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After almost 10 years of broadcasting and podcasting Thinking Clearly, a series of life events has caused Bob and Julia to say "adieu" to this labor of love. In this final episode they share their thoughts and feelings about what this project has meant to them, as they summarize and discuss some of the main themes that have emerged from their focus on critical thinking. It is their fondest hope that listeners will be inspired to use science and critical thinking to accurately reveal reality as they make decisions and form their beliefs. And that they use philosophy and moral reasoning to help guide their values in creating a better world.

Listen to the explanation at the beginning of this episode to understand why you will be hearing a replay of episode #86. The danger of disinformation to our social fabric, and to our democracy, are the focus of this discussion with philosopher, educator and author, Lee McIntyre. Lee holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and is currently a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. His latest book, "Disinformation-How to fight for Truth and Protect Democracy", is even more relevant in 2025 than when it first came out in 2023.

Bob and Julia interview each other and discuss a number of topics related to critical thinking that have been on their minds for years, including: What does our show's name ("Thinking Clearly") mean to you, and how does that name represent our show? Should beliefs and opinions meet the same standards as logical arguments? Is persuasion appropriate in critical thinking? For you, what are the most frustrating aspects of our current state of information and political environments?

Our discussion with Kyle Falbo—Math and Computer Science Lecturer and Educational Technology Application Expert at Sonoma State University—focuses on how AI-enhanced teaching and learning tools (ChatGPT, Google NotebookLM, Khanmigo and others) are being explored and implemented at SSU. Our discussion also includes: the possible risks and benefits of this new technology, how AI-assisted tools can be used outside of educational institutions by life-long learners and critical thinkers, and how the future might unfold as we experience living with AI.

Emotions are often viewed as interfering with clear, objective, evidence-based reasoning; in fact, "appeal to emotion" is considered to be a logical fallacy. However, our guest, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang—professor of education, psychology, and neuroscience at the University of Southern California and author of: "Emotions, Learning, and the Brain"—argues that this narrow perspective overlooks a substantial body of research, and, far from being disruptive, emotions are integral to cognition, learning, and decision-making. As she states in her book: "It is literally neurobiologically impossible to build memories, engage in complex thoughts, or make meaningful decisions without emotion."

Coauthors of the widely acclaimed book, They Say/I Say-The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, explore how to craft persuasive arguments and communicate them effectively. Topics discussed include: the connection between thinking and writing; the nature of academic writing; the concept of "entering the conversation"; specific templates to improve the content of your writing, speaking, and thinking about issues that matter; the role of artificial intelligence in education; and a variety of other topics.

With a Bachelor's Degree in Biology, a Master's Degree in Philosophy, and experience as a teacher, our guest for this episode, Stephanie Simoes, developed Critikid, a website for kids, teens, teachers and others. Critikid offers instruction in: emotional intelligence (Learning to recognize, understand, and manage your emotions), safe and effective use of social media, principles of logic (including logical fallacies) and statistical and data literacy—by blending storytelling with interactive activities.

James Fishkin, Stanford University Professor (and Director of the Stanford Deliberative Democracy Lab) discusses his extensive research and development focused on the process of "Deliberative Polling" and clarifies its relationship to Deliberative Democracy—a form of democracy in which deliberation is central to decision-making. Professor Fishkin suggests that institutionalizing deliberative processes could lead to reducing political polarization, while also increasing citizens' political involvement and knowledge of the issues, as discussed in his recent book: Can Deliberation Cure the Ills of Democracy?

Patrick Hurley, Philosophy Professor Emeritus at University of San Diego and author of the widely acclaimed textbook: A Concise Introduction to Logic, joins us to discuss: the role of logic in acquiring knowledge and forming beliefs; the most important aspects of logic for critical thinkers to master; what can be done to encourage better practices in our thinking, communication and belief formation; using logic to navigate issues which relate to values; and a variety of other topics.

Early in his career our guest, Bill Adair, worked as a journalist, author, and later founded the fact-checking organization Politifact. And in 2013 he accepted a position at Duke University as the Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy, where he now teaches journalism in the Sanford School of Public Policy and directs the Duke Reporters' Lab. We discuss the negative effects of lying in politics, different types of lies, why people fall for lies, how fact-checking works, the response of journalists to political lying, and his recent book: Beyond the Big Lie-The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy.

Untrue information is called misinformation, and intentionally spread misinformation is known as disinformation. When one uses disinformation to further one's own agenda, especially in the political realm, then the information has been weaponized. And the continued acceleration of weaponized information further erodes our trust in experts, media, and other institutional sources of accurate information, and severely damages the social trust required for a healthy democracy. The "code red" conditions now prevalent in America motivate us to revisit an episode of Thinking Clearly (from May of 2022), which explores the "Nature of Trust", and to include new, updated comments from the present.

This episode looks back to the previous episode: # 22- Worldview-The Elephant in the Room of Critical Thinking, and updates it from the perspective of 2025.

This episode takes a deep dive into the concept of "worldview", based on the research and work done by Annick de Witt: researcher, writer, teacher, and founder of the organization Worldview Journeys. Topics discussed include: conceptualizing the idea of worldview; how our worldview might affect our beliefs and behaviors; examples of types of worldviews; methods of uncovering our own worldview and the worldviews of others we communicate with; how an awareness of worldviews can help us examine our own beliefs while also improving our dialogues with others.

Even though they affect all of our lives, most of us know almost nothing about how policies are made, especially policy made by our state and federal governments. So, Julia and Bob learned a lot from this conversation with guest: Robert MacCoun, Law Professor at Stanford University. With a Bachelor's, Master's and PhD degree in Psychology, professor MacCoun has long worked at the nexus between law and psychology and specialized in bringing evidence-based policy making into policy decisions, including controversial areas such as military policy debates about allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US military and drug policy. His book, "Drug War Heresies" is considered a landmark scholarly analysis of the drug legalization debate.

This discussion with philosopher, former tenured professor at Iowa State University, and now independent critical thinking educator and consultant, Kevin deLaplante, revisits the importance and benefits of critical thinking in today's post-truth world, reviews the basic skills involved with critical thinking and understanding of human cognitive vulnerabilities, while also introducing more recent ideas about human cognition like the Predictive Processing Model and Extended Mind Theory. The resources for learning and practicing critical thinking, found at Kevin's Argument Ninja Dojo membership program, are also discussed.