Schedule
REMEMBER: This schedule is subject to change, don’t rely on this being the final schedule, please consult the actual pocket program which will be given to you when you pick up your badge at the convention!
You can find a printable version here
| Day | Date Time | Panel Code | Panel Title | Panel Description | Panel Length | Panelists | Room | Moderator | Co-Moderator |
| Friday | 9/4/09 1:00 PM | SKP001 | Who Are The Skeptics? | An introduction to a few of the well known Skeptics and what their passions are. | 1 hour | Jeff Wagg, Phil Plait, Joe Nickell, Seth Shostack, Eugenie Scott, Margaret Downey, Daniel Loxton, Ben Radford | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | (none) |
| Friday | 9/4/09 2:30 PM | SKP002 | The Skeptics Guide to Parenting | In trying to grow the skeptical movement, let us not forget the time honored method of bringing new recruits into the fold, parenthood! Skeptical parenting involves both investigating the claims of child-rearing methods as well as raising your children to be critical thinkers themselves. | 1 hour | Heidi Anderson | Hilton 205-207 | Maria Walters | Christian Walters |
| Friday | 9/4/09 4:00 PM | SKP003 | Quackery And Media Commentary | Detox Diets, Ear Candles, Homeopathy and much more are given the Dr Rachael ‘Rachie’ Dunlop treatment. Learn how the Internet has become a battleground in the fight against quackery and ill-informed commentary by the media. Dr Rachie also talks about her role in science podcasting and the feedback from her worldwide listening audience. | 1 hour | Dr. Rachael Dunlop | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Myke Alvis |
| Friday | 9/4/09 5:30 PM | SKP004 | My Life As A Skeptical Investigator | Possibly the worlds only full-time investigator of the paranormal and amazing claims, Joe Nickell, gives a talk about his travels, findings, and why that sort of work is so important to the world. | 1 hour | Joe Nickell | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Kylie Sturgess |
| Friday | 9/4/09 7:00 PM | SKP005 | Fictional Writing and Skepticism | A few top authors, who are also Skeptics, discuss what effect their personal skepticism has on their writings. | 1 hour | Mike Stackpole, Steve Gibson, Kat Richardson, Gail Martin, Scott Sigler | Hilton 205-207 | Adam Levenstein | Justin Wilson |
| Friday | 9/4/09 8:30 PM | SKP006 | Why We Need Skepticism – Lessons from Neuroscience | Dr. Novella gives a talk about why we need skepticism from a scientific angle. | 1 hour | Dr. Steven Novella | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Justin Wilson |
| Friday | 9/4/09 10:00 PM | SKP007 | How to put on a Anti-Superstition party! | Margaret Downey will give a presentation about the many fun and highly successful anti-superstition parties she has given in the past, and some she has planned for the future! | 1 hour | Margaret Downey | Hilton 205-207 | Christian Walters | Maria Walters |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 10:00 AM | SKP015 | What Do We Do Now? | As Skeptics we are faced with an overwhelming feeling that there is so much out there which needs attention. As a follow-up to the highly successful essay by Daniel Loxton, (Where Do We Go From Here), this panel discussion is about what we should do NOW moving forward to promote science, and a rational mindset in the world. The annual Jeff Medkeff memorial panel. | 1 hour | Daniel Loxton, Phil Plait, Jeff Wagg, Margaret Downey, DJ Grothe, Seth Shostack, Eugenie Scott | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Adam Levenstein |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 11:30 AM | SKP009 | American Freethought – LIVE! | American Freethought performs another great episode of their podcast for Dragon*Con goers and fans. | 1 hour | David Driscoll, John Snider | Hilton 205-207 | Adam Levenstein | Justin Wilson |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 1:00 PM | SKP010 | Skepticism in Everything | Alison Smith of Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society and SkeptiLove discusses how critical thinking can be applied to everyday problem solving, and to unmasking charlatans, cheats, and tricksters. From ghost hunting to magic to walking through the drugstore, Alison will take you on an adventure bound in applying brainpower. | 1 hour | Alison Smith | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Kylie Sturgess |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 2:30 PM | SKP011 | Women’s intuition and other fairy tales | As Oprah has proven many times over, there’s a lot of money to be made by appealing to the more gullible among female consumers. We’ll discuss some of the most popular brands of pseudoscience marketed specifically to women, from the Law of Attraction to magical cosmetics to the dangers of anti-vaccination myths. | 1 hour | Rebecca Watson, Jen Myers, Amy Roth, Carrie Iwan, A Kovacs, Maria Walters | Hilton 205-207 | Maria Walters | Derek Colanduno |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 4:00 PM | SKP012 | The Psychic and the Serial Killer: Examining the “Best Case” for Psychic Detectives | In 2008, investigator Benjamin Radford challenged the host of the “Skeptiko” podcast to find his “best case” for psychic detectives, and Ben said he would try to solve it. It was an amazing case involving a serial killer and his victims– with two police officers supporting the psychic! Join Ben Radford as he takes us inside his six-month investigation into the best case ever presented for psychics. | 1 hour | Ben Radford | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Adam Levenstein |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 5:30 PM | SKP013 | Mystery Investigators Children’s Show and Skepticism Fun and Magic | A live presentation of the cool skeptical based kids show at Dragon*Con. Come learn what really goes bump in the night! | 1 hour | Richard Saunders, Rachael Dunlop | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Myke Alvis |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 7:00 PM | SKP014 | The Astronomer, the Alien Hunter, and a UFO Skeptic | Three of the worlds leading researchers, and skeptics, discuss the state of UFO and Alien paranoia here and around the world. | 1 hour | Seth Shostak, Phil Plait, Joe Nickell | Hilton Crystal Ballroom | Adam Levenstein | Justin Wilson |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 8:30 PM | SKP015 | Skeptic Zone Podcast – LIVE | Richard Saunders, Kylie Sturgess, and the team do their skeptical podcast live for Dragon*Con. Come join the gang for some fun and knowledge. | 1 hour | Richard Saunders, Kylie Sturgess, Dr. Rachel Dunlop, Dr. Steve Roberts, Daniel Loxton, George Hrab | Hilton 205-207 | Maria Walters | Christian Walters |
| Saturday | 9/5/09 10:00 PM | SKP016 | The Geologic Show – LIVE | George Hrab goes his Geologic Podcast, as well as other musical madness live for a big Geologic Party! | 1 hour | George Hrab | Hilton 205-207 | Kylie Sturgess | Justin Wilson |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 10:00 AM | SKP017 | Are We Alone? – A Discussion | Seth Shostak discusses the current public outreach goals of SETI, and how using the skeptical mindset relates to the work at SETI as a whole. | 1 hour | Seth Shostak, Phil Plait, Pamela Gay | Hilton 205-207 | Kylie Sturgess | Derek Colanduno |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 11:30 AM | SKP018 | Stealth Science and Skeptical Thought | As skepticism becomes more mainstream, Adam Savage and fellow panelists discuss the non-traditional ways they promote science and skeptical thinking. | 1 hour | Adam Savage, Joe DiPrima, Rebecca Watson, Scott Sigler, Melissa Kaercher | Hyatt Centennial Ballroom II/III | Phil Plait | Derek Colanduno |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 1:00 PM | SKP019 | Skeptics Guide To The Universe – LIVE | Dr. Steve Novella and a group of his rouges, do a live presentation of their wildly popular podcast to kick off the 2nd year of Skeptrack at Dragon*Con! If they don’t give you an idea of what skeptics are, nothing will! | 1 hour | Steven Novella, Rebecca Watson | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Mykel Alvis |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 2:30 PM | SKP020 | JREF Presents: How You Can Combat Woo | We live in troubled times, but if everyone would stand back and take the time to follow these 5 easy steps, we could make a bit impact on the world at large. Join this call to action, and learn how you can be a major player in shaping the world of tomorrow. | 1 hour | Jeff Wagg, Alison Smith, Phil Plait | Hilton Crystal Ballroom | Adam Levenstein | Derek Colanduno |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 4:00 PM | SKP021 | Adventures inside the Discovery Institute | Come