreach. Skepticality, the show that started all of our skeptical podcasting fun, turned five. In a world before Facebook, Twitter, and the big network of local Skeptics in the Pub, for many of us Derek and Swoopy were the only skeptics' community we had, in our ear week after week. Thank you for the steady stream of critical thinking, you two!
When I proposed that D.J. and I begin a podcast back in the fall of 2005, it was because I was inspired by Derek and Swoopy and how great Skepticality was. We were employed at the Center for Inquiry at the time, and not everyone there at first understood the promise of podcasting for skeptical outreach, even if they eventually came around because of our success with Point of Inquiry (D.J. and I ended up doing over 200 episodes of that show with over 6 million downloads during our tenure. Since then I've left CFI to pursue my legal education, and D.J. moved on to head up the JREF).
I first met Derek and Swoopy back in January of 2006 at a podcasting conference I attended with D.J., and have enjoyed their warmth and friendship since. This was right after Derek's stroke, but I was still impressed with how they brought podcasting to the skeptical world and skepticism to the podcasting world.
These two deserve commendation: not only did they start skeptic podcasting with Skepticality, but they also started a skeptical mini-convention at Dragon*Con, which has gone onto attract many new critical thinkers into the fold. This shows you what just two people who are creative and hard working can do to advance skepticism's agenda; to get people thinking about why they believe what they believe and whether there is good reason for it.
I suggested D.J. have Derek and Swoopy on For Good Reason this last week and I think you will find the conversation, which runs the gamut from the influence of podcasting on the grassroots skeptical movement, to how much fun iPads are, to be really enjoyable. It can be found at ForGoodReason.org.
Happy birthday, Skepticality, and thanks again, Derek and Swoopy!