Thinking Clearly radio show on KMUD (2025)

15/07/2025

Many guests on Thinking Clearly have emphasized the importance of learning critical thinking skills at an early age, but our guest for this July, 2025 episode—airing on KMUD on Tuesday, July 22, from 9 to 10 AM—actually did something to make that happen. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and experience as a teacher, our guest, Stephanie Simoes, developed Critikid, a website for kids, teens, teachers and others, which gives 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.

The KMUD studio is located in Redway, California and broadcasts at the following frequencies: Garberville area-91.1 FM; Eureka area-88.1 FM; Laytonville area-90.3 FM; Shelter Cove area-99.5 FM.
• Out of Range of KMUD's signal? Stream us (at airtime) on the internet at:
http://www.radiorethink.com/tuner/?stationCode=kmud
Or
• Catch the podcast version of the show, which we'll post after the show airs on KMUD at:
http://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

24/06/2025

Do you want to hear ideas for making our American democracy stronger? If so, listen/download/enjoy the June, 2025 podcast edition of Thinking Clearly: #107-How Institutionalizing Deliberative Political Processes Can Lead to Deliberative Democracy and Reduce Polarization-with guest Jim Fishkin. Get the podcast at: https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/ or any of your favorite podcatcher sites.

In this edition of Thinking Clearly, 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?"

Additional Links:
• James Fishkin’s Stanford Faculty Page: https://profiles.stanford.edu/james-fishkin?tab=bio
• Fishkin’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/Books-James-S-Fishkin/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJames%2BS.%2BFishkin
• Deliberative Democracy Lab: https://deliberation.stanford.edu/
• Wikipedia page for Deliberative Democracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliberative_democracy
• Bright Line Watch Democracy Poll: https://brightlinewatch.org/threats-to-democracy-and-academic-freedom-after-trumps-second-first-100-days/

17/06/2025

Currently our democracy is being tested by an unparalleled series of dramatic events. But with crisis comes opportunity, and as some bad actors continue to attempt to obliterate our democratic norms, others are working hard to examine vulnerabilities in our democratic system and to find ways to strengthen it. Tune to Thinking Clearly on KMUD at 9 AM on Tuesday, June 24 to hear Stanford Professor of Communication and Political Science, Jim Fishkin, discuss how a process he developed called “Deliberative Polling” can be institutionalized and lead to “Deliberative Democracy”—a form of democracy in which deliberation is central to decision-making. Professor Fishkin is also the Director of the Stanford Deliberative Democracy Lab and author of the upcoming book: “Can Deliberation Cure the Ills of Democracy? “

The KMUD studio is located in Redway, California and broadcasts at the following frequencies: Garberville area-91.1 FM; Eureka area-88.1 FM; Laytonville area-90.3 FM; Shelter Cove area-99.5 FM.
• Out of Range of KMUD's signal? Stream us (at airtime) on the internet at:
http://www.radiorethink.com/tuner/?stationCode=kmud
Or
• Catch the podcast version of the show, which we'll post after the show airs on KMUD at:
http://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

27/05/2025

The May, 2025 podcast edition of Thinking Clearly:— #106-The Role of Logic in Acquiring Knowledge and Forming Beliefs, with guest Patrick Hurley—is waiting for you to listen/download/enjoy at: https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/ or any of your favorite podcatcher sites.

My (Bob’s) favorite quote from Patrick in this episode is: “Why is it wrong to accept things on insufficient evidence? Well..because if our beliefs are not supported by evidence, they’re disconnected from reality. And our beliefs are what lead us to do such things as vote. And if our voting is disconnected from reality, we are going to be voting for the wrong people and the wrong things.” On this episode, 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.

****FACT-CHECK****
In this episode, I (Bob) made the statement that: “...courses in geometry are becoming more rare.,..I’m sorry to say that some high schools have eliminated geometry from the curriculum.” After we recorded this episode, Julia fact-checked me, and it looks like, although a number of years ago a recent high school graduate told me that his high school had stopped teaching geometry, I never really properly checked that out, and now my post-show internet research shows no support for my erroneous claim that: “courses in geometry are becoming more rare.” So thank you (Julia) for fact-checking me. And we welcome Thinking Clearly listeners to fact-check what we say on our episodes and to email that feedback to: [email protected].

