Skeptics in the Pub, Leicester meets on the third Tuesday of every month. Our upcoming events are listed below. If you're new to this site, please read the about us page.
We've found a bigger pub (again)
We had over 60 people in the Swan & Rushes for Chris French's talk in August. That doesn't include the 5 people out on the patio looking through the window, or the 4 people that I later found out couldn't get in the room and left.
I've arranged to move us back to The Park on Hotel Street (not to be confused with The Park Hotel).
The new venue will hold 500 people. Hopefully we won't need to move again.
Social Skeptics
Following feedback from a number of regulars, we're now going to hold an social meet at 7:30pm on the first Tuesday of each month in the Swan & Rushes. There won't be a speaker, topic or anything - there will just be some skeptics in a pub. Just show up any time from 7:30pm onwards. The first one will be on Tuesday the 2nd September.
When?
Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Park5-9 Hotel Street
Leicester
LE1 5AW
Who?
Nick Pope
What's the talk about?
Nick Pope will discuss the Ministry of Defence's policy on UFOs, explain how investigations are undertaken and discuss some of the UK's best known UFO sightings. He'll give some new insights into Britain's most famous UFO incident, in Rendlesham Forest, and will discuss his investigation into a case from 1993 which involved liaison with the US Embassy and led to the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff being briefed. Nick will also discuss the MoD's remote viewing study and their involvement in the crop circle mystery. Finally, Nick will talk about the Freedom of Information Act and the programme to release the MoD's archive of UFO files, which began in May 2008.
About Nick Pope
Nick Pope used to work at the Ministry of Defence, where from 1991 to 1994 he was posted to a division where his duties included investigating UFOs. Initially sceptical, his official research and investigation convinced him that the UFO phenomenon raised important defence, national security and flight safety issues. He was particularly interested in cases where the witnesses were pilots or where UFOs were tracked on radar. Nick is now recognised as a leading authority on UFOs and the unexplained.
When?
Tuesday, October 21 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Park5-9 Hotel Street
Leicester
LE1 5AW
Who?
Emma-Louise Rhodes
What's the talk about?
We will examine the brief history of the Spiritualist movement and the growth of it as a mainstream faith in Britain. Phenomena inexorably linked with Spiritualism, such as materialisations, apports and the spirit trumpet will be discussed, along with the functions of the Spiritualist church. The industry behind the movement will also be examined, and the ‘need’ to believe in the unbelievable.
When?
Tuesday, November 18 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Park5-9 Hotel Street
Leicester
LE1 5AW
Who?
David Allen Green
What's the talk about?
This talk will address, in an objective and balanced manner, how the law deals with certain controversial issues of belief and non-belief. Prompted by recent developments, the talk will explore whether the courtroom is really the appropriate forum for settling disputes that relate to controversial issues of belief and non-belief.
For example, the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951, the last remnant of the old witchcraft legislation, was repealed in May 2008. Mediums and psychics are now be under a new and modern legal regime in respect of any unfair commercial practices. But how do these new sanctions work in practice? Are mediums and psychics who adopt questionable practices more or less likely to face legal action?
The ancient common law offence of blasphemy may also soon be abolished. A recent High Court decision has effectively narrowed its scope in any case. There is the new offence of incitement to religious hatred. But can the legal process really deal with what can be questions of religious dispute?
Other examples of where the law grapples with issues of belief and non-belief include the "Evolution" trials in United States, the Holocaust denial trials, and when religious groups seek to incorporate aspects of religious law into more general legal systems.
The talk will describe and assess these and other legal developments, using practical examples. It will also offer practical suggestions for both skeptics and non-skeptics on how legal regimes may affect them.
David is a solicitor in London with wide experience of the communications, media, and public sector fields. He is the author of the chapters on the restrictions that criminal law places on free speech in the current edition of Law and the Media (http://books.google.com/books?id=n-EbAdB9jzwC). He is also regularly attends (and used to co-organise) Skeptics in the Pub in London.
When?
Tuesday, December 16 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Park5-9 Hotel Street
Leicester
LE1 5AW
Who?
Mike Heap
What's the talk about?
The work of social psychologists has always emphasised the extent to which our behaviour, beliefs and experiences are shaped by the requirements of the various roles that we occupy in the course of everyday life. One important need for us is that the roles we occupy should be perceived as authentic or legitimate. We therefore strive to maintain the perceived authenticity of our role at any particular time. This can be seen as a mutual endeavour by participants in reciprocal role relationships such as doctor-patient or therapist-client interactions. I hope to demonstrate the usefulness of this way of thinking with reference to certain practices (orthodox, unorthodox and anomalous) and certain sexual crimes on which I have provided an opinion for the Courts.
Michael Heap is a clinical forensic psychologist in private practice and at Wathwood Medium Secure Hospital in Rotherham. He is a founding member of the Association for Skeptical Enquiry (ASKE) and is its current Chairman and Secretary.
When?
Tuesday, January 20 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Park5-9 Hotel Street
Leicester
LE1 5AW
Who?
Daniela Rudloff
What's the talk about?
Daniela Rudloff has always had a profound interest in critical thinking, leading her to join the German Skeptics in 1994. In 2006 she commenced a PhD in Psychology to find out what keeps Joe Bloggs from being a rational, reasonable and skeptical person.
She’ll give an introduction to the everyday mental shortcuts and biases we all employ, arguing that even though they’re often misleading, they’re also necessary – and almost impossible to avoid.
When?
Tuesday, February 17 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Park5-9 Hotel Street
Leicester
LE1 5AW
Who?
Dr Madsen Pirie
What's the talk about?
Fair Trade claims to help poor farmers in developing countries. It implies that higher Fair Trade prices help producers, but most of the extra goes to retailers, distributors and marketers. A tiny fraction goes to producers. Fair Trade favours chosen producers in co-operatives, rather than poorer family farmers. The way to help producers in poor countries is not to play favourites, but to end tariffs and subsidies, and to buy as much as possible from poorer countries. Free Trade, not Fair Trade, is needed.
Dr Madsen Pirie is President of the Adam Smith Institute, and was one of three Scots graduates working in the US who founded the Institute in 1977. Prior to that, Dr Pirie worked for the House of Representatives in Washington DC, and was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Logic and Philosophy at Hillsdale College in Michigan.
At the Institute, Dr Pirie was part of the influential team which pioneered privatization and the extension of market choices and incentives. His work in helping to develop the Citizen's Charter led to his appointment to the Prime Minister's Advisory Panel from 1991-95.
A graduate of the universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews and Cambridge, Dr Pirie is author of several books including The Book of the Fallacy, Micropolitics, Privatization in Theory and Practice and Blueprint for a Revolution. With his colleague Dr Eamonn Butler, he has co- authored a series of books on IQ, including The Sherlock Holmes IQ Book.
When?
Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30PM
Where?
The Park5-9 Hotel Street
Leicester
LE1 5AW
Who?
Dr Cara Laney
What's the talk about?
Can people repress traumas like child sexual abuse and then recover their traumatic memories years or decades later? Sigmund Freud proposed this coping mechanism and modern therapists have argued that it is common. This talk will consider whether these "recovered" memories might instead be false memories.
Cara Laney is a lecturer of forensic psychology at the University of Leicester. Her main area of research is human memory and the myriad ways it can go wrong. She has published more than a dozen articles on memory related topics.