<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<font size="+1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/presents/?fbclid=IwAR1gR4jK2oor3o18dkLowcdRu2PiJRODr8gg84C3J__I_oFKPzry4OjM0f4">https://skepticalinquirer.org/presents/?fbclid=IwAR1gR4jK2oor3o18dkLowcdRu2PiJRODr8gg84C3J__I_oFKPzry4OjM0f4</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</font><br>
<header class="entry-header">
<h1 class="entry-title">Skeptical Inquirer Presents</h1>
<hr> </header>
<p><b><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-222399"
src="https://skepticalinquirer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2020/07/SIP-dark-300x121.png"
alt="" width="300" height="121">Flattening the Curve of the
Infodemic</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now more than ever, people need
to hear from the voices of reason, science, and skepticism, but
too often they are drowned out by the noise of misinformation,
pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories, especially online. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s why </span><i><span
style="font-weight: 400;">Skeptical Inquirer</span></i><span
style="font-weight: 400;">, the magazine of science and reason,
is going to turn up the volume. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Introducing </span><b>Skeptical
Inquirer Presents</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, live
online presentations from leading experts in science,
skepticism, medicine, media, activism, and advocacy, all devoted
to the cause of advancing science over pseudoscience, media
literacy over conspiracy theories, and critical thinking over
magical thinking. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Every two weeks, Skeptical
Inquirer Presents will bring you a new live event, emceed by the
brilliant and hilarious comedian Leighann Lord, co-host of the </span><i><span
style="font-weight: 400;">Point of Inquiry</span></i><span
style="font-weight: 400;"> podcast. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And it’s all happening from the
comfort of your laptop (or any other screen), wherever you are
in the world, because even though so much has been closed down,
big ideas can’t be contained in conference halls.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s time to flatten the curve of
the infodemic. Free registration is required for these online
lectures. See below for details and registration, and check back
for additional events.</span></p>
<header class="sub-header">
<h3>Schedule</h3>
<hr>
</header>
<p> </p>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-lg-4 col-md-6 mb-3"><br>
</div>
<div class="col-lg-8 col-md-6">
<h3><strong>Conspiracy Theories and COVID-19</strong></h3>
<h5>Featuring: Joseph Uscinski</h5>
<p><em>Thursday, July 30th – 7:00 PM ET</em></p>
<p>Using a wealth of recent survey data, Professor Joseph
Uscinski will show just how popular conspiracy theories about
COVID-19 are, and why they are so dangerous to our health.
Uscinski will then look at another set of dangers facing us
today: those associated with misunderstanding the causes of
conspiracy theories. Smashing down some of the most common
myths about conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists,
Uscinski will show that conspiracy theories are not a product
of the internet, social media, or even our modern age.</p>
<p>Joseph Uscinski is associate professor of political science
at University of Miami and co-author of <em>American
Conspiracy Theories</em> (Oxford, 2014).</p>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-lg-4 col-md-6 mb-3">
<p><br>
</p>
</div>
<div class="col-lg-8 col-md-6">
<h3><strong>Developing a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine: Is Warp Speed Too
Fast?</strong></h3>
<h5>Featuring: Paul Offit</h5>
<p><em>Thursday, August 13th – 7:00 PM ET</em></p>
<p>We’ll discuss the path to developing a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
with an understanding that most research and development
programs for vaccines take about 15-20 years. The expectation,
however, is that this vaccine will be developed in 12-18
months. Given that this would undoubtedly mean that steps
along the path will be compressed or skipped, will this make
for a less safe or less effective vaccine?</p>
<p>Paul A. Offit, MD is the Director of the Vaccine Education
Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the
co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq.</p>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="row">
<div class="col-lg-4 col-md-6 mb-3">
<p><br>
</p>
</div>
<div class="col-lg-8 col-md-6">
<h3><strong>Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall For Them</strong></h3>
<h5>Featuring: Seema Yasmin</h5>
<p><em>Thursday, September 10th – 7:00 PM ET</em></p>
<p>Can your zip code predict when you will die? Will
testosterone supplements boost your libido? Should you space
out childhood vaccines? Does talcum powder cause cancer? Why
do some doctors recommend e-cigarettes while other doctors
recommend you stay away from them? Health information―and
misinformation―is all around us, and it can be hard to
separate the two. A long history of unethical medical
experiments and medical mistakes, along with a host of
celebrities spewing anti-science beliefs, has left many wary
of science and the scientists who say they should be trusted.
How do we stay sane while unraveling the knots of fact and
fiction to find out what we should really be concerned about,
and what we can laugh off?</p>
<p>Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, medical
doctor, author, and Director of the Stanford Health
Communication Initiative.</p>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<h3>To register, go to: <font size="+1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/presents/?fbclid=IwAR1gR4jK2oor3o18dkLowcdRu2PiJRODr8gg84C3J__I_oFKPzry4OjM0f4">https://skepticalinquirer.org/presents/?fbclid=IwAR1gR4jK2oor3o18dkLowcdRu2PiJRODr8gg84C3J__I_oFKPzry4OjM0f4</a></font></h3>
<p><br>
</p>
<font size="+1"></font>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
“Optimism”
by Jane Hirshfield
More and more I have come to admire resilience.
Not the simple resistance of a pillow, whose foam
returns over and over to the same shape, but the sinuous
tenacity of a tree: finding the light newly blocked on one side,
it turns in another. A blind intelligence, true.
But out of such persistence arose turtles, rivers,
mitochondria, figs--all this resinous, unretractable earth.</pre>
</body>
</html>