All Episodes

September 25, 2022 84 mins
While Vi took calls last week, Eric was sick in bed, cheering them on; but this week he's back in the saddle and ready to talk!

Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis? Call 585-526-8774 or tiny.cc/callSG and tell us why!
___________________
TIME STAMPS & CALL NOTES

00:00 - Intro - Eric Is A Smarmy A$$hole?
12:24 - Finding Belonging as a Black Atheist - Sourfruit (she/her) - CAN
30:58 - Are Trans Teachers Appropriate? - Joe (he/him) - KS
47:25 - Should “LGBTQIA+” Include Straight People? - Kay (he/him) - N/A
1:05:23 - How Should I Address Subtle Transphobia? - Ameet (he/him) - NY
1:18:34 - Superchats

00:00
Eric is back after a mental health break… to a damning email from a not-so-fan. We are called out for being cheeseballs, as cringey as the Kardashians, and generally awful, self-absorbed hosts. What a great way to kick off our Sunday.

12:24
This caller is experiencing some isolation at the intersection of being Black and atheist. Eric empathizes with her feelings of disconnectedness, and Vi provides their understanding of the unique loss of community faced by Black atheists in North America. If you are struggling with similar feelings, check out the resources below:

Black Nonbelievers: https://blacknonbelievers.org/
The Hotline Project: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/

30:58
Repeat theist caller Joe has a question about a recent “scandal” about a trans teacher. What do the hosts think about the issue? Vi lays out the problem as they see it, explaining transmisogyny and how women’s bodies are subjected to scrutiny regularly, especially teachers.

47:25
Why do we need to focus on minority groups? Why do we put people into separate categories? Why can’t straight people get included in the category of GRSM? This caller seems confused about what value communal identities have for oppressed people, so Vi does their best to explain.

Note for those with a post-101 understanding of this stuff: We use the term “straight” on this call as a shorthand for “cishetero allosexual.” Heterosexual trans people, for example, still fall under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella.

1:05:23
How do you address someone’s subtle transphobia in a way that is effective but doesn’t overstep or speak for others? This is a great question, and Vi and Eric have differing opinions about it. Vi explains their willingness to believe the best about their interlocutor, but Eric fully supports being an asshole to make a point!
___________________
Skeptic Generation is LIVE every Sunday at 11:30am-1:00pm CT
Call on your phone: 585-LA-MURPH (585-526-8774)
Call online: https://tiny.cc/callSG

Love the show?
Become a patron: https://tiny.cc/donatetoSG
Buy our new Class of ‘22 merch: http://tiny.cc/SG22Merch
Help with our studio: https://tiny.cc/SGwishlist
Join us after the show on Discord: https://tiny.cc/SGdiscord

To find out more, visit https://www.skepticgeneration.com

Copyright © 2022 Skeptic Generation. All rights reserved.
Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Burden

The Burden

The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.