Additional Links:
• Patrick’s Author Site: https://www.patrickhurleyauthor.com/
• His Logic Textbook (Latest Edition-14th): https://www.amazon.com/Concise-Introduction-Logic-Patrick-Hurley-dp-0357798686/dp/0357798686/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

25/05/2025

Premise 1-All KMUD Listeners who want to learn more about logic should tune into Thinking Clearly on KMUD, Tuesday, May 27, from 9 to 10 AM.
Premise 2-You are a KMUD listener who wants to learn more about logic.
Conclusion-Therefore, you should tune into Thinking Clearly on KMUD, Tuesday, May 27.
If these premises are true, then the conclusion has to be true. But even if the premises are not true, we invite you to listen to this episode with Professor Emeritus, Patrick Hurley, who was educated by the Jesuits and taught philosophy at the Catholic-affiliated, University of San Diego, and then after he retired wrote the book: "Religion, Power, and Illusion: A Genealogy of Religious Belief"—a book that Kirkus Reviews calls: “A sharply provocative, often engrossing challenge to faith-based pieties.” But the book that brings him to Thinking Clearly is his widely acclaimed textbook: "A Concise Introduction to Logic." And this episode of Thinking Clearly explores: the Role of Logic in Acquiring Knowledge and Forming Beliefs.
The KMUD studio is located in Redway, California and broadcasts at the following frequencies: Garberville area-91.1 FM; Eureka area-88.1 FM; Laytonville area-90.3 FM; Shelter Cove area-99.5 FM.
• Out of Range of KMUD's signal? Stream us (at airtime) on the internet at:
http://www.radiorethink.com/tuner/?stationCode=kmud
Or
• Catch the podcast version of the show, which we'll post after the show airs on KMUD at:
http://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

22/04/2025

My favorite line from this episode with Bill Adair was in response to Julia’s question: “How can we stop the lying?”, and Bill said: “We have to start making honesty cool again!” You can now listen to, download, and enjoy the episode ( #105-The Epidemic of Political Lying and the Importance of Fact-checking) with guest Bill Adair at any of your favorite podcatcher sites or at our podcast host: https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

Early in his career our guest, Bill Adair, worked as a journalist at at the Tampa Bay Times in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he became the newspaper’s Washington Bureau Chief. He later became the founder and editor of the fact-checking organization Politifact, and in 2013 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.”

Additional Links:
• Bill’s personal website: https://billadair.com/
• Bill’s web page at Duke University: https://sanford.duke.edu/profile/bill-adair/
• Duke Reporter’s Lab: https://reporterslab.org/
Fact-checking Sites:
• Politifact: https://www.politifact.com/
• FactCheck.org® A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center: https://www.factcheck.org/
• Associated Press News Fact-check: https://apnews.com/ap-fact-check

15/04/2025

Tune in to Thinking Clearly on KMUD, Tuesday, April 22, from 9 to 10 AM to learn about lying in politics and the practice of fact-checking. As he tells it, our guest, Bill Adair. made his career decision to become a journalist in the sixth grade, based on advice from his mother, who said: “You know...you should become a reporter.” And that suggestion eventually took him to the Tampa Bay Times in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he honed his journalistic skills of investigation and reporting becoming the newspaper’s Washington Bureau Chief, and later founded and managed Politifact—one of the first political fact-checking organizations. Then In 2013, Bill accepted his current position at Duke University as the Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy, where he teaches journalism in the Sanford School of Public Policy and directs the Duke Reporters’ Lab. Based on years of real world experience covering politics, Bill brings lying in politics and the practice of fact-checking to life in 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."

