Date – May 17, 2011 read by Derek.
May 18th, 1980 Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington, State.

There is more feedback about the episode with author Gary Taubes.
Taubes book Why We Get Fat is controversial despite the data.
SkepDoc Harriet Hall reviews Taubes work at Science Based Medicine.
A follow up show with either or both Taubes and Dr. Hall is a possibility.
Today’s guest is author and Humanist, Jennifer Hancock.
She is the former Executive Director of the Humanists of Florida.

Skeptic History Notes:
Harold Camping has been predicting a May 21, 2011 Rapture on his
Family Radio network and elsewhere.
Hans Hut predicted an apocalypse for Pentecost in May of 1528.
Following the April, 1910 perihelion of Halley’s Comet some predicted doom in May.
The Nuwaubian cult in Georgia predicted a UFO would scoop up believers on May 5, 2003.
A Japanese cult called Pana Wave claimed the world would end on May 15, 2003.
The web site A Brief History of the Apocalypse is a great compilation of the
many hundreds of times such predictions have been made.
Arthur Conan Doyle was born May 22, 1859.
His speeches on May 23 and May 26, 1922 in Chicago strongly influenced J.B. Rhine.
J.B. Rhine went on to become a major parapsychologist.
J.B. Rhine’s paper debunking Margery was published in early 1927.
You can read daily Skeptic History facts on Twitter, Facebook or FriendFeed.

Jennifer produces the Thought of the Week Podcast.
She’s also a contributor to the Humanist Network News,
writes the Humanism column for the Bradenton Herald,
and contributor on Humanism and Freethought for the Tampa Examiner.
Her first book is The Humanist Approach to Happiness: Practical Wisdom.

Church State Separation is important to Humanists, but it shouldn’t define us.
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich conflates atheism with Islamic extremism.
Tampa recently hosted the International Freethought Film Festival.
The opening film was Roger Nygard’s The Nature of Existence documentary.
Meetup.Com is a great resource for finding local Humanist groups.
The American Humanist Society is a great starting point to learn about Humanism.
You can find out more about Jennifer, her blog and her book at her personal website.
You can also find Jennifer Hancock on Facebook.