and join Maria and Kate presenting their talk about what really goes on behind the doors of the infamous Discovery Institute. | 1 hour | Maria Maltseva, Heidi Anderson | Hilton 205-207 | Myke Alvis | Derek Colanduno |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 5:30 PM | SKP022 | Is Intelligent Design Scientific? | The proponents of Intelligent Design argue for its scientifically validity, but virtually all scientists consider it unscientific or even a pseudoscience. Whether ID is scientific largely depends on one’s definition of science. Among the definitions of science used by scientists, broader definitions might include ID, but even if ID is marginal science, are its empirical claims valid? Testimony presented in a court of law as well as that of science says “no.” | 1 hour | Eugenie Scott | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Kylie Sturgess |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 7:00 PM | SKP023 | Skeptoid LIVE! | Brian Dunning performs a live Skeptoid Essay for the crowd, followed by a Q/A so you can get to know even more about this popular skeptic. | 1 hour | Brian Dunning | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Justin Wilson |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 8:30 PM | SKP024 | The Truth About Ghosts and Ghost Hunting | We have all seen ghosts in film and on television, from Poltergeist to Medium to Ghost Hunters. But how much of that is real and how much is fiction? What does science tell us about ghosts? What kinds of evidence are offered for the existence of ghosts, and how valid is that evidence? Scientific paranormal investigator Benjamin Radford will discuss several case studies of his ghost investigations. | 1 hour | Benjamin Radford | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Kylie Sturgess |
| Sunday | 9/6/09 10:00 PM | SKP025 | Future of Atheism | The president of the American Athiests, Ed Buckner, and the Vice President David Silverman, give a talk about the future of Freethought and Atheism here in the United States. | 1 hour | Ed Buckner, David Silverman | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Myke Alvis |
| Monday | 9/7/09 10:00 AM | SKP026 | Skeptic Psychology and in the Classroom | Join some leading skeptics who also teach for a living. Learn about some of the challenges and solutions they have learned in their travels in the classroom. | 1 hour | Dr. Bridgstock, Daniel Loxton, DJ Grothe, Barbara Drescher, Matt Lowry, Kylie Sturgess | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Kylie Sturgess |
| Monday | 9/7/09 11:30 AM | SKP027 | Feeding the Skeptic’s Soul | It takes the dissenting view about what “the skeptic movement’s” constituents might really want from the “movement,” and whether we should avoid taking skeptical inquiry to its logical end: the “big” questions. | 1 hour | Steve Gibson | Hilton 205-207 | Adam Levenstein | Justin Wilson |
| Monday | 9/7/09 1:00 PM | SKP028 | Internet Skepticism | The internet is an excellent venue for skeptical outreach, and there are many free and cheap tools available. But are you using them most effectively? Which of the newest tools and sites (such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, blogs, podcasts and so on) are the best suited to getting your skeptical message out? Are there topics and audiences that skeptics are not covering well? These topics and more will be covered by Tim Farley, creator of the skeptical website whatstheharm.net. | 1 hour | Tim Farley | Hilton 205-207 | Christian Walters | Maria Walters |
| Monday | 9/7/09 2:30 PM | SKP029 | Blogging Skeptically | A panel of skeptical bloggers discuss the challenges of writing, researching and running a skeptical blog, encouraging critical thinking and managing commenters. Discussions will include increasing readership, attracting people to the site and building a community around a skeptical blog. | 1 hour | Maria Walters, Rebecca Watson, Phil Plait, Steven Novella, Rachael Dunlop | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Kylie Sturgess |
| Monday | 9/7/09 4:00 PM | SKP030 | Skeptrack Sign-Off Party | The end of another year at Skeptrack. Come and give some feedback and join whichever guests are left for our end of convention wrap-up party. | 1 hour | Rebecca Watson, Phil Plait, Steven Novella, Rachael Dunlop, Daniel Loxton, etc… | Hilton 205-207 | Derek Colanduno | Kylie Sturgess |