KMUD studio is located in Redway, California and broadcasts at the following frequencies: Garberville area-91.1 FM; Eureka area-88.1 FM; Laytonville area-90.3 FM; Shelter Cove area-99.5 FM.
• Out of Range of KMUD's signal? Stream us (at airtime) on the internet at:
http://www.radiorethink.com/tuner/?stationCode=kmud
Or
• Catch the podcast version of the show, which we'll post after the show airs on KMUD at:
http://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

25/03/2025

The podcast for Thinking Clearly ( #104-The Importance of Trust in Information and Institutions-revisited) has now been published and is available at any of your favorite podcatchers, including our podcast host site at: https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

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.

25/02/2025

You can now listen to/download/enjoy the February 2025 edition of Thinking Clearly: #103-Worldview-The Elephant in the Room of Critical Thinking-updated for 2025 at: https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/ or at any of your favorite podcatchers.

Note: To download a copy of the “Step by Step Information Vetting Process” sheet pictured on this post, using your computer, right click on the Facebook image and click on: “save image as.” You should also be able to download it using your phone. After downloading the handout, feel free to print it and hand it out to others. Spread the word about the importance of vetting information to combat the prevalence of mis- and disinformation. Any comments about the handout can be directed to our Thinking Clearly email at: [email protected]

28/01/2025

Listen to/Download and enjoy the January 2025 podcast of Thinking Clearly with hosts Bob Froehlich and Julia Minton: #102-Worldviews and How they Guide our Beliefs-with guest Annick de Witt, found at any of your favorite podcatchers or at our podcast host: https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

With a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, a Master's Degree in Social Environmental Sciences and a PhD in Worldviews and Sustainable Development, our guest, Annick de Witt, developed the Worldview Test, based on her doctoral dissertation research at VU University in the Netherlands and founded 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; and how an awareness of worldviews can help us examine our own beliefs while also improving our dialogues with others.

Additional Links:
• Her website: https://annickdewitt.com/
• Worldview Journeys Resource Site: https://worldviewjourneys.com/
• Take the Worldview Test: https://wvtest.com/responses/5b9vx2/intro

25/01/2025

Tune to “Thinking Clearly” on KMUD, Tues., January 28 from 9 to 10 AM to take a deep dive into “worldviews” with guest Annick de Witt, researcher, writer, teacher, and founder of the organization Worldview Journeys. Hear how worldviews can affect our beliefs and behaviors and how “worldview awareness” can help us examine our beliefs and how it can help improve our communication with others.

KMUD studio is located in Redway, California and broadcasts at the following frequencies: Garberville area-91.1 FM; Eureka area-88.1 FM; Laytonville area-90.3 FM; Shelter Cove area-99.5 FM.
• Out of Range of KMUD's signal? Stream us (at airtime) on the internet at:
http://www.radiorethink.com/tuner/?stationCode=kmud
Or
• Catch the podcast version of the show, which we'll post after the show airs on KMUD at:
http://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

25/12/2024

Happy holidays to our Thinking Clearly listeners! The December 2024 podcast episode: #101-The Virtues of Evidence-Based Policy Making-with guest Robert MacCoun is now available at: https://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/ or at any of your favorite podcatcher sites.

Unless you are living all by yourself on a desert island, we are all affected by numerous agreed upon policies. Yet most of us know almost nothing about how policies are made, especially policies 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. The discussion starts with the basics of where and how policies that affect our lives are typically made and then highlights the uniqueness of “evidence-based policy making” and how this process focuses on both empirically-based facts, as well as human values. With a Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD 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 g**s and le****ns 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.

Additional Links:
• Professor MacCoun’s Stanford Faculty website: https://law.stanford.edu/robert-j-maccoun/
• Professor MacCoun’s Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_MacCoun
• Books at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robert-MacCoun/author/B0CZJ8TQ9V?isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
• Elements of Policy Analysis Stanford Law 7846-Module 1 with Robert MacCoun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88K1Po67jdQhttps://thinkingclearly.libsyn.com/

Thinking Clearly radio show on KMUD

15/07/2025

24/06/2025

17/06/2025

27/05/2025

25/05/2025

22/04/2025

15/04/2025

25/03/2025

25/02/2025

28/01/2025

25/01/2025

25/12/2024

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